Merry - XMAS -
2016
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XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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Surf Shop
Celebrating
40 YEARS
GERRINGONG, NSW (
4
90 min south of Sydney )
SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS 2016
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IN HOUSE CAFE
500+ BRANDS
1,000+ BOARDS
SWIMWEAR H E AV E N
Australia’s Largest IndependEnt c Surf Shop Proudly Family OWNED and RUN!
TRY DEMOS BEFORE YOU BUY Summer2016_Smorgas_Contents-INTRO.indd 5
www.naturalnecessity.com.au (02) 4234 1636 XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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The Flying Fish Our latest Fish model is a great alternative to your regular short board or longboard for the right days. The Flying Fish is an EPS foam core performance fish which features stringerless flex and memory return. This can turn on a dime and drive when its required. The board is more for the average to advanced surfer. The 2 ½’’ thickness of the board under the chest area makes this board a great wave catcher.
SHIPPING ANYWHERE, INCLUDING NZ
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HANDCRAFTED IN AUSTRALIA
ALSO AVAILABLE
Riley Balsawood Surfboards are made using renewable resource balsa and recycled polystyrene for performance, durability, beauty and lower environmental impact
• • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • •
Fin boxes with all wood covers Wood coloured fin boxes Fin box install kits Easy, DIY clear and clean paint-on grip Clear board grip tape - Let the beauty of the balsa show through with clear Versa Traction Grip Tape. Environmentally friendly and suits all size boards. Timber fins Surfboards Blanks Cork tail pads & SUP deck grip Aussie-made leashes Raw balsa/ cedar DIY board kits Instructional DVDs Board racks Tide clocks Sharkbanz shark deterrent wearable devices LICK liquid surf wax. Wholesale enquires welcome
Call 0412 376 464 or Email mark@riley.com.au www.balsasurfboardsriley.com.au Australian Environmentally-friendly handcrafted surfboards for the individual in all of us, with a guarantee. Enjoy Responsibly
XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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OUT OF THE WOODS, NOT WASHED UP...
On the road to Gisborne, on the East Coast of NZ. Photo: Dave Swan
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In this edition we revisit some magic memories. When we look back over the last six years of publishing Smorgasboarder, we have nothing but fond recollections of good times and good people. Of course we’ve also met the occasional knob jockey, but hey that’s life. They exist everywhere, even in the surf industry. On that note, a big shout out to y’all who said Smorgasboarder wouldn’t last two editions... Hope you’ve enjoyed the last 36! :) Anyhow, the overwhelming positivity from the good people has far outweighed any negativity from the occasional crusty naysayer, so to all you pillars of goodwill in surfing across the Australian and NZ coasts, we salute you!
On a serious note, we would genuinely like to thank all of you - our readers, subscribers, the surfboard shapers, surf travel companies and the many other businesses who have supported us over the past years and enabled Smorgasboarder to live.
WELCOME
As one wise man once said, Dr Seuss to be specific, is there any wiser? “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.”
Enjoy our little wander down memory lane!
Cheers!
rders
sboa the Smorga
Yes, we have really had a lot of fun, and so many of the photos you will see, and stories you will read in the pages to follow bring a huge smile to our collective dials. We hope you agree.
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WHAT'S
INSIDE...
DETAILS, CREDITS & STUFF Grab SMORGASBOARDER FREE at quality surf stores, shapers and cool cafés on the coast of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and New Zealand... Be nice and buy something while you’re there. Or read it online.
MAGAZINE SUBSCRIBE FOR HOME DELIVERY
If you can’t get to a store or other venue to pick the mag up in person, you can also choose to have SMORGASBOARDER delivered to your door. See www.smorgasboarder.com.au. Very few back issues are also available from $8.80 a piece, plus t-shirts & more!
$25 AUS & NZ - 1 YEAR, HOME-DELIVERY!
A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE 34 We reminisce...
THE COVER SHOT
NOOSA FESTIVAL 23 Gearing up for 2017
As our ‘favourites’ edition, we picked one of our all-time favourite reader photos, taken by a then 15-year-old upand-coming photographer Luc Buna. This fantastic shot was featured in our Easter 2015 edition. This barrel gives ‘depth of field’ a whole new meaning. Watch out for more from Luc.
SURF MUSIC
110 Jeremy Loops
SMORGASBOARDERS
CONTRIBUTING...
ADVERTISING/EDITORIAL: Dave Swan dave@smorgasboarder.com.au 0401 345 201
This is YOUR mag. It’s here for you to tell your stories, show your pictures and share your thoughts - and score some free stuff on the way too, to boot.
NEW ZEALAND: ‘Jiff’ Morris jeff@smorgasboarder.co.nz 0220 943 913 DESIGN/EDITORIAL: Mark Chapman mark@smorgasboarder.com.au
THE USUAL LATEST
14 News 26 Surf Sage
GEAR
96 Boards 102 Ding Repairs 104 Tech Article
CLOSEOUT
106 Directories 112 Aloha Barry
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SOUTH AUSTRALIA: James Ellis james@smorgasboarder.com.au 0410 175 552
E: editorial@smorgasboarder.com.au P: PO Box 501, Moffat Beach QLD 4551
There’s only a few of us here, so please be patient when you get in touch - we’ll try our best to get back to you as soon as humanly possible. Get in touch to discuss any ideas you’d like to be considered for a future edition or online.
ACCOUNTS: Louise Gough louise@smorgasboarder.com.au GEAR TESTS & REVIEWS: Gus Brown gus@smorgasboarder.com.au
BEST NON-DAILY PUBLICATION
QUEENSLAND MULTIMEDIA AWARDS 2013
WWW.SMORGASBOARDER.COM.AU
Smorgasboarder is published by Huge C Media Pty Ltd ABN 30944673055. All information is correct at time of going to press. The publishers cannot accept responsibility for errors in articles or advertisements, or unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations. The opinions and words of the authors do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. All rights reserved. Reproduction in part or whole is strictly prohibited without prior permission.
SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS 2016
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AUSTRALIA’S PREMIER ZINC PRODUCTS SPF 50+ BROAD SPECTRUM WATER RESISTANT FOR UP TO 4 HOURS SUITABLE FOR ALL SKIN TYPES ASSISTS IN MAINTAINING SKIN ELASTICITY Keep your goods dry wherever you are
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@sunzapper XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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AKA: THE NEWS... COMMUNITY WHAT’S HAPPENINGS & OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS letters@smorgasboarder.com.au
smorgasboarder
RON’S LAST WOODEN GUN
STARTING YOUNG
Mark Riley was fortunate to meet Ron Cansdell a little while back, who built about 150 balsa boards back in the 1950’s at Taren Point. Ron came in to handshape a classic replica gun with Mark glassing and polishing it for him. Said Mark, “What a pleasure it was to glass Ron Cansdell’s last balsa gun and share in some great stories and photos with this icon of Australian surfing.”
They say you develop your personality in your formative years and this kid will quite clearly be all class. Ant “Chezzy Burger” and Arze Lombardi sent in this shot of their son Oscar catching up on some reading in the back seat of their car.
All this on the back of Greg Noll, recent guest of honour at Cronulla’s Surf Retrospect celebrations, commenting on how impressive Mark’s balsa boards were before signing one.
SPEAKING OF WOODEN WONDERS Look at this shot (below) in from the Timber Board Shop (TBS) near Gisborne. Just like our intro spread but with a special something in amongst the driftwood, a 5’7” EPS core board that Adam Lloyd from TBS just finished. TBS specialises in DIY wooden surfboard kits, preshaped balsa blanks, alaia blanks, pre shaped (EPS) Foam core blanks and accessories. thetimberboardshop.co.nz
SURF-OLUXE NEW WAVE? Has Mark’s creative genius in building a range of electric guitars out of foam and fibreglass started a new wave of revolutionary thinking to the old maple and rosewood six string? Mad scientist Glenn Cat Collins sent in some photos to show he too was on a similar wave length.
FATHERS AND SONS Building a bond with your kids is so very important to state the obvious. Finding that common interest or taking part in a joint project is often the key as Paul and Tom Fellows found out recently. “Guys, just a short note to thank you all for hosting Tom and I for the recent workshop. Creating the board with my son Tom was a great experience and I would heartily recommend this as a father and son experience. We both enjoyed working on the board together and as you saw, we had a lot of fun. We all live a fairly frenetic life these days and it’s difficult to get the work/family balance right, it’s experiences like building the board at Tree to Sea which form a bond between fathers and sons.” Paul and Tom Fellows Deniliquin 14
TAMAN SHUD: MORNING OF THE EARTH NEXT YEAR
Enduring 60s Australian psychedelic, surf rock band Tamam Shud are playing a benefit gig at North Narrabeen Surf Club on the 21st January supporting Sacred by Design’s mission to improve the lives of children in Xieng Khouang Province, Laos. Tickets are $25 and available at sacredbydesign.com.au
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CHARLOTTE MULLEY
LUKE BARRETT COCO
RON TIMOTHY
CHARLIE LEONARD
IZZY
MAXIMUM VARIETY • MAXIMUM QUALITY • MAXIMUM VALUE CUSTOM SURFBOARDS, SHORT TO LONG, BY STEWART MAXWELL • SURBOARD REPAIRS • SURFBOARDS ACCESORIES AND MORE
SURFER: SHANE
46 CURRUMBIN CREEK ROAD, CURRUMBIN WATERS, QLD
0400 338 098 • MAXIMUMSURF@BIGPOND.COM
MAXIMUMSURFBOARDS.COM.AU
UL FIBREGLASS FINS
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Any closer to the Superbank, and you’d be in the line up Self-contained apartment across from some of the most amazing surf on the Gold Coast. Mangamanou
Photo: Kirstin Scholtz
BEST WISHES TO KAIKOURA
The earthquake that hit New Zealand’s South Island just after midnight on November 13 had an epicentre 60km south-west of the tourist town of Kaikoura at a depth of approximately 15 km. It ruptured however on multiple fault lines with the majority of its energy released much further north registering a cumulative magnitude of 7.8. The quake was one of the 3 largest earthquakes throughout the world in 2016 and the second biggest in New Zealand’s history since European settlement, the largest in 1855 near Wellington. The devastating Christchurch quake on February 22, 2011 by comparison that killed 185 people and injured several thousand was a magnitude 6.3 earthquake. Sadly, in this recent quake two lives were lost. The event was so extraordinary it piqued the interest of NASA. The space agency’s “earth observatory” uses satellite data to monitor the effects of environmental change and they were stunned by what they saw. Satellite images capture the earthquake’s effects, with the seabed visibly lifting as much as 5.5 metres in one area. Newly-exposed land, raised out of the ocean by the quake is predicted to now stay for several hundreds to thousands of years to come. Wayne and Lisa
190 Marine Pde, Rainbow Bay, Coolangatta www.columbiaapartments.com.au Call 07 5599 0666
These are some photos from Wayne Shanks of Kaikoura Surf showing the surrounding devastation along with what the impact did to his shop. We wish Wayne along with all of the people of Kaikoura a speedy road to recovery. 16
Inside Kaikoura Surf
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THE BEST HOMEMADE
SURFBOARD
SURF ‘N RAK SHAPING RAK COMPETITION
HERE’S SOME OF THE ENTRIES TO THE HOMEMADE SURFBOARD COMPETITION. AWESOME TO SEE A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT BOARDS BEING SHAPED USING ALL DIFFERENT KINDS OF MATERIALS. YOU GUYS REALLY ARE TRUE SMORGASBOARDERS!
MIKE ROBERSON "Here is one of my latest creations. It is a 6'4" fish made from my old cedar deck and glued together off cuts of foam from other boards I have made. The entire board (other then epoxy and fiberglass) was made of recycled materials." Mike Roberson Grand Haven, MI USA
JEREMY IEVINS "Smorgasboarder ran a profile on my POSCA artwork a couple of years ago in the Gold Coast issue and I'm a big fan of your magazine. I shaped and painted this vanguard style shortboard. Dimensions are 5'7 x 19" 1/4 x 23" 3/8."
BRENDAN WILSON "A couple of asymmetric experiment boards. First is a 5'10/5'7 x21.5 x"2"1/2swallow on (goofy) forehand and squash/ diamond on the backhand with a quad on backhand twin on forehand set up. I figured if I was going to make a board why not do something really left field but 18
subscribing to a sound and proven theory. "Second is a 5'8"/ 5'6" x20.5x 2"5/8" pin forehand with bat tail backhand. This is a step up board asymmetric which I built to force me to surf front footed - to concentrate on tube riding. This one below is a 5'10 / 5'9" x 19 3/4" x 2"5/8" asymmetrical; flat swallow on forehand and squash on backhand. Deep single throughout with double through the fins and out the tail. Fin set up is a m5 / Quattro set up from McKee which I usually request on standard boards I've had shaped for me previously and provides a really positive ride."
AARON STACEY "Loving the mags. Been holding off reading the latest issue cause I want to take it away with me to read next week. Here’s a few boards I’ve been doing of late."
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Get back to the roots... with paulownia
MARK SIMPSON "Above: My first hollow SUP - took 8 months to make, got the guys at Clark surfboards to glass it. "Right: Who stole my door? Asks the squirrel in the treehouse. Art work was inspired by the door like finless . "Top Right: This is the 3rd hollow board I've made and still learning a lot. Your mag provides great inspiration."
Native Hawaiian surfer with alaia board, circa 1911
AND THE WINNER OF THE BEST HOMEMADE BOARD
AS VOTED BY OUR READERS ON FACEBOOK IS...
CALE
"I just wanted to enter my 5'10" twin I shaped and glassed a few weeks ago. Was the first board I ever made and rides great! Looks great too with my girlfriend's art glassed into the deck."
MASON! Our buoyant, lightweight timber floats all around the world.
“Proper shaping racks would be awesome as I use homemade ones in my parents garage.” Well Cale you've got them because you're our winner of these ripper Surf ‘n Rak Shaping Racks.
• Tom Wegener preferred alaia blanks • Alaia & Kite Boards • Long Boards • Hollow Boards • Chambered Boards
SURFBOARD SUPPLIES
Buy the Best Paulownia Timber Australia has to offer.
Missed out? Get your own rak at:
SURFNRAK.COM.AU
Contact David Evans P: 03 9588 2533 E: info.sales@paulowniasurfboardsupplies.com W: www.paulowniasurfboardsupplies.com
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NOOSA FESTIVAL
NFOS:
25&GOING STRONG AS ONE SLIGHTLY OFF-KEY TROUBADOUR ONCE WARBLED, THESE TIMES, THEY ARE A-CHANGING. Words: Thomas Leitch | Photo: Supplied, NFOS Longboarding has trickled along through the thruster generation anywhere there’s a nice, long point wave, and the last decade or so has seen an insurgence of loggers and singlefins, the old becoming new once more, adapted, inspired and amalgamated through five decades of shaping knowledge. Those who first pioneered these craft have become celebrities and gurus – Bob McTavish, Bing Copeland and the late, great Donald Takayama. The Noosa Festival of
Surfing has ridden the waves from ripple to tsunami, through high performance, finless, bodysurfing and, of course, nine and a half feet, 23 inches and one fin of pure steeze. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the Noosa Festival has reached a nexus, the last remaining co-founder (alongside John Brasen and John Lee), renowned surf writer Phil Jarratt doffing his cap for the last time and passing the baton into the experienced and capable hands of his progeny, Sam and Ellie.
With over 800 competitors from 20 nations and regions and an estimated total attendance of some 12,000 people for its ‘8 Days of Pure Stoke’, the Noosa Festival of Surfing is a huge drawcard for the global longboarding community, in fact the largest surfing festival by competitor numbers anywhere in the world. Age categories from under 15 to over 70, logging, noseriding, and high performance pro divisions and an assortment of SUP events, the festival has adroitly rolled with the
times, giving the people what they want in the waves and keeping them entertained once the sun has set on another day of competition. But it has always been, essentially, a competition first and foremost. Contest was the foundation of the event, sprung from Noosa’s local Malibu Club, and to this it will always remain true, but is competition all a surfer lives for? Surf culture is as strong on dry land as it is in the brine and, with divisions swelling in popularity with XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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every new year, it is to the sand that contest director Sam Smith is now swaying her attention. “The competition is always fantastic,” she reflects of previous years. “We have some of the very best judges and contest directors available, a strong attendance of world class surfers from all around the world and, but for the waves, the competition is always a great success.” Activities in the water have remained popular throughout the years, always evolving, new events such as the resoundingly popular dog surfing exhibition, joining the schedule and remaining the pinnacle of global longboarding events. On land, music, film, exhibitions and events have entertained the masses, often bringing doyens of the sport to the stage, or kicking up sand with national and international musos, to make each and every evening under the stars memorable. While this formula has been a great
success, Sam sees 2017 as the year for a little bit of a shake-up. “We are proud each year of the landbased elements of the festival,” she says. “We have had some brilliant bands, lots of surfing celebrities and many, many nights of good entertainment, great atmosphere and maybe one too many drinks! But for next year, we felt like there was a whole other area of surfing culture that we still hadn’t tapped into.” Over the years, the event has hosted art and craft markets, sponsor showcases and a festival expo. All have been open to the public and a great reason to visit Noosa, whether competing or not. But the interactive aspect has remained a little thin on the ground. There has been plenty to see and hear and eat, but not so much to do and, as contemporary surf culture so prevalently demonstrates, creativity is rapidly becoming as integral a part of our lifestyle on land as it always has been in the water.
