Billabong Team Accidentally Score OBX ‘Day Of The Year’

Made in partnership with Billabong.

“You just don’t get waves like that on the East Coast,” says Dane Jeffreys from Billabong. “It’s all wind swell, short period stuff. And this was as lucky as you can get.” 

Billabong had no intention for their Know The Feeling Tour to turn into a proper surf edit. But the gods decided to indulge them, taking their wave-pool pilgrimage across the East Coast of the States — typically a swell starved region — and gifting them a rarely breaking, joyful Outer Banks gimcrack.

This trip was meant to be a union of brand and community, a pilgrimage back to the roots of the Bong, a reminder that the legacy brand is sticking around, whether you like it or not.

The whole tour, starting back in July on the West Coast, was a mishmash of shop meet-and-greets, team signings, and the nostalgia-laden exercise of shoving an uncomfortable number of bodies into the back of a van. “Just like it was back in the day,” says Dane.

Perhaps the clearest glimpse back to the golden era came at Virginia Beach’s Atlantic Surf Park, where Parko became the most adored surfer in the water. Eyes clung to him and cheeks dampened as he repeatedly launched and greased what he eloquently dubbed ‘shit dad airs.’

“Parko is still a full on celebrity in the states,” says Dane. “There were lines of people around the corners of the surf shops we stopped into, all trying to get his autograph. They were like zombies trying to get to him.” 

A conspicuous absence from the tour was Eithan Osborne, who was busy being overscored (Slater’s words) in Surf100. As the edit reveals, his Billabong crew threw a watch party in his honour — Luana Silva, Shion Crawford, Kepa Mendia, Seth Moniz, Joel Parkinson, Macy Callaghan, Cruz Dinofa, and Laura Enever who, according to Bong team manager Keanu Asing, is the “MVP of fun and good vibes.” All of them celebrated when he pocketed the 100k cheque. It’s a team sport, right? One wins, everyone wins. The cash may flow in one direction (Eithan’s pockets), but the team spirit seems to have infiltrated the top of the brand’s food chain.

“This tour was a huge success,” says Keanu. “It was amazing to bring the Billabong team together and flare up East Coast — it’s been so long since we’ve had the chance to do something like this.”

“Know The Feeling was just about getting back to the basics of what Billabong was built on,” Dane finishes. “Throw the crew in a van, stop at the surf shops, let the kids meet their heroes. It’s a simple formula, but the industry forgot it for a while. We just need to focus on what actually matters to people.”

Science has spoken. Browse below. All photos by Shane Grace.