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Merry<br />
- XMAS -<br />
<strong>2016</strong>
2<br />
| XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
SMORGASBOARDER
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 3
Surf Shop<br />
Celebrating<br />
40 YEARS<br />
G E R R I N G O N G , N S W ( 90 min south of Sydney )<br />
4<br />
| XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
SMORGASBOARDER
IN HOUSE<br />
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c<br />
T R Y D E M O S<br />
BEFORE YOU BUY<br />
Proudly Family OWNED and RUN!<br />
www.naturalnecessity.com.au<br />
(02) 4234 1636<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 5
The Flying Fish<br />
Our latest Fish model is a great alternative to your regular short<br />
board or longboard for the right days.<br />
The Flying Fish is an EPS foam core performance fish which<br />
features stringerless flex and memory return. This can turn on<br />
a dime and drive when its required. The board is more for the<br />
average to advanced surfer. The 2 ½’’ thickness of the board<br />
under the chest area makes this board a great wave catcher.<br />
SHIPPING ANYWHERE, INCLUDING NZ<br />
6<br />
| XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
SMORGASBOARDER
HANDCRAFTED<br />
IN AUSTRALIA<br />
ALSO<br />
AVAILABLE<br />
Riley Balsawood Surfboards are made using renewable resource balsa and recycled<br />
polystyrene for performance, durability, beauty and lower environmental impact<br />
• Fin boxes with all wood covers<br />
• Wood coloured fin boxes<br />
• Fin box install kits<br />
• Easy, DIY clear and clean<br />
paint-on grip<br />
• Clear board grip tape - Let<br />
the beauty of the balsa<br />
show through with clear<br />
Versa Traction Grip Tape.<br />
Environmentally friendly and<br />
suits all size boards.<br />
• Timber fins<br />
• Surfboards<br />
• Blanks<br />
• Cork tail pads & SUP deck grip<br />
• Aussie-made leashes<br />
• Raw balsa/ cedar DIY board kits<br />
• Instructional DVDs<br />
• Board racks<br />
• Tide clocks<br />
• Sharkbanz shark deterrent<br />
wearable devices<br />
• LICK liquid surf wax.<br />
Wholesale enquires welcome<br />
Call 0412 <strong>37</strong>6 464<br />
or Email mark@riley.com.au<br />
www.balsasurfboardsriley.com.au<br />
Australian Environmentally-friendly handcrafted surfboards for the<br />
individual in all of us, with a guarantee. Enjoy Responsibly<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 7
OUT OF THE<br />
WOODS,<br />
NOT WASHED<br />
UP...<br />
On the road to Gisborne, on the East Coast of NZ. Photo: Dave Swan<br />
8<br />
SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
As one wise man once said, Dr Seuss to be specific, is there any<br />
wiser? “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment<br />
until it becomes a memory.”<br />
In this edition we revisit some magic memories. When we look<br />
back over the last six years of publishing Smorgasboarder, we have<br />
nothing but fond recollections of good times and good people. Of<br />
course we’ve also met the occasional knob jockey, but hey that’s<br />
life. They exist everywhere, even in the surf industry. On that note,<br />
a big shout out to y’all who said Smorgasboarder wouldn’t last two<br />
editions... Hope you’ve enjoyed the last 36! :)<br />
Anyhow, the overwhelming positivity from the good people has far<br />
outweighed any negativity from the occasional crusty naysayer, so<br />
to all you pillars of goodwill in surfing across the Australian and NZ<br />
coasts, we salute you!<br />
Yes, we have really had a lot of fun, and so many of the photos you<br />
will see, and stories you will read in the pages to follow bring a<br />
huge smile to our collective dials. We hope you agree.<br />
On a serious note, we would genuinely like to thank all of you - our<br />
readers, subscribers, the surfboard shapers, surf travel companies<br />
and the many other businesses who have supported us over the<br />
past years and enabled Smorgasboarder to live.<br />
Enjoy our little wander down memory lane!<br />
Cheers!<br />
the Smorgasboarders<br />
WELCOME<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 9
10<br />
| XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
SMORGASBOARDER
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 11
WHAT'S<br />
INSIDE...<br />
DETAILS, CREDITS & STUFF<br />
Grab SMORGASBOARDER FREE at quality surf stores, shapers and<br />
cool cafés on the coast of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria,<br />
South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and New Zealand... Be<br />
nice and buy something while you’re there. Or read it online.<br />
SUBSCRIBE<br />
FOR MAGAZINE<br />
HOME DELIVERY<br />
If you can’t get to a store or other venue to pick the mag up in person,<br />
you can also choose to have SMORGASBOARDER delivered to your<br />
door. See www.<strong>smorgasboarder</strong>.com.au. Very few back issues are<br />
also available from $8.80 a piece, plus t-shirts & more!<br />
A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE<br />
34 We reminisce...<br />
$25 AUS & NZ - 1 YEAR, HOME-DELIVERY!<br />
THE COVER SHOT<br />
NOOSA FESTIVAL<br />
23 Gearing up for 2017<br />
As our ‘favourites’ edition, we picked one of our all-time<br />
favourite reader photos, taken by a then 15-year-old upand-coming<br />
photographer Luc Buna. This fantastic shot was<br />
featured in our Easter 2015 edition. This barrel gives ‘depth<br />
of field’ a whole new meaning. Watch out for more from Luc.<br />
THE USUAL<br />
LATEST<br />
14 News<br />
26 Surf Sage<br />
GEAR<br />
96 Boards<br />
102 Ding Repairs<br />
104 Tech Article<br />
CLOSEOUT<br />
106 Directories<br />
112 Aloha Barry<br />
SURF MUSIC<br />
110 Jeremy Loops<br />
SMORGASBOARDERS<br />
ADVERTISING/EDITORIAL:<br />
Dave Swan<br />
dave@<strong>smorgasboarder</strong>.com.au<br />
0401 345 201<br />
NEW ZEALAND:<br />
‘Jiff’ Morris<br />
jeff@<strong>smorgasboarder</strong>.co.nz<br />
0220 943 913<br />
DESIGN/EDITORIAL:<br />
Mark Chapman<br />
mark@<strong>smorgasboarder</strong>.com.au<br />
SOUTH AUSTRALIA:<br />
James Ellis<br />
james@<strong>smorgasboarder</strong>.com.au<br />
0410 175 552<br />
ACCOUNTS:<br />
Louise Gough<br />
louise@<strong>smorgasboarder</strong>.com.au<br />
GEAR TESTS & REVIEWS:<br />
Gus Brown<br />
gus@<strong>smorgasboarder</strong>.com.au<br />
CONTRIBUTING...<br />
This is YOUR mag. It’s here for<br />
you to tell your stories, show<br />
your pictures and share your<br />
thoughts - and score some free<br />
stuff on the way too, to boot.<br />
E: editorial@<strong>smorgasboarder</strong>.com.au<br />
P: PO Box 501, Moffat Beach QLD 4551<br />
There’s only a few of us here,<br />
so please be patient when you<br />
get in touch - we’ll try our best<br />
to get back to you as soon as<br />
humanly possible. Get in touch<br />
to discuss any ideas you’d like<br />
to be considered for a future<br />
edition or online.<br />
BEST NON-DAILY<br />
PUBLICATION<br />
QUEENSLAND MULTIMEDIA<br />
AWARDS 2013<br />
WWW.SMORGASBOARDER.COM.AU<br />
Smorgasboarder is published by Huge C Media Pty Ltd ABN 30944673055. All<br />
information is correct at time of going to press. The publishers cannot accept<br />
responsibility for errors in articles or advertisements, or unsolicited manuscripts,<br />
photographs or illustrations. The opinions and words of the authors do not<br />
necessarily represent those of the publisher. All rights reserved. Reproduction in<br />
part or whole is strictly prohibited without prior permission.<br />
12<br />
SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
AUSTRALIA’S PREMIER<br />
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XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 13
AKA: THE NEWS... COMMUNITY WHAT’S HAPPENINGS & OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS<br />
letters@<strong>smorgasboarder</strong>.com.au<br />
<strong>smorgasboarder</strong><br />
STARTING YOUNG<br />
They say you develop your<br />
personality in your formative<br />
years and this kid will quite<br />
clearly be all class. Ant “Chezzy<br />
Burger” and Arze Lombardi sent<br />
in this shot of their son Oscar<br />
catching up on some reading in<br />
the back seat of their car.<br />
RON’S LAST WOODEN GUN<br />
Mark Riley was fortunate to meet Ron Cansdell a little while back,<br />
who built about 150 balsa boards back in the 1950’s at Taren Point.<br />
Ron came in to handshape a classic replica gun with Mark glassing<br />
and polishing it for him. Said Mark, “What a pleasure it was to glass<br />
Ron Cansdell’s last balsa gun and share in some great stories and<br />
photos with this icon of Australian surfing.”<br />
All this on the back of Greg Noll, recent guest of honour at Cronulla’s<br />
Surf Retrospect celebrations, commenting on how impressive Mark’s<br />
balsa boards were before signing one.<br />
SPEAKING OF<br />
WOODEN WONDERS<br />
Look at this shot (below) in from the Timber<br />
Board Shop (TBS) near Gisborne. Just like our<br />
intro spread but with a special something in<br />
amongst the driftwood, a 5’7” EPS core board<br />
that Adam Lloyd from TBS just finished. TBS<br />
specialises in DIY wooden surfboard kits, preshaped<br />
balsa blanks, alaia blanks, pre shaped<br />
(EPS) Foam core blanks and accessories.<br />
thetimberboardshop.co.nz<br />
SURF-O-<br />
LUXE NEW<br />
WAVE?<br />
Has Mark’s creative<br />
genius in building<br />
a range of electric<br />
guitars out of foam and fibreglass started a<br />
new wave of revolutionary thinking to the old<br />
maple and rosewood six string? Mad scientist<br />
Glenn Cat Collins sent in some photos to show<br />
he too was on a similar wave length.<br />
FATHERS AND SONS<br />
Building a bond with your kids is so very<br />
important to state the obvious. Finding that<br />
common interest or taking part in a joint<br />
project is often the key as Paul and Tom<br />
Fellows found out recently.<br />
“Guys, just a short note to thank you all for<br />
hosting Tom and I for the recent workshop.<br />
Creating the board with my son Tom was<br />
a great experience and I would heartily<br />
recommend this as a father and son<br />
experience. We both enjoyed working on the<br />
board together and as you saw, we had a lot of<br />
fun. We all live a fairly frenetic life these days<br />
and it’s difficult to get the work/family balance<br />
right, it’s experiences like building the board<br />
at Tree to Sea which form a bond between<br />
fathers and sons.”<br />
Paul and Tom Fellows Deniliquin<br />
TAMAN SHUD:<br />
MORNING OF THE<br />
EARTH NEXT YEAR<br />
Enduring 60s Australian psychedelic, surf<br />
rock band Tamam Shud are playing a benefit<br />
gig at North Narrabeen Surf Club on the 21st<br />
January supporting Sacred by Design’s mission<br />
to improve the lives of children in Xieng<br />
Khouang Province, Laos. Tickets are $25 and<br />
available at sacredbydesign.com.au<br />
14<br />
SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
CHARLOTTE MULLEY<br />
LUKE BARRETT<br />
COCO<br />
RON TIMOTHY<br />
CHARLIE LEONARD<br />
IZZY<br />
MAXIMUM VARIETY • MAXIMUM QUALITY • MAXIMUM VALUE<br />
CUSTOM SURFBOARDS, SHORT TO LONG, BY STEWART MAXWELL • SURBOARD REPAIRS • SURFBOARDS ACCESORIES AND MORE<br />
SURFER: SHANE<br />
46 CURRUMBIN CREEK ROAD, CURRUMBIN WATERS, QLD<br />
0400 338 098 • MAXIMUMSURF@BIGPOND.COM<br />
MAXIMUMSURFBOARDS.COM.AU<br />
UL FIBREGLASS FINS<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 15
Photo: Kirstin Scholtz<br />
Any closer to<br />
the Superbank,<br />
and you’d be in<br />
the line up<br />
Self-contained apartment across from some of<br />
the most amazing surf on the Gold Coast.<br />
Mangamanou<br />
BEST WISHES<br />
TO KAIKOURA<br />
The earthquake that hit New Zealand’s South Island just after midnight<br />
on November 13 had an epicentre 60km south-west of the tourist town<br />
of Kaikoura at a depth of approximately 15 km. It ruptured however on<br />
multiple fault lines with the majority of its energy released much further<br />
north registering a cumulative magnitude of 7.8. The quake was one of<br />
the 3 largest earthquakes throughout the world in <strong>2016</strong> and the second<br />
biggest in New Zealand’s history since European settlement, the largest<br />
in 1855 near Wellington. The devastating Christchurch quake on February<br />
22, 2011 by comparison that killed 185 people and injured several<br />
thousand was a magnitude 6.3 earthquake. Sadly, in this recent quake<br />
two lives were lost.<br />
The event was so extraordinary it piqued the interest of NASA. The space<br />
agency’s “earth observatory” uses satellite data to monitor the effects of<br />
environmental change and they were stunned by what they saw. Satellite<br />
images capture the earthquake’s effects, with the seabed visibly lifting<br />
as much as 5.5 metres in one area. Newly-exposed land, raised out of<br />
the ocean by the quake is predicted to now stay for several hundreds to<br />
thousands of years to come.<br />
Wayne and Lisa<br />
190 Marine Pde, Rainbow Bay, Coolangatta<br />
www.columbiaapartments.com.au<br />
Call 07 5599 0666<br />
These are some photos from<br />
Wayne Shanks of Kaikoura<br />
Surf showing the surrounding<br />
devastation along with what<br />
the impact did to his shop.<br />
We wish Wayne along with<br />
all of the people of Kaikoura<br />
a speedy road to recovery.<br />
Inside Kaikoura Surf<br />
16<br />
SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 17
THE BEST HOMEMADE<br />
SURFBOARD<br />
SURF ‘N RAK SHAPING RAK COMPETITION<br />
HERE’S SOME OF THE ENTRIES TO THE HOMEMADE SURFBOARD COMPETITION. AWESOME TO SEE A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT<br />
BOARDS BEING SHAPED USING ALL DIFFERENT KINDS OF MATERIALS. YOU GUYS REALLY ARE TRUE SMORGASBOARDERS!<br />
MIKE<br />
ROBERSON<br />
"Here is one of my latest<br />
creations. It is a 6'4"<br />
fish made from my old<br />
cedar deck and glued<br />
together off cuts of foam<br />
from other boards I have<br />
made. The entire board<br />
(other then epoxy and<br />
fiberglass) was made<br />
of recycled materials."<br />
Mike Roberson Grand<br />
Haven, MI USA<br />
JEREMY IEVINS<br />
"Smorgasboarder ran a profile on my<br />
POSCA artwork a couple of years<br />
ago in the Gold Coast issue and I'm<br />
a big fan of your magazine. I shaped<br />
and painted this vanguard style<br />
shortboard. Dimensions are 5'7 x 19"<br />
1/4 x 23" 3/8."<br />
BRENDAN WILSON<br />
"A couple of asymmetric experiment<br />
boards. First is a 5'10/5'7 x21.5<br />
x"2"1/2swallow on (goofy) forehand<br />
and squash/ diamond on the<br />
backhand with a quad on backhand<br />
twin on forehand set up. I figured<br />
if I was going to make a board why<br />
not do something really left field but<br />
subscribing to a sound and proven<br />
theory.<br />
"Second is a 5'8"/ 5'6" x20.5x 2"5/8"<br />
pin forehand with bat tail backhand.<br />
This is a step up board asymmetric<br />
which I built to force me to surf front<br />
footed - to concentrate on tube riding.<br />
This one below is a 5'10 / 5'9" x<br />
19 3/4" x 2"5/8" asymmetrical; flat<br />
swallow on forehand and squash on<br />
backhand. Deep single throughout<br />
with double through the fins and out<br />
the tail. Fin set up is a m5 / Quattro<br />
set up from McKee which I usually<br />
request on standard boards I've<br />
had shaped for me previously and<br />
provides a really positive ride."<br />
AARON STACEY<br />
"Loving the mags. Been holding off<br />
reading the latest issue cause I want<br />
to take it away with me to read next<br />
week. Here’s a few boards I’ve been<br />
doing of late."<br />
18<br />
| XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
SMORGASBOARDER
MARK SIMPSON<br />
"Above: My first hollow SUP - took 8<br />
months to make, got the guys at Clark<br />
surfboards to glass it.<br />
"Right: Who stole my door? Asks the<br />
squirrel in the treehouse. Art work<br />
was inspired by the door like finless .<br />
"Top Right: This is the 3 rd hollow board<br />
I've made and still learning a lot. Your<br />
mag provides great inspiration."<br />
AND THE WINNER OF<br />
THE BEST HOMEMADE BOARD<br />
AS VOTED BY OUR READERS ON FACEBOOK IS...<br />
CALE MASON!<br />
Get back<br />
to the roots...<br />
Native Hawaiian<br />
surfer with alaia<br />
board, circa 1911<br />
with paulownia<br />
Our buoyant,<br />
lightweight timber floats<br />
all around the world.<br />
"I just wanted to enter my 5'10"<br />
twin I shaped and glassed a few<br />
weeks ago. Was the first board I<br />
ever made and rides great! Looks<br />
great too with my girlfriend's art<br />
glassed into the deck."<br />
“Proper shaping racks would be<br />
awesome as I use homemade ones<br />
in my parents garage.”<br />
Well Cale you've got them because<br />
you're our winner of these ripper<br />
Surf ‘n Rak Shaping Racks.<br />
• Tom Wegener preferred alaia blanks<br />
• Alaia & Kite Boards<br />
• Long Boards<br />
• Hollow Boards<br />
• Chambered Boards<br />
SURFBOARD SUPPLIES<br />
Buy the Best Paulownia<br />
Timber Australia has to offer.<br />
Missed out?<br />
Get your<br />
own rak at:<br />
SURFNRAK.COM.AU<br />
Contact David Evans<br />
P: 03 9588 2533<br />
E: info.sales@paulowniasurfboardsupplies.com<br />
W: www.paulowniasurfboardsupplies.com<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 19
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| XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
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XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 21
22<br />
| XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
SMORGASBOARDER
NOOSA FESTIVAL<br />
NFOS:<br />
25&GOING STRONG<br />
AS ONE SLIGHTLY OFF-KEY TROUBADOUR ONCE WARBLED,<br />
THESE TIMES, THEY ARE A-CHANGING. Words: Thomas Leitch | Photo: Supplied, NFOS<br />
Longboarding has trickled along<br />
through the thruster generation<br />
anywhere there’s a nice, long point<br />
wave, and the last decade or so has<br />
seen an insurgence of loggers and<br />
singlefins, the old becoming new<br />
once more, adapted, inspired and<br />
amalgamated through five decades<br />
of shaping knowledge.<br />
Those who first pioneered these<br />
craft have become celebrities<br />
and gurus – Bob McTavish, Bing<br />
Copeland and the late, great Donald<br />
Takayama. The Noosa Festival of<br />
Surfing has ridden the waves from<br />
ripple to tsunami, through high<br />
performance, finless, bodysurfing<br />
and, of course, nine and a half feet,<br />
23 inches and one fin of pure steeze.<br />
Celebrating its 25th anniversary<br />
this year, the Noosa Festival has<br />
reached a nexus, the last remaining<br />
co-founder (alongside John Brasen<br />
and John Lee), renowned surf writer<br />
Phil Jarratt doffing his cap for the<br />
last time and passing the baton into<br />
the experienced and capable hands<br />
of his progeny, Sam and Ellie.<br />
With over 800 competitors from<br />
20 nations and regions and an<br />
estimated total attendance of some<br />
12,000 people for its ‘8 Days of Pure<br />
Stoke’, the Noosa Festival of Surfing<br />
is a huge drawcard for the global<br />
longboarding community, in fact the<br />
largest surfing festival by competitor<br />
numbers anywhere in the world.<br />
Age categories from under 15 to<br />
over 70, logging, noseriding, and<br />
high performance pro divisions and<br />
an assortment of SUP events, the<br />
festival has adroitly rolled with the<br />
times, giving the people what they<br />
want in the waves and keeping<br />
them entertained once the sun has<br />
set on another day of competition.<br />
But it has always been, essentially,<br />
a competition first and foremost.<br />
Contest was the foundation of<br />
the event, sprung from Noosa’s<br />
local Malibu Club, and to this it<br />
will always remain true, but is<br />
competition all a surfer lives for?<br />
Surf culture is as strong on dry<br />
land as it is in the brine and, with<br />
divisions swelling in popularity with<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 23
every new year, it is to the sand that<br />
contest director Sam Smith is now<br />
swaying her attention.<br />
“The competition is always fantastic,”<br />
she reflects of previous years. “We<br />
have some of the very best judges<br />
and contest directors available, a<br />
strong attendance of world class<br />
surfers from all around the world and,<br />
but for the waves, the competition is<br />
always a great success.”<br />
Activities in the water have<br />
remained popular throughout the<br />
years, always evolving, new events<br />
such as the resoundingly popular<br />
dog surfing exhibition, joining the<br />
schedule and remaining the pinnacle<br />
of global longboarding events.<br />
On land, music, film, exhibitions<br />
and events have entertained the<br />
masses, often bringing doyens of<br />
the sport to the stage, or kicking up<br />
sand with national and international<br />
musos, to make each and every<br />
evening under the stars memorable.<br />
While this formula has been a great<br />
success, Sam sees 2017 as the year<br />
for a little bit of a shake-up.<br />
“We are proud each year of the landbased<br />
elements of the festival,” she<br />
says. “We have had some brilliant<br />
bands, lots of surfing celebrities<br />
and many, many nights of good<br />
entertainment, great atmosphere<br />
and maybe one too many drinks! But<br />
for next year, we felt like there was<br />
a whole other area of surfing culture<br />
that we still hadn’t tapped into.”<br />
Over the years, the event has hosted<br />
art and craft markets, sponsor<br />
showcases and a festival expo. All<br />
have been open to the public and a<br />
great reason to visit Noosa, whether<br />
competing or not. But the interactive<br />
aspect has remained a little thin on<br />
the ground. There has been plenty<br />
to see and hear and eat, but not so<br />
much to do and, as contemporary<br />
surf culture so prevalently<br />
demonstrates, creativity is rapidly<br />
becoming as integral a part of our<br />
lifestyle on land as it always has<br />
been in the water.<br />
“THE COMPETITION IS ALWAYS<br />
FANTASTIC,” SHE REFLECTS<br />
OF PREVIOUS YEARS. “WE<br />