“THE COMPETITION IS ALWAYS FANTASTIC,” SHE REFLECTS OF PREVIOUS YEARS. “WE HAVE SOME OF THE VERY BEST JUDGES AND CONTEST DIRECTORS AVAILABLE, A STRONG ATTENDANCE OF WORLD CLASS SURFERS FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD AND, BUT FOR THE WAVES, THE COMPETITION IS ALWAYS A GREAT SUCCESS.”
Noosa’s Main Beach, home of the Noosa Festival of Surfing, is getting a makeover in 2017. The judges’ scaffold will remain, of course, as will Zinc FM’s livecoverage surf shack from which they broadcast daily. With a postsurf beverage almost as important to surfers as their wax and fins, the XXXX Summer beach bar is also a permanent fixture, but added to these familiar structures will be a new venue, the Noosa Festival Pavillion. With the bar and numeorus local venues hosting nocturnal events, the pavilion, standing pride of place at Noosa’s First Point, will become a place of creativity, culture, inspiration and activity for all. Timber surfcraft workshops will be open to the public, shapers will expound their knowledge to all eagre ears, book signings, surf swap meets and yoga classes will all take their turn under the sprawling canvas. “We try to be as ecologically minded and family-oriented as possible,” says Sam, “trying to improve in these areas with every new year, and we are really excited about the potential of the new venue. We will be hosting sand castle competitions and interactive activities for kids, as well as bringing attention to environmental causes. I think
surfers more than almost any other demographic are aware of the need to take environmental responsibility in their actions and we are planning several events to not only encourage and inspire, but also take proactive action for both during the Noosa Festival of Surfing and beyond. We see a real and growing need to make this a strong message of our event and hope to inspire our visitors to do the same.” At its heart, the Noosa Festival of Surfing will remain the same, ebbing and flowing with the times, contemporary yet true to its roots; 800 surfers across thirty-plus divisions, all uniting for the love of surfing. But beyond that 20 minutes clad in cold, wet contest rashie, visitors will find a whole new experience, the same, but different, inspiring, diverse and more consummately reflective of surfing culture than ever before. Change is inevitable – it’s what you do with that change that counts. For more information on the Noosa Festival of Surfing, visit: www.noosafestivalofsurfing.com or join them on social media: Facebook: @NoosaSurfFest Instagram: @noosa_festival_of_surfing
Sam Smith, NFOS Contest Director
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Mex Sumpter, Andy McKinnon, Ondi and Larry Berltelmann
! Vintage surfboard collector and proprietor of Noosa’s Underground Surf, Andre ‘Ondi’ Marsaus is the Surf Sage. In our regular feature he provides the answers to all your questions, but to mark this retrospective edition, he shares a few memories of his own.
Got a question you want to ask the Surf Sage about an old board you have found under the house or from a curbside collection? Email editorial@smorgasboarder.com.au and we will get Ondi onto it.
“6 years ago we were sitting in our surf shop in Coolangatta when Patrick Quirk wanders in. Pat introduces himself and lays down a mock up of a new magazine on the counter that he tells us we need to check out.” “Smorgasboarder”, he tells us “will be a grass roots surfing magazine that has been a long time coming”. He talked us through the idea and we loved it. A couple of Sunny Coast boys Dave and Mark had left their positions with what we thought was probably the biggest print publication company in the country and they were starting up their own magazine. Plus they were going to give it away free to surfers. Gutsy move we thought. Well, the mockup looks great... if they can pull it off. Well, they did, and it has been a breath of fresh air amongst the long standing surfing mags that seem to be full of pros pulling airs and promoting the latest performance boards. It really pulls the ‘real’ surfing industry together. The shapers, the surf shops, the local breaks, the stories, boards for all kinds of styles and most importantly the day to day surfers. Pat was right, it has been a great magazine and the surfing industry is better for it. Thanks guys for making it happen, we’re sure there has probably been blood, sweat and tears over the past 6 years but we would never know it. So six years ago when Smorgasboarder started, we were madly building our “grass roots” surf shop. Underground Surf began seven years ago with three surfboards, twelve t-shirts and ten sets of board shorts in our Kirra lounge room. We didn’t have a clear vision but we knew we wanted to stock underground labels and produce epic hand shaped boards for the locals. I already had a passion for all things retro in surfing and was buying up anything and everything vintage. Luckily we were quickly supported by local surfers and their families and Underground has steadily grown from three surfboards seven years ago to almost 400.
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LEFT: Ondi and MP. BELOW: World wax record attemp
t
PRICELESS TROPHY
Some of the Best of Underground Surf 2009
2013
Underground Surf is born.
Underground grom number 1 is born.
2010
2014
We decide it’s time surfing featured more in the Guinness World Records and set about building the highest surfboard wax stack. Stomp wax came on board to sponsor the event and Tim Ausloos and I set the bar at 42 blocks of wax. Joan brings Michael Peterson in to say happy birthday and makes it one of the best birthdays ever.
A blur of sleep deprivation and surfboards.
2015
Bill and the Wallace family appoint Underground to produce surfboards under the legendary Wallace Surfboards brand. Underground moves to Hastings Street, Noosa. Underground grom number 2 is born.
Underground moves from Kirra to Coolangatta into the old Retro Groove store.
Hosted VIP event for the inaugural Noosa Surf Film Festival.
We meet legend Albert Falzon
2016
2011
The Smorgasboarder guys help me unload 60 vintage boards onto the road for a vintage board spread. The inaugural Underground swap meet is held with Surf World Gold Coast, The Otchkies band and a Dick Hoole signing. Underground Surf opens in Noosa junction.
2012
Underground hosts a swap meet for the inaugural Bleach festival honouring surfing legends Michael Peterson, Larry Bertlemann, Andy Mckinnon, Dick Hoole and David ‘Mex’ Sumpter. At the swap meet Peter ‘Cocky’ Stannard was absolutely stoked to have his shirt signed and have a chat with MP. Little did we all know that 2 weeks later Cocky would pass away while surfing at the Tweed Heads Old Mal club annual surf trip and 2 weeks after that the world would lose MP as well. Two passionate surfers sadly missed.
Bob McTavish presents Noosa Early Days at Underground during the Noosa Festival of Surf to 140 people and announces Underground as the first Australian authorised McTavish dealer. Appointed the sunshine coast retailer for Patagonia. Hosted the beach swap meet for the Noosa Festival of Surf. Hosted events for Noosa Boardriders Club, Shotgun Shootout, Greg Huglin and Dick Hoole movie event, Glencat Exhibition, Noosa Tourism, Distinguished Gentlemans Club ride, Noosa Turtles and more.
I am lucky enough to be a guy who people show their surfboards to. From hidden treasures that I must deny all knowledge of, to boards with 30 years of wax that have been sitting quietly in a corner or under a house for decades until their moment of re-awakening. Some are worth thousands and some aren’t worth a penny, but there is always excitement running through my veins when a vintage surfboard comes my way and I get to squint at shapers scrawls and look deep into decals to find its story. That said, amongst all these boards there are also epic pieces of surf memorabilia and this trophy is one of those. This is the Duke Kahanamoku trophy awarded to Gerry Lopez as he was inducted into the Surfers Hall of Fame for his outstanding achievement and contribution to the sport of surfing in 2004. Gerry Lopez was born in Hawaii in 1948 and is widely known for being the best tube rider in the world. He won the Pipeline Masters competition in ’72 and ‘73, which is now aptly called the Gerry Lopez Pipeline Masters. Lopez also played an important role in the industry of commercial surfboard manufacturing and together with other shapers started the famous Lightning Bolt Surfboards brand of high performance shortboards. Lopez along with his mate Rory Russell were credited with exposing and validating Indonesia and nearby areas as a comprehensive surf destination and these days lives in Oregon, USA with his family. Surfer, shaper, actor, author, ambassador, Gerry Lopez was and is truly deserving of this award. What’s it worth you may ask… well in the words of Lopez himself “If you can buy it with money, it is cheap”. So we’ll leave this one to your imagination.
Upstairs 9 Hastings St, Noosa T: 07 5455 4444 www.undergroundsurf.com.au XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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Surf Collective
SNEAKY GRIND CAFÉ For all of the Smorgasboarder readers interested in checking out in person some of the magnificent Australian independent brands featured on www.surfcollective. com.au, they have collaborated with the folks from The Sneaky Grind Café in Avalon Beach (3/48 Old Barrenjoey Rd) to put together a showcase of select fashion, surfboards and skateboards.
OLIVER BRENNAN
LOVE ST Each piece tells a story right down to the individual character names for each design, reflecting a style to suit the different personalities who choose to wear these beautiful designs. Alexis is your party girl. She will rock up at the beach, the barbie and she will never let you down. She falls beautifully in our soft rayon fabric in the ‘Sun is Shining” print.
WAW HANDPLANES Designed for bodysurfing, handmade in Australia. Crafted from sustainable and recycled materials, they enable you to get barrelled without leaving a trace. Deep concaves and sharp rails put these handplanes at the cutting edge of bodysurfing, allowing the rider to stay higher on the face and slotted longer in the pocket.
A self-taught craftsman, this Northern Beaches local has a spectacular eye for natural beauty. Just like surf industry ‘fashion’, ocean photography can start to feel a little bit same-same but young Oliver Brennan’s work feels like something altogether different.From stirring images of living subjects, to powerful black and whites, and rich, textured compositions of rugged oceans and shining sunlight, Oliver’s collection feels like it should belong to someone who’s been around more than his young years.
GYPSY REPUBLIC Is an Australian clothing label for women, embodying the bohemian beach culture. Our clothing is locally designed and features floaty feminine pieces made to bring out the goddess in you. Inspired by yoga, surfing, festivals, travel, adventure and a touch of magic, Gypsy Republic is for the free-spirited, the day dreamers and the barefoot-chic boho girls.
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Photographer: Murray Fraser @sproutdaily
SEA NOMAD Simple threads made for a new world.Inspired by a passion for all things natural, our selection of simple raw cut, hand printed threads have been crafted to reflect our spirit of adventure.With a desire to protect the natural environment we focus on accountability and sustainability. Naturally all our threads are made in Australia, sweatshop free and made from chemical free organic cotton. Each one hand printed using eco-friendly inks by us. So no matter whether you’re just hanging out, or on your next adventure. You’re sure to find one of our limited edition illustrated tees or tanks tuned to your wavelength.
BEYOU (SURF & SKATE)
PANAMUNA PROJECT Hailing from the pristine waves of the Northern NSW coastline, Panamuna is a brand that combines it’s love of clean, classic and simplistic surf wear with a desire to reduce their company’s footprint on the world. Manufactured using sustainable and ethical practices, their range of gear and accessories will have even the most conscious of consumers frothing to get their hands on their products. Comfortable, lightweight and perfect for summer, Panamuna caters for men, women and groms.
Is made by surfers for surfers. These boards are perfect for training sessions, and they can be carried anywhere. Carving is easier with these boards; they are super responsive. It’s a 29-inch cruiser with a swallow tail. BEYOU skateboards are 100 % handcrafted, and the quality is second to none. Every single one of these boards is designed by experienced surfers for other surfers to enjoy. So, there is no doubt that they’ll blow your mind every time you ride. Surf´s up…..
SPINDRIFT COLLECTIONS Is a boutique jewellery and lifestyle brand created by Sydney based designer Natasha Wakefield. Using authentic, hand collected, sea smoothed beach glass and sterling silver, the Spindrift Collections are inspired by the ever changing beauty of our oceans, wild natural landscapes and by a sense of wanderlust for places not yet explored. Thoughtfully created for the dreamers, adventurers and barefoot wanderers.
Welcome to Surf Collective Where you’ll find the best independent Australian Surf Brands. Names you, as of yet, may not be familiar with. Products, that up until now, you mightn’t have seen.
GET FLAPPED Is where practicality meets fashion. The idea of Get Flapped is all about making a functional hat, the Legionaries hat, or as it’s affectionately known the ‘flap hat’ fashionable again. It is no longer cool, or let’s face it, safe to cook for looks during the summer. We are all about keeping you safe from the sun and looking good whilst you do it. Some may say, the flap hat was never fashionable, but hopefully the Get Flapped range can turn that view around.
Whether you’re driven by the desire to ‘support local’, or you’re just tired of seeing the same surf gear on shelves, in the line-up or around town, you’ve definitely come to the right place.
www.surfcollective.com.au XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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LATEST & GREATEST
SHARKCAMO: Shark deterrent camouflage decal sticker
A University of Western Australia study conducted in 2012 showed sharks only see in black and white and avoid striped objects. Avoid looking like food and look more like something that isn’t worth eating. Sharkcamo is a universally designed sticker decal for DIY installation on your favourite shortboard or retro shape. Cut it to your custom fit and design. Decal Sticker Size: 6’’5’ (200cm) x 20’ (50cm). $28.95 survivalsurf.com
FAST: First Aid Surf Tool The first aid device you take surfing! FAST is a rapid application elastic tourniquet designed to reduce blood loss at a limb after a surf injury, arterial laceration or after a shark attack. 100% blood flow occlusion in seconds following application.Safe compression. Can be adjusted in increments and easily released.One hand application. Easy to use and learn for all levels of medical and non-medical personnel.Multi-purpose application to arms and legs.Light weight, compact low drag design attaches to existing surf leg rope.$28.95 survivalsurf.com
PRO TREDZ The design reflects a bygone era of the 60s and 70s when Treds were the choice of footwear for a generation of surfers. Pro Tredz recaptures the past and brings it into the present utilising the latest construction techniques and high quality materials to deliver style, comfort, grip and durability. RRP $34.99 protredz.com 30
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HIVE SWIMWEAR Hive’s latest Bohemian Summer 2016/17 Collection Ashleigh – Beatnik – Stinger Top and Reversabee Pant Maddison – Beatnik – Pollen Top and Buzz Pant These tops and bottoms $49.50 each. hiveswimwear.com
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One of our favourite surf breaks and photos - Piha, NZ as seen from the front yard of Mike Jolly's Piha Surf Shop. Photo: Ben Vos
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Memorable
MOMENTS
You have regularly asked us on the streets and online what are some of the most memorable stretches of coastline we have seen, people we have interviewed, boards we have tested and breaks we have surfed, amongst other things. With that in mind we thought our gift to you this Christmas would be a celebration ofour most memorable moments from the last six years publishing Smorgasboarder. We hope you enjoy this look back in time as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Some photos you may have seen before in past editions and some you most definitely would not. You may spot a story or two you have missed in an earlier edition or perhaps didn’t even know Smorgasboarder existed at that stage. Rest assured, if you are intent on reading the said article in full, all of our past editions can be viewed online at www.smorgasboarder.com.au. We even have a limited number of back issues available in print for sale in our online shop at the same web address. XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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TEAMWORK
Heading into our 7th year of publishing Smorgasboarder we have some exciting changes to your magazine afoot, but before we embark on a brave new world we wanted celebrate what has been done so far... Before we do that however we wanted to thank our good friends and family who form our team of sorts and who have contributed to the success of Smorgasboarder. Without, them well, we would have been screwed, to put it politely.
LOUISE Our rock. They lady who takes care of all the jobs we do not want to do or have merely forgotten to do. Lou has patiently put up with us even when we make her partake in stupid photos like above.
JEFF
JAMES
CURL
He used to manage our printing before he moved to the Land of the Long White Cloud and enlisted as our man for all things NZ and became fondly known from there on as Jiff.
Our secret agent in South Australia. Why is he a secret agent? We actually don’t know but everything seems to be a secret in SA so we thought it best to give him that title. James has been fantastic in quietly spreading the word for us deep down south.
He came on board on issue 11, 2012 and we have been pissing ourselves ever since. His Aloha Barry cartoon, his irreverent humour and misguided friendship with us has been nothing short of superb. He's pictured here with Bilbo Baggins (who has a striking resemblance to Dave).
ANGUS
PAT A.K.A. “HELMET”
BEN
Our expert gear tester. It helps when you are complete crap surfers to have someone who can at least stand up on a board. Actually, “Gus” or “The Angman” is a gun and has always been generous with his time to test all the goodies we are asked to sample.
