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smorgasboarder
Jed Done's Wave House. Photo: Dean Dampney
We were completely blown away, the first time we saw Jed Done's surf shack.
It proved the inspiration for this edition.
foreword
n. (shack) “A roughly built hut or cabin.”
v. (Shack up) “Move in or live with someone as a lover.”
For so many surfers, life is all about getting
shacked, yet this issue isn’t about the perfectly
formed barrel you ride standing up with your hands
in the air like a triumphant Ron Burgundy after a
successful jazz flute jam. We’re talking about the
places we rest our heads when we’re travelling to
our favourite break: from the fairytale off-grid shed
hidden in the trees across from a deserted beach,
to the palatial tropical villa with 24-hour staff there
to cater to your every foot-rub need, this is about
where you stay when you go to play.
To pretend for a second to be the inimitable Kevin
McCloud, the humble surf shack “at its very
soul engenders a distinct and unique narrative
woven into the very fabric of every beam, post,
and brick…”. While that’s rather highbrow, that
would pretty much be spot on, Kev. If walls
could talk, each of these unique structures would
have their own encyclopaedia of surf tales (and
exaggerations) to tell - waves won and lost,
sharks dodged, hold-downs survived, surnburns
earned and dream boards broken. The shacks are
essentially a mix of the noun and verb – more than
a hut, it’s a place you can pretty much fall in love
with.
Local councils would drop dead today thinking that
someone might be living in a 70’s style treehouse
a-la Morning of the Earth, but there are still people
capturing the spirit and magic of that idea of
sheltered freedom today in a modern context.
Ever since Smorgasboarder Issue 07, where we
featured the inspiring wave-shaped timber home
hand-crafted by Far South Coast NSW surfboard
builder Jed Done of Jed Done Surfboards, we’ve
been even more hooked on finding people’s unique
interpretation of these places, whether it be to
inhabit or simply visit for a short time when they’re
hunting for waves. And have we found a few
crackers for you to pore over this time around…
Whether it’s for the view, the location, the centrality
or the isolation, this edition looks at some of these
unique and very different places we all lump under
the banner of “surf shacks”. Enjoy, be inspired, and
try not to drool too much.
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