HAVE SOME OF THE VERY<br />
BEST JUDGES AND CONTEST<br />
DIRECTORS AVAILABLE,<br />
A STRONG ATTENDANCE OF<br />
WORLD CLASS SURFERS FROM<br />
ALL AROUND THE WORLD AND,<br />
BUT FOR THE WAVES, THE<br />
COMPETITION IS ALWAYS<br />
A GREAT SUCCESS.”<br />
Sam Smith, NFOS Contest Director<br />
Noosa’s Main Beach, home of<br />
the Noosa Festival of Surfing, is<br />
getting a makeover in 2017. The<br />
judges’ scaffold will remain, of<br />
course, as will Zinc FM’s livecoverage<br />
surf shack from which<br />
they broadcast daily. With a postsurf<br />
beverage almost as important<br />
to surfers as their wax and fins, the<br />
XXXX Summer beach bar is also<br />
a permanent fixture, but added to<br />
these familiar structures will be<br />
a new venue, the Noosa Festival<br />
Pavillion. With the bar and numeorus<br />
local venues hosting nocturnal<br />
events, the pavilion, standing pride<br />
of place at Noosa’s First Point, will<br />
become a place of creativity, culture,<br />
inspiration and activity for all.<br />
Timber surfcraft workshops will<br />
be open to the public, shapers will<br />
expound their knowledge to all<br />
eagre ears, book signings, surf swap<br />
meets and yoga classes will all<br />
take their turn under the sprawling<br />
canvas.<br />
“We try to be as ecologically minded<br />
and family-oriented as possible,”<br />
says Sam, “trying to improve in<br />
these areas with every new year,<br />
and we are really excited about the<br />
potential of the new venue. We will<br />
be hosting sand castle competitions<br />
and interactive activities for kids,<br />
as well as bringing attention to<br />
environmental causes. I think<br />
surfers more than almost any other<br />
demographic are aware of the need<br />
to take environmental responsibility<br />
in their actions and we are planning<br />
several events to not only encourage<br />
and inspire, but also take proactive<br />
action for both during the Noosa<br />
Festival of Surfing and beyond. We<br />
see a real and growing need to make<br />
this a strong message of our event<br />
and hope to inspire our visitors to do<br />
the same.”<br />
At its heart, the Noosa Festival<br />
of Surfing will remain the same,<br />
ebbing and flowing with the times,<br />
contemporary yet true to its roots;<br />
800 surfers across thirty-plus<br />
divisions, all uniting for the love of<br />
surfing. But beyond that 20 minutes<br />
clad in cold, wet contest rashie,<br />
visitors will find a whole new<br />
experience, the same, but different,<br />
inspiring, diverse and more<br />
consummately reflective of surfing<br />
culture than ever before.<br />
Change is inevitable – it’s what you<br />
do with that change that counts.<br />
For more information on the Noosa<br />
Festival of Surfing, visit:<br />
www.noosafestivalofsurfing.com<br />
or join them on social media:<br />
Facebook: @NoosaSurfFest<br />
Instagram: @noosa_festival_of_surfing<br />
24<br />
SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 25
Mex Sumpter, Andy McKinnon, Ondi and Larry Berltelmann<br />
!<br />
Vintage surfboard collector and proprietor<br />
of Noosa’s Underground Surf, Andre ‘Ondi’<br />
Marsaus is the Surf Sage. In our regular feature<br />
he provides the answers to all your questions,<br />
but to mark this retrospective edition, he shares<br />
a few memories of his own.<br />
Got a question you<br />
want to ask the<br />
Surf Sage about<br />
an old board you<br />
have found under<br />
the house or from a<br />
curbside collection?<br />
Email editorial@<strong>smorgasboarder</strong>.com.au<br />
and we will get Ondi onto it.<br />
“6 years ago we were sitting in<br />
our surf shop in Coolangatta<br />
when Patrick Quirk wanders in. Pat<br />
introduces himself and lays down<br />
a mock up of a new magazine on<br />
the counter that he tells us we<br />
need to check out.”<br />
“Smorgasboarder”, he tells us “will be a grass roots surfing magazine that has been a<br />
long time coming”. He talked us through the idea and we loved it. A couple of Sunny<br />
Coast boys Dave and Mark had left their positions with what we thought was probably<br />
the biggest print publication company in the country and they were starting up their<br />
own magazine. Plus they were going to give it away free to surfers.<br />
Gutsy move we thought. Well, the mockup looks great... if they can pull it off.<br />
Well, they did, and it has been a breath of fresh air amongst the long standing surfing<br />
mags that seem to be full of pros pulling airs and promoting the latest performance<br />
boards. It really pulls the ‘real’ surfing industry together. The shapers, the surf shops,<br />
the local breaks, the stories, boards for all kinds of styles and most importantly the<br />
day to day surfers. Pat was right, it has been a great magazine and the surfing industry<br />
is better for it. Thanks guys for making it happen, we’re sure there has probably been<br />
blood, sweat and tears over the past 6 years but we would never know it.<br />
So six years ago when Smorgasboarder started, we were madly building our “grass<br />
roots” surf shop. Underground Surf began seven years ago with three surfboards,<br />
twelve t-shirts and ten sets of board shorts in our Kirra lounge room. We didn’t have<br />
a clear vision but we knew we wanted to stock underground labels and produce epic<br />
hand shaped boards for the locals. I already had a passion for all things retro in surfing<br />
and was buying up anything and everything vintage. Luckily we were quickly supported<br />
by local surfers and their families and Underground has steadily grown from three<br />
surfboards seven years ago to almost 400.<br />
26<br />
SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
LEFT: Ondi and MP. BELOW: World wax record attempt<br />
PRICELESS<br />
TROPHY<br />
Some of the Best of<br />
Underground Surf<br />
2009<br />
Underground Surf is born.<br />
2010<br />
We decide it’s time surfing featured more in the<br />
Guinness World Records and set about building<br />
the highest surfboard wax stack. Stomp wax<br />
came on board to sponsor the event and Tim<br />
Ausloos and I set the bar at 42 blocks of wax.<br />
Joan brings Michael Peterson in to say happy<br />
birthday and makes it one of the best birthdays<br />
ever.<br />
Underground moves from Kirra to Coolangatta<br />
into the old Retro Groove store.<br />
We meet legend Albert Falzon<br />
2011<br />
The Smorgasboarder guys help me unload<br />
60 vintage boards onto the road for a vintage<br />
board spread. The inaugural Underground<br />
swap meet is held with Surf World Gold Coast,<br />
The Otchkies band and a Dick Hoole signing.<br />
Underground Surf opens in Noosa junction.<br />
2012<br />
Underground hosts a swap meet for the<br />
inaugural Bleach festival honouring surfing<br />
legends Michael Peterson, Larry Bertlemann,<br />
Andy Mckinnon, Dick Hoole and David ‘Mex’<br />
Sumpter.<br />
At the swap meet Peter ‘Cocky’ Stannard was<br />
absolutely stoked to have his shirt signed and<br />
have a chat with MP. Little did we all know<br />
that 2 weeks later Cocky would pass away<br />
while surfing at the Tweed Heads Old Mal club<br />
annual surf trip and 2 weeks after that the<br />
world would lose MP as well. Two passionate<br />
surfers sadly missed.<br />
2013<br />
Underground grom number 1 is born.<br />
2014<br />
A blur of sleep deprivation and surfboards.<br />
2015<br />
Bill and the Wallace family appoint<br />
Underground to produce surfboards under<br />
the legendary Wallace Surfboards brand.<br />
Underground moves to Hastings Street, Noosa.<br />
Underground grom number 2 is born.<br />
Hosted VIP event for the inaugural Noosa Surf<br />
Film Festival.<br />
<strong>2016</strong><br />
Bob McTavish presents Noosa Early Days<br />
at Underground during the Noosa Festival<br />
of Surf to 140 people and announces<br />
Underground as the first Australian<br />
authorised McTavish dealer.<br />
Appointed the sunshine coast retailer for<br />
Patagonia.<br />
Hosted the beach swap meet for the Noosa<br />
Festival of Surf.<br />
Hosted events for Noosa Boardriders Club,<br />
Shotgun Shootout, Greg Huglin and Dick<br />
Hoole movie event, Glencat Exhibition, Noosa<br />
Tourism, Distinguished Gentlemans Club ride,<br />
Noosa Turtles and more.<br />
I am lucky enough to be a guy who<br />
people show their surfboards to. From<br />
hidden treasures that I must deny all<br />
knowledge of, to boards with 30 years<br />
of wax that have been sitting quietly in<br />
a corner or under a house for decades<br />
until their moment of re-awakening.<br />
Some are worth thousands and some<br />
aren’t worth a penny, but there is<br />
always excitement running through my<br />
veins when a vintage surfboard comes<br />
my way and I get to squint at shapers<br />
scrawls and look deep into decals to<br />
find its story.<br />
That said, amongst all these boards<br />
there are also epic pieces of surf<br />
memorabilia and this trophy is one of<br />
those.<br />
This is the Duke Kahanamoku trophy<br />
awarded to Gerry Lopez as he was<br />
inducted into the Surfers Hall of Fame<br />
for his outstanding achievement and<br />
contribution to the sport of surfing in<br />
2004.<br />
Gerry Lopez was born in Hawaii in<br />
1948 and is widely known for being the<br />
best tube rider in the world. He won<br />
the Pipeline Masters competition in ’72<br />
and ‘73, which is now aptly called the<br />
Gerry Lopez Pipeline Masters.<br />
Lopez also played an important role in<br />
the industry of commercial surfboard<br />
manufacturing and together with<br />
other shapers started the famous<br />
Lightning Bolt Surfboards brand of<br />
high performance shortboards. Lopez<br />
along with his mate Rory Russell<br />
were credited with exposing and<br />
validating Indonesia and nearby areas<br />
as a comprehensive surf destination<br />
and these days lives in Oregon, USA<br />
with his family.<br />
Surfer, shaper, actor, author,<br />
ambassador, Gerry Lopez was and is<br />
truly deserving of this award.<br />
What’s it worth you may<br />
ask… well in the words<br />
of Lopez himself “If you<br />
can buy it with money,<br />
it is cheap”. So we’ll<br />
leave this one to your<br />
imagination.<br />
Upstairs 9 Hastings St, Noosa T: 07 5455 4444<br />
www.undergroundsurf.com.au<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER<br />
27
Surf Collective<br />
WAW<br />
HANDPLANES<br />
Designed for bodysurfing,<br />
handmade in Australia.<br />
Crafted from sustainable and recycled<br />
materials, they enable you to get<br />
barrelled without leaving a trace. Deep<br />
concaves and sharp rails put these<br />
handplanes at the cutting edge of<br />
bodysurfing, allowing the rider to stay<br />
higher on the face and slotted<br />
longer in the pocket.<br />
And for everyone<br />
sold we plant a<br />
native tree here<br />
in Australia.<br />
LOVE ST<br />
Each piece tells a story<br />
right down to the individual<br />
character names for each<br />
design, reflecting a style to suit<br />
the different personalities who<br />
choose to wear these beautiful<br />
designs.<br />
Alexis is your party girl. She<br />
will rock up at the beach, the<br />
barbie and she will never let<br />
you down. She falls beautifully<br />
in our soft rayon fabric in<br />
the ‘Sun is Shining” print.<br />
OLIVER<br />
BRENNAN<br />
A self-taught craftsman, this<br />
Northern Beaches local has a<br />
spectacular eye for natural beauty.<br />
Just like surf industry ‘fashion’,<br />
ocean photography can start to feel<br />
a little bit same-same but young<br />
Oliver Brennan’s work feels like<br />
something altogether different.From<br />
stirring images of living subjects, to<br />
powerful black and whites, and rich,<br />
textured compositions of rugged<br />
oceans and shining sunlight, Oliver’s<br />
collection feels like it should belong<br />
to someone who’s been around more<br />
than his young years.<br />
SNEAKY GRIND CAFÉ<br />
For all of the Smorgasboarder readers<br />
interested in checking out in person some<br />
of the magnificent Australian independent<br />
brands featured on www.surfcollective.<br />
com.au, they have collaborated with<br />
the folks from The Sneaky Grind Café in<br />
Avalon Beach (3/48 Old Barrenjoey Rd) to<br />
put together a showcase of select fashion,<br />
surfboards and skateboards.<br />
GYPSY<br />
REPUBLIC<br />
Is an Australian clothing<br />
label for women,<br />
embodying the bohemian<br />
beach culture. Our clothing<br />
is locally designed and<br />
features floaty feminine<br />
pieces made to bring out<br />
the goddess in you.<br />
Inspired by yoga,<br />
surfing, festivals,<br />
travel, adventure<br />
and a touch of<br />
magic,<br />
Gypsy Republic<br />
is for the<br />
free-spirited,<br />
the day dreamers<br />
and the<br />
barefoot-chic<br />
boho girls.<br />
28 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
Photographer: Murray Fraser @sproutdaily<br />
SPINDRIFT<br />
COLLECTIONS<br />
Is a boutique jewellery and lifestyle<br />
brand created by Sydney based<br />
designer Natasha Wakefield. Using<br />
authentic, hand collected, sea<br />
smoothed beach glass and sterling<br />
silver, the Spindrift Collections<br />
are inspired by the ever changing<br />
beauty of our oceans, wild natural<br />
landscapes and by a sense of<br />
wanderlust for places not yet<br />
explored. Thoughtfully created for<br />
the dreamers, adventurers and<br />
barefoot wanderers.<br />
BEYOU<br />
(SURF & SKATE)<br />
Is made by surfers for surfers.<br />
These boards are perfect for<br />
training sessions, and they can<br />
be carried anywhere. Carving is<br />
easier with these boards; they are<br />
super responsive. It’s a 29-inch<br />
cruiser with a swallow tail. BEYOU<br />
skateboards are 100 % handcrafted,<br />
and the quality is second to none.<br />
Every single one of these boards is<br />
designed by experienced surfers for<br />
other surfers to enjoy. So, there is<br />
no doubt that they’ll blow your mind<br />
every time you ride. Surf´s up…..<br />
GET FLAPPED<br />
Is where practicality meets<br />
fashion. The idea of Get Flapped<br />
is all about making a functional<br />
hat, the Legionaries hat, or as it’s<br />
affectionately known the ‘flap hat’<br />
fashionable again. It is no longer<br />
cool, or let’s face it, safe to cook for<br />
looks during the summer. We are<br />
all about keeping you safe from the<br />
sun and looking good whilst you do<br />
it. Some may say, the flap hat was<br />
never fashionable, but hopefully<br />
the Get Flapped range can turn<br />
that view around.<br />
SEA NOMAD<br />
Simple threads made for a new world.Inspired by<br />
a passion for all things natural, our selection of<br />
simple raw cut, hand printed threads have been<br />
crafted to reflect our spirit of adventure.With a<br />
desire to protect the natural environment we focus<br />
on accountability and sustainability. Naturally all<br />
our threads are made in Australia, sweatshop free<br />
and made from chemical free organic cotton. Each<br />
one hand printed using eco-friendly inks by us.<br />
So no matter whether you’re just hanging out,<br />
or on your next adventure. You’re sure to find<br />
one of our limited edition illustrated tees or<br />
tanks tuned to your wavelength.<br />
PANAMUNA<br />
PROJECT<br />
Hailing from the pristine waves<br />
of the Northern NSW coastline,<br />
Panamuna is a brand that combines<br />
it’s love of clean, classic and<br />
simplistic surf wear with a desire<br />
to reduce their company’s footprint<br />
on the world. Manufactured using<br />
sustainable and ethical practices,<br />
their range of gear and accessories<br />
will have even the most conscious<br />
of consumers frothing to get<br />
their hands on their products.<br />
Comfortable, lightweight and perfect<br />
for summer, Panamuna caters for<br />
men, women and groms.<br />
Welcome to Surf Collective<br />
Where you’ll find the best independent Australian Surf<br />
Brands. Names you, as of yet, may not be familiar with.<br />
Products, that up until now, you mightn’t have seen.<br />
Whether you’re driven by the desire to ‘support local’,<br />
or you’re just tired of seeing the same surf gear on<br />
shelves, in the line-up or around town, you’ve definitely<br />
come to the right place.<br />
www.surfcollective.com.au<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 29
LATEST &<br />
GREATEST<br />
FAST:<br />
First Aid Surf Tool<br />
The first aid device you take<br />
surfing! FAST is a rapid application<br />
elastic tourniquet designed to<br />
reduce blood loss at a limb after<br />
a surf injury, arterial laceration or<br />
after a shark attack. 100% blood flow occlusion in seconds<br />
following application.Safe compression. Can be adjusted in<br />
increments and easily released.One hand application. Easy<br />
to use and learn for all levels of medical and non-medical<br />
personnel.Multi-purpose application to arms and legs.Light<br />
weight, compact low drag design attaches to existing surf<br />
leg rope.$28.95<br />
survivalsurf.com<br />
SHARKCAMO:<br />
Shark deterrent<br />
camouflage decal sticker<br />
A University of Western Australia study conducted<br />
in 2012 showed sharks only see in black and white<br />
and avoid striped objects. Avoid looking like food<br />
and look more like something that isn’t worth eating.<br />
Sharkcamo is a universally designed sticker decal for<br />
DIY installation on your favourite shortboard or retro<br />
shape. Cut it to your custom fit and design. Decal<br />
Sticker Size: 6’’5’ (200cm) x 20’ (50cm). $28.95<br />
survivalsurf.com<br />
PRO TREDZ<br />
The design reflects a bygone era of the 60s<br />
and 70s when Treds were the choice of<br />
footwear for a generation of surfers. Pro<br />
Tredz recaptures the past and brings it into<br />
the present utilising the latest construction<br />
techniques and high quality materials to<br />
deliver style, comfort, grip and durability.<br />
RRP $34.99<br />
protredz.com<br />
30 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
HIVE SWIMWEAR<br />
Hive’s latest Bohemian Summer <strong>2016</strong>/17 Collection<br />
Ashleigh – Beatnik – Stinger Top and Reversabee Pant<br />
Maddison – Beatnik – Pollen Top and Buzz Pant<br />
These tops and bottoms $49.50 each.<br />
hiveswimwear.com<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 31
32 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 33
One of our favourite surf breaks and photos - Piha, NZ as seen from the front yard of Mike Jolly's Piha Surf Shop. Photo: Ben Vos<br />
34 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
Memorable<br />
MOMENTS<br />
You have regularly asked us on the streets and online what are<br />
some of the most memorable stretches of coastline we have<br />
seen, people we have interviewed, boards we have tested and<br />
breaks we have surfed, amongst other things. With that in mind<br />
we thought our gift to you this Christmas would be a celebration<br />
ofour most memorable moments from the last six years publishing<br />
Smorgasboarder. We hope you enjoy this look back in time as<br />
much as we enjoyed putting it together.<br />
Some photos you may have seen before in past editions and<br />
some you most definitely would not. You may spot a story or two<br />
you have missed in an earlier edition or perhaps didn’t even know<br />
Smorgasboarder existed at that stage. Rest assured, if you are<br />
intent on reading the said article in full, all of our past editions<br />
can be viewed online at www.<strong>smorgasboarder</strong>.com.au. We even<br />
have a limited number of back issues available in print for sale in<br />
our online shop at the same web address.<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 35
TEAMWORK<br />
Heading into our 7 th year of publishing<br />
Smorgasboarder we have some<br />
exciting changes to your magazine<br />
afoot, but before we embark on a brave<br />
new world we wanted celebrate what<br />
has been done so far...<br />
Before we do that however we<br />
wanted to thank our good friends and<br />
family who form our team of sorts and who have contributed to the<br />
success of Smorgasboarder. Without, them well, we would have been<br />
screwed, to put it politely.<br />
LOUISE<br />
Our rock. They lady who takes care of all the jobs we do not want to<br />
do or have merely forgotten to do. Lou has patiently put up with us<br />
even when we make her partake in stupid photos like above.<br />
JEFF<br />
He used to manage our printing before he<br />
moved to the Land of the Long White Cloud<br />
and enlisted as our man for all things NZ and<br />
became fondly known from there on as Jiff.<br />
JAMES<br />
Our secret agent in South Australia. Why is he<br />
a secret agent? We actually don’t know but<br />
everything seems to be a secret in SA so we<br />
thought it best to give him that title. James has<br />
been fantastic in quietly spreading the word for<br />
us deep down south.<br />
CURL<br />
He came on board on issue 11, 2012 and we have<br />
been pissing ourselves ever since. His Aloha Barry<br />
cartoon, his irreverent humour and misguided<br />
friendship with us has been nothing short of<br />
superb. He's pictured here with Bilbo Baggins<br />
(who has a striking resemblance to Dave).<br />
ANGUS<br />
Our expert gear tester. It helps when you are<br />
complete crap surfers to have someone who can<br />
at least stand up on a board. Actually, “Gus” or<br />
“The Angman” is a gun and has always been<br />
generous with his time to test all the goodies<br />
we are asked to sample.<br />
36 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
PAT A.K.A. “HELMET”<br />
Aside from putting up with all of our jokes<br />
and being incredibly thick-skinned, Pat was<br />
instrumental in getting Smorgasboarder off<br />
the ground. Since then he has continued to be<br />
involved as either a guest writer, gear tester or<br />
stuntman.<br />
BEN<br />
Photographer extraordinaire who stepped into<br />
the fold whenever we needed something more<br />
than our crappy iPhone shots. It has always<br />
been fun when we have managed to wrangle<br />
him into some sort of surf trip or function,<br />
although our kidneys would disagree...