Aside from putting up with all of our jokes and being incredibly thick-skinned, Pat was instrumental in getting Smorgasboarder off the ground. Since then he has continued to be involved as either a guest writer, gear tester or stuntman.
Photographer extraordinaire who stepped into the fold whenever we needed something more than our crappy iPhone shots. It has always been fun when we have managed to wrangle him into some sort of surf trip or function, although our kidneys would disagree...
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MARK AND DAVE And a big thanks to us as well for being such incredibly hilarious guys. It is amazing when you have next to no sleep for weeks on end, and combine that with copious amounts of intravenously fed coffee (and a few beers for good measure) just how delirious you can become. We hope you have enjoyed our delirium, and that our ramblings in Smorgasboarder have made some sense, despite our very poor handle on the English language in its written form.
SO MUCH SURF GEAR IN STORE YOU WILL BE AMAZED! FROM SURFBOARDS TO SKATEBOARDS, WETTIES, SURFWEAR AND ALL THE LATEST GADGETS
SURFWARE AUSTRALIA
SUNSHINE COAST SUPERSTORE 2 Bulcock Street, Caloundra QLD | Telephone (07) 5491 3620
Open Mon to Sat, 9am to 5pm and Sun 9am to 4pm. Closed Christmas Day
ALL FOAMIES OUR FAMILIES Who put up with us basically when we would disappear for weeks on end either on a delivery run or a “business trip” or when we went into production (deadline freak out) mode rendering our lovely wives single parents of three kids, respectively. Thank you Katie, Mikaela, Phoebe and Sam (Dave’s loving family). Thank you Helen, Elliott, Eryn and Flynn (Mark’s loving family). There have of course been many other people invaluably involved in Smorgasboarder throughout the past six years including the businesses who have supported us and those who subscribe to our magazine along with our readers who without, we would not exist. Thank you.
20% OFF
SURFWAREAUSTRALIA.COM XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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HARD WORK
And Life ON THE ROAD Smorgasboarder has been a lot of fun, as you will see in the coming pages but it has not been without a lot of hard work. Any given week will see Mark and I put in upwards of 60 to 80 hours and even over 100 when things get super hectic. But as they say, “Find something you love doing and you will never work a day in your life.” So we don’t “work” but sometimes our “fun” eats into our “sleep”. It has been a wild ride however and we are extremely grateful because without it we would not have had the opportunity to see Australia and New Zealand, extensively. We never would have had the opportunity to stay in the Hyundai Hilton – check out the in-room dining. We never would have seen the Big Sheep, or worn a sheep shirt for that matter. More importantly, we would never have come across where all the knobs of the world reside and now we know where to avoid.
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The office
Hyundai Hilton
In-room dining
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Dave, the Phantom and the Phantom Paul Carson tolerating Mark
Mark with Dave from Surfing Green
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B.F.F.s
Slow walks in the park... Mark with Mitchell from Outer Island
7/12/2016 4:12 AM
Making great
FRIENDSHIPS Nigel Dwyer from Del Surfboards
Richard Harvey helps Mark tap into his inner shaper
Smorgasboarder hasn’t been about making the mighty dollar. Sure it is good to be able to pay the bills and feed the family (that helps) but for us it has always been about something more than that. When it’s all business and nothing but, there’s no fun and no deeper meaning to what you are doing. We set out to meet people, understand what they were about and what they were trying to achieve in this thing we call the surf industry. In doing so we wanted to look after the people we worked with and always sought to have their best interests at heart. Thankfully this has seen us develop some really strong friendships along the way. Instead of heading down the coast "on business" to sell and write some stuff, our road trips became a chance to catch up with friends, to see how they were going, find out what interesting things they had been up to of late and from time to time catch up for a wave or a meal or a beer or two. Unfortunately, this approach to "doing business" often prolonged road trips making them take much longer than originally planned. A quick catch up with someone here and there often turned into an in-depth three-hour chat /interview. That may have lead to another chat with some person they knew nearby. Sometimes a planned one-week distribution/editorial run may rolled into two. Sometimes two weeks may have rolled into three, until the threat of divorce... Aside from the friendships we made outside of our business, Smorgasboarder was also about strengthening our friendships within the business. There would be nothing worse than working so closely with someone you hate. Sure you might say, “but Mark is such a tosser. How do you put up with him?” On a serious note however, I think working as hard as we have would usually put a lot of strain on a business relationship let alone a friendship. Thankfully for us it has just worked and we’ve managed to not kill one another, although I did note Mark gave me the assignment of the sky dive and the very small light plane interview with aerial photographer Mike Swaine and the bungee jump, hang on that was my own doing. Anyhow you get the drift, we have a lot of man-love going on for one another. Who else would I rather go night surfing with or… now I am rambling. Time to get on to the next section.
Dave and Mark - hairless, finless and fancy free at night
Dave and Mark Riley (is that morning or night?)
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SURF IS FREE... LIKE MAGS SHOULD BE
SURF IS FREE... LIKE MAGS SHOULD BE
SOUNDWAVES
A CHANCE MEETING WITH THE GOLD COAST’S ISAAC PADDON P22 TRAVEL: EXPLORE PHILLIP ISLAND P46
HOME: SOUTH COAST MAGIC P64
GEAR: BOARDS GALORE P75
DEBATE:
SUP, UP AND AWAY P48
WORDS: THE KANTENDER P26
THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF
ISSUE #1 SEP/OCT 2010
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THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF ISSUE #2 NOV/DEC 2010
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30/10/10 3:46 PM
FREEBORD... SIX WHEELS TO FREEDOM ...P168
212-PAGES
AND IT’S FREE!
SURF TOWN
DOMESTIC DEPARTURES
CRONULLA
SYDNEY’S NORTHERN BEACHES ...P112 ISSUE #9 JAN/FEB 2012
INTERVIEW
ONE MAN’S QUEST TO GET BACK ON BOARD ...P60
LIMITED EDITION
COVER #1 0F 4
LIMITED EDITION
COVER #2 0F 4
.COM.AU
8/11/11 5:55 PM
COVER #4 0F 4
SMORGASBOARDER
.COM.AU
Because surf is free...
9/01/12 11:53 PM
LOVING SURFING AMAZING PEOPLE CRAFT & CRAFTSMANSHIP
.COM.AU
Because surf is free...
THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF
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LIMITED EDITION
COVER #3 0F 4
.COM.AU
Because surf is free...
SNOW AND SURF ADVENTURES ALL ‘ROUND THE GLOBE
INSPIRING PEOPLE UNDERTAKING MOST INSPIRING PROJECTS ...P46
THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF ISSUE #8 NOV/DEC 2011
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LIMITED EDITION
TRAVEL BUG
HOMEGROWN
BEN OXENBOULD ...P42
Because surf is free...
F R E E
S U R F
M A G A Z I N E • A U S / N Z
SURF+
ART
SURF+
ART
PEOPLE, BOARDS & WAVES
WORK OF HEART:
SURF+
JORDIE BROWN... P104
ART
EARTH INSPIRED: JASON SWALES... P62
PEOPLE, BOARDS & WAVES
OTHER WORLDS: JAMES McMILLAN... P48
SURF+ BEHIND BARRY:
MEET THE ARTIST, CURL... P82
1/11/2014 10:04 am
1/09/2014 12:08 pm
S U R F BOA R D D E S I G N | T R A VE L | A M A Z I NG PEOP L E
BRICKS & MO RTALS OF THE COASTLINE
SURF SHOPS
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MORE SURFBOARDS THAN EVER:
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TRAVEL ALL OVER: WESTERN AUSTRALIA & TAIWAN
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WOODEN BOARD LOVE
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INSIDE: GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH SURF SNAPPING BROTHERS | BUILDING A WOODEN BOARD | VISIT PNG | SURFBOARDS
INSPIRING SURF TRAVEL TALES, INTERNATIONALLY & LOCALLY: MENTAWAIS | SUMATRA | BALI | WEST OZ | SNOWBOARDING JAPAN
INSIDE: SHARKS - IT’S TIME TO TALK | SOFTBOARDS - WE TEST THEM ALL | INSPIRING PEOPLE, BRILLIANT BOARDS & AMAZING PLACES
INSIDE: BUILDING A CARDBOARD SURFBOARD | INTRODUCING NEW COLUMNS - THE SURF SAGE & SMOKE SIGNALS | AMAZING SURF TRAVEL
INSIDE: SURF-INSPIRED ART AND ARTISTS | SURF TRAVEL IN INDONESIA | THE LATEST SURFBOARD DESIGNS | INFLATABLE SUP TEST
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KIWIS SANDY RYAN GOES SURFING WITH SOME MATES FROM ACROSS THE DITCH
Stoked surfer, home board builder, passionfruit farmer, Troy Smith Photo: Richard Kotch
Brad Bessant snaps John John Florence Photo: Craig Bessant
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13/05/2014 11:24 am
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YOUR CHAN C E TO W IN ONE OF THE SU R F BOA R DS F EATU R ED IN THIS EDITION!
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A SIGNED PRINT OF ARTWORK... P6 WIN THIS
PEOPLE, BOARDS & WAVES
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MAN OF MANY BOARDS BODYSURFING THE MALDIVES • IMMERSED IN FILM • SPRAY GUNS • DREAM SURF PADS • TRAVEL TALES
SURF SNAPPING SPECIAL
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Photo: Jim Culley
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- SUMMER-
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BRETT MARTIN | NEAL CAMERON | CHRIS GARRETT | CURL LACHLAN OLIVE | KYM NAGLER | TONY OGLE | SCOTT CHRISTENSEN JIMMY WAGS | OWEN CAVANAGH | CRAIG BAIRD... AND MORE!
2/02/2016 10:23 pm
SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS 2016
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“THOSE WHO FLOW AS LIFE FLOWS KNOW THEY NEED NO OTHER FORCE.”
OUR SURFING FAMILY HAS GROWN... WELCOME ON BOARD, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
LAO TZU
“THE CURE FOR ANYTHING IS SALT WATER: SWEAT, TEARS OR THE SEA.”
BUMPER 164-PAGE BIRTHDAY EDITION! MASSIVE BOARDS SECTION!
“TO PICK UP A BIG WAVE IS EASY, BUT TO SURVIVE A BIG WAVE IS ANOTHER STORY.” DAVID MESNARD
ISAK DINESEN
SURF IS FREE... LIKE MAGS SHOULD BE
MUCH MORE THAN CRICKET AND CURRY..
SURFING
SRI LANKA
IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY
EVERYDAY SURFERS... ...this issue is all you. P31
DISCOVERING INDIAN OCEAN MAGIC P74
MAT McHUGH OF THE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS TALKS ABOUT LIFE AS A SURFER & MUSICIAN
WHAT LIES BENEATH P78
Byronb Bab ya
BITTERLY COLD, SHARKY AS HELL, MONSTROUS WAVES... WHY GO ANYWHERE ELSE?
SOUTHERN OCEAN ADVENTURE
FAMILY-FRIENDLY SAMOA P70
SO MANY BOARDS P83
BIRTH OF A BOARD LABOUR, PAIN & JOY
NORTH STRADBROKE
YOUR SURF SHOTS AND MORE
UP THE CREEK
PASS THE SALT?
WITH A PADDLE ...P35
FERRY GOOD INDEED ...P58
WETTIES
THE DESAL DEBATE ...P50
ROAD DOGGIN’
NOT ALL THE SAME ...P105
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THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF ISSUE #4 MAR/APR 2011
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THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF ISSUE #5 MAY/JUN 2011
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E THE PEOPLE, THE PLAC
TO THE ISLANDS ...P54
BEHIND VIC SURFBOARDS ...P66
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LEGENDS: WAYNE LYNCH | BILL WALLACE | BARRIE SUTHERLAND
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THE GOLD COAST: ICONIC SURF BREAKS, LEGENDARY SHAPERS, modern INNOVATORS
SMORGASBOARDER
SMORGASBOARDER S U R F
10/05/12 8:06 PM
LOVING SURFING AMAZING PEOPLE CRAFT & CRAFTSMANSHIP
LOVING SURFING AMAZING PEOPLE CRAFT & CRAFTSMANSHIP
F R E E ( Z E )
WIN A $5000 QUIVER
2012 SURF SHOP SPECIAL... P137 | FRESH, NEW-LOOK BOARD PROFILES... P112
PLUS: HUGE WAVES AND ICE COLD: DUNEDIN PHOTOGRAPHER STEVO... P92
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5/09/12 8:48 PM
INSPIRING STORIES & PEOPLE
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50 PAGES OF SURFBOARDS
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Because surf is free...
SPRING
THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF
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INSIDE: HOT & COLD - FROM THE SURF TO THE SNOW - JAPAN & PNG | MATT WILKERSON & BERTLEMANN BOARDS | ALOHA BARRY ART
INSIDE: BARRY, CAUGHT CHEATING
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GRE G HUGLIN
Smorgasboarder covers - the part of the mag we always agonise over for ages... Only because we often wish we had more than one cover to capture all the boards, interesting people, stories, reader contributions and more in every edition. In fact (as some of you may remember) we even did that for our first big Surf Art edition - four limited edition covers for the one issue. We've had photos of famous people, photos of readers, photos by readers, photos of people taking photos... And we love each one for a different reason. Some standouts? Foam Balls' Craig Bessant and Saltmontion's Joel Coleman have been repsonsible for some consistently cracking images. Tom Woods' snap of the world's happiest surfer on the Coffs Harbour edition as well as Fieldey's shark mural definitey had a whole heap of people talking. Jim Culley's shot of Sandy Ryan with a GoPro in his mouth is a classic, as is Mike Swaine's aerial shot of a surfer on a wave (not taken with a drone, but from an actual airplane!). In fact, they're all standouts - and that's why they're on the cover.
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ALASKAN ADVENTURE • MALDIVIAN SERENDIPITY • WETSUIT TESTS • THE FAMILY TREE
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THE BEST READER PICS ...P17
THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF ISSUE #7 SEP/OCT 2011
WELCOME TO NEAL CAMERON ‘S WORLD OF INVENTION... P30
SONGS & KYM CAMPBELL SURF P40
LIVING ...P42
A HUGE 180 PAGES OF AMAZING PEOPLE WE ALWAYS WANTED TO MEET
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SURF SHOTS
AT HOME IN THE WAVES
FRIEND OR FOE? ...P56
THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF ISSUE #6 JUL/AUG 2011
WINTER, SHMINTER... THERE’S PLENTY OF SUNSHINE IN THE WORLD
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ASH GRUNWALD TAKES SURFING, MUSIC, ART & FILM ON TOUR ...P22
...P82 THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF ISSUE #3 JAN/FEB 2011
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O U R FAVOURITE
GRASS ROOTS Reader Photo
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here’s not too much more to say here other than Smorgasboarder has always been about the grassroots surfing community; essentially you, our readers. So many of you have interesting stories to tell and some great surf shots as well thanks to the introduction of GoPros and the like. In pretty much every edition, as you know, we feature your great shots. Here’s one of our favourites. This amazing Jeff Tull one from the early days, as well as Luc Bruna's cover shot are just two cracking examples of your lens skills!
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s the saying goes, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and a lot of what we love and loath is often associated with either good or bad times. Now by no means are we inferring the towns we have listed here are the greatest and the seaside hideaway you call home is a festering hole, crap we would lose 80% of our readership in one foul swoop. What we are saying is the places we have named are where we have enjoyed some truly memorable experiences and they just so happen to be incredibly appealing as well. Indeed, we are all so very fortunate so much of our Australian and New 46
Coastlines and
SEASIDE TOWNS
Zealand coastline is breathtakingly beautiful. Now another saying you might have heard is, “the grass is always greener on the other side” and just as our home on the Sunshine Coast is one of the most desirable coastal destinations in the world we found ourselves falling in love with coastal towns far, far away and markedly
different from where we live. So here they are in no particular order: (Please note, this review is written by Dave who loves freezing cold water, open fires and wintery destinations. His dream destination would see snow falling heavily as he walks down onto the beach. Mark on the other hand prefers lukewarm water, long slow walks on the beach
and Pina Coladas with the little umbrella on the side.)
1. The Gong and Beyond I didn’t see this stretch of Coast until we began Smorgasboarder and immediately fell in love, particularly with the northern end from Stanwell Park to Thirroul and Kiama south. Through the years I have seen these
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K CHEC UT! O THIS areas transform into very trendy little seaside suburbs indeed but fortunately they have lost none of their charm. The view from Stanwell Tops is something to behold as is the lookout from Bulli. Surfing the northern end around Coal Cliff you will find yourself sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean and the cliffs of the Illawarra Escarpment, which drop precipitously to the sea. Here I also have one of my favourite campgrounds where I like to stay right on the beach at Coledale.
