Today I got a lesson in surf philosophy. Is there a better way to start the day than to share a surf, a cappuccino, and an epistemological and ethical debate? “That’s the problem with you… you’re loud but you don’t act,” said my surfer friend when I explained to him that my neighbour had fenced off and “acquired” the public road that adjoined both of our properties. “If … [Read more...]
The little surf that nearly ruined a promising career…
It’s tough when you grow up in a place where hanging out at the surf is a way of life then, suddenly, work takes you to a place that is land locked and the ocean and waves become things that you can only dream about. I know. It happened to me. Years back I moved from beautiful Queenscliff Beach in Sydney to dreary old London to progress my career and, for the first six months … [Read more...]
Easternmost memory – surfing in the wild at the end of the continent
Here is a special story from our "Waves of Pain" collection. In a surfing world dominated by hyperbole... the west wave... the best day... the best secret spot... the best surfer... the best barrel... the best board etc this column pays homage to those not so best days in the ocean. In truth it is some of these not so best days that are the most interesting, most moving, most … [Read more...]
Battle of Palm Beach – the day the surfers stood their ground
These days surf life savers and surf board riders happily co-exist on Australia's beaches. In fact, many surfers are now serving members of their local surf life saving clubs. It wasn't always so. There was a time when the two tribes hated each other... and occasionally even came to blows. This fictitious yarn about a bad day at the beach is based on real events that happened … [Read more...]
“Chicks don’t surf.” Really? Could have fooled me.
With Holly Isemonger’s lament about the inferior place she and other female surfers are granted in their beloved sport fresh in my mind, I found myself wandering past the front windows of the big five surf retailers that have branches in my home town. I was interested in checking out how the surf retail industry presented itself to passing shoppers through its … [Read more...]