MARK AND DAVE<br />
And a big thanks to us as well for being such incredibly hilarious guys. It is<br />
amazing when you have next to no sleep for weeks on end, and combine<br />
that with copious amounts of intravenously fed coffee (and a few beers<br />
for good measure) just how delirious you can become. We hope you have<br />
enjoyed our delirium, and that our ramblings in Smorgasboarder have<br />
made some sense, despite our very poor handle on the English language in<br />
its written form.<br />
SO MUCH SURF GEAR IN STORE YOU WILL BE<br />
AMAZED! FROM SURFBOARDS TO SKATEBOARDS,<br />
WETTIES, SURFWEAR AND ALL THE LATEST GADGETS<br />
SURFWARE<br />
AUSTRALIA<br />
SUNSHINE COAST SUPERSTORE<br />
2 Bulcock Street, Caloundra QLD | Telephone (07) 5491 3620<br />
Open Mon to Sat, 9am to 5pm and Sun 9am to 4pm. Closed Christmas Day<br />
OUR FAMILIES<br />
Who put up with us basically when we would disappear for weeks on<br />
end either on a delivery run or a “business trip” or when we went into<br />
production (deadline freak out) mode rendering our lovely wives single<br />
parents of three kids, respectively. Thank you Katie, Mikaela, Phoebe and<br />
Sam (Dave’s loving family). Thank you Helen, Elliott, Eryn and Flynn (Mark’s<br />
loving family).<br />
There have of course been many other people invaluably involved in<br />
Smorgasboarder throughout the past six years including the businesses<br />
who have supported us and those who subscribe to our magazine along<br />
with our readers who without, we would not exist. Thank you.<br />
ALL<br />
FOAMIES<br />
20%<br />
OFF<br />
SURFWAREAUSTRALIA.COM<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER <strong>37</strong>
HARD WORK<br />
And Life<br />
ON THE ROAD<br />
Smorgasboarder has been a lot of fun, as you will see in the coming pages<br />
but it has not been without a lot of hard work. Any given week will see<br />
Mark and I put in upwards of 60 to 80 hours and even over 100 when<br />
things get super hectic. But as they say, “Find something you love doing<br />
and you will never work a day in<br />
your life.” So we don’t “work” but<br />
sometimes our “fun” eats into our<br />
“sleep”.<br />
It has been a wild ride however and<br />
we are extremely grateful because<br />
without it we would not have had<br />
the opportunity to see Australia and<br />
New Zealand, extensively. We never would have had the opportunity to<br />
stay in the Hyundai Hilton – check out the in-room dining. We never would<br />
have seen the Big Sheep, or worn a sheep shirt for that matter. More<br />
importantly, we would never have come across where all the knobs of the<br />
world reside and now we know where to avoid.<br />
38 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
The office<br />
Hyundai Hilton<br />
In-room dining<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 39
Dave, the Phantom and the Phantom<br />
Paul Carson<br />
tolerating Mark<br />
Mark with Dave<br />
from Surfing Green<br />
B.F.F.s<br />
40 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
Slow walks in the park... Mark with Mitchell from Outer Island
Making great<br />
FRIENDSHIPS<br />
Nigel Dwyer from<br />
Del Surfboards<br />
Richard Harvey helps Mark tap into his inner shaper<br />
Smorgasboarder hasn’t been about making the mighty dollar. Sure it is good to be<br />
able to pay the bills and feed the family (that helps) but for us it has always been<br />
about something more than that. When it’s all business and nothing but, there’s no<br />
fun and no deeper meaning to what you are doing.<br />
We set out to meet people, understand what they were about and what they were<br />
trying to achieve in this thing we call the surf industry. In doing so we wanted to<br />
look after the people we worked with and always sought to have their best interests<br />
at heart. Thankfully this has seen us develop some really strong friendships along<br />
the way.<br />
Instead of heading down the coast "on business" to sell and write some stuff, our<br />
road trips became a chance to catch up with friends, to see how they were going,<br />
find out what interesting things they had been up to of late and from time to time<br />
catch up for a wave or a meal or a beer or two.<br />
Unfortunately, this approach to "doing business" often prolonged road trips making<br />
them take much longer than originally planned. A quick catch up with someone here<br />
and there often turned into an in-depth three-hour chat /interview. That may have<br />
lead to another chat with some person they knew nearby. Sometimes a planned<br />
one-week distribution/editorial run may rolled into two. Sometimes two weeks may<br />
have rolled into three, until the threat of divorce...<br />
Aside from the friendships we made outside of our business, Smorgasboarder<br />
was also about strengthening our friendships within the business. There would<br />
be nothing worse than working so closely with someone you hate. Sure you might<br />
say, “but Mark is such a tosser. How do you put up with him?” On a serious note<br />
however, I think working as hard as we have would usually put a lot of strain on a<br />
business relationship let alone<br />
a friendship. Thankfully for us<br />
it has just worked and we’ve<br />
managed to not kill one another,<br />
although I did note Mark gave<br />
me the assignment of the sky<br />
dive and the very small light<br />
plane interview with aerial<br />
photographer Mike Swaine and<br />
the bungee jump, hang on that<br />
was my own doing.<br />
Anyhow you get the drift, we<br />
have a lot of man-love going<br />
on for one another. Who else<br />
would I rather go night surfing<br />
with or… now I am rambling.<br />
Time to get on to the next<br />
section.<br />
Dave and Mark - hairless, finless and fancy free at night<br />
Dave and Mark Riley (is that morning or night?)<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 41
Jan2012_Smorgas_001.indd 1<br />
YOUR CHANCE TO WIN ONE OF THE SURFBOARDS FEATURED IN THIS EDITION! * GEAR TESTS * WWW.SMORGASBOARDER.COM.AU<br />
Mar2014_Smorgas_001-F.indd 1<br />
INSIDE: GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH SURF SNAPPING BROTHERS | BUILDING A WOODEN BOARD | VISIT PNG | SURFBOARDS<br />
May2015_Smorgas_001-F2.indd 1<br />
S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
Brad Bessant snaps<br />
John John Florence<br />
Photo: Craig Bessant<br />
7/01/13 5:43 PM<br />
5/04/2014 7:45 pm<br />
5/05/2015 5:03 pm<br />
Jan2012_Smorgas_001.indd 2<br />
INSPIRING SURF TRAVEL TALES, INTERNATIONALLY & LOCALLY: MENTAWAIS | SUMATRA | BALI | WEST OZ | SNOWBOARDING JAPAN<br />
July2015_Smorgas_001-F.indd 1<br />
-SPRING-<br />
-WINTER-<br />
-TRAVEL-<br />
S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
Stoked surfer, home<br />
board builder,<br />
passionfruit farmer,<br />
Troy Smith<br />
Photo: Richard Kotch<br />
7/01/13 5:44 PM<br />
25/06/2015 11:59 am<br />
Jan2012_Smorgas_001.indd 3<br />
INSIDE: SHARKS - IT’S TIME TO TALK | SOFTBOARDS - WE TEST THEM ALL | INSPIRING PEOPLE, BRILLIANT BOARDS & AMAZING PLACES<br />
Sep2015_Smorgas_001-F.indd 1<br />
- SUMMER-<br />
7/01/13 5:44 PM<br />
2/09/2015 9:57 pm<br />
COVER.indd 1<br />
November2011_Smorgas_Spread 001FINAL.indd 1<br />
Jan2012_Smorgas_001.indd 4<br />
INSIDE: BUILDING A CARDBOARD SURFBOARD | INTRODUCING NEW COLUMNS - THE SURF SAGE & SMOKE SIGNALS | AMAZING SURF TRAVEL<br />
FROM ACROSS THE DITCH<br />
Photo: Jim Culley<br />
Nov2015_Smorgas_001.indd 1<br />
- XMAS -<br />
THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF<br />
ISSUE #1 SEP/OCT 2010<br />
THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF<br />
ISSUE #8 NOV/DEC 2011<br />
23/08/10 3:04 PM<br />
8/11/11 5:55 PM<br />
7/01/13 5:45 PM<br />
19/11/2015 2:28 pm<br />
Nov2010_Smorgas_Spread 001.indd 1<br />
Jan2012_Smorgas_Spread 001-F.indd 1<br />
Mar2013_Smorgas_001-FF.indd 1<br />
ISSUE #9 JAN/FEB 2012<br />
THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF<br />
INSIDE: SURF-INSPIRED ART AND ARTISTS | SURF TRAVEL IN INDONESIA | THE LATEST SURFBOARD DESIGNS | INFLATABLE SUP TEST<br />
Jan<strong>2016</strong>_Smorgas_001.indd 1<br />
LOVING SURFING<br />
AMAZING PEOPLE<br />
CRAFT & CRAFTSMANSHIP<br />
THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF<br />
ISSUE #2 NOV/DEC 2010<br />
30/10/10 3:46 PM<br />
9/01/12 11:53 PM<br />
2/03/13 8:41 PM<br />
2/02/<strong>2016</strong> 10:23 pm<br />
SURF IS FREE... LIKE MAGS SHOULD BE<br />
SURF IS FREE... LIKE MAGS SHOULD BE<br />
SOUNDWAVES<br />
A CHANCE MEETING WITH THE GOLD COAST’S ISAAC PADDON P22<br />
TRAVEL: EXPLORE PHILLIP ISLAND P46<br />
GEAR: BOARDS GALORE P75<br />
HOME: SOUTH COAST MAGIC P64<br />
DEBATE:<br />
SUP, UP AND AWAY P48<br />
WORDS: THE KANTENDER P26<br />
212-PAGES<br />
AND IT’S FREE!<br />
FREEBORD...<br />
SIX WHEELS TO FREEDOM ...P168<br />
ONE MAN’S QUEST TO GET<br />
BACK ON BOARD ...P60<br />
INTERVIEW<br />
BEN OXENBOULD ...P42<br />
DOMESTIC<br />
DEPARTURES<br />
SYDNEY’S NORTHERN BEACHES ...P112<br />
SURF<br />
TOWN<br />
CRONULLA<br />
HOMEGROWN<br />
INSPIRING PEOPLE UNDERTAKING<br />
MOST INSPIRING PROJECTS ...P46<br />
TRAVEL BUG<br />
SNOW AND SURF ADVENTURES<br />
ALL ‘ROUND THE GLOBE<br />
LIMITED EDITION<br />
COVER #1 0F 4<br />
Because surf is free...<br />
.COM.AU<br />
LIMITED EDITION<br />
COVER #2 0F 4<br />
Because surf is free...<br />
.COM.AU<br />
Because surf is free...<br />
LIMITED EDITION<br />
COVER #3 0F 4<br />
.COM.AU<br />
LIMITED EDITION<br />
COVER #4 0F 4<br />
Because surf is free...<br />
.COM.AU<br />
SMORGASBOARDER<br />
F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E • A U S / N Z<br />
SURF+<br />
ART<br />
BEHIND BARRY:<br />
MEET THE ARTIST, CURL... P82<br />
PEOPLE, BOARDS & WAVES<br />
SURF+<br />
ART<br />
EARTH INSPIRED:<br />
JASON SWALES... P62<br />
PEOPLE, BOARDS & WAVES<br />
SURF+<br />
ART<br />
WORK OF HEART:<br />
JORDIE BROWN... P104<br />
PEOPLE,<br />
BOARDS &<br />
WAVES<br />
PEOPLE,<br />
BOARDS &<br />
WAVES<br />
SURF+<br />
ART<br />
OTHER WORLDS:<br />
JAMES McMILLAN... P48<br />
A SIGNED PRINT OF<br />
WIN THIS ARTWORK... P6<br />
MAN MANY<br />
OF<br />
BOARDS<br />
EDDIE ‘CAPTAIN FROTHALOT’ WEARNE<br />
BODYSURFING THE MALDIVES • IMMERSED IN FILM • SPRAY GUNS • DREAM SURF PADS • TRAVEL TALES<br />
VISIT THE HAPPIEST SURF TOWN<br />
PLUS:<br />
F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
NZ SNOW & SURF * UNCHARTED WATERS<br />
SURF PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAY & NIGHT... & MORE<br />
F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
SURF SNAPPING SPECIAL<br />
READER PHOTOS, INTERVIEWS<br />
TIPS & ADVICE FOR YOUR OWN PHOTOS<br />
May2014_Smorgas_001.indd 1 13/05/2014 11:24 am<br />
F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
LADIES FIRST: CELEBRATING THE SURFER GIRL<br />
SURFBOARD DESIGN | TRAVEL | AMAZING PEOPLE<br />
July2014_Smorgas_001_F.indd 1 20/06/2014 10:47 am<br />
SURFBOARD DESIGN | TRAVEL | AMAZING PEOPLE<br />
F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
WOODEN<br />
BOARD LOVE<br />
READER PHOTOS: TAKE A BOW<br />
SURF SHOPS<br />
BRICKS & MORTALS OF THE COASTLINE<br />
...BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW THEM.<br />
WE CHECK OUT WAVE TECHNOLOGY<br />
Sep2014_Smorgas_001.indd 1 1/09/2014 12:08 pm<br />
SURFBOARD DESIGN | TRAVEL | AMAZING PEOPLE<br />
F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
MORE SURFBOARDS<br />
THAN EVER:<br />
SHAPER QUIVERS<br />
TRAVEL ALL OVER:<br />
WESTERN AUSTRALIA & TAIWAN<br />
GREEN GEAR & SURF TECHNOLOGY<br />
Nov2014_Smorgas_001.indd 1 1/11/2014 10:04 am<br />
№ 29<br />
2015 F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
№ 30<br />
2015 F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
№ 31<br />
2015 F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
№ 32<br />
2015 F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
№ 33<br />
<strong>2016</strong> F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
ONPI<br />
SANDY RYAN GOES<br />
SURFING WITH SOME MATES<br />
KIWIS<br />
SURF<br />
+ART<br />
BRETT MARTIN | NEAL CAMERON | CHRIS GARRETT | CURL<br />
LACHLAN OLIVE | KYM NAGLER | TONY OGLE | SCOTT CHRISTENSEN<br />
FIELDEY JIMMY WAGS | OWEN CAVANAGH | CRAIG BAIRD... AND MORE!<br />
42 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
Jan2011_Smorgas_Spread 001.indd 1<br />
Mar2012_Smorgas_001-FF.indd 1<br />
May2013_Smorgas_001-F.indd 1<br />
LOVING SURFING<br />
AMAZING PEOPLE<br />
CRAFT & CRAFTSMANSHIP<br />
THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF<br />
ISSUE #3 JAN/FEB 2011<br />
ISSUE #10 MAR/APR 2012<br />
THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF<br />
18/12/10 8:28 PM<br />
27/02/12 9:<strong>37</strong> PM<br />
5/05/13 12:<strong>37</strong> PM<br />
Mar2011_Smorgas_Spread 001-F2 copy.indd 1<br />
May2012_Smorgas_001.indd 1<br />
July2013_Smorgas_001.indd 1<br />
LOVING SURFING<br />
AMAZING PEOPLE<br />
CRAFT & CRAFTSMANSHIP<br />
THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF<br />
ISSUE #4 MAR/APR 2011<br />
21/02/11 1:<strong>37</strong> PM<br />
10/05/12 8:06 PM<br />
1/07/13 1:28 AM<br />
May2011_Smorgas_Spread 001.indd 1<br />
Jul2012_Smorgas_001-FINAL.indd 1<br />
INSIDE: WOMEN ON WATER | NOOSA FESTIVAL OF SURFING | FELICITY BURDETT | ‘MAKE A BARRY’ ART COMPETITION!<br />
- EASTER -<br />
THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF<br />
ISSUE #5 MAY/JUN 2011<br />
THE GOLD COAST: ICONIC SURF BREAKS, LEGENDARY SHAPERS, modern INNOVATORS AND AMAZING PLACES<br />
Sep2013_Smorgas_001-F.indd 1<br />
3/05/11 11:06 AM<br />
4/07/12 5:40 PM<br />
17/09/13 4:31 AM<br />
July2011_Smorgas_Spread 001-F2.indd 1<br />
Sep2012_Smorgas_001-F.indd 1<br />
INSIDE: HOT & COLD - FROM THE SURF TO THE SNOW - JAPAN & PNG | MATT WILKERSON & BERTLEMANN BOARDS | ALOHA BARRY ART<br />
June<strong>2016</strong>_Smorgas_001.indd 1<br />
- WINTER -<br />
Because surf is free...<br />
INSPIRING STORIES & PEOPLE | INCREDIBLE SURFBOARDS & BOARD BUILDERS | INNOVATIVE IDEAS<br />
Nov2013_Smorgas_001.indd 1<br />
OF AUSTRALIAN & NZ<br />
SURFBOARD BUILDING<br />
GREG HUGLIN SUPPORTING SURFERS IN PNG SURFBOARDS & GEAR TESTS READER PHOTOS WWW.SMORGASBOARDER.COM.AU<br />
Jan2015_Smorgas_001-F.indd 1<br />
F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
•<br />
THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF<br />
ISSUE #6 JUL/AUG 2011<br />
F<br />
S<br />
I N C<br />
E<br />
5<br />
20/06/11 12:06 PM<br />
5/09/12 8:48 PM<br />
29/11/13 3:18 AM<br />
21/12/2014 9:31 pm<br />
27/06/<strong>2016</strong> 10:13 AM<br />
September2011_Smorgas_Spread 001-FF.indd 1<br />
Nov2012_Smorgas_001-FINAL.indd 1<br />
INSIDE: BARRY, CAUGHT CHEATING | SINGERS, SONGWRITERS & SURF GUITARS | THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF JIM CULLEY<br />
Spring<strong>2016</strong>_Smorgas_001.indd 1<br />
Because surf is free...<br />
- SPRING -<br />
THE MAGAZINE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO SURF<br />
ISSUE #7 SEP/OCT 2011<br />
MASSIVE SECTION OF THE LATEST SURFBOARD DESIGNS | YOUR STORIES | WWW.SMORGASBOARDER.COM.AU<br />
Jan2014_Smorgas_001.indd 1<br />
DISCOVERY & ADVENTURE<br />
INSIDE: SURF TRIP TIPS FROM A FEW OF YOUR BEST MATES | FILM-MAKER CLIVE NEESON | SURFBOARDS | A LOOK UP OUR SHORTS<br />
Mar2015_Smorgas_001-F.indd 1<br />
-EASTER-<br />
Top tips on spots to<br />
surf, places to eat<br />
& stay, and things to<br />
see and do .<br />
Trav McCoy-Ruapuke<br />
Photo: Jim Culley<br />
6/09/11 3:24 PM<br />
9/11/12 7:23 PM<br />
4/02/2014 1:41 am<br />
11/03/2015 12:34 pm<br />
6/10/<strong>2016</strong> 9:55 PM<br />
“THOSE WHO FLOW AS LIFE FLOWS KNOW THEY NEED NO OTHER FORCE.” LAO TZU<br />
OUR SURFING FAMILY HAS GROWN... WELCOME ON BOARD, SOUTH AUSTRALIA<br />
“THE CURE FOR ANYTHING IS SALT WATER: SWEAT, TEARS OR THE SEA.” ISAK DINESEN<br />
“TO PICK UP A BIG WAVE IS EASY, BUT TO SURVIVE A BIG WAVE IS ANOTHER STORY.” DAVID MESNARD<br />
BUMPER 164-PAGE BIRTHDAY EDITION! MASSIVE BOARDS SECTION!<br />
SURF IS FREE... LIKE MAGS SHOULD BE<br />
IT’S A<br />
BEAUTIFUL<br />
MAT McHUGH OF<br />
THE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS TALKS ABOUT<br />
DAY LIFE AS A SURFER & MUSICIAN<br />
WHAT LIES BENEATH P78<br />
FAMILY-FRIENDLY SAMOA P70<br />
SO MANY BOARDS P83<br />
BIRTH OF<br />
A BOARD<br />
LABOUR, PAIN & JOY<br />
...P82<br />
NORTH STRADBROKE<br />
FERRY GOOD INDEED<br />
...P58<br />
MUCH MORE<br />
THAN CRICKET<br />
AND CURRY..<br />
SURFING<br />
SRI<br />
LANKA<br />
DISCOVERING INDIAN OCEAN MAGIC P74<br />
YOUR SURF SHOTS AND MORE<br />
EVERYDAY<br />
SURFERS...<br />
...this issue is all you. P31<br />
UP THE CREEK<br />
WITH A PADDLE ...P35<br />
PASS THE SALT?<br />
THE DESAL DEBATE ...P50<br />
WETTIES<br />
NOT ALL THE SAME ...P105<br />
BITTERLY COLD, SHARKY AS HELL, MONSTROUS WAVES... WHY GO ANYWHERE ELSE?<br />
SOUTHERN OCEAN ADVENTURE<br />
ROAD<br />
DOGGIN’<br />
ASH GRUNWALD<br />
TAKES SURFING,<br />
MUSIC, ART & FILM<br />
ON TOUR ...P22<br />
GOING SOLO, MON<br />
TO THE ISLANDS ...P54<br />
TAKING SHAPE<br />
BEHIND VIC SURFBOARDS ...P66<br />
SHARK!<br />
FRIEND<br />
OR FOE?<br />
...P56<br />
Byrobn Bbaya<br />
AT HOME IN THE WAVES<br />
LIVING ...P42<br />
THE PEOPLE, THE PLACE<br />
DISCOVER YOUR BACKYARD ...P78<br />
SURF SHOTS<br />
THE BEST READER PICS ...P17<br />
WINTER, SHMINTER... THERE’S PLENTY OF SUNSHINE IN THE WORLD<br />
A HUGE 180 PAGES OF AMAZING PEOPLE WE ALWAYS WANTED TO MEET<br />
BECAUSE SURF IS FREE<br />
TAKE A BOAT TRIP TO THE WILD<br />
FRONTIER - TRAVEL TALES P74<br />
SONGS &<br />
KYM CAMPBELL SURF P40<br />
PLUS: HUGE WAVES AND ICE COLD: DUNEDIN PHOTOGRAPHER STEVO... P92<br />
SPRING<br />
LEGENDS: WAYNE LYNCH | BILL WALLACE | BARRIE SUTHERLAND<br />
WELCOME TO NEAL<br />
CAMERON ‘S WORLD<br />
OF INVENTION... P30<br />
WIN A $5000 QUIVER<br />
2012 SURF SHOP SPECIAL... P1<strong>37</strong> | FRESH, NEW-LOOK BOARD PROFILES... P112<br />
DOWN<br />
TOEARTH<br />
MIKE SWAINE PULLS A DIFFERENT KIND OF AERIAL - P60<br />
50 PAGES OF SURFBOARDS<br />
HOT RODS AND CRAZY BOARDS... P120 | FOR THE LOVE OF WOOD... P74<br />
SMORGASBOARDER<br />
F R E E ( Z E ) S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
SMORGASBOARDER<br />
F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
SMORGASBOARDER<br />
F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
GREETINGS FROM THE<br />
GOLD COAST<br />
Our comprehensive guide to barely scratching the<br />
surface of what the goldY has to offer<br />
ALASKAN ADVENTURE • MALDIVIAN SERENDIPITY • WETSUIT TESTS • THE FAMILY TREE<br />
THE BIGGEST<br />
WHO’S WHO<br />
READER<br />
TRAVEL TALES<br />
Smorgasboarder covers - the part of the mag we<br />
always agonise over for ages... Only because we<br />
often wish we had more than one cover to capture<br />
all the boards, interesting people, stories, reader<br />
contributions and more in every edition. In fact (as<br />
some of you may remember) we even did that for<br />
our first big Surf Art edition - four limited edition<br />
covers for the one issue. We've had photos of<br />
famous people, photos of readers, photos by<br />
readers, photos of people taking photos... And we<br />
love each one for a different reason.<br />
Some standouts? Foam Balls' Craig Bessant<br />
and Saltmontion's Joel Coleman have been<br />
repsonsible for some consistently cracking images.<br />
Tom Woods' snap of the world's happiest surfer<br />
on the Coffs Harbour edition as well as Fieldey's<br />
shark mural definitey had a whole heap of people<br />
talking. Jim Culley's shot of Sandy Ryan with<br />
a GoPro in his mouth is a classic, as is Mike<br />
Swaine's aerial shot of a surfer on a wave (not<br />
taken with a drone, but from an actual airplane!).<br />
In fact, they're all standouts - and that's why<br />
they're on the cover.<br />
№ 34<br />
<strong>2016</strong> F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
WOMEN ON WATER<br />
Mar<strong>2016</strong>_Smorgas_001.indd 1<br />
21/03/<strong>2016</strong> 7:29 pm<br />
№ 35<br />
<strong>2016</strong> F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
RILEY GOOD TIMES IN PNG<br />
S U R<br />
E D<br />
1 9<br />
7 •<br />
№ 28<br />
№ 36<br />
The<br />
Blank<br />
Pages <strong>2016</strong>-17<br />
2015 F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
PLAN YOUR NEXT<br />
NZ SURF TRIP. .<br />
<strong>2016</strong> F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
28-page Australia and NZ Shapers Directory<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 43
44 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