2. Port Fairy and the Shipwreck Coast Possibly the most idyllic coastal town I have ever seen. Historic bluestone buildings house quaint eateries, shops and local watering holes, huge Norfolk Island pines line the streets and boats moored along the banks of the Moyne River has the town resembling a mix of Maine, Canada and northern Europe all rolled into one. Port Fairy is so picturesque and oozes a very unique sophisticated charm. In my opinion it is the jewel in the crown of the rugged Shipwreck Coast which extends from Cape Otway through to the South Australian border. 3. Piha One of the first few places we surfed in our first exploratory mission over
to NZ. Seeing it for the first time is like walking onto the set of Jurassic Park. Atop of the Waitakere Ranges as Piha first comes into full view you are greeted with the most aweinspiring panorama of rugged cliffs, the wild Tasman Sea, volcanic black sand beaches and lush hillsides. In gloomy conditions when the surf is on it has a foreboding, prehistoric feel about it that has you both bristling with excitement and packing your duds at the same time. 4. Kaikoura When you first lay eyes on this area it takes you a while to take it all in because it is hard to comprehend its absolute natural beauty. It is picture postcard perfect. I mean how many places do you know of in the world where snow-capped mountains
literally line the coastline. The water is this vibrant aquamarine colour and the rocky limestone shoreline virtually plays a symphony each time a wave comes crashing upon the beach. Crikey, I sound a little poetic (a bad poet that is) with my description but I suppose that is what this place does to you. Whilst on the subject of Kaikoura we would like to pass on our well wishes to the local community following the recent earthquake that shook the area to its core and hope they can get life back to normal. 5. Akaroa We only spent a night there and the fact we nearly died on the way made the beholden site of this quaint French/ English town nestled on a sheltered harbour surrounded by the XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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6. The Far South Coast of NSW There is something about the Far South Coast that just makes me relax and breathe a little deeper. I suppose it has something to do with escaping the hustle and bustle of greater Sydney, which now really extends virtually all the way down to Wollongong. The traffic eases and the stunning scenery begins. From Eurobodalla Shire taking in the likes of Batemans Bay right down along the Sapphire Coast to the Victorian border is to me God’s country. It has
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remnants of an extinct volcano even more special. It was our 2014 family trip to the South Island and after a day on the snow at Mt Hutt we decided to make a beeline for Akaroa only to find ourselves endlessly winding up steep mountains late into the night before we eventually arrived. A quick few tips; don’t drive to Akaroa at night, especially in winter, and make sure to visit Vangionis for dinner. Anyone who has been to Akaroa remarks about how special it is.
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changed a lot over the last years we have published Smorgasboarder and I only hope the pace of develop slows so it does not impact on the to-date unspoilt beauty of the region. Oh and the surf just so happens to be pretty incredible, as are the little towns along the way such as Bermagui, Tathra and Eden, along with the oysters and all of the natural produce from the area.
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7. West Coast, NZ South Island If Piha has you feeling like you are walking onto the set of Jurassic Park the West Coast will have you feeling like you have actually stepped back in time 30 million years ago to when this landscape was first formed. It is wild, wooly and absolutely breathtaking. On the swell side of things you are often waiting for the swell to drop from insane to friggin' massive. Some of the highlights of this coastline are Punakaiki’s
Pancake Rocks, blowhole and surrounding 100m high limestone cliffs, Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glacier. 8. Sydney’s Northern Beaches Entering parts of Sydney’s Northern Beaches particularly those north of “The Bends” is like entering another world. You can’t help but marvel at not only the succession of fine, sandy beaches punctuated by protective sandstone headlands but also the size and grandeur of the beachside mansions. You can’t help but wonder how someone can amass that kind of wealth in a lifetime. You can however see why Australia’s elite have set up residence here. What I like most of all however is that I can park my Hyundai Hilton in the Lakeside Holiday Park in Narrabeen and take it all in without the pain of a mortgage that would take me one hundred lifetimes to pay off. XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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THE BREAKS
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ur pick of some of our favourite and most memorable surf breaks will no doubt surprise more than a few. We’re not so much seeking out a heaving slab as we are a nice mellow long wall where we can casually carve. After all, let’s be honest, Mark and I are now in our 40s. We’re getting old. I for one can’t afford to go injuring myself every second month like I frequently did. Our list doesn’t include several acclaimed and revered breaks because the acclaimed breaks are often packed to the max and there is nothing we detest more than surfing a slalom course and the revered breaks are more often than not semi-secret spots with an intense local crew and we are going to let sleeping dogs lie. The breaks we have listed are spots where we have been lucky enough to enjoy a fun surf whilst doing our thing with the mag. HOME (MINE) It is hard to go past my home break of Moffat Beach not that I surf it much nowadays – can’t handle the
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pressure of people watching you when you repeatedly tell them you are a crap surfer. I have however enjoyed many a surf here and managed to get in some really enjoyable board testing. When she is on song there are plenty of take-off points to help with crowd management and nice long walls to enjoy with plenty of time to carve away. The “Happy Place” being Happy Valley also deserves an honourable mention. (MARK’S) Aside from playing Duelling Banjos north of the Maroochy River they do have some pretty slick breaks and no more famous than this majestic mother – Mudjimba Island or Old Woman as she is affectionately known by some. SUMNER, CHRISTCHURCH Who would have thunk it? Teahupo’o it may not be and we hear she can get crowded, but each time we have visited between Autumn and Winter
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Sumner cruising while testing Seventh Wave steamers
we've had spectacular waves. Not much more than 2-3 ft but perfectly formed and perfectly suited for longboarding or retro-inspired craft from local shaper Jay Jackman of Sadhana Surfboards. PIHA The scenery is nothing short of spectacular and the surf always seems to be on in some form or another (as are the swirling currents). When you surf here you
really do feel like you are on the set of a movie or TV show for the matter (800 Words). It leaves you in awe and she can pack a punch.
One more, says Piha
DUNEDIN Is there a theme here? I guess we just enjoy surfing cold places (well I do, Mark complains but none of our travelling party ever bothers to listen). This place ALWAYS has surf. In fact, I believe it would be an absolute miracle if it didn’t. Who XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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Surf Breaks
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cares if the water temp ranges from 8 to maybe 15 degrees and there are quite a fair few toothy compatriots in the near vicinity. St Claire and St Kilda Beach are our staples. Too far north and you hit the seal colony along with KZ7. He’s rumoured to be the same size as the Kiwi Super Maxi of the same name. TWELVE APOSTLES It may be extremely treacherous and teeming with White Pointers but who doesn’t want to surf next to an Australian landmark when the conditions are right. Seriously though, don’t dare try if you are not an extremely strong swimmer or can really handle yourself in the surf otherwise you might end up in either Tassie or NZ or as flotsam.
THE FARM, SHELLHARBOUR Great peeling A-frames where we have occasionally scored some really fun hollow barrels. Nowadays she is getting more and more crowded though. THE SURF COAST There are really so many options but our favourites include Cathedral Rock near Lorne and Lorne Point itself when there are some long line peelers. Cathedral Rock is awesome in 6ft+ clean SW swells but she is a bugger to get out and back in if you don’t fancy making your way in to the beach. And there are countless other great waves we have enjoyed in and around Newcastle, Sydney’s Northern Beaches, the South Coast of NSW (bit too secretive to mention) and northern NSW.
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Them's the Breaks…
Mickey T's turf Photo © Raglan Longboards
SOME GOOD, SOME BAD.
Mickey T
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aves are fickle. You can’t score your dream break every time. And as we have come to learn through our travels, some we can’t even score any time, no matter how many times we visit. Some of the breaks are absolute hallowed turf (or oceans we should say) that are every surfer’s dream and some well… we just want to goddamn score it in decent conditions because… we want to. RAGLAN Why ohh why? The sight of Raglan going off is just too good to believe plus we have a steady supply of awesome boards from one of the 54
Mark at Raglan
nicest blokes and talented shapers you will meet in NZ, Mickey T of Raglan Longboards. So why can’t we get it like this? We’ve had fun in the past but as you can see above there is a slight discrepancy. LYALL BAY Some might ask why. Because where else do you get to surf right beside an airport runway? I have experienced some fun little waves here in the middle of winter when the water was a balmy 12 to 13 degrees but am yet to get it when it is, as described in the Wavetrack New Zealand Surfing Guide, “a big exploding peak breaking off the end of the runway… Surfers need cast iron balls to take off.”
Dave at Lyall Bay here, and Lyall Bay above
GREAT LAKES Life is all about taking in new experiences and what better way than to venture over to visit our first ever overseas subscriber in Mike
Roberson in Grand Haven, Michigan. Sure he may be 1000km from the nearest ocean but he has access to the Great Lakes. Let’s consider
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e We can custom shap foam core paulownia skinned blanks
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the pros, there are no crowds. Best estimates put the number of surfers in the Great Lakes at 500. On average there are 100 surfable days, which does not sound too dissimilar to the Sunshine Coast where we live. Of those, 30 days would be considered very good and about 15 days of excellent surf where the waves are chest high or bigger. And, no sharks! The cons? Offshore and glassy is not a regular part of the vocabulary to describe surf conditions here and the surface water in some parts during winter does freeze but who’s complaining. Good 6mm wetsuit, good constitution and it’s all systems go.
RIVER SURFING When Jon Wilson from NZ Shred over in Queenstown and his mate Chris Shaw sent in photos of them surfing a sheet wave at the Hawea Whitewater Kayak Park just outside of Wanaka, we knew the next surf spot we must sample.
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Fergburgers
Beach House
Maranui Cafe The Galley
Rivermouth
Cafes, Pit Stops
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ell we hate to be controversial but in our opinion if truth be told this category is absolutely dominated by the Kiwis. I think their fresh produce and that everything appears to be homemade has a lot to do with it. It is hard to find a café that delivers substandard fare. The Beach House Café + Bar, Waipu Cove, North Island NZ Our first dinner and breakfast in NZ was here and we still remember it vividly. My mouth starts to water just thinking about it… and the coffee. Maranui Café, Lyall Bay, Wellington, North Island NZ Possible one of the coolest cafes we have ever been to. Awesome vibe, busy as hell and not in the slightest bit pretentious. Breaky here is the perfect remedy following a sub 14 degrees surf out front. The Shack, Raglan, North Island NZ Another Kiwi standout. Awesome food and coffee. You have probably guessed by now we are huge fans of breakfast. What surfer isn’t? 56
Starfish Café and Dunedin, South Island NZ This is weird but Dunedin is always freezing in and out of the water (love it) but when you had to the Starfish for breakfast, miraculously the sun comes out. It is like the gods are smiling upon your breaky choice. Fergburgers, Queenstown, South Island NZ If this is the kiwi’s version of fast food we love it. Love, love their burgers AND Fergbaker next door. Love a bit of tart.
Re:Start Container Mall, Christchurch, South Island NZ Iconic, funky and absolutely amazing food. Pick any foodie container and let your stomach go to heaven. Trendy cafes, wood fired pizzas, Fritz’s Weiners, kronuts... :) Yep, you heard us. Food of champions. And there’s great coffee there too. We get a little excited when we head here. Pizza Pizza, Lorne, Victoria Awesome Pizza takeaway. Pizzas don’t have to be fancy to be good. Simple and fresh is all you need. Order, head to the pub and grab a couple of longnecks then retire to wherever you are staying or just sit outside. Our regular when in Lorne. Youkis Japanese Restaurant in Amaroo Holiday Park, Cowes, Phillip Island Superb Japanese in... wait for it... Amaroo Holiday Park, which is where I park the Hyundai Hilton when in Phillip Island. I love Japanese, and Youkis sushi and sashimi is my treat when on a long road trip.
The Galley, Coffs Harbour, NSW Wayne and MaryAnn run The Galley and have a little organic garden right out front and make the freshest of fresh tasty burgers. The Rivermouth Café, Tomakin, NSW The food and coffee is great, the café has real character and the lady who owns and runs it is one of the nicest you will ever meet. My essential pit stop on a road trip down the Far South Coast of NSW. Dip Café, Byron Bay, NSW Consistency's the key here. Dip has been a frequent stop for breakfast on our regular distribution runs down the coast and it never ever disappoints. Anglesea General Store, Victoria Maids Pantry Brunchbar is a ripper. A superb Surf Coast stop for a coffee and treat or something more substantial. Trappers Bakery of Goulburn, NSW If on the island speed run down to Victoria this is an absolute cracker.
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WATERING HOLES Urunga
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ow it may come as a surprise to some but those who have read a few editions of Smorgasboarder would be aware that aside from surfing we don’t mind the odd beer or two. So with that said, the question on everybody’s lips we are sure, well those who love a beer too, is, where are some of our favourite watering holes? Wye Beach Hotel, Wye River, Victoria Is this Australia’s best pub? Well you would be hard pressed to argue, just look at the view. Imagine what it’s like having just caught a few frosties and then walking across the road for a few of another kind. Suffice to say, when we are passing through, we 58
Harbour View Hotel, Raglan
consider it sacrilegious to at least not pop in for one quick ale. Panhandle, Cowes, Victoria Why? Because it is super chilled and relaxed and we love going to Phillip Island. Everything is within walking distance, well the Panhandle to the Holiday Park anyhow and there is always good people there to catch up with over a beer. The Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour, NSW Always great live music playing but extremely dangerous. A few beers on a Sunday afternoon can see you stay until close and delay your travel plans for the next day or any thoughts of an early morning surf. Railway Hotel, Byron Bay, NSW It is a sentimental favourite when
visiting Byron and often the starting point for a long night ahead. Always an interesting musician playing. The Beach Hotel is also a lot of fun for people watching over a lazy afternoon session. Mallacoota Hotel, Victoria Just because it is so far from home and its always exciting to park the Hyundai Hilton for the night and race up for a counter meal and a few amber nectars. Tathra Hotel on the other side of the border is also special for the same reason. Alex Bar and Grill, Alexandra Headland, QLD Because this is where Smorgasoarder was conceived. Lorne Hotel, Victoria Just such a great view in a great part of the world. Ocean View Hotel, Urunga, NSW A grand old pub with such a good vibe and where we often catch up for a chat with master shaper Mitchell Rae of Outer Island Surfboards. Harbour View Hotel, Raglan, North Island, NZ Raglan is just such a fun town with a good vibe and we always have good night here. Dunedin, South Island, NZ A beer here means we are catching
Carse
up with Carse (legendary local shaper Graham Carse) who is always up for a few and there’s plenty of laughs to be had. And plenty of bars to visit so we have named the whole town. McLeod’s Pizza Barn, Waipu, North Island, NZ This is a favourite as it topped off one of the most memorable days of my life. More on this in our Most Memorable Experiences. And really, this section could go on for an entire magazine. There are so many local watering holes full of character throughout our wonderful country as well as NZ.
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Surfboard
ROAD TESTS
F Woody's Megafish
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unnily enough when first asked to road test a few surfboards we explained we weren’t the world’s best surfers. Hell, we weren’t even the Sunshine Coast’s best surfers. Indeed, we couldn’t even claim to be the best surfers in our respective streets and pretty much won’t be able to claim as much in our own households in a year or two. You see we love to surf but we don’t rip. Mark occasionally rips one off. I rip my pants every now and again when I have indulged too much over Christmas but we certainly don’t rip in the surf. So whilst we are more than happy to surf anew style of
board, we’re not going to be able to rate how it is to pull airs. We’re just normal everyday surfers but we guess that is where we struck a chord with many shapers. As they explained, everybody likes to think they surf like Slater but very few do. You guys can give an honest assessment of what the board is like for Joe or Jody Average. So here are a few of the memorable boards we have had the pleasure of surfing. By no means is it a complete list, we are after all always happy to try new ones hint, hint. It’s simply where we really liked the ride of the said board and the conditions were perfectly aligned.
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Woody’s Megafish This was the first board I tested and it still lingers in my memory. You’ve heard the saying “your go to board”. Well, it really was for me for quite a while. It could handle a variety of conditions from Sunshine Coast surf slop to a pounding beachie. Super fast, turn on a dime and strangely paddled on to full waves like a 10ft mal. You could even noseride it despite being only 6’6”. Sadhana Surfboards The waves on the day weren’t huge but were just so well formed and the boards we rode so perfectly suited to the conditions. This was a classic exampleof why a local shaper knows best. The day will be etched in our memories as one of the most enjoyable days of board testing and indeed surfing that we have ever experienced.
Mark Rabbidge’s Five Finger Splade There is a special place in my heart for this board and that is why it is the latest addition to the Swan family. The design is not a novelty. It surfs in an all-round modern way without the hang-ups of modern day designs. Powers off the bottom as the fingers engage and then releases off the top lip like you have never experienced. Words can’t describe other than ‘utterly addictive’. Vampirate Grave Digger 5’2” x 20” x 2 5/8” may sound too small for some but I’m 6ft and close to 90kgs and yet this is my favourite shortboard. Twin keels and a flat deck deliver great down-the-line speed and coupled with its length make it easy to whip around. The lifted shovelnose doesn’t detract from the boards speed but prevents nosediving when taking off late on pitching waves.
