a magazine for surfing females
Welcome to the second issue of The Slideshow. There was such a great response to the first, the second issue is already bursting at the seams with awesome articles and photographs from The Slideshow’s new readers. There are already people reading The Slideshow all over the world!! How massively exciting is it for us to be able to put together your experiences in one regular bundle of boardriding tales, allowing us to begin to create a global community of likeminded ladies. Please keep sending to:
theslideshow.mag@gmail.com!
Photo: Ellie Woodward
Alleyway surfer girl:
I was walking through the streets of Byron Bay last month
and I saw this graffiti’d wall down an alley way. The cool lady made me think of The Slideshow so I took a picture and posted it in.
STOKED ON TARP I was given a tarpaulin for my birthday after
viewing several videos on the internet of likeminded individuals getting stoked on tarp.
Tarp surfing is a simple activity. One tarp, one skateboard and a few mates being silly with the idea being that everyone gets barrelled during the session.
Having never tarp surfed before, we had no idea how it would go down. We volunteered Kit as first rider to take on the unknown break.
Kit took off, the lip flew over, crouched on the
board he pumped down the line and tucked into
sion was not without its beatings; getting the line
a juicy little blue tube getting spat out the end. He
wrong, catching a rail, getting caught inside or
stood upright and rode out onto the shoulder
getting smashed by the lip, but everyone came up
looking back in disbelief. Yeeeewwwwww!
smiling.
Hoots and shouts came from everyone else and a
Possibly the best birthday present this year,
big beaming smile spread across Kit’s face. High
unbelievable amounts of fun, everyone completely
fives all round and we set up for another barrel.
stoked and the best thing is that when the tarp is
Over and over again the wave broke producing
breaking - it’s always offshore.
high quality barrels for everyone to enjoy; some fast and hollow, others big and wide. The ses-
Submitted by Ellie Woodward. Plymouth, UK
Photo: Andrea Lamorte
Photo: Andrea Lamorte
THE FEAR I’ve never been a huge fan of water. I mean, we’re not close friends even right now: we are kind of “sniffing” each other, trying to make friends little by little. Mine is not the story of the little girl spending her whole spare time staying in the water, pretending (and dreaming) to be a mermaid. I’ve always been afraid of it. Looking underwater scared me at the very thought of unknown and child-eating creatures, hidden in between rocks and seaweed. That was, (is) me. During a trip in Morocco I fell in love: I was overwhelmed by an exotic and mysterious surrounding, marvelously absorbed by the wildness of deep Moroccan South. Living simply, loving each day, being far away from the “normal life”, having real human relationships, feeling human, that’s what I was meant for. The fear of water represented my fear of life, fear of not being capable to make it with my own strengths. The ocean helped. You don’t really know how strong women are until you’re out there! Especially when you are terrified! But after a while you realize it’s not a competition, or even a matter of being brave. Relaxation takes the place of fear. Close your eyes, feel the movement, wait for the next wave. And you are not afraid anymore.
Marta Tomasini, Italy.
Photo: Rebecca Sakko
Know
Surf Science:
where to go
using wave forecasts
If you’re lucky enough to live right near a good surf spot, you probably don’t bother
looking at wave forecasts, but if you live somewhere where the surf is fickle (like me), or you don’t live right next to the coast, it’s essential to know when the surf is going to be on, and where the best place for you to surf is on any given day.
First Things First Figure out which way your local surf spots are facing (e.g. South, West etc). Take a little virtual tour of your local coastline on Google maps and make a mental note of which direction the beaches/surf spots are facing (see image below). This is essential info, as the best spot for you to surf will depend on the wave and wind direction relative to the surf spot. It’s also important to know what state of tide is best for you at each spot, e.g. mid to low tide might be punchy and hollow, mid to high tide might be peely and more mellow, but this all depends on the spot.
Wave Height This is something that totally depends on your confidence and ability. As a rough guide, beginners should look for waves forecast to be less than 3ft (1 metre, waist high); intermediate surfers who are starting to ride unbroken waves should look for waves forecast to be no bigger than 3-4ft (1.5 metres, shoulder high), as over this size it will be tricky to get out the back and do any decent surfing. If you know that you’ve surfed unbroken waves bigger than this, then you probably know what a comfortable size is for you.
Photo: Ellie Woodward
Wave Period This is maybe one of the less-understood aspects of surf forecasts. The wave period is the time in seconds between each wave crest. It’s important to know this because it totally determines the quality of the incoming swell. Waves with a short period (e.g. under 10 seconds) have usually been generated by local storms near the coast and are normally messy and not fun to surf. Waves with a period over 10 seconds can be considered good quality ‘swell’; they are generated by wind blowing across the sea’s surface in a distant storm. As the waves leave the storm and travel a few thousand kilometres across the ocean to your beach, they become organised into clean lines of long-period swell, enough to get anyone buzzing as they pull up at the car park. Rule of thumb: Look for wave periods over 10 seconds.
Wave Direction As a general rule the surf needs to be heading right towards your surf spot of choice. If your local spot faces west, you want a westerly swell (swell coming from the west). This is not to say that swell doesn’t refract (bend) as it arrives at the coast, it can actually refract all the way round 180 degrees if it’s got a nice long wave period; but as it refracts it loses lots of its size and power and if it’s a small swell there might not be any size left by the time it wraps into your favourite bay. On the flip side how-
ever, if there’s a big swell (e.g. 10ft +) with a long wave period (e.g. 10 seconds +) those ‘sheltered’ spots that don’t face right towards the incoming waves will have much nicer, smaller and cleaner waves than the ‘exposed’ surf spots. Note - Reefs and point-breaks normally work best on specific swell angles.
Wind Lighter is better with wind. Wind that’s directed offshore often gets people all frothed up and excited, as it can clean up the face of a wave and might make it a bit ‘punchier’ too. But if it’s strong offshore (e.g. 20 mph+) then it’s a nightmare getting down the face of the wave, as the wind gets under your board and pushes you off the back. Light onshore wind won’t ruin a good swell, and quite often it will put the crowds off going, so take advantage of those light onshore days too. Rule of thumb: wind under 10 mph (9 knots) in any direction is good, or wind under 20 mph if it’s going offshore is also good. There are some great resources online, check out the forecast on magicseaweed. com; windguru.cz, swellmap.com etc, and use the information to your advantage! Kit Stokes, Truro, UK
Photo: Ellie Woodward
Phyllis:
What a legend, don’t know anything about her but she was a champ in
the 60’s and totally styling in this mosaic. Not many ladies on the ‘Surfing walk of fame’ at Freshwater Beach, Sydney.
ODE TO A
SWELLY
Often the first thing you ride, now put to one side, the yellow and blue, that you thought you outgrew. Don’t forget its strength, in assortments of length, wide and stable, it is perfectly able To show you plenty of fun, when you’re out in the sun. Like a trusty old steed, you’d be foolish indeed To dismiss the foam, from its watery home For being uncool, but it’s just the tool To make you smile, and turn on the style. If you’re ever in doubt, just go and mess about, And laugh from your belly when you’re joyriding a Swelly! Ellie Woodward, Plymouth, UK