OUR FAVOURITE<br />
GRASS ROOTS<br />
Reader Photo<br />
There’s not too much more<br />
to say here other than<br />
Smorgasboarder has always<br />
been about the grassroots<br />
surfing community; essentially you,<br />
our readers.<br />
So many of you have interesting<br />
stories to tell and some great<br />
surf shots as well thanks to the<br />
introduction of GoPros and the like.<br />
In pretty much every edition, as<br />
you know, we feature your great<br />
shots. Here’s one of our favourites.<br />
This amazing Jeff Tull one from the<br />
early days, as well as Luc Bruna's<br />
cover shot are just two cracking<br />
examples of your lens skills!<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 45
1<br />
As the saying goes,<br />
“beauty is in the eye of<br />
the beholder” and a lot of<br />
what we love and loath<br />
is often associated with<br />
either good or bad times. Now by no<br />
means are we inferring the towns<br />
we have listed here are the greatest<br />
and the seaside hideaway you call<br />
home is a festering hole, crap we<br />
would lose 80% of our readership in<br />
one foul swoop.<br />
What we are saying is the places<br />
we have named are where we have<br />
enjoyed some truly memorable<br />
experiences and they just so happen<br />
to be incredibly appealing as well.<br />
Indeed, we are all so very fortunate<br />
so much of our Australian and New<br />
Zealand coastline is breathtakingly<br />
beautiful.<br />
Now another saying you might<br />
have heard is, “the grass is always<br />
greener on the other side” and just<br />
as our home on the Sunshine Coast<br />
is one of the most desirable coastal<br />
destinations in the world we found<br />
ourselves falling in love with coastal<br />
towns far, far away and markedly<br />
Coastlines and<br />
SEASIDE TOWNS<br />
different from where we live. So<br />
here they are in no particular order:<br />
(Please note, this review is<br />
written by Dave who loves freezing<br />
cold water, open fires and wintery<br />
destinations. His dream destination<br />
would see snow falling heavily as<br />
he walks down onto the beach. Mark<br />
on the other hand prefers lukewarm<br />
water, long slow walks on the beach<br />
and Pina Coladas with the little<br />
umbrella on the side.)<br />
1. The Gong and Beyond<br />
I didn’t see this stretch of Coast<br />
until we began Smorgasboarder and<br />
immediately fell in love, particularly<br />
with the northern end from Stanwell<br />
Park to Thirroul and Kiama south.<br />
Through the years I have seen these<br />
46 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
2<br />
2<br />
2 3<br />
2<br />
CHECK<br />
THIS OUT!<br />
areas transform into very trendy<br />
little seaside suburbs indeed but<br />
fortunately they have lost none of<br />
their charm. The view from Stanwell<br />
Tops is something to behold as<br />
is the lookout from Bulli. Surfing<br />
the northern end around Coal Cliff<br />
you will find yourself sandwiched<br />
between the Pacific Ocean and the<br />
cliffs of the Illawarra Escarpment,<br />
which drop precipitously to the sea.<br />
Here I also have one of my favourite<br />
campgrounds where I like to stay<br />
right on the beach at Coledale.<br />
2. Port Fairy and<br />
the Shipwreck Coast<br />
Possibly the most idyllic coastal<br />
town I have ever seen. Historic<br />
bluestone buildings house quaint<br />
eateries, shops and local watering<br />
holes, huge Norfolk Island pines<br />
line the streets and boats moored<br />
along the banks of the Moyne River<br />
has the town resembling a mix of<br />
Maine, Canada and northern Europe<br />
all rolled into one. Port Fairy is so<br />
picturesque and oozes a very unique<br />
sophisticated charm. In my opinion<br />
it is the jewel in the crown of the<br />
rugged Shipwreck Coast which<br />
extends from Cape Otway through to<br />
the South Australian border.<br />
3. Piha<br />
One of the first few places we surfed<br />
in our first exploratory mission over<br />
to NZ. Seeing it for the first time is<br />
like walking onto the set of Jurassic<br />
Park. Atop of the Waitakere Ranges<br />
as Piha first comes into full view<br />
you are greeted with the most aweinspiring<br />
panorama of rugged cliffs,<br />
the wild Tasman Sea, volcanic black<br />
sand beaches and lush hillsides. In<br />
gloomy conditions when the surf is<br />
on it has a foreboding, prehistoric<br />
feel about it that has you both<br />
bristling with excitement and<br />
packing your duds at the same time.<br />
4. Kaikoura<br />
When you first lay eyes on this area<br />
it takes you a while to take it all in<br />
because it is hard to comprehend its<br />
absolute natural beauty. It is picture<br />
postcard perfect. I mean how many<br />
places do you know of in the world<br />
where snow-capped mountains<br />
literally line the coastline. The water<br />
is this vibrant aquamarine colour<br />
and the rocky limestone shoreline<br />
virtually plays a symphony each<br />
time a wave comes crashing upon<br />
the beach. Crikey, I sound a little<br />
poetic (a bad poet that is) with my<br />
description but I suppose that is<br />
what this place does to you. Whilst<br />
on the subject of Kaikoura we would<br />
like to pass on our well wishes to the<br />
local community following the recent<br />
earthquake that shook the area to its<br />
core and hope they can get life back<br />
to normal.<br />
5. Akaroa<br />
We only spent a night there and<br />
the fact we nearly died on the way<br />
made the beholden site of this quaint<br />
French/ English town nestled on a<br />
sheltered harbour surrounded by the<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 47
4<br />
5<br />
48 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
Natural Beauty<br />
remnants of an extinct volcano even<br />
more special. It was our 2014 family<br />
trip to the South Island and after<br />
a day on the snow at Mt Hutt we<br />
decided to make a beeline for Akaroa<br />
only to find ourselves endlessly<br />
winding up steep mountains late<br />
into the night before we eventually<br />
arrived. A quick few tips; don’t<br />
drive to Akaroa at night, especially<br />
in winter, and make sure to visit<br />
Vangionis for dinner. Anyone who<br />
has been to Akaroa remarks about<br />
how special it is.<br />
6. The Far South Coast of NSW<br />
There is something about the Far<br />
South Coast that just makes me<br />
relax and breathe a little deeper. I<br />
suppose it has something to do with<br />
escaping the hustle and bustle of<br />
greater Sydney, which now really<br />
extends virtually all the way down<br />
to Wollongong. The traffic eases and<br />
the stunning scenery begins. From<br />
Eurobodalla Shire taking in the likes<br />
of Batemans Bay right down along<br />
the Sapphire Coast to the Victorian<br />
border is to me God’s country. It has
7<br />
8<br />
6<br />
changed a lot over the last years we<br />
have published Smorgasboarder and<br />
I only hope the pace of develop slows<br />
so it does not impact on the to-date<br />
unspoilt beauty of the region. Oh and<br />
the surf just so happens to be pretty<br />
incredible, as are the little towns<br />
along the way such as Bermagui,<br />
Tathra and Eden, along with the<br />
oysters and all of the natural produce<br />
from the area.<br />
7. West Coast, NZ South Island<br />
If Piha has you feeling like you are<br />
walking onto the set of Jurassic Park<br />
the West Coast will have you feeling<br />
like you have actually stepped back<br />
in time 30 million years ago to when<br />
this landscape was first formed.<br />
It is wild, wooly and absolutely<br />
breathtaking. On the swell side of<br />
things you are often waiting for the<br />
swell to drop from insane to friggin'<br />
massive. Some of the highlights<br />
of this coastline are Punakaiki’s<br />
Pancake Rocks, blowhole and<br />
surrounding 100m high limestone<br />
cliffs, Fox Glacier and Franz Josef<br />
Glacier.<br />
8. Sydney’s Northern Beaches<br />
Entering parts of Sydney’s Northern<br />
Beaches particularly those north of<br />
“The Bends” is like entering another<br />
world. You can’t help but marvel at<br />
not only the succession of fine, sandy<br />
beaches punctuated by protective<br />
sandstone headlands but also the<br />
size and grandeur of the beachside<br />
mansions. You can’t help but wonder<br />
how someone can amass that kind<br />
of wealth in a lifetime. You can<br />
however see why Australia’s elite<br />
have set up residence here. What<br />
I like most of all however is that I<br />
can park my Hyundai Hilton in the<br />
Lakeside Holiday Park in Narrabeen<br />
and take it all in without the pain of<br />
a mortgage that would take me one<br />
hundred lifetimes to pay off.<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 49
Thems<br />
THE BREAKS<br />
50 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
Our pick of some of our favourite<br />
and most memorable surf<br />
breaks will no doubt surprise<br />
more than a few. We’re not<br />
so much seeking out a heaving slab as<br />
we are a nice mellow long wall where<br />
we can casually carve. After all, let’s<br />
be honest, Mark and I are now in our<br />
40s. We’re getting old. I for one can’t<br />
afford to go injuring myself every<br />
second month like I frequently did.<br />
Our list doesn’t include several<br />
acclaimed and revered breaks<br />
because the acclaimed breaks are<br />
often packed to the max and there is<br />
nothing we detest more than surfing<br />
a slalom course and the revered<br />
breaks are more often than not<br />
semi-secret spots with an intense<br />
local crew and we are going to let<br />
sleeping dogs lie. The breaks we<br />
have listed are spots where we have<br />
been lucky enough to enjoy a fun surf<br />
whilst doing our thing with the mag.<br />
HOME (MINE)<br />
It is hard to go past my home break<br />
of Moffat Beach not that I surf it<br />
much nowadays – can’t handle the<br />
pressure of people watching you<br />
when you repeatedly tell them you<br />
are a crap surfer. I have however<br />
enjoyed many a surf here and<br />
managed to get in some really<br />
enjoyable board testing. When<br />
she is on song there are plenty of<br />
take-off points to help with crowd<br />
management and nice long walls to<br />
enjoy with plenty of time to carve<br />
away. The “Happy Place” being<br />
Happy Valley also deserves an<br />
honourable mention.<br />
(MARK’S)<br />
Aside from playing Duelling Banjos<br />
north of the Maroochy River they do<br />
have some pretty slick breaks and<br />
no more famous than this majestic<br />
mother – Mudjimba Island or Old<br />
Woman as she is affectionately<br />
known by some.<br />
SUMNER, CHRISTCHURCH<br />
Who would have thunk it? Teahupo’o<br />
it may not be and we hear she can<br />
get crowded, but each time we have<br />
visited between Autumn and Winter
Sumner cruising while testing Seventh Wave steamers<br />
we've had spectacular waves. Not<br />
much more than 2-3 ft but perfectly<br />
formed and perfectly suited for<br />
longboarding or retro-inspired craft<br />
from local shaper Jay Jackman of<br />
Sadhana Surfboards.<br />
PIHA<br />
The scenery is nothing short of<br />
spectacular and the surf always<br />
seems to be on in some form<br />
or another (as are the swirling<br />
currents). When you surf here you<br />
really do feel like you are on the set<br />
of a movie or TV show for the matter<br />
(800 Words). It leaves you in awe<br />
and she can pack a punch.<br />
DUNEDIN<br />
Is there a theme here? I guess we<br />
just enjoy surfing cold places (well<br />
I do, Mark complains but none of<br />
our travelling party ever bothers<br />
to listen). This place ALWAYS has<br />
surf. In fact, I believe it would be<br />
an absolute miracle if it didn’t. Who<br />
One more, says Piha<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 51
52 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
Surf Breaks
cares if the water temp ranges from<br />
8 to maybe 15 degrees and there are<br />
quite a fair few toothy compatriots<br />
in the near vicinity. St Claire and St<br />
Kilda Beach are our staples. Too far<br />
north and you hit the seal colony<br />
along with KZ7. He’s rumoured to<br />
be the same size as the Kiwi Super<br />
Maxi of the same name.<br />
TWELVE APOSTLES<br />
It may be extremely treacherous<br />
and teeming with White Pointers<br />
but who doesn’t want to surf next<br />
to an Australian landmark when<br />
the conditions are right. Seriously<br />
though, don’t dare try if you are not<br />
an extremely strong swimmer or<br />
can really handle yourself in the surf<br />
otherwise you might end up in either<br />
Tassie or NZ or as flotsam.<br />
THE FARM, SHELLHARBOUR<br />
Great peeling A-frames where we<br />
have occasionally scored some really<br />
fun hollow barrels. Nowadays she<br />
is getting more and more crowded<br />
though.<br />
THE SURF COAST<br />
There are really so many options<br />
but our favourites include Cathedral<br />
Rock near Lorne and Lorne Point<br />
itself when there are some long line<br />
peelers. Cathedral Rock is awesome<br />
in 6ft+ clean SW swells but she is a<br />
bugger to get out and back in if you<br />
don’t fancy making your way in to<br />
the beach.<br />
And there are countless other<br />
great waves we have enjoyed in<br />
and around Newcastle, Sydney’s<br />
Northern Beaches, the South Coast<br />
of NSW (bit too secretive to mention)<br />
and northern NSW.<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 53
Mickey T's turf Photo © Raglan Longboards<br />
Them's the Breaks…<br />
SOME GOOD, SOME BAD.<br />
Mickey T<br />
Mark at Raglan<br />
Waves are fickle. You<br />
can’t score your dream<br />
break every time. And<br />
as we have come to<br />
learn through our travels, some we<br />
can’t even score any time, no matter<br />
how many times we visit.<br />
Some of the breaks are absolute<br />
hallowed turf (or oceans we should<br />
say) that are every surfer’s dream<br />
and some well… we just want<br />
to goddamn score it in decent<br />
conditions because… we want to.<br />
RAGLAN<br />
Why ohh why? The sight of Raglan<br />
going off is just too good to believe<br />
plus we have a steady supply of<br />
awesome boards from one of the<br />
54 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
nicest blokes and talented shapers<br />
you will meet in NZ, Mickey T of<br />
Raglan Longboards. So why can’t we<br />
get it like this? We’ve had fun in the<br />
past but as you can see above there is<br />
a slight discrepancy.<br />
LYALL BAY<br />
Some might ask why. Because where<br />
else do you get to surf right beside an<br />
airport runway? I have experienced<br />
some fun little waves here in the<br />
middle of winter when the water was<br />
a balmy 12 to 13 degrees but am yet<br />
to get it when it is, as described in the<br />
Wavetrack New Zealand Surfing Guide,<br />
“a big exploding peak breaking off the<br />
end of the runway… Surfers need cast<br />
iron balls to take off.”<br />
GREAT LAKES<br />
Life is all about taking in new<br />
experiences and what better way<br />
than to venture over to visit our first<br />
ever overseas subscriber in Mike<br />
Dave at Lyall Bay here, and Lyall Bay above<br />
Roberson in Grand Haven, Michigan.<br />
Sure he may be 1000km from the<br />
nearest ocean but he has access<br />
to the Great Lakes. Let’s consider
We can custom shape<br />
foam core paulownia<br />
skinned blanks<br />
SUPPLIER OF DIY<br />
WOODEN SURFBOARD KITS<br />
the pros, there are no crowds.<br />
Best estimates put the number of<br />
surfers in the Great Lakes at 500.<br />
On average there are 100 surfable<br />
days, which does not sound too<br />
dissimilar to the Sunshine Coast<br />
where we live. Of those, 30 days<br />
would be considered very good<br />
and about 15 days of excellent<br />
surf where the waves are chest<br />
high or bigger. And, no sharks! The<br />
cons? Offshore and glassy is not<br />
a regular part of the vocabulary to<br />
describe surf conditions here and<br />
the surface water in some parts<br />
during winter does freeze but who’s<br />
complaining. Good 6mm wetsuit,<br />
good constitution and it’s all<br />
systems go.<br />
RIVER SURFING<br />
When Jon Wilson from NZ<br />
Shred over in Queenstown<br />
and his mate Chris Shaw sent<br />
in photos of them surfing a<br />
sheet wave at the Hawea<br />
Whitewater Kayak Park just<br />
outside of Wanaka, we knew<br />
the next surf spot we must<br />
sample.<br />
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XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 55
Fergburgers<br />
Beach House<br />
Maranui Cafe<br />
The Galley<br />
Rivermouth<br />
Cafes, Pit Stops<br />
& EATERIES<br />
Well we hate to be<br />
controversial but in<br />
our opinion if truth be<br />
told this category is<br />
absolutely dominated by the Kiwis.<br />
I think their fresh produce and that<br />
everything appears to be homemade<br />
has a lot to do with it. It is hard to find<br />
a café that delivers substandard fare.<br />
The Beach House Café + Bar,<br />
Waipu Cove, North Island NZ<br />
Our first dinner and breakfast in NZ<br />
was here and we still remember it<br />
vividly. My mouth starts to water just<br />
thinking about it… and the coffee.<br />
Maranui Café, Lyall Bay,<br />
Wellington, North Island NZ<br />
Possible one of the coolest cafes we<br />
have ever been to. Awesome vibe,<br />
busy as hell and not in the slightest<br />
bit pretentious. Breaky here is the<br />
perfect remedy following a sub 14<br />
degrees surf out front.<br />
The Shack, Raglan,<br />
North Island NZ<br />
Another Kiwi standout. Awesome<br />
food and coffee. You have probably<br />
guessed by now we are huge fans of<br />
breakfast. What surfer isn’t?<br />
56 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
Starfish Café and Dunedin,<br />
South Island NZ<br />
This is weird but Dunedin is always<br />
freezing in and out of the water (love<br />
it) but when you had to the Starfish<br />
for breakfast, miraculously the sun<br />
comes out. It is like the gods are<br />
smiling upon your breaky choice.<br />
Fergburgers, Queenstown,<br />
South Island NZ<br />
If this is the kiwi’s version of fast<br />
food we love it. Love, love their<br />
burgers AND Fergbaker next door.<br />
Love a bit of tart.<br />
Re:Start<br />
Container<br />
Mall,<br />
Christchurch,<br />
South Island NZ<br />
Iconic, funky and<br />
absolutely amazing food. Pick<br />
any foodie container and let your<br />
stomach go to heaven. Trendy cafes,<br />
wood fired pizzas, Fritz’s Weiners,<br />
kronuts... :) Yep, you heard us. Food<br />
of champions. And there’s great<br />
coffee there too. We get a little<br />
excited when we head here.<br />
Pizza Pizza, Lorne, Victoria<br />
Awesome Pizza takeaway. Pizzas<br />
don’t have to be fancy to be good.<br />
Simple and fresh is all you need.<br />
Order, head to the pub and grab a<br />
couple of longnecks then retire to<br />
wherever you are staying or just sit<br />
outside. Our regular when in Lorne.<br />
Youkis Japanese Restaurant in<br />
Amaroo Holiday Park, Cowes,<br />
Phillip Island<br />
Superb Japanese in... wait for it...<br />
Amaroo Holiday Park, which is<br />
where I park the Hyundai Hilton<br />
when in Phillip Island. I love<br />
Japanese, and Youkis sushi and<br />
sashimi is my treat when on a long<br />
road trip.<br />
The<br />
Galley,<br />
Coffs<br />
Harbour, NSW<br />
Wayne and Mary-<br />
Ann run The Galley and<br />
have a little organic garden right out<br />
front and make the freshest of fresh<br />
tasty burgers.<br />
The Rivermouth Café,<br />
Tomakin, NSW<br />
The food and coffee is great, the<br />
café has real character and the<br />
lady who owns and runs it is one<br />
of the nicest you will ever meet.<br />
My essential pit stop on a road trip<br />
down the Far South Coast of NSW.<br />
Dip Café, Byron Bay, NSW<br />
Consistency's the key here. Dip has<br />
been a frequent stop for breakfast<br />
on our regular distribution runs<br />
down the coast and it never ever<br />
disappoints.<br />
Anglesea General Store, Victoria<br />
Maids Pantry Brunchbar is a ripper.<br />
A superb Surf Coast stop for a<br />
coffee and treat or something more<br />
substantial.<br />
Trappers Bakery of Goulburn,<br />
NSW<br />
If on the island speed run down to<br />
Victoria this is an absolute cracker.