Diggin' it...
Sadhana Surfboards
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Diverse Sonic Pro
Must Test Bushrat’s Finless Flextail Do you reckon you would remember doing your first 360 on a wave? How about if you managed to pull of four in between carving up and down the face of a long Moffat Beach wall. I was on a high for months and it was all done on this 5’8” finless … and remember, I am a Joe Average surfer. Diverse Sonic Pro Model This board was placed into my van when I was enroute to Newcastle. Now I will be the first to admit I don’t feel I can honestly assess performance shortboards in the main because they just don’t suit my surfing style but something about this board and the conditions at Newcastle Beach clicked. Despite the board being only 5’10” x 18 ¼” x 2 3/16” it virtually stuck to my feet like I was strapped in and was so steady underfoot. The Dynocore was dynamite. 62
Powerboard Unfortunately I was out injured again and didn’t get the chance to try but the boys raved about these longboards they tried. Unlike other motorised / jet propelled surfboards that have come and gone Powerboard is powering on because they are the only one with a reliable, propellerbased propulsion system in the fin. If you have an injury that prevents you from paddling out or are keen to surf waves where a jetski would normally be required, why wouldn’t you consider giving this a go? Black Apache Mini-Simmons What more can I say than it’s a miniSimmons designed by one of the guys who brought the mini-Simmons back into fashion six years ago. Some may dismiss these shapes but they are well suited to weak Sunshine Coast beachies where speed is required and there is no face to get going on a longboard.
High Tide 9’1” Log This is my personal board and just such a great board to ride when the conditions suit. I have never owned a longboard quite like this and the ride is so different. I particularly like the way it handles with its slightly rounded pin tail, big 10 inch glassed on single fin and super flat deck.
High Tide log
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Board Tester Angman on the Power Board
Board tester Karl, Black Apache mini-Simmons
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Memorable
EXPERIENCES U
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nfortunately, we don’t as yet own a jet nor a beachside condo or even a fancy car for that matter. Publishing Smorgasboarder hasn’t made us ridiculously wealthy and we can’t see that changing anytime soon, in a monetary sense that is, but as cliched as it sounds, we are richer for the unbelievable experiences we’ve had.
We learnt to handshape our blanks with Richard Harvey down on the Gold Coast and then graduated to glassing, resin tinting, finish coating and polishing with Paul Carson at The Factory Surfboards in Moffat Beach. Both men were absolutely fantastic and extremely patient… with Mark. They were possibly in awe of my natural talent.
BUILDING A BOARD FROM START TO FINISH The only true way to fully comprehend what goes into making a surfboard is by building your own by hand completely from start to scratch. We tackled this task way back in Issue 4 and have to say it was without doubt one of the most memorable experiences Mark and I have enjoyed since we began Smorgasboarder. The fact my miniSimmons called the Stumpy Duck turned out to be one of the most incredible surfboards of all time just added to the buzz. Disappointingly, Mark’s was a dog but I guess some people just ooze talent and others struggle.
THE CONTEST CONTINUES: MAKING ALAIAS If we didn’t have enough laughs building our foam and fibreglass boards our next challenge was alaias with the good folks at Surfing Green, Nic and Dave. Mark was clearly still in the groove from our initial board build and was out of the gates like a raging bull. Unfortunately for him it was to only last a day and whilst his shape had merit it surfed like a fishtail ironing board. Neptune Rising (out of a sea of Blue Loo – I stained the tip of the board with it) was a revelation, mainly because I realised that staining your board with Blue Loo would only see it “flush away” the first time you surfed it.
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Mark
Dave
I GO IT ALONE Realising he had been completely vanquished Mark did not join me on the hollow wooden board building course with the Rob, Gary and Darren from Tree to Sea down in Mt Eliza. Building these boards with the crew on my course was an incredible experience. I really enjoyed the comradery and banter over the course of the 3 days. It was a lot of work and quite exhausting but an extremely rewarding experience. Of course, my shaping finesse once again came to the fore when I lopped the nose off my board and promptly
called it The Flathead. NOT TO BE OUTDONE Of Course Mark couldn’t leave things there. He had to go and build not one, but several of the coolest surf guitars out of foam and fibreglass, centre stringer and all! He did get some assistance however I will add from some of the most talented glassers in the surf industry. Cheat. His son Flynn’s recycled Hawaiian shirt as a plectrum guard was brilliant.
Left: Jase from Ace Fibreglass shows Mark the ropes XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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CURLS, PIZZA AND BEERS Now this is definitely one of the perks of publishing Smorgasboarder. Roger Hall of Surfline Surfboards in New Zealand shapes boards that defy belief. Over the last few years he’s dedicated a great deal of his focus to re-evolving the 1930s Hot Curl, bringing it into modern surfboard terms. The Hot Curl is a finless surfboard first developed in the 1930s before the introduction of fins and instead relies on a steep Roll/Vee bottom contour through the tail third to pull the tail into the face of the wave. Anyhow Roger has been refining the design, shaping and testing various shapes, sizes and styles. On this particular day I was delivering Smorgasboarder on the North Island and compiling stories for our next edition when I called by Roger’s factory. I was informed he was down at Waipu Cove doing some more testing of his latest Hot Curls and it was suggested I should join him. It was way too good an opportunity to pass up. Three hours or so later I was convinced these were the next boards for my 66
quiver. Still on a high I joined Roger for a pizza and a few beers after at his local watering hole, McLeod’s Pizza Barn. Well not only were the pizzas superb but the place was a micro-brewery and with some absolute mouth-watering amber nectar, I was of course in trouble. The owners, brothers Geoff and Clayton Wynne were classic blokes and really looked after me and basically a very fun night unfolded which resulted in me sleeping in my delivery van out front. Thank you boys for one of the most memorable days of my whole entire life.
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DINING ON CRAYS ON A DESERTED BEACH It’s not every day you get to dine out on crayfish, let alone on a deserted beach with three of your best mates. Unfortunately the Smorgasboarder travel budget is not that lavish but on this occasion, thanks to an incredibly generous gentleman called Gus and his lovely wife Donna who we met in Kaikoura, we were travelling south towards Christchurch with four freshly caught crays and insisted were on the house. Here’s the excerpt from our 2012 All Black Edition: “not before long we pulled over at a place called Gore Bay. The beach was completely deserted – just us, dark sand and gigantic pieces of driftwood. We parked the motorhome, unpacked the outdoor
dining table and chairs on the sand, reached for a couple of ice cold beers and our feast of crayfish. In the most beautiful of surrounds, we got to eat, drink, relax and reflect on just how lucky we were to be able to be doing this… All in all, a dining experience that will forever be etched in our memories.” STEPPING BACK IN TIME FOLLOWED BY BREAKFAST AT FLEUR’S Rising early one morning south of Christchurch (on this same trip) and heading for Dunedin we were in search of some breakfast. Along the way we stumbled upon a town called Oamaru and knowing nothing about it, felt like we had been transported back in time. As the sun rose we
found ourselves driving down narrow streets lined with imposing 19th century limestone buildings. These beautifully preserved historic commercial buildings were remnants of a formerly prosperous refrigerated shipping industry and were now home to an array of antique shops, restaurants, a specialist whiskey bar and several art galleries, none more impressive than Steampunk HQ, a way-out there gallery with a flaming apocalyptic steam train decorated with skeletonsout front. Aghast we left Oamaru but still with an empty stomach as nothing was open yet. It was further down the track we came across a small fishing village called Moeraki that appeared to have a small café near an old pier. We ventured inside and enquired if they served breakfast. Apparently
you needed to book here several months in advance but instead of turning us away we were promptly sat down and served the most incredible breakfast we have literally ever had. It may have appeared simple but the taste was out of this world. The “little café” we had stumbled on was none other than Fleur’s Place – a gastronomical big deal owned and run by Fleur Sullivan. Who is she some might say? When world renowned chef Rick Stein was asked if he could travel anywhere in the world for a meal where would he go, his reply was Fleur’s Place. No doubt Fleur will now be big-noting that the boys from Smorgasboarder visited… or that they fed three disheveled homeless guys. XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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Experiences TAKING THE PLUNGE “We would like you to swim with dolphins and jump out of a plane while you are here”, they say. Well we couldn’t disappoint and it was another few memorable experiences for the memory bank. Thank you Coffs Coast Marketing. Ahh, all in a days’ hard work.
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IS THAT IT? Hell no, there’s then bungee jumping (see injury section), our radio interview in New Plymouth (and beers, always beers), paddleboarding around Queenstown’s Lake Wakatipu for the first time, Mark’s family visit to Hobbiton, my family visit to Japan and Mark and Jordie Brown’s Survival Course (right), where he unfortunately didn’t drink his own urine. Shall I go on?
Jordie build a shelter
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INJURIES and MISHAPS H ard to believe you would dedicate an entire section to this topic but the last 6 years have been full of injuries and a few mishaps. Now this is Dave talking as Mark has no real claim to fame here, at least on the injury side. It’s possibly because he doesn’t push the boundaries, live life on the edge, never places himself in harm’s way… basically he’s soft. Anyway, you get the drift. Let’s just refer to him as Mark the Marshmallow from here on in within this section.
So injuries… well there are two crackers both with sensational stories attached to them. So let me tell you all about them for the 1,000th time. 70
1. Bitten by a Penguin Well it was Boxing Day in 2011 and on the Sunshine Coast we had the remnants of ex-Tropical Cyclone Fina hitting our shores. Moffat Beach was on song delivering some big, beautiful waves and having tested a board called the Fat Penguin in the days before in building swell I was keen to see what it could do in the prevailing conditions. Developed by Paul Cole the board is super heavy with all kinds of varying contours on the deck, bottom and rails. One thing is for certain though, it is an absolute speed machine. On my fourth wave that day, I took off and managed to perform a beautiful triple pike straight off the
lip of a monster and upon entering the water, the Penguin, that had as usual miraculously sucked onto the wave face, continued to motor along without me until the nose ploughed at high speed straight into my thigh. The angry bird had managed to bite through my skin into the fascia encasing the muscle. Reaching down and accidentally placing 3 or 4 fingers into the wound, I knew it was a nasty nip and subsequently made the slow paddle out into deeper waters in the bay and back to shore with a nice slick of blood trailing behind me. You can hear the music can’t you? Meals on wheels.Anyhow back on the beach and a few internal and external stitches later I was all patched up just
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4 thankful the nibble wasn’t further up my thigh as I would now be singing soprano. 2. How dangerous can bungee jumping be? Not that dangerous actually. It’s leaving the bungee jump place that’s really quite tricky. On a trip to the South Island, writing stories and delivering mags, I was in need of a bit of an adrenalin rush. Upon leaving Queenstown I came across the AJ Hackett Bungee at Kawarau Bridge, and I figured why not? Waiting my turn I promptly jumped off the bridge, bounced around a bit and was then placed back in the rubber ducky to take me back to shore. As I was about to jump out, the boat moved in the rapids, I mistimed my jump, put both arms out, one landed on the banks of the river and the other slid down between two nice big boulders. As my body came crashing down it attempted to use my arm as a crowbar
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Class 'A'
CLUMSY KNOBS
of sorts but the boulders didn’t shift unfortunately. Concerned, the bungee jump boat guy asked if I was ok upon which I told him I had unfortunately broken my arm (I have a little bit of experience in this field). He informed me if I had I would be in agony. I let him know it didn’t tickle, and displayed my right forearm that was now in the shape of a Z. 3. Others Through the course of that same year I also managed to break my hand, break my left foot, right foot and
tear the medial ligaments in both my left and right knees but it was all in the name of fun. During these times I could often be heard to be singing Monty Python’s “Always look on the Bright Side of Life”. 4. Marshmallow Mark’s Token Injury I would feel bad to leave Mark entirely out of this segment so here’s a shot of a “fin chop” he supposedly suffered to his hand. It kind of looks more like a gardening injury or perhaps a self-inflicted wound from a knitting needle. A savage, savage fleshwound nonetheless. 5. That Sinking Feeling One thing Marshmallow Mark can be proud of is the fact he is a moron. Having received a beautiful recycled wooden pallet surfboard for his 40th birthday from a very caring and wonderful business partner, he
took it out one day without the bung screwed in. Minutes later as he sat out the back he noted the board was sitting a little lower than usual in the water and there was a strange gurgling sound. That would be the bung required for a hollow wooden surfboard you tool. Luckily he made it back to shore with his waterlogged wooden pallet and later set about the timely process of removing all the moisture from within it. 6. A chip off the old block Last but not least we have an entry from our resident gear tester Phoebe Swan, my darling daughter. Upon hitting the slopes of Nozawa Onsen on our first day in the snow in Japan she came a cropper on her snowboard and broke her wrist. I am so proud of you Phoebe. To her credit Phoebes continued to snowboard throughout the next two weeks with her newly made wrist guard (which some may refer to as an arm cast). XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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g n i t a n i c s a F PEOPLE
“I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference.” t’s a famous line from the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. When travelling the road of life we are presented with different choices. Each road offers up an opportunity to experience new things and meet different people. Each path is vastly different to the other. When starting Smorgasboarder we began our own journey on A path, for us, less travelled, one we were not accustomed to. We left behind the suit and tie and trappings of corporate life to sleep in a delivery van in sleepy little coastal town holiday parks. We got off the beaten track and met some incredibly
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S W E I V INTER
fascinating people, genuine people who, had we continued on our former path through the corporate world we more than likely would never have met. Our lives are richer for choosing this path with Smorgasboarder, And that has made all the difference.
Director / Cinematographer / Photographer, Greg Huglin He has shot world famous swimwear models in bikinis in exotic locations around the world, worked with some of the best fashion photographers in New York, captured footage
of Great White Sharks used in countless wildlife documentaries namely by National Geographic and the Discovery Channel, filmed and produced a few of his own such as Surfing Dolphins, his footage used in Academy Award-winning ones such
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as The Cove, produced several of my favourite surf movies such as Shark Park and worked with the likes of George Greenough and Alby Falzon. Greg Huglin has seemingly down it all and was an absolute gentleman to chat with. Greg featured in our January edition in 2015 and my interview with him remains one of my all-time favourites. Artist, kneeboard shaper, alchemist of all things carbon fibre, fibreglass and resin, Neal Cameron Truth be told I didn’t know what to think when I first met Neal. Imagine arriving at dusk to a vacant lot littered with garbage out back of Maroubra for an interview. What I found was a bloke I would happily catch up with every single time I pass through if we weren’t always on such a tight production deadline. Neal is as genuine as they come, a true character and one hell of a funny bastard with my sense of
humour. This was the intro to our interview back in 2012. “He is a mad scientist – a creator of the weird and wonderful. He lives on a bus on a vacant lot amongst derelict buildings on the outskirts of Maroubra. The ladies seem to like him. He invents. He builds. He deconstructs and repurposes. He’s insightful,
interesting and downright funny. And – considering his particular niche in the surfing family – he has the perfect name: Neal. So who exactly is he? Join us on a sci-fi journey into the world of Neal Cameron.” Does it sum up the man? Not even close. It was a ripper interview.
Surfboard Collector and Owner of Noosa Underground Surf, Andre ‘Ondi’ Marsaus I have always been accused by my wife of owning more boards than anyone else she has ever known. When Katie saw this edition I could finally prove to her my collection was a mere drop in the ocean by comparison to serious board collectors like Ondi Marsaus. Aside from collecting rare and beautiful boards he is the font of knowledge for next to anything to do with surfing and also a former world class chef. Ondi is one interesting character with one hell of an interesting board collection that is always growing. Incidentally it was Ondi that introduced me to Greg Huglin. Surfboard shaper, Jed Done Mark first met Jed briefly at a Fish Fry meet in Currumbin and a few months later insisted we catch up with him when we were travelling down the Far South Coast of NSW. XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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You see, he made these incredible flextail surfboards and we are always intrigued by those who push the boundaries of board design. We were informed however that Jed was a little way out of town. You can imagine our surprise when we turned off the highway and travelled along a winding dirt road before zigzagging through dense bushland until we came upon a clearing where a house in the shape of a giant 10-metre wooden wave stood. The house had been built by Jed near completely on his own and by hand. If that wasn’t enough, Jed had also constructed his own unique and quite extensive surfboard factory on his property where he crafted his other works of art, his beautiful flextail surfboards. Incidentally, it was Jed who introduced us to Neal Cameron.
