Smorgasboarder_11_May-2012

Nose & Paddle Guards,
Rail Tape & Leash Plugs
Pro Teck Fins
Travel Safe Repair Kts
FINDING IT
CAN’T FIND ANY SURF? PERHAPS
YOU NEED TO LOOK HARDER.
Gerry Lopez visited Australia recently promoting
his book Surf Is Where You Find It. I was
reminded of these words recently during a sunset
surf check. The tide was super high and with a
small swell most spots had simply shut down
as the tide lapped the dunes and drowned any
potential at the reefs. No one was surfing, there
weren’t any waves to be had.
Late in the arvo I went to have a look at my
favourite spot to see what sort of indicators
there were for the following morning. There
was a spectacular sunset brewing and so I took
my camera hoping to get some choice pics.
After a short drive I was perched on the cliff top
contemplating whether the wedgy little peak
on the corner of the cliff was surfable. It was
stacking up and running left and right straight
onto the rocks, at best it would be about a fifteen
foot ride. The normal break was simply slapping
straight into the rocks.
As I was photographing the sunset I noticed a
four wheel drive with NSW plates pull up with
a board on the roof. A couple of photos later I
noticed that the guy had taken the board off the
roof and was putting on a wetsuit. I had a bit of a
chuckle and thought what a silly bugger this bloke
must be, couldn’t he see that there was no surf?
I kept taking photos and mucking around with the
flash to see what I could conjure up. The guy with
the board had disappeared.
With the sun having set I started wondering
where the silly bugger with the board had gone.
In the end I figured out he could only be in one
place, so I wandered over to take a look. Tucked
right up against the rocks at the river mouth the
guy was sitting on his board. To my amazement
he stroked into a wave that ran alongside the
rocks, so close that if he had extended his left
hand he could have touched them. The wave
hugged the rocks briefly before picking up the
sweep of sand as it headed toward the river
mouth. On a day when no one was surfing here
was this bloke catching some mad little peelers
with no one else around.
A couple of days later I spotted the four wheel
drive parked outside Maurice Cole’s factory.
Maurice told me it belonged to a Brazilian guy
doing some glassing for him and pointed to a rack
with the seriously long board he had been riding
at the river mouth. I just smiled and thought yeah
surf is where you find it.
POINTS
OF VIEW
ECO IS ECO
BEING GREEN CAN KEEP GREEN
IN YOUR WALLET TOO.
There’s a common misconception surrounding
sustainability that I’ve been pondering on lately
– the belief that it’s always the more expensive
alternative. Forgive me for my philosophical
ramblings on this issue but I’ve noticed over the
past while how much this economic downturn is
affecting everyone. And I mean everyone.
So how do we live up to the ever-increasing
expectations of being more sustainable?
To put it bluntly, being environmentally aware
is being shoved down our throats wherever we
turn – reduce plastic, ditch that gas guzzler,
conserve water etc. And for the pessimists out
there, even if you’re not into sustainability, I
think you might like the fact that being eco is
actually adding up to be more economical. How
so, you say? If you stop and think about it often
the more sustainable alternative to any product
works out cheaper if not immediately then
certainly in the long run.
So the downturn in the economy is actually
helping sustainability in many ways. Gone are
the frivolous chuck-your-cash-around-like-it’smonopoly-money
days of the 80s and 90s. Us
cynical Westerners are slowly realising that
conserving water in the home, reducing fuel and
power usage, choosing alternatives to plastic and
installing solar panels will mean more beans in
the saddle bag in these money pinching times.
For surfers, often choosing the eco alternative
is not the most expensive option, contrary to
popular belief. Many eco surf accessories now
on the market are very price competitive when
compared to oil-laden mainstreamers. You may
just have to search a bit harder.
And when it comes to the humble surfboard
we need to stop and think. Often the more
economical alternative is in the sustainable
board. For the price of two cheap made-in-
China foam boards which often don’t have
good long term durability you can buy or make
yourself a wooden or sustainable alternative
which can run circles around a mainstream
board in terms of durability.
So, don’t close your mind to the eco alternative
because of the common misconception that it’s
inferior or more expensive – as we see more
and more examples of this in our everyday lives,
hopefully more of us will come round to the
concept that eco is in fact, eco on the pocket too.
SURFTECH AUSTRALIA
www.surftechaustralia.com.au
152 mar/apr 2012
02 4226 1322
Craig Baird, or ‘El Diablo’ as he
sometimes likes to be known
is a surf history buff and Curator of
Surf World Museum Torquay .
For info on the museum, visit:
www.surfworld.com.au
Nicola O’Reilly is the better
half of the nice folks from
Surfing Green, a couple
passionate about providing
sustainable surfing products.
www.surfinggreen.com.au