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XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 57
WATERING HOLES<br />
Urunga<br />
Now it may come as<br />
a surprise to some<br />
but those who have<br />
read a few editions of<br />
Smorgasboarder would<br />
be aware that aside from surfing<br />
we don’t mind the odd beer or two.<br />
So with that said, the question on<br />
everybody’s lips we are sure, well<br />
those who love a beer too, is, where<br />
are some of our favourite watering<br />
holes?<br />
Wye Beach Hotel,<br />
Wye River, Victoria<br />
Is this Australia’s best pub? Well you<br />
would be hard pressed to argue, just<br />
look at the view. Imagine what it’s<br />
like having just caught a few frosties<br />
and then walking across the road for<br />
a few of another kind. Suffice to say,<br />
when we are passing through, we<br />
Harbour View Hotel, Raglan<br />
consider it sacrilegious to at least<br />
not pop in for one quick ale.<br />
Panhandle, Cowes, Victoria<br />
Why? Because it is super chilled and<br />
relaxed and we love going to Phillip<br />
Island. Everything is within walking<br />
distance, well the Panhandle to the<br />
Holiday Park anyhow and there is<br />
always good people there to catch<br />
up with over a beer.<br />
The Hoey Moey,<br />
Coffs Harbour, NSW<br />
Always great live music playing but<br />
extremely dangerous. A few beers<br />
on a Sunday afternoon can see<br />
you stay until close and delay your<br />
travel plans for the next day or any<br />
thoughts of an early morning surf.<br />
Railway Hotel, Byron Bay, NSW<br />
It is a sentimental favourite when<br />
visiting Byron and often the starting<br />
point for a long night ahead. Always<br />
an interesting musician playing.<br />
The Beach Hotel is also a lot of<br />
fun for people watching over a lazy<br />
afternoon session.<br />
Mallacoota Hotel, Victoria<br />
Just because it is so far from home<br />
and its always exciting to park the<br />
Hyundai Hilton for the night and<br />
race up for a counter meal and a<br />
few amber nectars. Tathra Hotel on<br />
the other side of the border is also<br />
special for the same reason.<br />
Alex Bar and Grill, Alexandra<br />
Headland, QLD<br />
Because this is where Smorgasoarder<br />
was conceived.<br />
Lorne Hotel, Victoria<br />
Just such a great view in a great part<br />
of the world.<br />
Ocean View Hotel, Urunga, NSW<br />
A grand old pub with such a good<br />
vibe and where we often catch up for<br />
a chat with master shaper Mitchell<br />
Rae of Outer Island Surfboards.<br />
Harbour View Hotel, Raglan,<br />
North Island, NZ<br />
Raglan is just such a fun town with a<br />
good vibe and we always have good<br />
night here.<br />
Dunedin, South Island, NZ<br />
A beer here means we are catching<br />
Carse<br />
up with Carse (legendary local<br />
shaper Graham Carse) who is always<br />
up for a few and there’s plenty of<br />
laughs to be had. And plenty of bars<br />
to visit so we have named the whole<br />
town.<br />
McLeod’s Pizza Barn, Waipu,<br />
North Island, NZ<br />
This is a favourite as it topped off<br />
one of the most memorable days of<br />
my life. More on this in our Most<br />
Memorable Experiences.<br />
And really, this section could go on<br />
for an entire magazine. There are<br />
so many local watering holes full of<br />
character throughout our wonderful<br />
country as well as NZ.<br />
58 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
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against the tide or when going into the wind.<br />
• 35 minutes continuous runtime<br />
(up to two hours surfing)<br />
• Can be surfed/paddled with or without the motor<br />
• Easy to operate, easy to maintain.<br />
WWW.POWERBOARDS1.COM INFO@POWERBOARDS1.COM<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 59
Surfboard<br />
ROAD TESTS<br />
Woody's Megafish<br />
Funnily enough when first asked<br />
to road test a few surfboards<br />
we explained we weren’t the<br />
world’s best surfers. Hell, we<br />
weren’t even the Sunshine Coast’s<br />
best surfers. Indeed, we couldn’t<br />
even claim to be the best surfers<br />
in our respective streets and pretty<br />
much won’t be able to claim as much<br />
in our own households in a year or<br />
two.<br />
You see we love to surf but we don’t<br />
rip. Mark occasionally rips one off.<br />
I rip my pants every now and again<br />
when I have indulged too much over<br />
Christmas but we certainly don’t rip<br />
in the surf. So whilst we are more<br />
than happy to surf anew style of<br />
board, we’re not going to be able<br />
to rate how it is to pull airs. We’re<br />
just normal everyday surfers but<br />
we guess that is where we struck a<br />
chord with many shapers. As they<br />
explained, everybody likes to think<br />
they surf like Slater but very few<br />
do. You guys can give an honest<br />
assessment of what the board is like<br />
for Joe or Jody Average.<br />
So here are a few of the memorable<br />
boards we have had the pleasure of<br />
surfing. By no means is it a complete<br />
list, we are after all always happy to<br />
try new ones hint, hint. It’s simply<br />
where we really liked the ride of the<br />
said board and the conditions were<br />
perfectly aligned.<br />
60 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
Woody’s Megafish<br />
This was the first board I tested and<br />
it still lingers in my memory. You’ve<br />
heard the saying “your go to board”.<br />
Well, it really was for me for quite<br />
a while. It could handle a variety of<br />
conditions from Sunshine Coast surf<br />
slop to a pounding beachie. Super<br />
fast, turn on a dime and strangely<br />
paddled on to full waves like a 10ft<br />
mal. You could even noseride it<br />
despite being only 6’6”.<br />
Sadhana Surfboards<br />
The waves on the day weren’t huge<br />
but were just so well formed and<br />
the boards we rode so perfectly<br />
suited to the conditions. This was a<br />
classic exampleof why a local shaper<br />
knows best. The day will be etched<br />
in our memories as one of the most<br />
enjoyable days of board testing and<br />
indeed surfing that we have ever<br />
experienced.<br />
Mark Rabbidge’s<br />
Five Finger Splade<br />
There is a special place in my heart<br />
for this board and that is why it<br />
is the latest addition to the Swan<br />
family. The design is not a novelty.<br />
It surfs in an all-round modern way<br />
without the hang-ups of modern day<br />
designs. Powers off the bottom as<br />
the fingers engage and then releases<br />
off the top lip like you have never<br />
experienced. Words can’t describe<br />
other than ‘utterly addictive’.<br />
Vampirate Grave Digger<br />
5’2” x 20” x 2 5/8” may sound too<br />
small for some but I’m 6ft and close<br />
to 90kgs and yet this is my favourite<br />
shortboard. Twin keels and a flat<br />
deck deliver great down-the-line<br />
speed and coupled with its length<br />
make it easy to whip around. The<br />
lifted shovelnose doesn’t detract<br />
from the boards speed but prevents<br />
nosediving when taking off late on<br />
pitching waves.<br />
Diggin' it...<br />
Sadhana Surfboards<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 61
Diverse Sonic Pro<br />
Must Test<br />
Bushrat’s Finless Flextail<br />
Do you reckon you would remember<br />
doing your first 360 on a wave? How<br />
about if you managed to pull of four<br />
in between carving up and down the<br />
face of a long Moffat Beach wall.<br />
I was on a high for months and it<br />
was all done on this 5’8” finless …<br />
and remember, I am a Joe Average<br />
surfer.<br />
Diverse Sonic Pro Model<br />
This board was placed into my van<br />
when I was enroute to Newcastle.<br />
Now I will be the first to admit I<br />
don’t feel I can honestly assess<br />
performance shortboards in the<br />
main because they just don’t suit my<br />
surfing style but something about<br />
this board and the conditions at<br />
Newcastle Beach clicked. Despite<br />
the board being only 5’10” x 18 ¼”<br />
x 2 3/16” it virtually stuck to my feet<br />
like I was strapped in and was so<br />
steady underfoot. The Dynocore was<br />
dynamite.<br />
Powerboard<br />
Unfortunately I was out injured<br />
again and didn’t get the chance to<br />
try but the boys raved about these<br />
longboards they tried. Unlike other<br />
motorised / jet propelled surfboards<br />
that have come and gone Powerboard<br />
is powering on because they are the<br />
only one with a reliable, propellerbased<br />
propulsion system in the fin.<br />
If you have an injury that prevents<br />
you from paddling out or are keen<br />
to surf waves where a jetski would<br />
normally be required, why wouldn’t<br />
you consider giving this a go?<br />
Black Apache Mini-Simmons<br />
What more can I say than it’s a mini-<br />
Simmons designed by one of the<br />
guys who brought the mini-Simmons<br />
back into fashion six years ago.<br />
Some may dismiss these shapes<br />
but they are well suited to weak<br />
Sunshine Coast beachies where<br />
speed is required and there is no<br />
face to get going on a longboard.<br />
High Tide 9’1” Log<br />
This is my personal board and just<br />
such a great board to ride when the<br />
conditions suit. I have never owned<br />
a longboard quite like this and the<br />
ride is so different. I particularly like<br />
the way it handles with its slightly<br />
rounded pin tail, big 10 inch glassed<br />
on single fin and super flat deck.<br />
High Tide log<br />
62 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
Board Tester Angman<br />
on the Power Board<br />
Board tester Karl, Black Apache<br />
mini-Simmons<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 63
Memorable<br />
EXPERIENCES<br />
Unfortunately, we don’t as yet<br />
own a jet nor a beachside<br />
condo or even a fancy car<br />
for that matter. Publishing<br />
Smorgasboarder hasn’t made us<br />
ridiculously wealthy and we can’t<br />
see that changing anytime soon, in a<br />
monetary sense that is, but as cliched<br />
as it sounds, we are richer for the<br />
unbelievable experiences we’ve had.<br />
BUILDING A BOARD FROM<br />
START TO FINISH<br />
The only true way to fully<br />
comprehend what goes into making<br />
a surfboard is by building your own<br />
by hand completely from start to<br />
scratch. We tackled this task way<br />
back in Issue 4 and have to say it<br />
was without doubt one of the most<br />
memorable experiences Mark and<br />
I have enjoyed since we began<br />
Smorgasboarder. The fact my mini-<br />
Simmons called the Stumpy Duck<br />
turned out to be one of the most<br />
incredible surfboards of all time just<br />
added to the buzz. Disappointingly,<br />
Mark’s was a dog but I guess some<br />
people just ooze talent and others<br />
struggle.<br />
We learnt to handshape our blanks<br />
with Richard Harvey down on the<br />
Gold Coast and then graduated to<br />
glassing, resin tinting, finish coating<br />
and polishing with Paul Carson at<br />
The Factory Surfboards in Moffat<br />
Beach. Both men were absolutely<br />
fantastic and extremely patient…<br />
with Mark. They were possibly in<br />
awe of my natural talent.<br />
THE CONTEST CONTINUES:<br />
MAKING ALAIAS<br />
If we didn’t have enough laughs<br />
building our foam and fibreglass<br />
boards our next challenge was alaias<br />
with the good folks at Surfing Green,<br />
Nic and Dave. Mark was clearly still<br />
in the groove from our initial board<br />
build and was out of the gates like<br />
a raging bull. Unfortunately for him<br />
it was to only last a day and whilst<br />
his shape had merit it surfed like a<br />
fishtail ironing board. Neptune Rising<br />
(out of a sea of Blue Loo – I stained<br />
the tip of the board with it) was a<br />
revelation, mainly because I realised<br />
that staining your board with Blue<br />
Loo would only see it “flush away”<br />
the first time you surfed it.<br />
64 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
Mark<br />
Dave<br />
I GO IT ALONE<br />
Realising he had been completely<br />
vanquished Mark did not join<br />
me on the hollow wooden board<br />
building course with the Rob,<br />
Gary and Darren from Tree to<br />
Sea down in Mt Eliza. Building<br />
these boards with the crew on<br />
my course was an incredible<br />
experience. I really enjoyed the<br />
comradery and banter over the<br />
course of the 3 days. It was a<br />
lot of work and quite exhausting<br />
but an extremely rewarding<br />
experience. Of course, my<br />
shaping finesse once again came<br />
to the fore when I lopped the<br />
nose off my board and promptly<br />
called it The Flathead.<br />
NOT TO BE OUTDONE<br />
Of Course Mark couldn’t leave<br />
things there. He had to go and<br />
build not one, but several of the<br />
coolest surf guitars out of foam<br />
and fibreglass, centre stringer and<br />
all! He did get some assistance<br />
however I will add from some<br />
of the most talented glassers in<br />
the surf industry. Cheat. His son<br />
Flynn’s recycled Hawaiian shirt as<br />
a plectrum guard was brilliant.<br />
Left: Jase from Ace Fibreglass<br />
shows Mark the ropes<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 65
CURLS, PIZZA AND BEERS<br />
Now this is definitely one of the<br />
perks of publishing Smorgasboarder.<br />
Roger Hall of Surfline Surfboards<br />
in New Zealand shapes boards<br />
that defy belief. Over the last few<br />
years he’s dedicated a great deal of<br />
his focus to re-evolving the 1930s<br />
Hot Curl, bringing it into modern<br />
surfboard terms. The Hot Curl is a<br />
finless surfboard first developed in<br />
the 1930s before the introduction<br />
of fins and instead relies on a steep<br />
Roll/Vee bottom contour through<br />
the tail third to pull the tail into the<br />
face of the wave. Anyhow Roger has<br />
been refining the design, shaping<br />
and testing various shapes, sizes and<br />
styles.<br />
On this particular day I was<br />
delivering Smorgasboarder on the<br />
North Island and compiling stories<br />
for our next edition when I called<br />
by Roger’s factory. I was informed<br />
he was down at Waipu Cove doing<br />
some more testing of his latest<br />
Hot Curls and it was suggested I<br />
should join him. It was way too good<br />
an opportunity to pass up. Three<br />
hours or so later I was convinced<br />
these were the next boards for my<br />
quiver. Still on a high I joined Roger for a pizza<br />
and a few beers after at his local watering<br />
hole, McLeod’s Pizza Barn. Well not only<br />
were the pizzas superb but the place was<br />
a micro-brewery and with some absolute<br />
mouth-watering amber nectar, I was of course<br />
in trouble. The owners, brothers Geoff and<br />
Clayton Wynne were classic blokes and really<br />
looked after me and basically a very fun night<br />
unfolded which resulted in me sleeping in<br />
my delivery van out front. Thank you boys for<br />
one of the most memorable days of my whole<br />
entire life.<br />
66 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
DINING ON CRAYS ON<br />
A DESERTED BEACH<br />
It’s not every day you get to dine out<br />
on crayfish, let alone on a deserted<br />
beach with three of your best mates.<br />
Unfortunately the Smorgasboarder<br />
travel budget is not that lavish<br />
but on this occasion, thanks to an<br />
incredibly generous gentleman<br />
called Gus and his lovely wife<br />
Donna who we met in Kaikoura,<br />
we were travelling south towards<br />
Christchurch with four freshly<br />
caught crays and insisted were on<br />
the house. Here’s the excerpt from<br />
our 2012 All Black Edition:<br />
“not before long we pulled over<br />
at a place called Gore Bay. The<br />
beach was completely deserted<br />
– just us, dark sand and gigantic<br />
pieces of driftwood. We parked the<br />
motorhome, unpacked the outdoor<br />
dining table and chairs on the sand,<br />
reached for a couple of ice cold<br />
beers and our feast of crayfish. In<br />
the most beautiful of surrounds, we<br />
got to eat, drink, relax and reflect<br />
on just how lucky we were to be<br />
able to be doing this… All in all, a<br />
dining experience that will forever<br />
be etched in our memories.”<br />
STEPPING BACK IN TIME<br />
FOLLOWED BY BREAKFAST<br />
AT FLEUR’S<br />
Rising early one morning south of<br />
Christchurch (on this same trip) and<br />
heading for Dunedin we were in<br />
search of some breakfast. Along the<br />
way we stumbled upon a town called<br />
Oamaru and knowing nothing about<br />
it, felt like we had been transported<br />
back in time. As the sun rose we<br />
found ourselves driving down<br />
narrow streets lined with imposing<br />
19th century limestone buildings.<br />
These beautifully preserved historic<br />
commercial buildings were remnants<br />
of a formerly prosperous refrigerated<br />
shipping industry and were now<br />
home to an array of antique shops,<br />
restaurants, a specialist whiskey bar<br />
and several art galleries, none more<br />
impressive than Steampunk HQ, a<br />
way-out there gallery with a flaming<br />
apocalyptic steam train decorated<br />
with skeletonsout front.<br />
Aghast we left Oamaru but still with<br />
an empty stomach as nothing was<br />
open yet. It was further down the<br />
track we came across a small fishing<br />
village called Moeraki that appeared<br />
to have a small café near an old pier.<br />
We ventured inside and enquired if<br />
they served breakfast. Apparently<br />
you needed to book here several<br />
months in advance but instead of<br />
turning us away we were promptly<br />
sat down and served the most<br />
incredible breakfast we have literally<br />
ever had. It may have appeared<br />
simple but the taste was out of this<br />
world.<br />
The “little café” we had stumbled<br />
on was none other than Fleur’s Place<br />
– a gastronomical big deal owned<br />
and run by Fleur Sullivan. Who is<br />
she some might say? When world<br />
renowned chef Rick Stein was asked<br />
if he could travel anywhere in the<br />
world for a meal where would he<br />
go, his reply was Fleur’s Place. No<br />
doubt Fleur will now be big-noting<br />
that the boys from Smorgasboarder<br />
visited… or that they fed three<br />
disheveled homeless guys.<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 67
Experiences<br />
TAKING THE PLUNGE<br />
“We would like you to swim with<br />
dolphins and jump out of a plane<br />
while you are here”, they say. Well<br />
we couldn’t disappoint and it was<br />
another few memorable experiences<br />
for the memory bank. Thank you<br />
Coffs Coast Marketing. Ahh, all in a<br />
days’ hard work.<br />
IS THAT IT?<br />
Hell no, there’s then bungee<br />
jumping (see injury section),<br />
our radio interview in New<br />
Plymouth (and beers, always<br />
beers), paddleboarding around<br />
Queenstown’s Lake Wakatipu for<br />
the first time, Mark’s family visit to<br />
Hobbiton, my family visit to Japan<br />
and Mark and Jordie Brown’s<br />
Survival Course (right), where he<br />
unfortunately didn’t drink his own<br />
urine. Shall I go on?<br />
Jordie build a shelter<br />
68 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 69
1<br />
2<br />
INJURIES and MISHAPS<br />
Hard to believe you would<br />
dedicate an entire section to<br />
this topic but the last 6 years<br />
have been full of injuries and<br />
a few mishaps. Now this is Dave<br />
talking as Mark has no real claim to<br />
fame here, at least on the injury side.<br />
It’s possibly because he doesn’t push<br />
the boundaries, live life on the edge,<br />
never places himself in harm’s way…<br />
basically he’s soft. Anyway, you get<br />
the drift. Let’s just refer to him as<br />
Mark the Marshmallow from here on<br />
in within this section.<br />
So injuries… well there are two<br />
crackers both with sensational stories<br />
attached to them. So let me tell you<br />
all about them for the 1,000th time.<br />
1. Bitten by a Penguin<br />
Well it was Boxing Day in 2011 and<br />
on the Sunshine Coast we had the<br />
remnants of ex-Tropical Cyclone Fina<br />
hitting our shores. Moffat Beach<br />
was on song delivering some big,<br />
beautiful waves and having tested<br />
a board called the Fat Penguin in the<br />
days before in building swell I was<br />
keen to see what it could do in the<br />
prevailing conditions.<br />
Developed by Paul Cole the board is<br />
super heavy with all kinds of varying<br />
contours on the deck, bottom and<br />
rails. One thing is for certain though,<br />
it is an absolute speed machine.<br />
On my fourth wave that day, I took<br />
off and managed to perform a<br />
beautiful triple pike straight off the<br />
lip of a monster and upon entering<br />
the water, the Penguin, that had as<br />
usual miraculously sucked onto the<br />
wave face, continued to motor along<br />
without me until the nose ploughed<br />
at high speed straight into my thigh.<br />
The angry bird had managed to<br />
bite through my skin into the fascia<br />
encasing the muscle. Reaching down<br />
and accidentally placing 3 or 4 fingers<br />
into the wound, I knew it was a nasty<br />
nip and subsequently made the slow<br />
paddle out into deeper waters in the<br />
bay and back to shore with a nice<br />
slick of blood trailing behind me. You<br />
can hear the music can’t you? Meals<br />
on wheels.Anyhow back on the beach<br />
and a few internal and external<br />
stitches later I was all patched up just<br />
70 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
3 4<br />
4 6<br />
thankful the nibble wasn’t further up<br />
my thigh as I would now be singing<br />
soprano.<br />
2. How dangerous can<br />
bungee jumping be?<br />
Not that dangerous actually. It’s<br />
leaving the bungee jump place that’s<br />
really quite tricky. On a trip to the<br />
South Island, writing stories and<br />
delivering mags, I was in need of a<br />
bit of an adrenalin rush. Upon leaving<br />
Queenstown I came across the AJ<br />
Hackett Bungee at Kawarau Bridge,<br />
and I figured why not?<br />
Waiting my turn I promptly jumped off<br />
the bridge, bounced around a bit and<br />
was then placed back in the rubber<br />
ducky to take me back to shore. As I<br />
was about to jump out, the boat moved<br />
in the rapids, I mistimed my jump, put<br />
both arms out, one landed on the<br />
banks of the river and the other slid<br />
down between two nice big boulders.<br />
As my body came crashing down it<br />
attempted to use my arm as a crowbar<br />
of sorts but the boulders didn’t shift<br />
unfortunately. Concerned, the bungee<br />
jump boat guy asked if I was ok upon<br />
which I told him I had unfortunately<br />
broken my arm (I have a little bit of<br />
experience in this field). He informed<br />
me if I had I would be in agony. I let<br />
him know it didn’t tickle, and displayed<br />
my right forearm that was now in the<br />
shape of a Z.<br />
3. Others<br />
Class 'A'<br />
CLUMSY<br />
KNOBS<br />
Through the course of that same year<br />
I also managed to break my hand,<br />
break my left foot, right foot and<br />
tear the medial ligaments in both my<br />
left and right knees but it was all in<br />
the name of fun. During these times<br />
I could often be heard to be singing<br />
Monty Python’s “Always look on the<br />
Bright Side of Life”.<br />
4. Marshmallow Mark’s<br />
Token Injury<br />
I would feel bad to leave Mark<br />
entirely out of this segment so here’s<br />
a shot of a “fin chop” he supposedly<br />
suffered to his hand. It kind of looks<br />
more like a gardening injury or<br />
perhaps a self-inflicted wound from<br />
a knitting needle. A savage, savage<br />
fleshwound nonetheless.<br />
5. That Sinking Feeling<br />
One thing Marshmallow Mark<br />
can be proud of is the fact he is a<br />
moron. Having received a beautiful<br />
recycled wooden pallet surfboard for<br />
his 40th birthday from a very caring<br />
and wonderful business partner, he<br />
took it out one day without the bung<br />
screwed in. Minutes later as he sat<br />
out the back he noted the board was<br />
sitting a little lower than usual in<br />
the water and there was a strange<br />
gurgling sound. That would be the<br />
bung required for a hollow wooden<br />
surfboard you tool. Luckily he made<br />
it back to shore with his waterlogged<br />
wooden pallet and later set about the<br />
timely process of removing all the<br />
moisture from within it.<br />
6. A chip off the old block<br />
Last but not least we have an entry<br />
from our resident gear tester Phoebe<br />
Swan, my darling daughter. Upon<br />
hitting the slopes of Nozawa Onsen<br />
on our first day in the snow in Japan<br />
she came a cropper on her snowboard<br />
and broke her wrist. I am so proud of<br />
you Phoebe. To her credit Phoebes<br />
continued to snowboard throughout<br />
the next two weeks with her newly<br />
made wrist guard (which some may<br />
refer to as an arm cast).<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 71
“I took the one less travelled by, And<br />
that has made all the difference.”<br />
It’s a famous line from the poem<br />
The Road Not Taken by Robert<br />
Frost. When travelling the road<br />
of life we are presented with<br />
different choices. Each road offers<br />
up an opportunity to experience new<br />
things and meet different people.<br />
Each path is vastly different to the<br />
other.<br />
When starting Smorgasboarder we<br />
began our own journey on A path,<br />
for us, less travelled, one we were<br />
not accustomed to. We left behind<br />
the suit and tie and trappings of<br />
corporate life to sleep in a delivery<br />
van in sleepy little coastal town<br />
holiday parks. We got off the beaten<br />
track and met some incredibly<br />
72 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
Fascinating<br />
PEOPLE<br />
INTERVIEWS<br />
fascinating people, genuine people<br />
who, had we continued on our former<br />
path through the corporate world we<br />
more than likely would never have<br />
met. Our lives are richer for choosing<br />
this path with Smorgasboarder, And<br />
that has made all the difference.<br />
Director / Cinematographer /<br />
Photographer, Greg Huglin<br />
He has shot world famous swimwear<br />
models in bikinis in exotic locations<br />
around the world, worked with some<br />
of the best fashion photographers<br />
in New York, captured footage<br />
of Great White Sharks used in<br />
countless wildlife documentaries<br />
namely by National Geographic and<br />
the Discovery Channel, filmed and<br />
produced a few of his own such as<br />
Surfing Dolphins, his footage used in<br />
Academy Award-winning ones such
as The Cove, produced several of my<br />
favourite surf movies such as Shark<br />
Park and worked with the likes of<br />
George Greenough and Alby Falzon.<br />
Greg Huglin has seemingly down it<br />
all and was an absolute gentleman<br />
to chat with. Greg featured in our<br />
January edition in 2015 and my<br />
interview with him remains one of<br />
my all-time favourites.<br />
Artist, kneeboard shaper,<br />
alchemist of all things carbon<br />
fibre, fibreglass and resin,<br />
Neal Cameron<br />
Truth be told I didn’t know what to<br />
think when I first met Neal. Imagine<br />
arriving at dusk to a vacant lot<br />
littered with garbage out back of<br />
Maroubra for an interview. What I<br />
found was a bloke I would happily<br />
catch up with every single time I<br />
pass through if we weren’t always<br />
on such a tight production deadline.<br />
Neal is as genuine as they come,<br />
a true character and one hell of a<br />
funny bastard with my sense of<br />
humour. This was the intro to our<br />
interview back in 2012. “He is a mad<br />
scientist – a creator of the weird and<br />
wonderful. He lives on a bus on a<br />
vacant lot amongst derelict buildings<br />
on the outskirts of Maroubra.<br />
The ladies seem to like him. He<br />
invents. He builds. He deconstructs<br />
and repurposes. He’s insightful,<br />
interesting and downright funny. And<br />
– considering his particular niche<br />
in the surfing family – he has the<br />
perfect name: Neal. So who exactly<br />
is he? Join us on a sci-fi journey into<br />
the world of Neal Cameron.” Does it<br />
sum up the man? Not even close. It<br />
was a ripper interview.<br />
Surfboard Collector and Owner<br />
of Noosa Underground Surf,<br />
Andre ‘Ondi’ Marsaus<br />
I have always been accused by my<br />
wife of owning more boards than<br />
anyone else she has ever known.<br />
When Katie saw this edition I could<br />
finally prove to her my collection<br />
was a mere drop in the ocean<br />
by comparison to serious board<br />
collectors like Ondi Marsaus. Aside<br />
from collecting rare and beautiful<br />
boards he is the font of knowledge<br />
for next to anything to do with surfing<br />
and also a former world class chef.<br />
Ondi is one interesting character<br />
with one hell of an interesting board<br />
collection that is always growing.<br />
Incidentally it was Ondi that<br />
introduced me to Greg Huglin.<br />
Surfboard shaper, Jed Done<br />
Mark first met Jed briefly at a Fish<br />
Fry meet in Currumbin and a few<br />
months later insisted we catch up<br />
with him when we were travelling<br />
down the Far South Coast of NSW.<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 73
74 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
You see, he made these incredible<br />
flextail surfboards and we are<br />
always intrigued by those who push<br />
the boundaries of board design. We<br />
were informed however that Jed<br />
was a little way out of town. You<br />
can imagine our surprise when we<br />
turned off the highway and travelled<br />
along a winding dirt road before<br />
zigzagging through dense bushland<br />
until we came upon a clearing where<br />
a house in the shape of a giant<br />
10-metre wooden wave stood. The<br />
house had been built by Jed near<br />
completely on his own and by hand.<br />
If that wasn’t enough, Jed had also<br />
constructed his own unique and quite<br />
extensive surfboard factory on his<br />
property where he crafted his other<br />
works of art, his beautiful flextail<br />
surfboards. Incidentally, it was Jed<br />
who introduced us to Neal Cameron.