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g n i t a n Fas ci PEOPLE
Surfboard shaper, Ashley Lloyd Thompson
W O M A N 'S
To the best of my knowledge Ashley was one of, if not the first woman to take up surfboard shaping in a professional sense and I had the pleasure of interviewing her in our Ladies Edition back in 2014. I had admired Ashley’s boards from afar well before Smorgasboarder began. When the perfect opportunity arose with this specially themed edition, I sought her out over in Santa Cruz and made contact. The interview was also quite special for me as I hoped it would provide inspiration to my own two daughters to be determined in pursuing what you are passionate about.
W O R K
DESPITE THE INFLUX of females taking to the waves and our success in the field of competitive women’s surfing, surfboard shaping has remained the exclusive domain of men, at least in this country in a commercial sense anyhow. Three young Californian ladies however have managed to break into the male dominated world of surfboard manufacturing. Ashley Lloyd Thompson (nee Lloyd), Christine Brailsford and Kelly Connolly have already made a name for themselves for the stunning sleds they create. We caught up with both Ashley and Christine to discuss their passion for the art of handcrafting surfboards. WORDS: DAVE SWAN
ASHLEY LLOYD THOMPSON HAVING first came across Ashley’s boards even before we started SMORGASBOARDER, I was instantly blown away by the craftsmanship. From that moment on I wanted to know more about this amazingly talented lady and how she came to enter such a male dominated industry.
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Ashley thought “it would be cool to shape a surfboard” but didn’t think it possible to make a career out of it until her “silver-haired, kind-spirited and solemn surfing pal,” Danny Tarampi, asked Ashley one day if she would be interested in learning the art of shaping. In the years that followed she refined her skills, learning to not only “mow foam” but glass, sand and finish. In 2005, whilst studying music at Santa Barbara City College, Bing Surfboards’ head shaper, Matt Calvani, recognised her talent and not only signed her as a team rider but as a shaper with her own signature model. Ashley later moved north to the super cool surf town of Santa Cruz where she designed another Bing model, Dear & Yonder, named after the film
of the same name before establishing her own custom surfboard label, Ashley Lloyd Surfboards. Today Ashley divides her time between shaping, surf instruction and playing music with her husband in their band The Shapes. MUSIC, SURFING, SHAPING… DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE? When I was about 20 I really started playing guitar a lot and writing songs. The more I played and started playing with other people, the more and more I enjoyed it. Music has just become another great artistic outlet for me. I SEE YOU HAVE BEEN PLAYING A FAIR FEW GIGS AROUND YOUR LOCAL AREA... Yes, its a blast playing with The Shapes! The band was formed by my husband and I. He's a great songwriter, and it feels like something special when we make music together and get to share it with others. We do play mostly locally, but would love to go on a broader tour someday.
YOU'RE VENTURING INTO HIGH PERFORMANCE SHORTBOARDS AS WELL? I love shaping anything. The majority of the boards I make are longboards and eggs, but I love shaping everything. I now have a variety of models in most shapes and sizes, and continue to keep the box open to new ideas or shapes that are requested. WHAT AREAS OF DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION HAVE YOU FOCUSED ON OF LATE? (I LOVED THE LOOK OF THE FINLESS... ) A ton of people seem to order eggs lately. I have a pretty wide eggish longboard called the AAA.. shorter than your average longboard, and wider than the average egg.. it tends to be a cozy medium for folks to enjoy in a variety of conditions. Also, I have a "rectangle space ship"... based off of the mini Simmons design. The finless board is a continuous experiment upon the request of my husband who is also my main test pilot for new designs.
Photo: Tom Vos
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GEAR: SHAPING
Actor, Ben Oxenbould Ben won critical acclaim for his chilling performance as psychotic surfing legend ‘Bull’ in the Australian thriller Caught Inside. What won us over however was how down-toearth he was when we interviewed him for Smorgasboarder. The interview ran on for a couple of hours and it felt like you were chatting to a mate about their latest work gig. I promised to catch up in person when I next passed through Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Ben if you are reading this edition let me know if you are still up for that beer? What also brought great delight was Ben’s classic line in Caught Inside. I still use it at work whenever anyone is on my case: “What? Are you gonna have a go at the Bull, are you?”
Ashley Lloyd - now Lloyd Thompson - having married her equally talented surfer/musician partner Chris Thompson, first learnt to surf in Malibu. Her mum loved the beach and viewed it as the perfect playground for her kids. Her favourite spot was Paradise Cove in Malibu. A young Ashley, having made her fair share of sandcastles and the like eventually followed her older brother, Tim, into the ocean and began to surf. Ashley became obsessed, started competing at age 15 and by the time she was
20, was ranked amongst the world’s top ten women longboarders. This is where her adventure into the world of shaping also began back in 2002. Since then she's transformed a parttime hobby into a full-time career.
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This is far from a complete list on interesting people we have interviewed. The list goes on and on; revered surfboard shapers and true legends of the surf industry such as Geoff McCoy, Mark Rabbidge and Mitchell Rae, free thinking shapers such Mick Mackie, Glenn Cat Collins and Paul Cole, musicians such as Mat McHugh of the Beautiful Girls, Ash Grunwald and Isaac Paddon, architects, chefs, doctors, artists and everyday people who have just had an incredible story to tell. It really has been a pleasure meeting all of these people and getting the opportunity to interview them.
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S C I P O T L A I S R E CONTROV
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t was always our intention for Smorgasboarder to serve as more than a pretty picture book. We desired from the outset to create a publication of substance that was both engaging and informative. To this end we set out to discuss topics relevant to surfers that would encourage debate and perhaps even ruffle a few feathers in the interest of stimulating people to express their views and form their own opinions. Some of the issues we covered we are most proud of include: 76
SHARKS Rather than sensationalise such a sensitive topic, on two occasions, once in 2011 and again last Spring in 2015, we sought to present both sides of the argument in relation to whether or not we indeed have a “shark issue” and what was the best
course in addressing the situation. The debate still rages on.
WHALES In our first ever edition we put it to our readers to be better stewards of the environment with a very confronting piece on the plight of whales. We questioned whether it
was acceptable for the world to stand by and watch whales be slaughtered by all manner of inhumane practices, or step forward into an era where conservation really matters. SUPS At this point in time paddleboarders had just come onto the scene. Surfers didn’t quite know how to
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PADDLEBOARDS? LET'S GET SERIOUS
view these street-sweepers of the sea. We investigated whether SUPs were simply a passing fad or would rapidly multiply and take over our oceans. We questioned whether they were indeed “real surfers” or if they were merely mopping up a spill in aisle seven. OVERSEAS SURFBOARD PRODUCTION Around the same time, there were significant winds of change within the surfboard manufacturing industry. Boards were just starting to be produced on mass overseas and the first wave of cheap imported shooters were hitting our shores. Rather than espouse our own views from on high as if we were some allknowing authority on surfboard craft and global economics, we shared the views of various people within the industry on either side of the fence. SALT OF THE EARTH Here we questioned the validity of the numerous desalination plants that were popping up along our coastline as a result of Eastern Australia’s “once in a hundred year drought” and enquired why it seemed our politicians were more inclined towards a glass of treated seawater rather than a sparkling glass of fresh rainwater.
ONE FOR THE LADIES Well who would have thought dedicating an entire edition to our surfing sisters would have caused such a stir. As the proud fathers of daughters we were extremely chuffed with this edition. There are so many fascinating female surfers whose stories needed to be told. We hope all of our respective kids and wives fondly look back on this edition in due course and are equally proud of what we achieved. THE LAST BASTION As a grassroots community surf mag we took up the fight for a grassroots surf community in Mallacoota fighting to save their beloved local break from being destroyed by a 130m breakwall to be built smack bang in the middle of it. We unfortunately weren’t successful in our support of the campaign and haven’t seen the point break since when passing through on our regular road trips delivering the mag.
IN-DEPTH
Guaranteed DEBATE
FIGHT FOR KANGAROO ISLAND Again we took the stand for a local surf community who was concerned with their island home being overrun by an ASP event scheduled to be held in Vivonne Bay and the potential threat to endangered fauna and the pristine natural habitat. Additionally, we were concerned with the fact that surfing is something that usually binds us and unites rather than divides communities, as it was in this instance. XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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HOLY SMOKIN'
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e have seen it all; from Catamacars (half dune buggy, half catamaran ) to surfboards made out of marijuana (not with), others with cardboard, some with coconuts and even a few from old fence palings right through to absolute aweinspiring collaborations between master shapers and immensely talented artists. This is the heart and soul of Smorgasboarder;readers who are obsessed with surfboards and surfboard design; backyard enthusiasts through to the most 78
highly revered surfboard artisans. So proud of their creations they regularly send pictures through to us to marvel at. On any given week our email inbox receives two or three “submissions” which then find their way into this illustrious magazine you are reading now. True to our name “Smorgasboarder” we celebrate all creatures great and small. Here’s a few of our favourites: 1. COCONUT SURFBOARD Sunshine Coast local Damon Bereziat
is nuts, quite frankl,y and his coconut board is proof. His idea was born 20 years ago when he saw coconut wood floating in a lagoon in PNG. Lots of people told him to forget it including our good mate and accomplished shaper Paul Carson who remarked, “It won’t work Damon. It’s too heavy. You’re a tripper” but Damo persisted nonetheless. He eventually talked Paul around, or maybe wore him down, and Damo now has a “lovely bunch of coconuts” (sing it)… Well one coconut actually, but a very nice looking thruster at that.
2. CARD – BOARD Inspired by Mike Sheldrake’s cardboard surfboard designs we featured in our Christmas 2014 edition, Smorgasboarder reader Andrew Hallett from southern Victoria created this ripper miniSimmons. We love it. I mean, I really want it but don’t think he will be passing it on any time soon. Says Andrew, “I have not made the perfect board, just like I don’t surf the perfect wave that exists only in my head. But I like that.”
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Card Board
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Hand Made MAGIC
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3. FENCE PALING PROJECT Rather than fix an old paling fence that had blown over in a storm Andrew Wells from Grown Surfboards decided to transform the Red Gum into a classic pintail single-fin that apparently “holds a nice line in the pocket” when the swell is on. Looks friggin' incredible too! XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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4 4. SMOKIN’ HOT Our next favourite project is one big doobie. These days boards are being fashioned out of all kinds of natural material, which is fantastic news for the planet. This little beauty by alaia enthusiast Adam Bell was fashioned from of all things, medicinal marijuana plants. Painstakingly whittled down and glued together, bit by bit, it was primed for one smoking hot surf. 80
5. BLACK MAGIC Possibly one of the most talked about boards we have ever featured in Smorgasboarder is the collaboration between master shaper Mitchell Rae and Alby Falzon, a project called Buddha Stix that has taken surfboard design and artistry to a whole new level. Bali inspired gold leaf, hand drawn and applied to the bottom and rails combined with a full carbon fibre flex tail, V2Flex, deep concaves, cross linked epoxy backbone resin, no wax deck‌ your mind just boggles. The boys have truly conjured up some wicked black magic.
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Must Test
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Awesome
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6. MAGIC MUSHROOMS A project of an altogether different sort is the effort by a couple of scientists from New York who, spurred on by a growing number of environmentally conscious surfers, have developed a surfboard blank
made from mushrooms. It was without doubt one of the most fascinating chats we have had in the past six years. Agricultural waste is inoculated with Mycelium (mushroom roots) and the blank literally ‘grows’ into its chosen shape. It is ground breaking work indeed and a step in the right direction to reducing landfill. 7. WAVEGARDEN Another mind-blowing project of sorts that we are extremely keen to put through some rigorous testing is Wavegarden’s artificial wave pool. We were amazed by how far man-made wave technology had progressed in our 20-page article featured back in our Spring 2014 edition. Gliding down a couple of peelers at their Spanish test site in the foothills behind San Sebastian looks like a hell of a lot of fun.
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8. CUBBY HOUSE Last but not least, what to do with all the shipping pallets Smorgasboarder is delivered on each edition? The answer is one of the most memorable family bonding projects ever – a cubby-house-come-surfboardstorage-shed. My son Sambo pictured here on the tools. XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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SURF ART Creativity is a more than an undercurrent in surfing culture... Like Richard Harvey exaplined when Dave and I shaped our first boards under his guidance, the flow of energy is the same in surfing, shaping boards and in art. We've met and spoken to so many creative people through Smorgasboarder it would be impossible to name them all, so here are some of our highlights.
Jordie and Tiph Husband and wife team Jordie Brown and Tiphane de Fleurette always amaze us with the extar finish they add to Jordie's High Tide surfboads
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Kym Nagler (R.I.P.) This man, with his tongue most firmly planted in cheek, brought a level of fun to his surf art that not too many other can boast. His cheerful disposition and encyclopaedic knowledge of South Australian music was always a pleasure. Kym not only brightened Smorgasboarder's pages, he also brightened mine, and many other's lives. Like all the good ones, he was taken too soon. He is sorely missed, as was clear in the turnout for his memorial. John White, Kym's best mate, had some better words than me: "The South Australian surf community lost one of its great characters in April due to illness. Kym Nagler (Also known as Akymbo or Von Nagler) will be greatly missed by all who knew him through surfing, art and music. His popularity was such that his funeral was attended by about 400 people gathering to show their respect. A Wake was held afterwards at the local RSL. A Paddle Out was held on June 4th and was attended by about 100 local surfers, family and friends at his favourite surf spot – “3 Poles” on Adelaide's Mid Coast. A very special day, perfect weather and even a 2-3 foot glassy swell rolling in. Kym was a true gentleman in the water, never hassling and spending as much time socialising as catching waves. He would paddle out on anything from a 10 foot Mal to a 6 foot seventies twin fin – it was just about having fun. His artwork and unique surf inspired furniture had a style of its own, a little bit kooky and very individual – just like the man himself. Sadly missed by all RIP Kym Nagler 8/8/1958 – 20/4/16"
Top: Kym and his art. Above: The Knuckle Dragger Right: Kym's Memorial. Photo: Jennifer White XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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INSIDE: SURF-INSPIRED ART AND ARTISTS | SURF TRAVEL IN INDONESIA | THE LATEST SURFBOARD DESIGNS | INFLATABLE SUP TEST
Fieldey
â„– 33
- SUMMER-
2016
What can we say? Simply one of the most prolific and talented surf artists out there, Fieldey was not only gracious with her time for an interview, she even agreed to do a design for a Smorgasboarder shirt, which is a real retro cracker.'
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Joe Stark An accidental discovery of a sculpture studio in a shed in Ballina led to an unplanned chat and a really fun interview with a truly talented and very out-there artist, Joe Stark. Not only does he make amazing creation out of metal, he also loves single fins...
FIELDEY
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BRETT MARTIN | NEAL CAMERON LACHLAN OLIVE | KYM NAGLER | CHRIS GARRETT | CURL | TONY OGLE | SCOTT CHRISTEN JIMMY WAGS | OWEN CAVANAGH SEN | CRAIG BAIRD... AND MORE!
Fieldey
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Joe Stark
Ralph Riddell A long-time supporter of the mag, Ralph's passion is creating foam and resin art creations, using his years of surfboard building skill to wow punters and art competition judges alike. Even better, he's always up for a chat, so we can easily spend a while at his workshop in Tweed Heads.
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Curl and Barry's 25% of cover fame...
Brett Martin
Ralph Riddell
Brett Martin Brett's another surf-mad sculptor that truly blew us away, Brett Martin's metal sharks alone are enough to convince anyone of the man's insane amounts of talent.
Curl Our very own cartoon guru that churns out Aloha Barry every edition always has us in stitches. Whether it's the off-colour humour of Barry, or dry observations of daily life delivered in character sketches for Knobs Surf Wax, this PI gent is all comedy.
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SURF SHOPS
e have just about talked all things surf from breaks to boards to our most memorable road trips but what about surf shops, the very places from which our surf culture emanated? I think through the course of time we have visited over 500 of them along the east coast of Australia and throughout the north and South Island of New Zealand. But who’s to say who’s shop is best. It all depends on what you are looking for doesn’t it? What appeals to one may not appeal to another. It certainly isn’t our place to decree the greatest. For starters, we haven’t yet had the good 86
fortune of a surfing road trip through South Australia or around Tasmania. What we can speak of however is the most memorable surf stores we have come across by way of either their unique appeal, the products they sell or indeed the characters behind the counter. So here are our most memorable.
