When Does “Surfing” End?

You pursue surfing, yes? 

You acquire boards. You go to the beach. You set aside a great hours of your life to bob around in the ocean and hope that a world beyond our control — and, for the most part, beyond our understanding — produces energized lumps that travel just the way you like ‘em. 

You are a cat, surfing is a mouse, it’s clear who’s chasing who. 

Maybe, but maybe not. 

When does surfing end? When you finish a wave? When you exit the water? When you’ve changed out of your suit? When you’re back at home? 

Whatever happens out there — under out feet and in our minds — has a way of following us. The positive effects stay with you, whether they are results or exercise or fresh air or sun or that damned “spiritual” element that none of us can escape or describe so we just make fun of it instead. But it also maintains some degree of control over you that seeps into other areas of your life. 

It tells you to stretch or go for a run or do whatever that thing is that you do. It insists that you watch surf videos when you should be working, that that’s a good way to spend your time. It whispers in your ear when you get a little too close to having one too many beverages when you’re out with friends the night before a swell.

It nags you when it’s been too long since you last reconnected. It nags you all the time. 

Yes, we have to acquire the boards and get to the beach and bob around. But surfing, for what its worth, is also pretty damn good at chasing us around, getting us to re-arrange our lives, and always wooing us back.

Watch Now: Dane Reynolds In ‘Fried’

I think Dane is God-like in the sense that he represents what many of us would consider to be the limits of potential. So, when you watch him wrestle some of these alternative boards, it feels like it reveals the best possible outcome for you and I if we ever chose to give one of those spacecrafts a whirl — kind of a relief, no?

“I’ve Never Seen Water Move That Way”

Calling Morgan Maassen talented is like calling Dane Reynolds talented. Instead of grasping to construct a theological analogy, I’ll just say that he flew to Teahupo’o for that last mega-swell, cause fuck it, and experienced what he described as the trip of his life. Jump in here if you want to baffle at how the ocean is capable of producing such violent perfection. 

Also, let’s do a quick hypothetical: Raimana hands you the rope with one of these things swinging towards the reef: You gonna give it a go? Answer here.

Another Day, Another Petrochemical Dollar, Another Australian Surfing Mecca Under Threat

Remember when Fight For The Bight was kicking off, and the surf community stepped up, and the battle was won? Well, turns out that was far from the end of the story. There are now oily issues facing Victoria and New South Wales and Jed Smith was kind enough to contextualized them for us, here.

Mexican Horror Story: Surfers Held At Gunpoint, Vehicles Stolen, Left In 104-Degree Desert With No Sandals

Feels like it’s been a minute since our first cartel x surf colab. Here’s how quest for round and fair waves results in a few young men staring down the barrels of AK-47s. A bit of redemption, if you will, is that we are working tirelessly behind the scenes to get these kids what they need most at this point in time — new sandals.

Joyride Board Test: The 4’8 DHD Mini Twin

I used to think boards under 5’0” were a gimmick — weird for the sake of being weird, not for the sake of making the ocean feel like more of a playground. This helped to erase that belief from my mind, as the famously tall Mikey C made a 4’8” look like something that I must now own. 

Comment of the week: 

Isn’t there something so engrossing about watching these events transpire?  

One last thing 

Don’t forget to take the Stab Premium survey here — if you want to win a replica of Taj Burrow’s Stab In The Dark Board, that is.