Fascinating<br />
PEOPLE<br />
Surfboard shaper,<br />
Ashley Lloyd Thompson<br />
Actor, Ben Oxenbould<br />
Ben won critical acclaim for his<br />
chilling performance as psychotic<br />
surfing legend ‘Bull’ in the Australian<br />
thriller Caught Inside. What won us<br />
over however was how down-toearth<br />
he was when we interviewed<br />
him for Smorgasboarder. The<br />
interview ran on for a couple of hours<br />
and it felt like you were chatting to<br />
a mate about their latest work gig.<br />
I promised to catch up in person<br />
when I next passed through Sydney’s<br />
Northern Beaches. Ben if you are<br />
reading this edition let me know if<br />
you are still up for that beer? What<br />
also brought great delight was Ben’s<br />
classic line in Caught Inside. I still<br />
use it at work whenever anyone is<br />
on my case: “What? Are you gonna<br />
have a go at the Bull, are you?”<br />
96<br />
W O M A N ' S W O R K<br />
DESPITE THE INFLUX of females taking to the waves and our success in the field of competitive women’s surfing, surfboard shaping has remained the exclusive<br />
domain of men, at least in this country in a commercial sense anyhow. Three young Californian ladies however have managed to break into the male dominated world<br />
of surfboard manufacturing. Ashley Lloyd Thompson (nee Lloyd), Christine Brailsford and Kelly Connolly have already made a name for themselves for the stunning<br />
sleds they create. We caught up with both Ashley and Christine to discuss their passion for the art of handcrafting surfboards. WORDS: DAVE SWAN<br />
ASHLEY LLOYD<br />
THOMPSON<br />
HAVING first came across Ashley’s<br />
boards even before we started<br />
SMORGASBOARDER, I was instantly<br />
blown away by the craftsmanship.<br />
From that moment on I wanted to<br />
know more about this amazingly<br />
talented lady and how she came to<br />
enter such a male dominated industry.<br />
Ashley Lloyd - now Lloyd Thompson<br />
- having married her equally talented<br />
surfer/musician partner Chris<br />
Thompson, first learnt to surf in<br />
Malibu. Her mum loved the beach and<br />
viewed it as the perfect playground<br />
for her kids. Her favourite spot was<br />
Paradise Cove in Malibu. A young<br />
Ashley, having made her fair share of<br />
sandcastles and the like eventually<br />
followed her older brother, Tim, into<br />
the ocean and began to surf. Ashley<br />
became obsessed, started competing<br />
at age 15 and by the time she was<br />
SMORGASBOARDER | DEEP WINTER 2014<br />
July2014_Smorgas_Lady shapers.indd 96<br />
20, was ranked amongst the world’s<br />
top ten women longboarders. This is<br />
where her adventure into the world<br />
of shaping also began back in 2002.<br />
Since then she's transformed a parttime<br />
hobby into a full-time career.<br />
Ashley thought “it would be cool to<br />
shape a surfboard” but didn’t think<br />
it possible to make a career out of it<br />
until her “silver-haired, kind-spirited<br />
and solemn surfing pal,” Danny<br />
Tarampi, asked Ashley one day if<br />
she would be interested in learning<br />
the art of shaping. In the years<br />
that followed she refined her skills,<br />
learning to not only “mow foam” but<br />
glass, sand and finish. In 2005, whilst<br />
studying music at Santa Barbara<br />
City College, Bing Surfboards’ head<br />
shaper, Matt Calvani, recognised her<br />
talent and not only signed her as a<br />
team rider but as a shaper with her<br />
own signature model.<br />
Ashley later moved north to the super<br />
cool surf town of Santa Cruz where<br />
she designed another Bing model,<br />
Dear & Yonder, named after the film<br />
of the same name before establishing<br />
her own custom surfboard label,<br />
Ashley Lloyd Surfboards. Today<br />
Ashley divides her time between<br />
shaping, surf instruction and playing<br />
music with her husband in their band<br />
The Shapes.<br />
MUSIC, SURFING, SHAPING…<br />
DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE?<br />
When I was about 20 I really started<br />
playing guitar a lot and writing songs.<br />
The more I played and started playing<br />
with other people, the more and more<br />
I enjoyed it. Music has just become<br />
another great artistic outlet for me.<br />
I SEE YOU HAVE BEEN PLAYING<br />
A FAIR FEW GIGS AROUND YOUR<br />
LOCAL AREA...<br />
Yes, its a blast playing with The<br />
Shapes! The band was formed by my<br />
husband and I. He's a great songwriter,<br />
and it feels like something special<br />
when we make music together and<br />
get to share it with others. We do play<br />
mostly locally, but would love to go on<br />
a broader tour someday.<br />
YOU'RE VENTURING INTO HIGH<br />
PERFORMANCE SHORTBOARDS<br />
AS WELL?<br />
I love shaping anything. The majority<br />
of the boards I make are longboards<br />
and eggs, but I love shaping<br />
everything. I now have a variety of<br />
models in most shapes and sizes, and<br />
continue to keep the box open to new<br />
ideas or shapes that are requested.<br />
WHAT AREAS OF DESIGN AND<br />
CONSTRUCTION HAVE YOU<br />
FOCUSED ON OF LATE? (I LOVED<br />
THE LOOK OF THE FINLESS... )<br />
A ton of people seem to order eggs<br />
lately. I have a pretty wide eggish<br />
longboard called the AAA.. shorter<br />
than your average longboard, and<br />
wider than the average egg.. it tends<br />
to be a cozy medium for folks to enjoy<br />
in a variety of conditions. Also, I have<br />
a "rectangle space ship"... based<br />
off of the mini Simmons design.<br />
The finless board is a continuous<br />
experiment upon the request of my<br />
husband who is also my main test<br />
pilot for new designs.<br />
Photo: Tom Vos<br />
19/06/2014 10:40 pm<br />
DEEP WINTER 2014 | SMORGASBOARDER 97<br />
GEAR: SHAPING<br />
To the best of my knowledge Ashley<br />
was one of, if not the first woman<br />
to take up surfboard shaping in a<br />
professional sense and I had the<br />
pleasure of interviewing her in our<br />
Ladies Edition back in 2014. I had<br />
admired Ashley’s boards from afar<br />
well before Smorgasboarder began.<br />
When the perfect opportunity arose<br />
with this specially themed edition, I<br />
sought her out over in Santa Cruz and<br />
made contact. The interview was also<br />
quite special for me as I hoped it would<br />
provide inspiration to my own two<br />
daughters to be determined in pursuing<br />
what you are passionate about.<br />
This is far from a complete list<br />
on interesting people we have<br />
interviewed. The list goes on and<br />
on; revered surfboard shapers and<br />
true legends of the surf industry such<br />
as Geoff McCoy, Mark Rabbidge and<br />
Mitchell Rae, free thinking shapers<br />
such Mick Mackie, Glenn Cat Collins<br />
and Paul Cole, musicians such as<br />
Mat McHugh of the Beautiful Girls,<br />
Ash Grunwald and Isaac Paddon,<br />
architects, chefs, doctors, artists<br />
and everyday people who have just<br />
had an incredible story to tell. It<br />
really has been a pleasure meeting<br />
all of these people and getting the<br />
opportunity to interview them.<br />
July2014_Smorgas_Lady shapers.indd 97<br />
19/06/2014 10:40 pm<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 75
2<br />
It was always our intention for<br />
Smorgasboarder to serve as more<br />
than a pretty picture book. We<br />
desired from the outset to create<br />
a publication of substance that was<br />
both engaging and informative.<br />
To this end we set out to discuss<br />
topics relevant to surfers that would<br />
encourage debate and perhaps even<br />
ruffle a few feathers in the interest<br />
of stimulating people to express their<br />
views and form their own opinions.<br />
Some of the issues we covered we<br />
are most proud of include:<br />
CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS<br />
SHARKS<br />
Rather than sensationalise such a<br />
sensitive topic, on two occasions,<br />
once in 2011 and again last Spring<br />
in 2015, we sought to present both<br />
sides of the argument in relation to<br />
whether or not we indeed have a<br />
“shark issue” and what was the best<br />
course in addressing the situation.<br />
The debate still rages on.<br />
WHALES<br />
In our first ever edition we put it to<br />
our readers to be better stewards<br />
of the environment with a very<br />
confronting piece on the plight of<br />
whales. We questioned whether it<br />
was acceptable for the world to stand<br />
by and watch whales be slaughtered<br />
by all manner of inhumane practices,<br />
or step forward into an era where<br />
conservation really matters.<br />
SUPS<br />
At this point in time paddleboarders<br />
had just come onto the scene.<br />
Surfers didn’t quite know how to<br />
76 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
PADDLEBOARDS?<br />
LET'S GET SERIOUS<br />
view these street-sweepers of the<br />
sea. We investigated whether SUPs<br />
were simply a passing fad or would<br />
rapidly multiply and take over our<br />
oceans. We questioned whether<br />
they were indeed “real surfers” or if<br />
they were merely mopping up a spill<br />
in aisle seven.<br />
OVERSEAS SURFBOARD<br />
PRODUCTION<br />
Around the same time, there were<br />
significant winds of change within<br />
the surfboard manufacturing<br />
industry. Boards were just starting<br />
to be produced on mass overseas<br />
and the first wave of cheap imported<br />
shooters were hitting our shores.<br />
Rather than espouse our own views<br />
from on high as if we were some allknowing<br />
authority on surfboard craft<br />
and global economics, we shared the<br />
views of various people within the<br />
industry on either side of the fence.<br />
SALT OF THE EARTH<br />
Here we questioned the validity of<br />
the numerous desalination plants<br />
that were popping up along our<br />
coastline as a result of Eastern<br />
Australia’s “once in a hundred<br />
year drought” and enquired why it<br />
seemed our politicians were more<br />
inclined towards a glass of treated<br />
seawater rather than a sparkling<br />
glass of fresh rainwater.<br />
ONE FOR THE LADIES<br />
Well who would have thought<br />
dedicating an entire edition to our<br />
surfing sisters would have caused<br />
such a stir. As the proud fathers<br />
of daughters we were extremely<br />
chuffed with this edition. There are<br />
so many fascinating female surfers<br />
whose stories needed to be told.<br />
We hope all of our respective kids<br />
and wives fondly look back on this<br />
edition in due course and are equally<br />
proud of what we achieved.<br />
THE LAST BASTION<br />
As a grassroots community surf mag<br />
we took up the fight for a grassroots<br />
surf community in Mallacoota<br />
fighting to save their beloved<br />
local break from being destroyed<br />
by a 130m breakwall to be built<br />
smack bang in the middle of it. We<br />
unfortunately weren’t successful<br />
in our support of the campaign and<br />
haven’t seen the point break since<br />
when passing through on our regular<br />
road trips delivering the mag.<br />
FIGHT FOR KANGAROO ISLAND<br />
Again we took the stand for a local<br />
surf community who was concerned<br />
with their island home being overrun<br />
by an ASP event scheduled to be<br />
held in Vivonne Bay and the potential<br />
threat to endangered fauna and the<br />
pristine natural habitat. Additionally,<br />
we were concerned with the fact<br />
that surfing is something that usually<br />
binds us and unites rather than<br />
divides communities, as it was in<br />
this instance.<br />
IN-DEPTH<br />
Guaranteed<br />
DEBATE<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 77
1<br />
HOLY SMOKIN'<br />
Cardboard Coconuts<br />
We have seen it all; from<br />
Catamacars (half dune<br />
buggy, half catamaran )<br />
to surfboards made out<br />
of marijuana (not with), others with<br />
cardboard, some with coconuts and<br />
even a few from old fence palings<br />
right through to absolute aweinspiring<br />
collaborations between<br />
master shapers and immensely<br />
talented artists. This is the heart<br />
and soul of Smorgasboarder;readers<br />
who are obsessed with surfboards<br />
and surfboard design; backyard<br />
enthusiasts through to the most<br />
highly revered surfboard artisans.<br />
So proud of their creations they<br />
regularly send pictures through to<br />
us to marvel at. On any given week<br />
our email inbox receives two or three<br />
“submissions” which then find their<br />
way into this illustrious magazine you<br />
are reading now. True to our name<br />
“Smorgasboarder” we celebrate all<br />
creatures great and small. Here’s a<br />
few of our favourites:<br />
1. COCONUT SURFBOARD<br />
Sunshine Coast local Damon Bereziat<br />
is nuts, quite frankl,y and his coconut<br />
board is proof. His idea was born 20<br />
years ago when he saw coconut wood<br />
floating in a lagoon in PNG. Lots of<br />
people told him to forget it including<br />
our good mate and accomplished<br />
shaper Paul Carson who remarked,<br />
“It won’t work Damon. It’s too heavy.<br />
You’re a tripper” but Damo persisted<br />
nonetheless. He eventually talked<br />
Paul around, or maybe wore him<br />
down, and Damo now has a “lovely<br />
bunch of coconuts” (sing it)… Well<br />
one coconut actually, but a very nice<br />
looking thruster at that.<br />
2. CARD – BOARD<br />
Inspired by Mike Sheldrake’s<br />
cardboard surfboard designs we<br />
featured in our Christmas 2014<br />
edition, Smorgasboarder reader<br />
Andrew Hallett from southern<br />
Victoria created this ripper mini-<br />
Simmons. We love it. I mean, I<br />
really want it but don’t think he<br />
will be passing it on any time soon.<br />
Says Andrew, “I have not made the<br />
perfect board, just like I don’t surf<br />
the perfect wave that exists only in<br />
my head. But I like that.”<br />
78 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
Card Board<br />
2<br />
Hand Made<br />
MAGIC<br />
3<br />
3. FENCE PALING PROJECT<br />
Rather than fix an old paling fence that had blown over in a storm<br />
Andrew Wells from Grown Surfboards decided to transform the Red<br />
Gum into a classic pintail single-fin that apparently “holds a nice line<br />
in the pocket” when the swell is on. Looks friggin' incredible too!<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 79
6<br />
4<br />
4. SMOKIN’ HOT<br />
Our next favourite project is one big<br />
doobie. These days boards are being<br />
fashioned out of all kinds of natural<br />
material, which is fantastic news for<br />
the planet. This little beauty by alaia<br />
enthusiast Adam Bell was fashioned<br />
from of all things, medicinal<br />
marijuana plants. Painstakingly<br />
whittled down and glued together, bit<br />
by bit, it was primed for one smoking<br />
hot surf.<br />
5. BLACK MAGIC<br />
Possibly one of the most talked about<br />
boards we have ever featured in<br />
Smorgasboarder is the collaboration<br />
between master shaper Mitchell<br />
Rae and Alby Falzon, a project called<br />
Buddha Stix that has taken surfboard<br />
design and artistry to a whole new<br />
level. Bali inspired gold leaf, hand<br />
drawn and applied to the bottom and<br />
rails combined with a full carbon fibre<br />
flex tail, V2Flex, deep concaves, cross<br />
linked epoxy backbone resin, no wax<br />
deck… your mind just boggles. The<br />
boys have truly conjured up some<br />
wicked black magic.<br />
80 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
Must Test<br />
7<br />
Awesome<br />
made from mushrooms. It was<br />
without doubt one of the most<br />
fascinating chats we have had in the<br />
past six years. Agricultural waste is<br />
inoculated with Mycelium (mushroom<br />
roots) and the blank literally ‘grows’<br />
into its chosen shape. It is ground<br />
breaking work indeed and a step in<br />
the right direction to reducing landfill.<br />
8<br />
5<br />
6. MAGIC<br />
MUSHROOMS<br />
A project of an altogether different<br />
sort is the effort by a couple of<br />
scientists from New York who,<br />
spurred on by a growing number of<br />
environmentally conscious surfers,<br />
have developed a surfboard blank<br />
7. WAVEGARDEN<br />
Another mind-blowing project of<br />
sorts that we are extremely<br />
keen to put through some<br />
rigorous testing is<br />
Wavegarden’s artificial<br />
wave pool. We were<br />
amazed by how<br />
far man-made<br />
wave technology<br />
had progressed in<br />
our 20-page article<br />
featured back in our Spring 2014<br />
edition. Gliding down a couple of<br />
peelers at their Spanish test site in<br />
the foothills behind San Sebastian<br />
looks like a hell of a lot of fun.<br />
8. CUBBY HOUSE<br />
Last but not least, what to do with all<br />
the shipping pallets Smorgasboarder<br />
is delivered on each edition? The<br />
answer is one of the most memorable<br />
family bonding projects ever – a<br />
cubby-house-come-surfboardstorage-shed.<br />
My son Sambo<br />
pictured here on the tools.<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 81
SURF ART<br />
Creativity is a more than an undercurrent<br />
in surfing culture... Like Richard Harvey<br />
exaplined when Dave and I shaped our<br />
first boards under his guidance, the flow<br />
of energy is the same in surfing, shaping<br />
boards and in art.<br />
We've met and spoken to so many creative<br />
people through Smorgasboarder it would be<br />
impossible to name them all, so here are<br />
some of our highlights.<br />
Jordie and Tiph<br />
Husband and wife team Jordie Brown and<br />
Tiphane de Fleurette always amaze us with<br />
the extar finish they add to Jordie's High<br />
Tide surfboads<br />
82 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
Kym Nagler (R.I.P.)<br />
This man, with his tongue most<br />
firmly planted in cheek, brought a<br />
level of fun to his surf art that not too<br />
many other can boast.<br />
His cheerful disposition and<br />
encyclopaedic knowledge of South<br />
Australian music was always a<br />
pleasure. Kym not only brightened<br />
Smorgasboarder's pages, he also<br />
brightened mine, and many other's<br />
lives. Like all the good ones, he was<br />
taken too soon. He is sorely missed,<br />
as was clear in the turnout for his<br />
memorial.<br />
John White, Kym's best mate, had<br />
some better words than me:<br />
"The South Australian surf<br />
community lost one of its great<br />
characters in April due to illness.<br />
Kym Nagler (Also known as Akymbo<br />
or Von Nagler) will be greatly missed<br />
by all who knew him through surfing,<br />
art and music. His popularity was<br />
such that his funeral was attended<br />
by about 400 people gathering to<br />
show their respect. A Wake was<br />
held afterwards at the local RSL.<br />
A Paddle Out was held on June 4th<br />
and was attended by about 100 local<br />
surfers, family and friends at his<br />
favourite surf spot – “3 Poles” on<br />
Adelaide's Mid Coast. A very special<br />
day, perfect weather and even a 2-3<br />
foot glassy swell rolling in.<br />
Kym was a true gentleman in the<br />
water, never hassling and spending<br />
as much time socialising as catching<br />
waves. He would paddle out on<br />
anything from a 10 foot Mal to a 6<br />
foot seventies twin fin – it was just<br />
about having fun.<br />
His artwork and unique surf inspired<br />
furniture had a style of its own, a<br />
little bit kooky and very individual –<br />
just like the man himself.<br />
Sadly missed by all<br />
RIP Kym Nagler 8/8/1958 – 20/4/16"<br />
Top: Kym and his art.<br />
Above: The Knuckle Dragger<br />
Right: Kym's Memorial.<br />
Photo: Jennifer White<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 83
INSIDE: SURF-INSPIRED ART AND ARTISTS | SURF TRAVEL IN INDONESIA | THE LATEST SURFBOARD DESIGNS | INFLATABLE SUP TEST<br />
Fieldey<br />
What can we say? Simply one of<br />
the most prolific and talented surf<br />
artists out there, Fieldey was not<br />
only gracious with her time for an<br />
interview, she even agreed to do a<br />
design for a Smorgasboarder shirt,<br />
which is a real retro cracker.'<br />
№ 33<br />
- SUMMER-<br />
<strong>2016</strong> F R E E S U R F M A G A Z I N E<br />
Joe Stark<br />
An accidental discovery of a<br />
sculpture studio in a shed in Ballina<br />
led to an unplanned chat and a really<br />
fun interview with a truly talented<br />
and very out-there artist, Joe Stark.<br />
Not only does he make amazing<br />
creation out of metal, he also loves<br />
single fins...<br />
SURF<br />
+ART<br />
FIELDEY JIMMY WAGS | OWEN CAVANAGH | CRAIG BAIRD... AND MORE!<br />
BRETT MARTIN | NEAL CAMERON | CHRIS GARRETT | CURL<br />
LACHLAN OLIVE | KYM NAGLER | TONY OGLE | SCOTT CHRISTENSEN<br />
Jan<strong>2016</strong>_Smorgas_001.indd 1 2/02/<strong>2016</strong> 10:23 pm<br />
Fieldey<br />
Joe Stark<br />
Ralph Riddell<br />
A long-time supporter of the mag,<br />
Ralph's passion is creating foam and<br />
resin art creations, using his years<br />
of surfboard building skill to wow<br />
punters and art competition judges<br />
alike. Even better, he's always up<br />
for a chat, so we can easily spend<br />
a while at his workshop in Tweed<br />
Heads.<br />
84 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
Brett Martin<br />
Curl and<br />
Barry's 25%<br />
of cover<br />
fame...<br />
Ralph Riddell<br />
Brett Martin<br />
Brett's another surf-mad sculptor that truly<br />
blew us away, Brett Martin's metal sharks<br />
alone are enough to convince anyone of the<br />
man's insane amounts of talent.<br />
Curl<br />
Our very own cartoon guru that churns out<br />
Aloha Barry every edition always has us in<br />
stitches. Whether it's the off-colour humour<br />
of Barry, or dry observations of daily life<br />
delivered in character sketches for Knobs<br />
Surf Wax, this PI gent is all comedy.<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 85
2<br />
3<br />
SURF SHOPS<br />
We have just about talked<br />
all things surf from<br />
breaks to boards to<br />
our most memorable<br />
road trips but what about surf shops,<br />
the very places from which our surf<br />
culture emanated? I think through the<br />
course of time we have visited over<br />
500 of them along the east coast of<br />
Australia and throughout the north<br />
and South Island of New Zealand. But<br />
who’s to say who’s shop is best. It all<br />
depends on what you are looking for<br />
doesn’t it? What appeals to one may<br />
not appeal to another. It certainly isn’t<br />
our place to decree the greatest. For<br />
starters, we haven’t yet had the good<br />
86 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
fortune of a surfing road trip through<br />
South Australia or around Tasmania.<br />
What we can speak of however is the<br />
most memorable surf stores we have<br />
come across by way of either their<br />
unique appeal, the products they<br />
sell or indeed the characters behind<br />
the counter. So here are our most<br />
memorable.<br />
1. Goodtime<br />
Why? It is the surf shop I frequented<br />
when I was a kid and the lady who ran<br />
it then still runs it now; the longest<br />
serving surf retailer in the country,<br />
Surfing Hall of Fame recipient Gail<br />
1
4 5 6<br />
7 8<br />
Austin. Goodtime is an Australian<br />
institution. It has been operating for<br />
some 45 years now, longer than any<br />
other. I have an enormous amount of<br />
respect for Gail and the team and the<br />
shop is always chock-a-block with<br />
every imaginable bit if surf gear.<br />
2. Natural Necessity<br />
Most who read our last edition<br />
know of the remarkable story behind<br />
Natural Necessity and its founder<br />
Kent Ladkin. As I said in that feature,<br />
the first time I saw this store I was<br />
completely gob-smacked with the<br />
size of it particularly considering<br />
where it was; this sleepy little<br />
coastal town called Gerringong. The<br />
store is cavernous with a huge range<br />
of hardware, clothing, swimwear,<br />
skate and snow gear.<br />
3. Zak Surfboards<br />