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1. Goodtime Why? It is the surf shop I frequented when I was a kid and the lady who ran it then still runs it now; the longest serving surf retailer in the country, Surfing Hall of Fame recipient Gail
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7 Austin. Goodtime is an Australian institution. It has been operating for some 45 years now, longer than any other. I have an enormous amount of respect for Gail and the team and the shop is always chock-a-block with every imaginable bit if surf gear. 2. Natural Necessity Most who read our last edition know of the remarkable story behind Natural Necessity and its founder Kent Ladkin. As I said in that feature, the first time I saw this store I was completely gob-smacked with the size of it particularly considering where it was; this sleepy little coastal town called Gerringong. The store is cavernous with a huge range of hardware, clothing, swimwear, skate and snow gear. 3. Zak Surfboards We love this guy. We love this guy. He
has supported us from the beginning and has believed in us even when the surf gear sales and media reps of the time ridiculed us and claimed we wouldn’t last two editions. More importantly he has arguably the best surf shop in the entire city of Melbourne, in our opinion. His range is huge, the service superb and what couldn’t be cooler than a surf shop in an old pub. 4. Anglesea Surf Centre I first came across Bruce Little’s store when I started dating my future wife. We used to go down to the Surf Coast regularly. He’s built a remarkable business full of character specialising in a massive range of second hand boards. Some are real finds in terms of their price and others just unique, plus there are some cracker vintage boards hanging from the ceiling.
8 5. Noosa Underground Surf This shop is very cool with a great range of gear but what makes it unique is the guy behind the counter. Ondi Marsaus is our resident Surf Sage for Smorgasboarder and his knowledge of all things surf and indeed surfboards is nothing short of incredible. Ondi buys and sells vintage boards along with a very select range of quality shortboards through to longboards. 6. Sadhana Unique because we have come across no other store like it. Exquisite handshaped surfboards, some of the best we have ever seen, or tested, and an eclectic range of handcrafted gear, gifts, vinyl music and apparel. 7. NZ Shred Its unique because it is the only surf store we stock that is nowhere near
the ocean. The nearest surf break is some 3-4 hours away. With that said it is run by two mad snowboarder/ surfers who have a love for all things surf, snow and paddleboarding and just so happen to be top notch blokes. 8. Island Surfboards Two stores in one of the most appealing coastal communities both run by the same family that started Island back in 1969. Matt Ryan, the founder, still works in their local surf school, which just so happens to be the largest in the country. Indeed all the family are involved in the stores, including son Sandy who is the craziest big wave charger we have ever met, yet such a softly spoken gentlemen. Island still shape their own boards out back of the Cowes store and their showroom of performance shortboards through to longboards, retro inspired shapes and kneeboards is massive. XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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Kent Saunders presents the 1984 Surf Off trophy to Glen Kelly
Greg Puglisi, David Lindburg, Steven Dair 1983 surf off
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peaking of memorable surf shops leads me to Southern Man in Ulladulla on the South Coast of New South Wales and a gentleman by the name of Kent Saunders. In life you don’t easily forget those people who first gave you a start, whether it was a sports coach, a teacher, an employer or someone who had belief in what you were trying to achieve and the courage to back you. Kent Saunders is one such person and Southern Man was the very first surf shop we profiled way back in issue #1 of Smorgasboarder in 2010. Whenever his name comes up in conversation in our travels since we fondly recall his support back then and indeed throughout our history to date. Kent’s support for our fledgling publication however was not at all 88
Dave Cram, 1993 (Photo by Slim)
SOUTHERN MAN out of character. He and his wife Juanita have always endeavoured to support surfing’s grassroots. Over the past 40+ years, Southern Man has sponsored many up-and-coming surfers along with the Mollymook Surf Club as well as hundreds of local sporting teams, from soccer and cricket to rugby league. Individual surfers who have gained a helping hand from Southern Man through the years include the likes of Glenn Kelly, Adam Boland, Aaron McKenzie, Graeme and Brad Parsons, Steve Dair, John Gillies, Nathan Marks and Jason Evans. Today Southern Man continues their support of local surfers such as Scott ‘Whippy’ Dennis, Chad Elkins and
Sean Mawson, along with Beau, Ben and Keira Buckpitt. The store has also been an supporter of the Ulladulla Boardriders Club, Ulladulla Bodyboarders Club, Mollymook Longboarders and the Disabled Surfers Association as well as a host of charitable initiatives with links back to the surfing community. Kent and Juanita simply want to give back to the local community that has supported their family surf store. Southern Man today however is far from a little family store. From humble beginnings as a small surf shop and jeanery way back in 1974 the business grew and grew in the early ‘80s as Australia’s surf culture boomed. This necessitated a larger store being
built in 1984. Several renovations and extensions later they had outgrown that store and in 2012 moved across the Princes Highway to premises twice the size of their old store. Said Kent, “When Woolies was developing the new complex, we decided to work with them to design a modern, bright shop with access from the shopping centre and the highway.” The new Southern Man Surf Shop was awarded the Fit-out of the Year title at the 2013 Australian Surf Industry Awards and now houses over 10,000 products and 100 brands which include the likes of Billabong, Quiksilver, Rip Curl, Volcom, Rusty, Nixon, Von Zipper, Element and Tigerlily together with many other brands that are more unique and harder to find online. Kent elaborated on their range.
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“We carry a large selection of surf accessories, wetsuits, shoes and skate gear and are particularly proud of the surf fashion side of our business that sees new styles arrive in store every six weeks. Our guys gear includes Tees, Boardshorts, Walkshorts, Singlets, Jeans, Jackets, Hats, Caps, Beanies, Watches, Sunglasses, Backpacks, Footwear Belts and much more. Our girls range includes Swimwear, Bikinis, Tees, Singlets, Dresses, Boardshorts, Jeans, Skirts, Handbags, Thongs and Shoes together with all the key necessities. There is also a kids and toddlers range, with swimwear, tops, rash vests and shoes. “However, we don’t only pride ourselves on our strong range. Our customer service is also part of the reason we have retained such a loyal clientele. It is important for our staff to be friendly but to also know their product. Each member of our team attend training workshops in merchandising to ensure the shop remains fresh, bright and current.” Their three sons, Ben, Tim and Martyn, helped run the shop in their teenage years and whilst Ben now lives in Canberra with a young family of his own, Tim manages Southern Man while Marty and his partner Danielle Evans have taken ownership of the family’s Rip Curl shop at the top of town. Sam Anderson, Natasha Tracey and a host of casuals, work alongside Tim, Kent and Juanita at Southern Man. Taylor Wickes and Perry Mason - who has been with the company since 1992 - work with Marty and Danielle at the new Rip Curl shop. A great deal of time and energy has clearly been committed into developing their business and it is so pleasing from our perspective to see it continue to grow. We are forever grateful for Kent and his family’s support of Smorgasboarder from the very early days and only hope our readers continue to support them. After all, businesses like Southern Man are the lifeblood of our publication and without their backing we would not exist. Southern Man for us brings back very fond memories and hopefully for many years to come.
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LAUGHS W
hilst there has been a lot of hard work since we started there has been plenty of good times and laughs to be had. Here’s a few that bring a chuckle every time we revisit them. They are timeless. Helmet’s Stack Quite possibly the most famous surf sequence of all time. The fact he wears a helmet, ear plugs, paddle gloves and booties at all times, all that gear didn’t protect him from his infamous nosedive that graced our pages in Issue 5, 2011.
laugh my eyes near close up. When Mark put it in the car CD player as we were heading down to Victoria and Sax Man came on, featuring Jack Black... I was driving near blind and almost ran the car off down a deep ravine. Craft Beer Judges If we ever found our calling this was it. Invited to be guest beer judges at Nelson’s Marchfest – a celebration of New Zealand’s boutique brewing culture – we were bleary-eyed with such an honour being bestowed upon us and quite literally throughout the whole entire proceedings. My spot as a guest wet t-shirt judge at Cheeky Monkeys in Byron Bay did come close however (I am after all only human).
Big Jim Kill Ahoale Curl’s Aloha Barry clearly appeals to our sense of humour but this has to be one of his all-time greatest. The Lonely Island Their INCREDIBAD CD quite literally nearly killed us. When I smile or 90
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Cowboys and an Indian Catching up with Jesse Watson of Black Apache Surfboards always entails plenty of laughs. The quips and cheap shots flow thick and fast. In our first indepth interview with Jesse he pulled off one of the greatest quotes in surfing history when quizzed about clients who request he shape a fun board: “I tell them, you want a minimal like you want a punch in the face with the lights off.�
World Championship of Crap Surfing Once in a while a competitive surf event comes along that truly stands out as a celebration of unique skill and forward-thinking judging criteria and this inaugural event held in Cornwall in 2011 that we featured in our Christmas Edition that same year certainly had us rolling with tears of laughter.
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SURF-O-LUXE Surfboard foam & fibreglass guitars
Loaded with
CUSTOM GUITARS
Custom GuitArt from the Sunshine Coast.
` www.facebook.com/marcoolaguitars Photo: John Richardson
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Unlike your wife/husband/ partner/mum/kid
s/boss... We care what you think... so Take part in the
SMORGASBOARDER R EADER SURVEY 2016
WIN!
and
ONE OF 60 prizes
T H E FIRST TEN people to complete it score KNOBS SU
RF WAX gear including a t-s hirt, stickers and blocks of wa x!
THE NEXT 50
each score a block of KNOB S
SURF WAX and sticker!
So that no state (including the offshore state of NZ, of course) is not disadvantaged by delivery times,
THE LINk to the SURVEY WILL BE released ON the SMORGASBO ARDER FACEBOOK PAGE AT a RANDOM date between december and jan uary.... Make sure you’ve liked the page to be ready to enter!
surfknobs.com.au
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GEAR: BOARDS WHAT A SHOT!
Some Southern Comfort... Joe Brayford at Bullies on his Mr Damage surfboard by Mark Benson. Photo kindly supplied by Andy Alford @ PHOTOGRAFFIX
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GEAR: BOARDS
SHAPER’S PROMOTION
6’4” x 20” x 2 ¾”
ROUND TAIL SINGLE FIN Custom handshape by Mitchell Rae
6’4”x 20 ½”x 2 ¾” = 38l
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“A classic shape, based on what I was shaping and riding myself in the late ‘60s, early ‘70s with some refinements. Single to double concave with medium rails, flattish deck, tucked under edge right through and hard edged tail rail. Fitted with an 8”fin box. Gold cosmic “Om” for good vibrations and OI logos. Hand cut half-inch cedar stringer, low rocker and handshaped in the time honoured way. Like watching Morning of the Earth, picking one of these up makes you want to pull on your boardshorts and paddle out.
OUTER ISLAND SURFBOARDS 7 Bayldon Drive, Raleigh, NSW Ph: 02 6655 7007 info@outerislandsurfboards.com outerislandsurfboards.com outerisland.blogspot.com 98
EASY RIDER
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by Leighton Clark
Custom 8’
FIVE FINGER SPLADE 0 by Mark Rabbidge
Here she is, hot off the press!! A great board to travel with for the mature surfer. This one has a full resin tint. Gloss polish n glassed to last. Futures five fin set up. Burford blank. Reliable and durable.
CUSTOM SUP by Andy Jordan
Plenty of rocker in the 5 nose and tail as well as added volume for stability and vee throughout this board. The added volume provides more stability and is great for the larger rider (90+kg) or a beginner just working into the surf. This board is quite loose in the tail giving it plenty of maneuverability. The deck on this board is flatter helping make it more stable especially when paddling out through waves or crossing over to the flat. The thicker rails make this board more stable in turns.
This particular one belongs to a very excitable and excited Dave Smorgasboarder.... Free your mind. Surfs in an all-round modern way without the hang-ups of old 70s technology. Now give us a high five!
RABBIDGE SURF DESIGN Ph: 02 4456 4038 M: 0427 767 176 E: sales@markrabbidge.com Bendalong, NSW www.markrabbidge.com
9`6” X 32” X 4 5/8” = 143L
At 143 litres this board is perfect for beginners in surf or riders over 80kg.
Units 7 & 8, 9 Chapman Road, Hackham SA 5163
E: leightonclark01@yahoo.com.au
M: 0422 443 789
facebook.com/thedingkingAUS
TAURANGA, NZ
(In NZ 0800 787 464) M: +647 564 3324 W: www.liquidstixx.co.nz
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SHAPER’S PROMOTION
GEAR: BOARDS 5’5’’ x 19 ½” x 2 3/8”
GOGO-FISH by Chris Garrett
Tweaking the iconic 2 Lis fish to suit a modern mindset... this pocket of joy is just the ticket. Super-fast, tight in the turns with carvey clean lines and speed to burn, it kinda ticks all the boxes when the alternative becomes the new norm. Best ridden quite short and with my own custom designed set keels to optimise performance, you’d better be careful as you may become a crazed, stokeriddled, surf zombie before you know it.....and probably single...
5’9’’ x 19 ¾’’ x 2 5/8”
LUXE TWIN by Chris Garrett
A contemporary take on 2 the ‘70s classic. A fuller forward feeling outline with an accelerating narrower tail curve, allows you to have a great paddle advantage with excellent drive and manoeuvrability from the flyers in the tail. If you like fin and edge surfing with continuous glide and acceleration throughout the turns, then this could be your next choice. It performs well in and around the pocket and yet maintains drive and trim out on the face. It is quite at home in either the beach breaks or those super-fast down the line point waves. Best ridden with set side fins for maximum performance and longevity and can be fitted with an extra set of tail plugs for the small stabilizer or plugs all round with my own custom fins for the traveller.
6’8” x 20” x 2 3/8”
THE SLIPPER by Chris Garrett
This 6 deep channeled 1 Slipper is a classic single fin styled board with a fresh feel to it. If you love projection, freedom and drive out of your turns, then this board will have you beaming from the first wave. With plenty of volume and six channels you’ll have all the speed, trim and hold to push you down the line or just style in the pocket. And when the waves are cranking and line up dominance is important, it’s a real performer that will get you into and out of some of the deepest sections. A set fin is best but a fin box is the popular choice.
6’10” x 22” x 3”
SLIPSTREAMER by Chris Garrett
A 21st century approach 5 to a proven timeless design. The Slipstreamer Bonzer has a flattish deck and foiled low rails, a relaxed forward rocker for an early glide into the wave and a modern tail lift for optimal functionality... Over lay this with the Campbell Bros inspired venturi concaves and Bonzer fin set up... Now you’re talking. The quad Bonzer fins give you rail drive like nothing else and yet still maintain the freedom to be tight in the pocket. Creamy, tasty and a styling ride, it will take your stoke to a new high.
CHRIS GARRETT SHAPES PHANTOM SURFBOARDS Ph: 0424 450 690 E: phantomsurfboards@gmail.com www.chrisgarrettshapes.com.au Custom surfboards, contact Chris or see Cafe D-bar for stock boards XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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GEAR: BOARDS
SHAPER’S PROMOTION
5’2” x 20 ½” x 2 3/8”
TWIN KEEL
5’9 x 19 5/8” x 2 7/16” = 29.8l
RACING MULLET
by Rory Oke
Handshaped 2 OceanFoam blank, 6oz cloth cut lap abstract tint, polished finish with handmade glass-on keels.
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by Dave Verral
Custom Dynocore with LowCarb flex. We build race cars not show ponys... See Dave for custom Dynocores made on the Gold Coast. Buy custom Dynocore surfboards from Dave direct at www.diversesurf.com.au or find a huge range of Diverse PU models ready to ride at Sideways Surf.
9’1 x 22 ½ x 2 ¾ = 61.2l
TROPICAL 3 DELIGHT DYNOCORE LONGBOARD by Dave Verral
Dynocore Longboard.
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9’4” x 23” x 3”
CHOK’S MAL by Rory Oke
A remake of Chok’s 1 all time favourite 30year old longboard. OceanFoam cedar stringer blank, 6oz cloth, wet-rub/polish and a RESN 10.25” fin. OKE SURFBOARDS 1/1-7 Canterbury Rd, Braeside, VIC, 3195 Ph: 03 9587 3553 okesurfboards.com
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TEST EVERYTHING
DOES IT WORK? TRIED AND TESTED
GO CRUISING For fear of sounding like a broken record, this is the board your kids need to learn to surf on. We wish we had a dollar for every time a parent told us, “I got this little 5ft nothing board because I thought it would be easy for them to handle out in the surf but it was just too small to stand up on.” Think of a slightly bigger board as a bike with training wheels on. It is more stable and steady and thus easier to stand up on. As you get more confident on a bike you take the training wheels off. With softboards you can go down in size as your child becomes a more accomplished surfer. The CRUISER comes in sizes 6’6”, 7’, 7’6” and 8’. This 6’6”one is perfect for a young child say 5 to 7 learning to surf. That is not to say kids younger or older can’t ride one. We are merely suggesting what age a normal everyday kid learning to surf will find easy to learn on. Maybe your child is a surfing prodigy and learnt to surf on a 4 foot alaia (those wooden planks that look like an ironing board). That is superb but your child would be quite out-of-theordinary. The slightly larger models of the CRUISER are suited to slightly older kids or those who had an early growth spurt. Again, they would come down in size as they become more accomplished out in the surf. Now some may be reluctant to buy a slightly bigger board for their
child because they fear they will be unwieldy in the surf. Let’s face it, you are not going to allow them to learn to surf in a Waimea style shore break. Your child should be learning to surf on rolling ripples thus “unwieldy” should not be a concern. A bigger board may result in YOU carrying the board down to the beach for your child. But then again, how many kids carry their own boards down the beach anyway? We haven’t come across many.
