Tabla de contenidos para June 2018 en Zigzag

Out of all the parts that make up this mag, I often find this column the most difficult to put together. “What do I talk about this time?” I’ll think to myself for days. Then when it comes to sitting down and actually writing it, I’ll start with the thoughts about surfing that are at the front of my mind. At first I thought I’d write about the problem the Durban beachfront is facing with regards to sand. I’ve been included in many back-and-forth e-mail discussions about the issue, and how the lack of sand being pumped onto Durban’s central beaches is putting the promenade and its infrastructure under threat. And many have got behind the call for the local municipality to do something about it before the Golden Mile…

Summer has come and gone, and what an epic season it was. The hot season often gets a bad wrap for good reason – onshore winds and the ocean barely stirring for days is a pattern repeated season long. But this one felt a little different, with reports of firing waves from all corners of our coast all summer, and the photographic evidence to back it all up. So as we bid adieu to Summer 2017/18 with a promising winter on our doorstep, let’s take a look at one last despatch of A-grade photos to remind us of the good times this season past. JOSHUA BRODIE These warping sidewinders are a common occurrence at Llandudno. I took-off deep on this one, keeping one eye on the refraction from the Gat…

THE OCEAN – AND MORE SPECIFICALLY, SURFING – HAS A KNACK FOR TURNING BOYS INTO MEN, NERDS INTO DUDES AND EVEN RIVALS INTO BROTHERS. It naturally presents a curriculum of currents, swells, and wind, which is all fluently structured upon a foundation of rock and sand. To accurately translate the nuances of waves is to undergo an intuitive and scientific education, which only really matures once compounded by knowledge and experience. Eli Beukes and Luke Slijpen are two stellar students of the ocean academy. Both cut their teeth on the icy Benguela-infused Atlantic coastline with Eli’s father, Peter, first wading him out at the “South African Trestles”, Yoyo’s, up in Lamberts Bay. Meanwhile, Luke’s dad, John, ensured his son took advantage of growing up on Cape Town’s beaches by grooving…

Right as this year’s Rolling Retro event was finishing up at Llandudno, the swell began a full-on assault of the rocks at the Gat, creating the wedged-up peaks that corner of the beach has become notorious for. And with the size growing by the set, Kola Cohen knew exactly what to do. The goofyfoot from Hout Bay grabbed a chunky bonzer and shifted that deep centre-fin right back in its box, before paddling out to ride some bombs. “The board I used was 6’8” with a full nose, so I could sit a little further out and get in early,” Kola reckons. “The waves had just picked up, so I moved the centre fin further back for more hold. The bigger the waves, the better this board goes.” You don’t…

There’s a new menace in the water these days. More dangerous than a SUP, less predictable than a great white – and they’re unlicensed to kill. I saw it for the first time while paddling out at Muizenberg the other day. Don’t look at me like that. It was at least four foot. You need arms like a wildebeest to make it to backline when Berg gets that big. After pushing under 798 foamies flushed with red tide, I was almost out when this guy paddled for a wave that wasn’t really there. He got to his feet and came straight at me. I screamed and began thrashing about like a wounded pyjama shark. I closed my eyes and braced for the sickening sound of fibreglass penetrating my cranium. Nothing…

Surfers are story tellers. Being able to spin a good yarn is wound into the fabric of what it is to be a surfer. And surf trips are the breeding ground of some of the best stories you can get. Whether you’ve travelled to a far flung corner of a distant archipelago in search of waves, or just done a trip down the coast, it’s a certainty that you’ll have some interesting tales to tell. And that makes you an interesting person. All thanks to surfing. And surf trips. It’s often said that life is all about collecting stories. But to get the stories you have to live your life. Bill Sharp, a previous editor of Surfing magazine, said it best: “I feel bad for people who play tennis or…

OUT THERE, THERE IS A SUNNY, NICE AND PLEASANT SURF TRIP JUST WAITING FOR YOU… SCOTLAND, HOWEVER, IS NOT THAT SURF TRIP! Frank and I seem to be drawn to places like this, having spent a few seasons missioning around Ireland and months on end grovelling around icy San Francisco, stretching our Rands unthinkably far. This time we were drawn further north, so far we could almost see Iceland. We’d heard about slabs close to the northern tip of Scotland, and without much information about their whereabouts, we booked tickets and made plans for this new exploration. A few months later we were on our way. Photographer Marck Botha and myself were previously joking about this scenario, but while boarding our flight to Dubai I stared my worst nightmare in…