We love this guy. We love this guy. He<br />
has supported us from the beginning<br />
and has believed in us even when<br />
the surf gear sales and media reps<br />
of the time ridiculed us and claimed<br />
we wouldn’t last two editions. More<br />
importantly he has arguably the<br />
best surf shop in the entire city of<br />
Melbourne, in our opinion. His range<br />
is huge, the service superb and what<br />
couldn’t be cooler than a surf shop in<br />
an old pub.<br />
4. Anglesea Surf Centre<br />
I first came across Bruce Little’s<br />
store when I started dating my<br />
future wife. We used to go down<br />
to the Surf Coast regularly. He’s<br />
built a remarkable business full of<br />
character specialising in a massive<br />
range of second hand boards. Some<br />
are real finds in terms of their price<br />
and others just unique, plus there are<br />
some cracker vintage boards hanging<br />
from the ceiling.<br />
5. Noosa Underground Surf<br />
This shop is very cool with a great<br />
range of gear but what makes it<br />
unique is the guy behind the counter.<br />
Ondi Marsaus is our resident Surf<br />
Sage for Smorgasboarder and his<br />
knowledge of all things surf and<br />
indeed surfboards is nothing short<br />
of incredible. Ondi buys and sells<br />
vintage boards along with a very<br />
select range of quality shortboards<br />
through to longboards.<br />
6. Sadhana<br />
Unique because we have come<br />
across no other store like it. Exquisite<br />
handshaped surfboards, some of the<br />
best we have ever seen, or tested,<br />
and an eclectic range of handcrafted<br />
gear, gifts, vinyl music and apparel.<br />
7. NZ Shred<br />
Its unique because it is the only surf<br />
store we stock that is nowhere near<br />
the ocean. The nearest surf break is<br />
some 3-4 hours away. With that said<br />
it is run by two mad snowboarder/<br />
surfers who have a love for all things<br />
surf, snow and paddleboarding and<br />
just so happen to be top notch blokes.<br />
8. Island Surfboards<br />
Two stores in one of the most<br />
appealing coastal communities both<br />
run by the same family that started<br />
Island back in 1969. Matt Ryan, the<br />
founder, still works in their local surf<br />
school, which just so happens to be<br />
the largest in the country. Indeed<br />
all the family are involved in the<br />
stores, including son Sandy who is<br />
the craziest big wave charger we<br />
have ever met, yet such a softly<br />
spoken gentlemen. Island still shape<br />
their own boards out back of the<br />
Cowes store and their showroom of<br />
performance shortboards through to<br />
longboards, retro inspired shapes<br />
and kneeboards is massive.<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 87
Kent Saunders presents the 1984<br />
Surf Off trophy to Glen Kelly<br />
Dave Cram, 1993 (Photo by Slim)<br />
Greg Puglisi, David Lindburg,<br />
Steven Dair 1983 surf off<br />
Speaking of memorable surf<br />
shops leads me to Southern<br />
Man in Ulladulla on the South<br />
Coast of New South Wales<br />
and a gentleman by the name of Kent<br />
Saunders. In life you don’t easily<br />
forget those people who first gave you<br />
a start, whether it was a sports coach,<br />
a teacher, an employer or someone<br />
who had belief in what you were<br />
trying to achieve and the courage to<br />
back you. Kent Saunders is one such<br />
person and Southern Man was the<br />
very first surf shop we profiled way<br />
back in issue #1 of Smorgasboarder<br />
in 2010. Whenever his name comes<br />
up in conversation in our travels since<br />
we fondly recall his support back then<br />
and indeed throughout our history<br />
to date.<br />
Kent’s support for our fledgling<br />
publication however was not at all<br />
out of character. He and his wife<br />
Juanita have always endeavoured<br />
to support surfing’s grassroots. Over<br />
the past 40+ years, Southern Man<br />
has sponsored many up-and-coming<br />
surfers along with the Mollymook<br />
Surf Club as well as hundreds of<br />
local sporting teams, from<br />
soccer and cricket<br />
to rugby league.<br />
Individual surfers<br />
who have gained a<br />
helping hand from<br />
Southern Man through<br />
the years include the likes<br />
of Glenn Kelly, Adam Boland,<br />
Aaron McKenzie, Graeme and Brad<br />
Parsons, Steve Dair, John Gillies,<br />
Nathan Marks and Jason Evans.<br />
Today Southern Man continues their<br />
support of local surfers such as Scott<br />
‘Whippy’ Dennis, Chad Elkins and<br />
SOUTHERN MAN<br />
Sean Mawson, along with Beau,<br />
Ben and Keira Buckpitt. The store<br />
has also been an supporter of the<br />
Ulladulla Boardriders Club, Ulladulla<br />
Bodyboarders Club, Mollymook<br />
Longboarders and the Disabled<br />
Surfers Association as well as a host<br />
of charitable initiatives with<br />
links back to the surfing<br />
community. Kent and<br />
Juanita simply want to<br />
give back to the local<br />
community that has<br />
supported their family<br />
surf store.<br />
Southern Man today however is far<br />
from a little family store. From humble<br />
beginnings as a small surf shop and<br />
jeanery way back in 1974 the business<br />
grew and grew in the early ‘80s as<br />
Australia’s surf culture boomed. This<br />
necessitated a larger store being<br />
built in 1984. Several renovations and<br />
extensions later they had outgrown<br />
that store and in 2012 moved across<br />
the Princes Highway to premises<br />
twice the size of their old store. Said<br />
Kent, “When Woolies was developing<br />
the new complex, we decided to work<br />
with them to design a modern, bright<br />
shop with access from the shopping<br />
centre and the highway.”<br />
The new Southern Man Surf Shop<br />
was awarded the Fit-out of the Year<br />
title at the 2013 Australian Surf<br />
Industry Awards and now houses<br />
over 10,000 products and 100 brands<br />
which include the likes of Billabong,<br />
Quiksilver, Rip Curl, Volcom, Rusty,<br />
Nixon, Von Zipper, Element and<br />
Tigerlily together with many other<br />
brands that are more unique and<br />
harder to find online. Kent elaborated<br />
on their range.<br />
88 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
“We carry a large selection of surf<br />
accessories, wetsuits, shoes and<br />
skate gear and are particularly<br />
proud of the surf fashion side of our<br />
business that sees new styles arrive<br />
in store every six weeks. Our guys<br />
gear includes Tees, Boardshorts,<br />
Walkshorts, Singlets, Jeans, Jackets,<br />
Hats, Caps, Beanies, Watches,<br />
Sunglasses, Backpacks, Footwear<br />
Belts and much more. Our girls range<br />
includes Swimwear, Bikinis, Tees,<br />
Singlets, Dresses, Boardshorts,<br />
Jeans, Skirts, Handbags, Thongs<br />
and Shoes together with all the key<br />
necessities. There is also a kids and<br />
toddlers range, with swimwear, tops,<br />
rash vests and shoes.<br />
“However, we don’t only pride<br />
ourselves on our strong range. Our<br />
customer service is also part of the<br />
reason we have retained such a<br />
loyal clientele. It is important for our<br />
staff to be friendly but to also know<br />
their product. Each member of our<br />
team attend training workshops in<br />
merchandising to ensure the shop<br />
remains fresh, bright and current.”<br />
Their three sons, Ben, Tim and<br />
Martyn, helped run the shop in their<br />
teenage years and whilst Ben now<br />
lives in Canberra with a young family<br />
of his own, Tim manages Southern<br />
Man while Marty and his partner<br />
Danielle Evans have taken ownership<br />
of the family’s Rip Curl shop at the<br />
top of town.<br />
Sam Anderson, Natasha Tracey and a<br />
host of casuals, work alongside Tim,<br />
Kent and Juanita at Southern Man.<br />
Taylor Wickes and Perry Mason - who<br />
has been with the company since<br />
1992 - work with Marty and Danielle<br />
at the new Rip Curl shop.<br />
A great deal of time and energy<br />
has clearly been committed into<br />
developing their business and it is so<br />
pleasing from our perspective to see<br />
it continue to grow.<br />
We are forever grateful for<br />
Kent and his family’s support of<br />
Smorgasboarder from the very early<br />
days and only hope our readers<br />
continue to support them. After all,<br />
businesses like Southern Man are<br />
the lifeblood of our publication and<br />
without their backing we would<br />
not exist. Southern Man for us<br />
brings back very fond memories and<br />
hopefully for many years to come.<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 89
LAUGHS<br />
Whilst there has been a<br />
lot of hard work since<br />
we started there has<br />
been plenty of good<br />
times and laughs to be had. Here’s a<br />
few that bring a chuckle every time<br />
we revisit them. They are timeless.<br />
Helmet’s Stack<br />
Quite possibly the most famous surf<br />
sequence of all time. The fact he<br />
wears a helmet, ear plugs, paddle<br />
gloves and booties at all times, all<br />
that gear didn’t protect him from his<br />
infamous nosedive that graced our<br />
pages in Issue 5, 2011.<br />
laugh my eyes near close up. When<br />
Mark put it in the car CD player as we<br />
were heading down to Victoria and<br />
Sax Man came on, featuring Jack<br />
Black... I was driving near blind and<br />
almost ran the car off down a deep<br />
ravine.<br />
Craft Beer Judges<br />
If we ever found our calling this was<br />
it. Invited to be guest beer judges at<br />
Nelson’s Marchfest – a celebration<br />
of New Zealand’s boutique brewing<br />
culture – we were bleary-eyed with<br />
such an honour being bestowed upon<br />
us and quite literally throughout the<br />
whole entire proceedings. My spot as<br />
a guest wet t-shirt judge at Cheeky<br />
Monkeys in Byron Bay did come close<br />
however (I am after all only human).<br />
Big Jim Kill Ahoale<br />
Curl’s Aloha Barry clearly appeals to<br />
our sense of humour but this has to<br />
be one of his all-time greatest.<br />
The Lonely Island<br />
Their INCREDIBAD CD quite literally<br />
nearly killed us. When I smile or<br />
90 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
Cowboys<br />
and an<br />
Indian<br />
Catching up<br />
with Jesse<br />
Watson of<br />
Black Apache<br />
Surfboards always entails plenty of<br />
laughs. The quips and cheap shots<br />
flow thick and fast. In our first indepth<br />
interview with Jesse he pulled<br />
off one of the greatest quotes in<br />
surfing history when quizzed about<br />
clients who request he shape a fun<br />
board: “I tell them, you want a minimal<br />
like you want a punch in the face<br />
with the lights off.”<br />
World Championship<br />
of Crap Surfing<br />
Once in a while a competitive surf<br />
event comes along that truly stands<br />
out as a celebration of unique skill<br />
and forward-thinking judging criteria<br />
and this inaugural event held in<br />
Cornwall in 2011 that we featured in<br />
our Christmas Edition that same year<br />
certainly had us rolling with tears of<br />
laughter.<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 91
SURF-O-LUXE<br />
Surfboard foam & fibreglass guitars<br />
Loaded<br />
with<br />
CUSTOM GUITARS<br />
Custom GuitArt from the Sunshine Coast. ` www.facebook.com/marcoolaguitars<br />
Photo: John Richardson
Unlike your wife/husband/partner/mum/kids/boss...<br />
We care what you think...<br />
so Take part in the<br />
SMORGASBOARDER<br />
READER SURVEY<strong>2016</strong><br />
WIN!<br />
and<br />
ONE OF 60 prizes<br />
THE FIRST TEN people to complete it score<br />
KNOBS SURF WAX gear including a t-shirt, stickers and blocks of wax!<br />
THE NEXT 50<br />
each score a block of KNOBS SURF WAX and sticker!<br />
So that no state (including the offshore state of NZ, of<br />
course) is not disadvantaged by delivery times,<br />
THE LINk to the SURVEY WILL BE<br />
released ON the SMORGASBOARDER<br />
FACEBOOK PAGE AT a RANDOM date<br />
between december and january....<br />
Make sure you’ve liked the page to be ready to enter!<br />
surfknobs.com.au<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER
94<br />
| XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
SMORGASBOARDER
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 95
WHAT A SHOT!<br />
GEAR: BOARDS<br />
Some Southern Comfort... Joe Brayford at Bullies on his Mr Damage surfboard by Mark Benson.<br />
Photo kindly supplied by Andy Alford @ PHOTOGRAFFIX<br />
96<br />
SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 97
SHAPER’S PROMOTION<br />
GEAR: BOARDS<br />
6’4” x 20” x 2 ¾”<br />
ROUND TAIL<br />
SINGLE FIN<br />
Custom handshape<br />
by Mitchell Rae<br />
“A classic shape, based on<br />
what I was shaping and riding<br />
myself in the late ‘60s, early<br />
‘70s with some refinements.<br />
Single to double concave<br />
with medium rails, flattish<br />
deck, tucked under edge right<br />
through and hard edged tail<br />
rail. Fitted with an 8”fin box.<br />
Gold cosmic “Om” for good<br />
vibrations and OI logos. Hand<br />
cut half-inch cedar stringer,<br />
low rocker and handshaped<br />
in the time honoured way.<br />
Like watching Morning of the<br />
Earth, picking one of these up<br />
makes you want to pull on your<br />
boardshorts and paddle out.<br />
1<br />
OUTER ISLAND<br />
SURFBOARDS<br />
7 Bayldon Drive,<br />
Raleigh, NSW<br />
Ph: 02 6655 7007<br />
info@outerislandsurfboards.com<br />
outerislandsurfboards.com<br />
outerisland.blogspot.com<br />
Custom 8’<br />
FIVE FINGER<br />
SPLADE<br />
by Mark Rabbidge<br />
0<br />
This particular one belongs to<br />
a very excitable and excited<br />
Dave Smorgasboarder....<br />
Free your mind. Surfs in an<br />
all-round<br />
modern way<br />
without the<br />
hang-ups<br />
of old 70s<br />
technology.<br />
Now give us a<br />
high five!<br />
RABBIDGE SURF DESIGN<br />
Ph: 02 4456 4038<br />
M: 0427 767 176<br />
E: sales@markrabbidge.com<br />
Bendalong, NSW<br />
www.markrabbidge.com<br />
6’4”x 20 ½”x 2 ¾” = 38l<br />
EASY<br />
5<br />
RIDER<br />
by Leighton Clark<br />
Here she is, hot off the press!!<br />
A great board to travel with for<br />
the mature surfer. This one has<br />
a full resin tint. Gloss polish n<br />
glassed to last. Futures five fin<br />
set up. Burford blank. Reliable<br />
and durable.<br />
Units 7 & 8, 9 Chapman Road,<br />
Hackham SA 5163<br />
E: leightonclark01@yahoo.com.au<br />
M: 0422 443 789<br />
facebook.com/thedingkingAUS<br />
9`6” X 32” X 4 5 / 8” = 143L<br />
CUSTOM SUP<br />
by Andy Jordan<br />
Plenty of rocker in the 5<br />
nose and tail as well<br />
as added volume for<br />
stability and vee throughout this<br />
board. The added volume provides<br />
more stability and is great for the<br />
larger rider (90+kg) or a beginner<br />
just working into the surf.<br />
This board is quite loose in the tail<br />
giving it plenty of maneuverability.<br />
The deck on this board is flatter<br />
helping make it more stable<br />
especially when paddling out<br />
through waves or crossing over to<br />
the flat. The thicker rails make this<br />
board more stable in turns.<br />
At 143 litres this board is perfect for<br />
beginners in surf or riders over 80kg.<br />
TAURANGA, NZ<br />
(In NZ 0800 787 464)<br />
M: +647 564 3324<br />
W: www.liquidstixx.co.nz<br />
98<br />
SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
SHAPER’S PROMOTION<br />
GEAR: BOARDS<br />
5’5’’ x 19 ½” x 2 3 / 8”<br />
GOGO-FISH<br />
by Chris Garrett<br />
Tweaking the iconic 2<br />
Lis fish to suit a<br />
modern mindset...<br />
this pocket of joy is just the<br />
ticket. Super-fast, tight in the<br />
turns with carvey clean lines<br />
and speed to burn, it kinda<br />
ticks all the boxes when the<br />
alternative becomes the new<br />
norm.<br />
Best ridden quite short and with<br />
my own custom designed set<br />
keels to optimise performance,<br />
you’d better be careful as you<br />
may become a crazed, stokeriddled,<br />
surf zombie before you<br />
know it.....and probably single...<br />
5’9’’ x 19 ¾’’ x 2 5 / 8”<br />
LUXE TWIN<br />
by Chris Garrett<br />
A contemporary take on 2<br />
the ‘70s classic. A fuller<br />
forward feeling outline<br />
with an accelerating narrower tail<br />
curve, allows you to have a great<br />
paddle advantage with excellent<br />
drive and manoeuvrability from<br />
the flyers in the tail. If you like fin<br />
and edge surfing with continuous<br />
glide and acceleration throughout<br />
the turns, then this could be your<br />
next choice. It performs well in<br />
and around the pocket and yet<br />
maintains drive and trim out on<br />
the face. It is quite at home in<br />
either the beach breaks or those<br />
super-fast down the line point<br />
waves. Best ridden with set side<br />
fins for maximum performance and<br />
longevity and can be fitted with<br />
an extra set of tail plugs for the<br />
small stabilizer or plugs all round<br />
with my own custom fins for the<br />
traveller.<br />
6’8” x 20” x 2 3 / 8”<br />
THE SLIPPER<br />
by Chris Garrett<br />
This 6 deep channeled<br />
Slipper is a classic 1<br />
single fin styled board<br />
with a fresh feel to it. If you love<br />
projection, freedom and drive out<br />
of your turns, then this board will<br />
have you beaming from the first<br />
wave.<br />
With plenty of volume and six<br />
channels you’ll have all the speed,<br />
trim and hold to push you down the<br />
line or just style in the pocket. And<br />
when the waves are cranking and<br />
line up dominance is important,<br />
it’s a real performer that will get<br />
you into and out of some of the<br />
deepest sections. A set fin is best<br />
but a fin box is the popular choice.<br />
6’10” x 22” x 3”<br />
SLIPSTREAMER<br />
by Chris Garrett<br />
A 21 st century approach 5<br />
to a proven timeless<br />
design. The Slipstreamer<br />
Bonzer has a flattish deck and<br />
foiled low rails, a relaxed forward<br />
rocker for an early glide into<br />
the wave and a modern tail lift<br />
for optimal functionality... Over<br />
lay this with the Campbell Bros<br />
inspired venturi concaves and<br />
Bonzer fin set up... Now you’re<br />
talking.<br />
The quad Bonzer fins give you rail<br />
drive like nothing else and yet still<br />
maintain the freedom to be tight<br />
in the pocket. Creamy, tasty and a<br />
styling ride, it will take your stoke<br />
to a new high.<br />
CHRIS GARRETT SHAPES PHANTOM SURFBOARDS<br />
Ph: 0424 450 690 E: phantomsurfboards@gmail.com www.chrisgarrettshapes.com.au<br />
Custom surfboards, contact Chris or see Cafe D-bar for stock boards<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 99
SHAPER’S PROMOTION<br />
GEAR: BOARDS<br />
5’9 x 19 5 / 8” x 2 7 / 16” = 29.8l<br />
RACING<br />
MULLET<br />
by Dave Verral<br />
Custom Dynocore with<br />
LowCarb flex.<br />
5<br />
We build race cars not show<br />
ponys...<br />
See Dave for custom<br />
Dynocores made on the Gold<br />
Coast.<br />
Buy custom Dynocore<br />
surfboards from Dave direct<br />
at www.diversesurf.com.au or<br />
find a huge range of Diverse<br />
PU models ready to ride at<br />
Sideways Surf.<br />
9’1 x 22 ½ x 2 ¾ = 61.2l<br />
TROPICAL<br />
DELIGHT<br />
DYNOCORE<br />
LONGBOARD<br />
by Dave Verral<br />
Dynocore Longboard.<br />
3<br />
5’2” x 20 ½” x 2 3 / 8”<br />
TWIN KEEL<br />
by Rory Oke<br />
Handshaped<br />
OceanFoam blank, 2<br />
6oz cloth cut lap<br />
abstract tint, polished finish<br />
with handmade glass-on keels.<br />
9’4” x 23” x 3”<br />
CHOK’S MAL<br />
by Rory Oke<br />
A remake of Chok’s 1<br />
all time favourite 30-<br />
year old longboard. OceanFoam<br />
cedar stringer blank, 6oz cloth,<br />
wet-rub/polish and a RESN<br />
10.25” fin.<br />
WWW.DIVERSESURF.COM.AU<br />
OKE SURFBOARDS<br />
1/1-7 Canterbury Rd,<br />
Braeside, VIC, 3195<br />
Ph: 03 9587 3553<br />
okesurfboards.com<br />
100<br />
SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
TRIED & TRUSTED<br />
blanKS<br />
Family owned and run<br />
for over 55 years<br />
oUR ConSISTEnCy<br />
IS THE bEST In<br />
THE woRlD<br />
blanKS: A multitude of different<br />
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Highest Quality, Best Value softboards designed for surf schools, perfect for all learners and those who just want to have fun in the surf.<br />
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XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 101
SURFBOARD<br />
DINGS<br />
Queensland<br />
AGNES WATER/1770<br />
REEF 2 BEACH<br />
Mon-Sat, 9-5pm,<br />
Sun,10-4pm<br />
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Round the clock<br />
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Weekends on mobile<br />
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or 0414 015 <strong>37</strong>0<br />
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THE FACTORY<br />
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Mon - Fri 8.30am - 5pm,<br />
Sat 9am - 1pm<br />
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Sun-Fri, 9am - 5pm<br />
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(07) 5598 2188<br />
Sun-Fri, 9am - 5pm<br />
Sat 10am - 4pm<br />
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Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm<br />
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Open most days, just call.<br />
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102<br />
| XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
SMORGASBOARDER
DOES IT<br />
WORK?<br />
TRIED AND TESTED<br />
TEST EVERYTHING<br />
GO CRUISING<br />
For fear of sounding like a broken<br />
record, this is the board your kids<br />
need to learn to surf on. We wish we<br />
had a dollar for every time a parent<br />
told us, “I got this little 5ft nothing<br />
board because I thought it would<br />
be easy for them to handle out in<br />
the surf but it was just too small to<br />
stand up on.”<br />
Think of a slightly bigger board as<br />
a bike with training wheels on.<br />
It is more stable and steady and<br />
thus easier to stand up on. As you<br />
get more confident on a bike you<br />
take the training wheels off. With<br />
softboards you can go down in<br />
size as your child becomes a more<br />
accomplished surfer.<br />
The CRUISER comes in sizes 6’6”,<br />
7’, 7’6” and 8’. This 6’6”one is<br />
perfect for a young child say 5 to 7<br />
learning to surf. That is not to say<br />
kids younger or older can’t ride one.<br />
We are merely suggesting what<br />
age a normal everyday kid learning<br />
to surf will find easy to learn on.<br />
Maybe your child is a surfing prodigy<br />
and learnt to surf on a 4 foot alaia<br />
(those wooden planks that look like<br />
an ironing board). That is superb but<br />
your child would be quite out-of-theordinary.<br />
The slightly larger models<br />
of the CRUISER are suited to slightly<br />
older kids or those who had an early<br />
growth spurt. Again, they would<br />
come down in size as they become<br />
more accomplished out in the surf.<br />
Now some may be reluctant to buy<br />
a slightly bigger board for their<br />
child because they fear they will<br />
be unwieldy in the surf. Let’s face<br />
it, you are not going to allow them<br />
to learn to surf in a Waimea style<br />
shore break. Your child should be<br />
learning to surf on rolling ripples<br />
thus “unwieldy” should not be a<br />
concern. A bigger board may result<br />
in YOU carrying the board down to<br />
the beach for your child. But then<br />
again, how many kids carry their own<br />
boards down the beach anyway? We<br />
haven’t come across many.<br />
Finally, once your child has started<br />
to get the hang of standing up and<br />
riding the wave the next step will be<br />
for you to stop pushing them onto<br />
it and for them to start paddling<br />
onto the wave themselves. This is<br />
where that extra bit of length will<br />
also come in handy. It’s easier to<br />
paddle and hence easier to get onto<br />
waves. More waves means more<br />
opportunities to learn and more<br />
fun. What else? The slightly fuller<br />