Finally, once your child has started to get the hang of standing up and riding the wave the next step will be for you to stop pushing them onto it and for them to start paddling onto the wave themselves. This is where that extra bit of length will also come in handy. It’s easier to paddle and hence easier to get onto waves. More waves means more opportunities to learn and more fun. What else? The slightly fuller nose of the latest El Nino CRUISER models means it’s even easier to catch waves than the old style. So don’t be a loser, go buy a CRUISER. Get out there and have fun.
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XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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TALKING BOARD DESIGN WITH JESSE WATSON
TECH ARTICLE 6 RAILS PART 2 – SINGLE FINS
Tom Wegener. Photo: Ryan Heywood
OK PEOPLE LETS GET INTO IT. SO CONTINUING ON FROM OUR LAST INSTALMENT AND KEEPING WITH THE SLOW SPEED SURFING THEME WE WILL BE LOOKING AT THE OTHER HALF OF SLOW SPEED SURFING, WHICH IS LONGBOARDS. MORE PARTICULARLY WE WILL BE FOCUSING ON TRADITIONAL LOGS AND NOSERIDERS. LONG BOARDING PARTICULARLY NOSERIDING IS A VERY DISTINCT FORM OF SURFING AND VERY DIFFERENT FROM SHORTBOARD SURFING - NOT JUST THE STANDING ON THE WRONG END OF THE BOARD PART EITHER! I’D LIKE TO CONTINUE ON WITH MR WEGENER’S INFLUENCE AGAIN AS WE HEAD FURTHER DOWN THAT PARTICULAR RABBIT HOLE.
So we’ve flogged to death the theory that hard edges create release whilst round rails create hold (that old horse ain’t getting back up in a hurry… oh Wilbuuuuuuuur.) - a further extension of this is that round rails allow water over their surface area; this is something that becomes especially relevant when we start to talk longboards and noseriders. This wrapping of liquid around the curved surface aids forward projection in turns and also allows for the rail to be put into the water more easily when initiating a turn. Now as we discussed before in “the pendulum effect” the trade off in all of this is hold/drive vs. release/manoeuvrability. This yin/yang of design takes on a whole new dimension when you start thinking in terms of noseriding, as you’ll see shortly. 104
You’ll hear them referred to as soft rails, rolled rails, round rails and pinched or knifey rails – but essentially we are talking about rails without a hard edge. An upturned rail has its apex above centre line and a down rail has an apex below centreline regardless of whether or not it has a hard edge. I’ll give you a visual aid to help you along here… So when we think of longboards these days there are a few key varieties. An easy though obtuse way to group them would be hips (wide point) behind centre – such as your pigs and involvement era boards. Hips in front of centre – such as the more modern interpretation of the longboard often with 2+1, thruster and quad fin setups. And finally hips at “about centre” – these
are more your traditional Californian style noseriders – They are often very neutral with 50/50 rails, 50/50 rocker and 50/50 plan shape too. This is not always the case but it often is. Remember that there will always be a million variations or mutations of the themes, but this is an easy way for us to group them for our purposes. Another huge attribute would be those with hard edges and those without. Generally those without would be labelled “traditional or noseriders” while those with hard edges would be labelled “modern”. We’re going to deal primarily with the hips behind centre crowd and we’ll touch on the 50/50 or hips at about centre guys a little too. Also we’ll only be talking about the
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“no hard edges” variety. The reason for this is that usually both of these board types will have no hard edges at all whereas the modern longboard has said hard edges and often more in common with the midlength style boards we covered in part 1 of rails already. So we’ve spoken about how that rolled rail works when your on your single fin harnessing your inner Neal Purchase Jr. but what about when you wanna switch it up and start navigating from the nose end not the aft end of the board? What exactly are those rolled rails doing when you are perched at the exact opposite end of the board? Or when you’re running back and forth muscling that huge chunk of resin and foam between the pocket and the open face? Well, rolled rails do a few distinct things. For starters the rolled rails allow for shorter pivot style turns, which on such a big board are the shortest radius turns you can do. I’ve ridden my share of the old D-fin longboard designs and these boards really only want to pivot turn, they hate being put on a long rail in a turn and usually as soon as you try to initiate that they will respond by trying to kick you off and roll over rather than co-operate.
50 /50 RAIL
PINCHED RAIL
TUCKED UP RAIL
INSERT FROM MR WEGENER: “ROUNDER RAILS THROUGH THE TAIL, WITH A BIT OF THICKNESS, ALLOW FOR TIGHTER ARC TURNS WITHOUT SPEED WASHING OFF. AS THE BOARD TURNS, THE ROUNDER RAIL IN THE TAIL WILL SUCK WATER OVER THE BACK OF THE BOARD AND PULL THE RAIL INTO THE WAVE. THE FOAM FLOATS AND WILL JUMP OUT OF THE WATER AS THE TURN ENDS AND SPEED IS MAINTAINED.”
DOWN RAIL
SHORTBOARD HARD EDGE RAIL
XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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CLOSEOUT: COLUMNS If you’ve ever watched a really graceful surfer on a log doing those tight little pivot turns between noserides you’ll know that Tom’s description is on the money here. Its not an easy turn to do in a graceful way though and can feel jerky as that foam “jumps out” of the water at the end. There are a ton of guys you can lookup on YouTube to get a visual idea of this. Tom himself would be a good place to start – particularly his wooden boards show him utilising that pivot turn a lot. Look it up and check it out. Now the other side of it, or rather other end of it– is the rails behaviour when you’re noseriding. So those rolled rails when you’re perched up on the front grill of that big old ‘55 Chevy will allow the water to suck up and over the tail end of the board creating suction and a helping that tail play the part it was born to play – i.e. creating lift as a counter lever to your weight on the front of the board. This is absolutely critical in noseriding circles. We often hear of people gauging a board’s nose riding ability by the size of the fin... saying a board won’t noseride properly cause the fin is too tiny. This is a false economy and misleading to no end. A really good noserider almost doesn’t need a fin to noseride. It certainly does help though – a lot, but at the same time we have to realise the importance of the rail shape and rail line in noseriding. Again from Tom: Having hips towards the tail is the key to the ultimate noserider. The hips make the board ride more parallel to the wave. When you are on the nose where the boards is, say, 18 inches wide, while it is 23 inches in the hips, the attitude of the board will be more parallel with the wave thus making you travel faster across the wave. The flatter or straighter the board, the more parallel it can ride. With more width and foam in the rails in the back half of the board, there is more flotation and volume. This mass creates more tension with the fin and makes the board go faster. Also, it counters the suction created by the soft rails and lift in the tail. With a properly balanced soft-railer, the
“TOO ROUND OF RAILS IN THE NOSE OF A NOSRERIDER WILL PULL THE BOARD INTO THE WAVE. THAT IS THEY WILL SUCK WATER OVER THE RAILS AND PULL THE NOSE INTO THE WAVE FACE, AND THUS, STALL THE BOARD BEFORE THE RIDER CAN HANG TEN. A NEUTRAL KNIFEY RAIL IS BEST FOR THE NOSE OF A NOSERIDER.” elements for the hang ten are in the tail. As the board speeds up across the wave, the tail will suck into the wave and the nose will begin to lift up. Even while hanging ten the board will accelerate, climb in the wave and become more stable. This is how some people are seen hanging ten in such critical sections, where the front third of the board is out of the water while the rider is calm, poised, and in complete control. The distinct thing that noseriding has over other forms of surfing is that its utilising the entire rail length of the board at once for much longer than any other surfing scenario. As such you have to look at the opposing forces on the front of the board and the rear of the board happening all at once in real time as Tom has defined above. So while Tom espouses the idea of rounder rails in the tail with that extra thickness, the same is not true for the front of the board… I agree with this concept and something I utilise that is a left over from older styles is a “tucked up” rail in the front 12 inches
where the apex of the rail is above the centre point of the rail. This gives me freedom from having the rail sucked in too far into the wave face but importantly helps the nose of the board want to come up from under the water should you try to hang up front for too long or drop out of a section whilst you’re still perched on the nose. It acts like the hull of a boat and due to the difference in length from the underside of the rail to the topside it wants to create lift as a natural state. I find noseriders to be a deceptively hard board to shape; you have distinct rockers and rails – multiple varieties of each in a single form that at its completion has to appear both understated and clean. It’s no small feat and my hat goes off to those shapers who do it well. Everything is amplified under speed and pressure and a longboard experiences both at times. The board needs to feel smooth under foot in order for the rider to look graceful. It needs to be able to hold a line and be stable for noseriding. XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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CLOSEOUT: COLUMNS
Surfer Jye McDonald Photo Katrina McDonald Rivermouth General Store
This quote from Tom sort of sums it up best. “With the rising popularity of longboards and competitions in the late 1980’s, I became very involved with the modern longboards. I was a team rider for Donald Takayama and every week our boards were progressing. One day I brought a new Takayama to the old home break and my best friend Bill Burke had a try. I had just seen him pull a beautiful hang ten across a wall on his 1964 Del Cannon. He got on my board and was approaching the noseriding section. Just as he wrapped his toes over the tip, the fins let loose, the board spun out, and he had a face of disgust as he hit the water. I remember this so well. The next decade of my life was dedicated to finding a board that would both noseride and turn off the tail like a shortboard. The boards I rode were very good and worked great on most days, but would then fall short on lots of others. I would walk the nose and see where I wanted to go, but I just couldn’t get there. This was a frustrating time for me” (Side note: I realised after talking to Tom that this one Mr. Bill Burke was the same old fella I recently built a single fin midlength for. Tom regards him as a premiere longboard stylist saying he was the guy that schooled Joel Tudor, Devon Howard and the like. Truly praise from Caeser – If your reading this Bill I hope the boards working for you!) There it is folks – for all you guys wanting to learn the subtleties of the cross-step, for those of you who are proficient but trying to dial in your logs with more than just a “shape me an old log” description to your shaper. And finally for those of you who are 108
serious about you’re logging and want to understand the mechanics of it all I say take heed of Tom’s words. There is something there for everyone. A big thanks to Tom for his time and effort and for supplying the theories used here and in earlier instalments. Surely he is one of the nicest guys in surfing. So take home notes for logger rails would be as follows: 1. Noseriders work best with rolled rails and no hard edges. Also a bit more foam in the tail is not a bad thing. 2. Your rail in the tail and the tail rocker combine to create suction. 3. This suction is the main counterweight when you are on the front of the board and create “lift”. 4. The fin also helps here but is not as important as the rail/rocker combo. 5. Hard edges and multiple fin setups on longboards are incorporated to add performance capabilities (turning) to the board not noseriding capabilities. 6. Too round of a rail up front can negatively impact noseriding as well. 7. A more neutral or slightly knifey rail up front is considered best. 8. On an unrelated note but equally important – weight is your friend. A heavy log is a good log. Much like your stool in the morning.
That’s about it for the longboard stuff. Again more than anything I hope you guys are starting to see some patterns emerge in the designs and their applications. It’s not always feasible or even possible to be able to give you absolute and finite concepts that are true across all variations of board design – there are just too many variables. However if you can grasp the concepts and the examples that are given then you can apply them to whatever style of board you like and be more likely to hit the mark – particularly if your buying in a retail setting with no input from a shaper or shop staff. It’s a “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day - teach a man to fish and he eats forever” kind of scenario and I’m big on self-sufficiency. As I said from the outset my aim is to make sure that you aren’t reliant on anyone else for information you glean for yourself. It’s a big undertaking to learn about your boards but you will be a better surfer for it. Next instalment we’ll be hitting on the final part of rails with performance surfing. I recently sat down with Al Merrick’s son Britt – head of Channel Islands Surfboards these days and also Chris Christensen who worked under Dick Brewer and now is a well regarded shaper in his own right. Between them they have had a lot of the surfing elite on their equipment so stay tuned to see some interviews with both of those guys talking about what we’ve already discussed and their ideas on everything from the surfboard industry right through to the future of design as well. Smell ya later.
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XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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SURF TUNES Photo: Alan van Geysen
Hailing from Cape Town at the southernmost tip of South Africa, muso and surfer Jeremy Loops wears his musical heritage on his sleeve, creating an exciting and unique brand of modern, rootsy folk. Jeremy recently made a trip to Australia to share his unique and soulful tunes as part of his rapid ascent into the world’s stages and musical spotlight - not to mention many new punters’ ears. Taking time out from his busy touring schedule to answer a few quick questions for Smorgasboarder, here’s Jeremy...
FIVE QUESTIONS FOR
JEREMY LOOPS FOR THE LOCALS THAT HAVEN’T HAD THE CHANCE TO LISTEN TO JEREMY LOOPS YET… HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOUR PARTICULAR BRAND OF TUNE-CRAFTING? I’ve been using the term ‘modern folk’ musician for a while because it’s an easy way to anchor people on what I do, even though it isn’t completely accurate. My base of inspiration is predominantly folk music, but I grew up listening to tons of Rawkus-era rap music, some ska, lots of jazz, and punk music too, so I draw tons of inspiration from lots of places. WHILE YOU’VE BEEN COMPARED TO CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS SUCH AS XAVIER RUDD, ED SHEERAN, JOHN BUTLER, ARE THERE ANY CHILDHOOD INFLUENCES YOU’RE CHANNELING? I grew up on Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie. They’re the godfathers for sure - Woody especially. I’ve also always loved Fleetwood Mac, Paul Simon, Blackstar, Andrew Bird and a few other musicians. Whether I’m channeling them I can’t say. I don’t sit with my guitar and try replicate or channel anyone, but obviously we can’t avoid our influences.
I’m also really comfortable being compared to contemporaries. It gives people a point of entry so that they see your identity for what it is. Do you remember when Coldplay was widely thought to be the new/next Radiohead? It sounds ridiculous in hindsight, but people really thought that for some time. Those two bands for several reasons couldn’t be any more different. For me, I look at it like that. In time, as people understand what makes you unique, these comparisons stop. I just need time. YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL INVOLVEMENT AND ACTIVITY – WHAT DRIVES THAT? I co-founded a tree-planting organisation called Greenpop with friends about six years ago. We’ve since planted around 70,000 trees in underprivileged and under-green parts of Southern Africa. It was all prompted in my time working on a billionaire’s yacht. Seeing how wasteful and damaging the hedonistic lifestyle of the mega rich was made me feel like, ‘damn, I don’t ever want to be like that.’ When I got home, my friends Misha Teasdale and Lauren O’Donnel were in a similar emotional space due to working in wasteful environments, and we decided to try do our bit to reverse the damage and educate people on why this is so important.
I also think as someone who identifies with surf culture and considers himself a surfer, to not care about the environment is completely inconsistent with those ideals and that lifestyle. We have to care about this stuff. It’s important. TELL US ABOUT YOUR FAVOURITE LOCAL SURF BREAK… There’s a spot very close to my home town called ‘Dunes’. It’s an incredible spot when it’s firing. Hollow, fast, and heavy, breaking on a long stretch of open coastline. Love it! HAVE YOU GOT THAT KIMBERLEY DRUMMER OF YOURS SURFING YET? (Kimberly is a dry and dusty diamond mining town in the heat of South Africa with the closest surf break 10 hours away - Ed) Haha. Our Kimberley drummer, Mr. Sakitumi, actually lives on Muizenberg beach, which is arguably Cape Town’s most surfer-friendly and surfer-forgiving beaches. He says he’s been learning. We’re going to have to see how true that is once we’re off tour. Listen, watch, enjoy - jeremyloops.com
XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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CLOSEOUT: ALOHA BARRY 2013 84A revisit of the epic battlejan/feb of Curl vs Barry, as featured in the 2013 Surf Art edition.
All new Barry back next edition!
XMAS 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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READ IT
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Get ready for reprints of some of our favourite and most popular Smorgasboarder t-shirt designs over the past 6 years - from original classics like the Surf is Free fist to the more recent artist series of shirts, and even some unprinted gems you’ve never seen before... Let us know your favourite at shop@smorgasboarder.com.au and why - we’ll choose some of our favourite responses to cash up with some Smorgasstore credit.
Mr.AK
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Thanks to Curl/PI, we have some free shirts to give you featuring surf art legend Ben Brown’s take on Smorgasboarder’s very own Aloha Barry...
SCORE A FREE SHIRT! HOW?
1. Subscribe online at www.smorgasboarder.com.au 2. Email competitions@smorgasboarder.com.au with “Gimme a Barry Shirt” along with your name, address and t-shirt size.
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Pic by: Togat Nusa Retreat, Joey Melroy
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