“All They Did Was Surf, Play Chess, Read, Eat and Sleep”

I’ve heard Jack Robinson is deadly on the chessboard. Like, will have you sweating in four moves.

Do you know of any other surfers who double as grandmasters?

Slatz and John have had some pretty epic battles too. 

Ainara Aymat was a Stab High Costa Rica judge and team captain on Stab Highway California – a bit of a pawnstar by the sounds — humbled multiple staff members in a few moves during our CR stint. Sophie Bell is a Vans Pipe Master from South Africa and a wonderful guest host of The Pickup presented by Vans. Her chess ability is yet to be determined.

The following vid is a sketchbook of the pair’s time in yesteryear’s most popular wave: Lakey Peak – which got absolutely decimated by Stab High, Glad you Scored, Saturn and Jai Glindeman. 

Per the film’s description: 

A human from South Africa meets another human from the Basque Country and they create a piece of work with a much-needed help of Kylian Castells.

From the very start everything was not on their side; Ainara lost her passport one daybefore the trip, booked the wrong domestic flight and lost her wallet when she arrived in Indo. Sophie’s visa was delayed so she had to wait until she had it done.

They somehow managed to get to Sumbawa and for those 10 days the trip lasted, all they did was surf, play chess, read, eat and sleep. Some skin and boards were damaged in the process, but fully worth it.

A tandem has never ever been that much needed as when these two humans gatherand try to make a project work.

Friendship goals, “If they fall, they fall together”.