nose of the latest El Nino CRUISER<br />
models means it’s even easier to<br />
catch waves than the old style.<br />
So don’t be a loser, go buy a CRUISER.<br />
Get out there and have fun.<br />
EL NINO CRUISER<br />
STARTING AT RRP:<br />
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Volume from 53l - 82l<br />
ELNINOSURF.COM.AU<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 103
TALKING BOARD DESIGN WITH JESSE WATSON<br />
OK PEOPLE LETS GET INTO IT.<br />
SO CONTINUING ON FROM OUR<br />
LAST INSTALMENT AND KEEPING<br />
WITH THE SLOW SPEED SURFING<br />
THEME WE WILL BE LOOKING AT<br />
THE OTHER HALF OF SLOW SPEED<br />
SURFING, WHICH IS LONGBOARDS.<br />
MORE PARTICULARLY WE WILL<br />
BE FOCUSING ON TRADITIONAL<br />
LOGS AND NOSERIDERS. LONG<br />
BOARDING PARTICULARLY<br />
NOSERIDING IS A VERY DISTINCT<br />
FORM OF SURFING AND VERY<br />
DIFFERENT FROM SHORTBOARD<br />
SURFING - NOT JUST THE<br />
STANDING ON THE WRONG END<br />
OF THE BOARD PART EITHER!<br />
I’D LIKE TO CONTINUE ON WITH<br />
MR WEGENER’S INFLUENCE AGAIN<br />
AS WE HEAD FURTHER DOWN<br />
THAT PARTICULAR RABBIT HOLE.<br />
TECH ARTICLE 6<br />
RAILS PART 2 – SINGLE FINS<br />
Tom Wegener. Photo: Ryan Heywood<br />
So we’ve flogged to death the theory that<br />
hard edges create release whilst round<br />
rails create hold (that old horse ain’t getting<br />
back up in a hurry… oh Wilbuuuuuuuur.) - a<br />
further extension of this is that round rails<br />
allow water over their surface area; this is<br />
something that becomes especially relevant<br />
when we start to talk longboards and<br />
noseriders. This wrapping of liquid around<br />
the curved surface aids forward projection<br />
in turns and also allows for the rail to be put<br />
into the water more easily when initiating<br />
a turn. Now as we discussed before in “the<br />
pendulum effect” the trade off in all of this<br />
is hold/drive vs. release/manoeuvrability.<br />
This yin/yang of design takes on a whole<br />
new dimension when you start thinking in<br />
terms of noseriding, as you’ll see shortly.<br />
104 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
You’ll hear them referred to as soft rails,<br />
rolled rails, round rails and pinched or knifey<br />
rails – but essentially we are talking about<br />
rails without a hard edge. An upturned rail<br />
has its apex above centre line and a down<br />
rail has an apex below centreline regardless<br />
of whether or not it has a hard edge. I’ll give<br />
you a visual aid to help you along here…<br />
So when we think of longboards these days<br />
there are a few key varieties.<br />
An easy though obtuse way to group them<br />
would be hips (wide point) behind centre<br />
– such as your pigs and involvement era<br />
boards. Hips in front of centre – such as the<br />
more modern interpretation of the longboard<br />
often with 2+1, thruster and quad fin setups.<br />
And finally hips at “about centre” – these<br />
are more your traditional Californian style<br />
noseriders – They are often very neutral<br />
with 50/50 rails, 50/50 rocker and 50/50<br />
plan shape too. This is not always the case<br />
but it often is. Remember that there will<br />
always be a million variations or mutations<br />
of the themes, but this is an easy way for<br />
us to group them for our purposes. Another<br />
huge attribute would be those with hard<br />
edges and those without. Generally those<br />
without would be labelled “traditional or<br />
noseriders” while those with hard edges<br />
would be labelled “modern”.<br />
We’re going to deal primarily with the hips<br />
behind centre crowd and we’ll touch on the<br />
50/50 or hips at about centre guys a little<br />
too. Also we’ll only be talking about the
“no hard edges” variety. The reason for this is that<br />
usually both of these board types will have no hard<br />
edges at all whereas the modern longboard has<br />
said hard edges and often more in common with the<br />
midlength style boards we covered in part 1 of rails<br />
already.<br />
So we’ve spoken about how that rolled rail works<br />
when your on your single fin harnessing your inner<br />
Neal Purchase Jr. but what about when you wanna<br />
switch it up and start navigating from the nose end -<br />
not the aft end of the board? What exactly are those<br />
rolled rails doing when you are perched at the exact<br />
opposite end of the board? Or when you’re running<br />
back and forth muscling that huge chunk of resin and<br />
foam between the pocket and the open face? Well,<br />
rolled rails do a few distinct things. For starters the<br />
rolled rails allow for shorter pivot style turns, which<br />
on such a big board are the shortest radius turns you<br />
can do. I’ve ridden my share of the old D-fin longboard<br />
designs and these boards really only want to pivot<br />
turn, they hate being put on a long rail in a turn and<br />
usually as soon as you try to initiate that they will<br />
respond by trying to kick you off and roll over rather<br />
than co-operate.<br />
50 /50 RAIL<br />
PINCHED RAIL<br />
TUCKED UP RAIL<br />
INSERT FROM MR WEGENER:<br />
“ROUNDER RAILS THROUGH<br />
THE TAIL, WITH A BIT OF<br />
THICKNESS, ALLOW FOR<br />
TIGHTER ARC TURNS<br />
WITHOUT SPEED WASHING<br />
OFF. AS THE BOARD TURNS,<br />
THE ROUNDER RAIL IN THE<br />
TAIL WILL SUCK WATER OVER<br />
THE BACK OF THE BOARD<br />
AND PULL THE RAIL INTO THE<br />
WAVE. THE FOAM FLOATS<br />
AND WILL JUMP OUT OF THE<br />
WATER AS THE TURN ENDS<br />
AND SPEED IS MAINTAINED.”<br />
DOWN RAIL<br />
SHORTBOARD HARD EDGE RAIL<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 105
For surfers, by surfers - support your local business!<br />
Want to see yourself here? Call 0401 345 201.<br />
Shiatsu Ki Therapy<br />
& Oriental Diagnosis<br />
Lynn De Lacey<br />
Shiatsu Therapist<br />
Dip. Shiatsu & Oriental Therapies,<br />
Shiatsu Therapist (STAA)<br />
Sunshine Coast Appointments<br />
lynndelacey.shiatsu@gmail.com<br />
Call: 0413 431 636<br />
106 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
CLOSEOUT: COLUMNS<br />
If you’ve ever watched a really graceful<br />
surfer on a log doing those tight little pivot<br />
turns between noserides you’ll know that<br />
Tom’s description is on the money here. Its<br />
not an easy turn to do in a graceful way<br />
though and can feel jerky as that foam<br />
“jumps out” of the water at the end. There<br />
are a ton of guys you can lookup on YouTube<br />
to get a visual idea of this. Tom himself<br />
would be a good place to start – particularly<br />
his wooden boards show him utilising that<br />
pivot turn a lot. Look it up and check it out.<br />
Now the other side of it, or rather other end<br />
of it– is the rails behaviour when you’re<br />
noseriding. So those rolled rails when you’re<br />
perched up on the front grill of that big old<br />
‘55 Chevy will allow the water to suck up<br />
and over the tail end of the board creating<br />
suction and a helping that tail play the part<br />
it was born to play – i.e. creating lift as a<br />
counter lever to your weight on the front<br />
of the board. This is absolutely critical in<br />
noseriding circles. We often hear of people<br />
gauging a board’s nose riding ability by<br />
the size of the fin... saying a board won’t<br />
noseride properly cause the fin is too tiny.<br />
This is a false economy and misleading to no<br />
end. A really good noserider almost doesn’t<br />
need a fin to noseride. It certainly does help<br />
though – a lot, but at the same time we have<br />
to realise the importance of the rail shape<br />
and rail line in noseriding. Again from Tom:<br />
Having hips towards the tail is the key to<br />
the ultimate noserider. The hips make the<br />
board ride more parallel to the wave. When<br />
you are on the nose where the boards is,<br />
say, 18 inches wide, while it is 23 inches in<br />
the hips, the attitude of the board will be<br />
more parallel with the wave thus making you<br />
travel faster across the wave. The flatter or<br />
straighter the board, the more parallel it can<br />
ride. With more width and foam in the rails<br />
in the back half of the board, there is more<br />
flotation and volume. This mass creates<br />
more tension with the fin and makes the<br />
board go faster. Also, it counters the suction<br />
created by the soft rails and lift in the tail.<br />
With a properly balanced soft-railer, the<br />
“TOO ROUND OF RAILS IN THE NOSE<br />
OF A NOSRERIDER WILL PULL THE<br />
BOARD INTO THE WAVE. THAT IS THEY<br />
WILL SUCK WATER OVER THE RAILS<br />
AND PULL THE NOSE INTO THE WAVE<br />
FACE, AND THUS, STALL THE BOARD<br />
BEFORE THE RIDER CAN HANG TEN.<br />
A NEUTRAL KNIFEY RAIL IS BEST<br />
FOR THE NOSE OF A NOSERIDER.”<br />
elements for the hang ten are in the tail. As<br />
the board speeds up across the wave, the<br />
tail will suck into the wave and the nose<br />
will begin to lift up. Even while hanging ten<br />
the board will accelerate, climb in the wave<br />
and become more stable. This is how some<br />
people are seen hanging ten in such critical<br />
sections, where the front third of the board<br />
is out of the water while the rider is calm,<br />
poised, and in complete control.<br />
The distinct thing that noseriding has over<br />
other forms of surfing is that its utilising the<br />
entire rail length of the board at once for<br />
much longer than any other surfing scenario.<br />
As such you have to look at the opposing<br />
forces on the front of the board and the rear<br />
of the board happening all at once in real<br />
time as Tom has defined above. So while<br />
Tom espouses the idea of rounder rails in the<br />
tail with that extra thickness, the same is<br />
not true for the front of the board…<br />
I agree with this concept and something I<br />
utilise that is a left over from older styles<br />
is a “tucked up” rail in the front 12 inches<br />
where the apex of the rail is above the<br />
centre point of the rail. This gives me<br />
freedom from having the rail sucked in too<br />
far into the wave face but importantly helps<br />
the nose of the board want to come up from<br />
under the water should you try to hang up<br />
front for too long or drop out of a section<br />
whilst you’re still perched on the nose. It<br />
acts like the hull of a boat and due to the<br />
difference in length from the underside of<br />
the rail to the topside it wants to create lift<br />
as a natural state.<br />
I find noseriders to be a deceptively hard<br />
board to shape; you have distinct rockers<br />
and rails – multiple varieties of each in<br />
a single form that at its completion has<br />
to appear both understated and clean.<br />
It’s no small feat and my hat goes off to<br />
those shapers who do it well. Everything is<br />
amplified under speed and pressure and a<br />
longboard experiences both at times. The<br />
board needs to feel smooth under foot in<br />
order for the rider to look graceful. It needs<br />
to be able to hold a line and be stable for<br />
noseriding.<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 107
CLOSEOUT: COLUMNS<br />
Surfer Jye McDonald<br />
Photo Katrina McDonald<br />
Rivermouth General Store<br />
This quote from Tom sort of sums it up best.<br />
“With the rising popularity of longboards<br />
and competitions in the late 1980’s, I<br />
became very involved with the modern<br />
longboards. I was a team rider for Donald<br />
Takayama and every week our boards<br />
were progressing. One day I brought a new<br />
Takayama to the old home break and my<br />
best friend Bill Burke had a try. I had just<br />
seen him pull a beautiful hang ten across a<br />
wall on his 1964 Del Cannon. He got on my<br />
board and was approaching the noseriding<br />
section. Just as he wrapped his toes over<br />
the tip, the fins let loose, the board spun<br />
out, and he had a face of disgust as he hit<br />
the water. I remember this so well. The next<br />
decade of my life was dedicated to finding a<br />
board that would both noseride and turn off<br />
the tail like a shortboard. The boards I rode<br />
were very good and worked great on most<br />
days, but would then fall short on lots of<br />
others. I would walk the nose and see where<br />
I wanted to go, but I just couldn’t get there.<br />
This was a frustrating time for me”<br />
(Side note: I realised after talking to Tom<br />
that this one Mr. Bill Burke was the same old<br />
fella I recently built a single fin midlength<br />
for. Tom regards him as a premiere<br />
longboard stylist saying he was the guy that<br />
schooled Joel Tudor, Devon Howard and<br />
the like. Truly praise from Caeser – If your<br />
reading this Bill I hope the boards working<br />
for you!)<br />
There it is folks – for all you guys wanting<br />
to learn the subtleties of the cross-step, for<br />
those of you who are proficient but trying<br />
to dial in your logs with more than just a<br />
“shape me an old log” description to your<br />
shaper. And finally for those of you who are<br />
serious about you’re logging and want to<br />
understand the mechanics of it all I say take<br />
heed of Tom’s words. There is something<br />
there for everyone. A big thanks to Tom<br />
for his time and effort and for supplying<br />
the theories used here and in earlier<br />
instalments. Surely he is one of the nicest<br />
guys in surfing.<br />
So take home notes for logger rails<br />
would be as follows:<br />
1. Noseriders work best with rolled rails<br />
and no hard edges. Also a bit more foam<br />
in the tail is not a bad thing.<br />
2. Your rail in the tail and the tail rocker<br />
combine to create suction.<br />
3. This suction is the main counterweight<br />
when you are on the front of the board<br />
and create “lift”.<br />
4. The fin also helps here but is not as<br />
important as the rail/rocker combo.<br />
5. Hard edges and multiple fin setups on<br />
longboards are incorporated to add<br />
performance capabilities (turning) to the<br />
board not noseriding capabilities.<br />
6. Too round of a rail up front can negatively<br />
impact noseriding as well.<br />
7. A more neutral or slightly knifey rail up<br />
front is considered best.<br />
8. On an unrelated note but equally<br />
important – weight is your friend.<br />
A heavy log is a good log. Much like<br />
your stool in the morning.<br />
That’s about it for the longboard stuff. Again<br />
more than anything I hope you guys are<br />
starting to see some patterns emerge in<br />
the designs and their applications. It’s not<br />
always feasible or even possible to be able<br />
to give you absolute and finite concepts that<br />
are true across all variations of board design<br />
– there are just too many variables. However<br />
if you can grasp the concepts and the<br />
examples that are given then you can apply<br />
them to whatever style of board you like and<br />
be more likely to hit the mark – particularly<br />
if your buying in a retail setting with no input<br />
from a shaper or shop staff.<br />
It’s a “give a man a fish and you feed him<br />
for a day - teach a man to fish and he eats<br />
forever” kind of scenario and I’m big on<br />
self-sufficiency. As I said from the outset my<br />
aim is to make sure that you aren’t reliant<br />
on anyone else for information you glean for<br />
yourself. It’s a big undertaking to learn about<br />
your boards but you will be a better surfer<br />
for it.<br />
Next instalment we’ll be hitting on the<br />
final part of rails with performance surfing.<br />
I recently sat down with Al Merrick’s son<br />
Britt – head of Channel Islands Surfboards<br />
these days and also Chris Christensen who<br />
worked under Dick Brewer and now is a well<br />
regarded shaper in his own right. Between<br />
them they have had a lot of the surfing elite<br />
on their equipment so stay tuned to see<br />
some interviews with both of those guys<br />
talking about what we’ve already discussed<br />
and their ideas on everything from the<br />
surfboard industry right through to the future<br />
of design as well.<br />
Smell ya later.<br />
108 SMORGASBOARDER | XMAS <strong>2016</strong>
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SURF TIME?<br />
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XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 109
Jervis Bay Stand Up Paddle<br />
Lessons, Tours, Board Hire<br />
www.jervisbaystanduppaddle.com.au<br />
0403 354 716<br />
110<br />
| XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
SMORGASBOARDER
Hailing from Cape Town<br />
at the southernmost tip<br />
of South Africa, muso<br />
and surfer Jeremy Loops<br />
wears his musical heritage<br />
on his sleeve, creating an<br />
exciting and unique brand<br />
of modern, rootsy folk.<br />
Jeremy recently made a trip to Australia to share his<br />
unique and soulful tunes as part of his rapid ascent<br />
into the world’s stages and musical spotlight - not to<br />
mention many new punters’ ears.<br />
Taking time out from his busy touring schedule to<br />
answer a few quick questions for Smorgasboarder,<br />
here’s Jeremy...<br />
SURF TUNES<br />
Photo: Alan van Geysen<br />
FIVE<br />
QUESTIONS<br />
FOR<br />
JEREMY LOOPS<br />
FOR THE LOCALS THAT HAVEN’T HAD THE<br />
CHANCE TO LISTEN TO JEREMY LOOPS<br />
YET… HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOUR<br />
PARTICULAR BRAND OF TUNE-CRAFTING?<br />
I’ve been using the term ‘modern folk’ musician<br />
for a while because it’s an easy way to anchor<br />
people on what I do, even though it isn’t<br />
completely accurate. My base of inspiration<br />
is predominantly folk music, but I grew up<br />
listening to tons of Rawkus-era rap music,<br />
some ska, lots of jazz, and punk music too, so I<br />
draw tons of inspiration from lots of places.<br />
WHILE YOU’VE BEEN COMPARED TO<br />
CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS SUCH AS<br />
XAVIER RUDD, ED SHEERAN, JOHN<br />
BUTLER, ARE THERE ANY CHILDHOOD<br />
INFLUENCES YOU’RE CHANNELING?<br />
I grew up on Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie.<br />
They’re the godfathers for sure - Woody<br />
especially. I’ve also always loved Fleetwood<br />
Mac, Paul Simon, Blackstar, Andrew Bird and a<br />
few other musicians. Whether I’m channeling<br />
them I can’t say. I don’t sit with my guitar and<br />
try replicate or channel anyone, but obviously<br />
we can’t avoid our influences.<br />
I’m also really comfortable being compared<br />
to contemporaries. It gives people a point of<br />
entry so that they see your identity for what<br />
it is. Do you remember when Coldplay was<br />
widely thought to be the new/next Radiohead?<br />
It sounds ridiculous in hindsight, but people<br />
really thought that for some time. Those two<br />
bands for several reasons couldn’t be any more<br />
different. For me, I look at it like that. In time,<br />
as people understand what makes you unique,<br />
these comparisons stop. I just need time.<br />
YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL INVOLVEMENT<br />
AND ACTIVITY – WHAT DRIVES THAT?<br />
I co-founded a tree-planting organisation<br />
called Greenpop with friends about six years<br />
ago. We’ve since planted around 70,000 trees<br />
in underprivileged and under-green parts of<br />
Southern Africa. It was all prompted in my time<br />
working on a billionaire’s yacht. Seeing how<br />
wasteful and damaging the hedonistic lifestyle<br />
of the mega rich was made me feel like, ‘damn,<br />
I don’t ever want to be like that.’ When I got<br />
home, my friends Misha Teasdale and Lauren<br />
O’Donnel were in a similar emotional space due<br />
to working in wasteful environments, and we<br />
decided to try do our bit to reverse the damage<br />
and educate people on why this is so important.<br />
I also think as someone who identifies with<br />
surf culture and considers himself a surfer, to<br />
not care about the environment is completely<br />
inconsistent with those ideals and that lifestyle.<br />
We have to care about this stuff. It’s important.<br />
TELL US ABOUT YOUR FAVOURITE LOCAL<br />
SURF BREAK…<br />
There’s a spot very close to my home town<br />
called ‘Dunes’. It’s an incredible spot when it’s<br />
firing. Hollow, fast, and heavy, breaking on a<br />
long stretch of open coastline. Love it!<br />
HAVE YOU GOT THAT KIMBERLEY<br />
DRUMMER OF YOURS SURFING YET?<br />
(Kimberly is a dry and dusty diamond mining<br />
town in the heat of South Africa with the<br />
closest surf break 10 hours away - Ed)<br />
Haha. Our Kimberley drummer, Mr. Sakitumi,<br />
actually lives on Muizenberg beach, which is<br />
arguably Cape Town’s most surfer-friendly and<br />
surfer-forgiving beaches. He says he’s been<br />
learning. We’re going to have to see how true<br />
that is once we’re off tour.<br />
Listen, watch, enjoy - jeremyloops.com<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 111
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Like Beach Street Surf Shop<br />
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112<br />
| XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
SMORGASBOARDER
CLOSEOUT: ALOHA BARRY<br />
84A revisit of the epic battle jan/feb of Curl 2013 vs Barry, as featured in the 2013 Surf Art edition.<br />
All new Barry back next edition!<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 113
CLOSEOUT: ALOHA BARRY<br />
84A revisit of the epic battle jan/feb of Curl 2013 vs Barry, as featured in the 2013 Surf Art edition.<br />
All new Barry back next edition!<br />
112<br />
| XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
SMORGASBOARDER
Come Come and and discover<br />
Indonesiaʼs lost paradise<br />
Indonesiaʼs lost paradise<br />
E: info@redislandtravel.com<br />
info@ritravel.com.au • Uncrowded waves, 2 hours from G land and very close to Bali<br />
redislandtravel<br />
redislandtravel<br />
• Consistent, fun, sand - bottom waves for all levels of surfers<br />
info@ritravel.com.au redislandtravel • Uncrowded • All waves, ages, surfing 2 hours couples from G and land families and very close to Bali<br />
` redislandtravel<br />
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• Consistent, fun, sand - bottom waves for all levels of surfers<br />
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• All ages, surfing couples and families<br />
www.redislandtravel.com<br />
www.aredislandsurf.com<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 113
READ IT<br />
SUBSCRIBE<br />
TO SMORGASBOARDER<br />
ONLY A MEASLY<br />
$25<br />
FOR 1 X YEAR’S<br />
HOME DELIVERY<br />
Annual Subscription<br />
MORE SHIRTS...<br />
Get ready for reprints of some of our favourite and most popular Smorgasboarder t-shirt designs over the past<br />
6 years - from original classics like the Surf is Free fist to the more recent artist series of shirts, and even some<br />
unprinted gems you’ve never seen before... Let us know your favourite at shop@<strong>smorgasboarder</strong>.com.au and<br />
why - we’ll choose some of our favourite responses to cash up with some Smorgasstore credit.<br />
Mr.AK<br />
114<br />
| XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
SMORGASBOARDER
Thanks to Curl/PI, we have some free shirts to give you featuring surf art legend<br />
Ben Brown’s take on Smorgasboarder’s very own Aloha Barry...<br />
SCORE A<br />
FREE SHIRT!<br />
HOW?<br />
1. Subscribe online at www.<strong>smorgasboarder</strong>.com.au<br />
2. Email competitions@<strong>smorgasboarder</strong>.com.au<br />
with “Gimme a Barry Shirt” along with your name,<br />
address and t-shirt size.<br />
THE FIRST 20 PEOPLE GET ONE!<br />
SMORGASBOARDER<br />
Fieldey<br />
Kym Nagler (RIP)<br />
Col McElwaine<br />
Alex Keegan<br />
Curl<br />
To subscribe, buy gift subscriptions and order t-shirts, visit the website:<br />
WWW.SMORGASBOARDER.COM.AU<br />
XMAS <strong>2016</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 115
ADVICE<br />
SERVICE<br />
KNOWLEDGE<br />
Pic by: Togat Nusa Retreat, Joey Melroy<br />
WWW.WORLDSURFARIS.COM<br />
PHONE: 1800 611 163<br />
116<br />
| XMAS <strong>2016</strong><br />
SMORGASBOARDER