The Brazilian surf-skate-lifestyle-kinda-weird-in-a-good-way magazine Void has released a strangely beautiful, strangely satisfying short film documenting pro-surfers Ryan Burch and Ozzie Wright’s road trip from São Paulo to Rio De Janeiro.
The film is like an asymmetrical board, it’s weird, but it somehow works really well. Speaking of asymmetricals, check out the boards of Ryan Burch, who not only rips, but also crafts some of the most innovative ernest boards around.
For more information about the free theft protection offered by GorillaSafe check out GoGorillaSafe.com
We’re absolutely loving the Positive Vibe Warriors, a charitable organization with youth water safety and ocean education at its core. Beyond this, they launch and drive global initiatives to improve lives through surf and the ocean.
Founded by brothers Patrick, Dane, and Tanner Gudauskas, Positive Vibration Warrior’s latest project has taken the form of a board drive for the surf community of Jamaica.
They’re also releasing Positive Vibrations, a film documenting the project and lives touched by this great undertaking. On a surf trip to Jamaica in 2014, the Gudauskas brothers were touched by the purity and stoke of the local surf community. As seen in other areas where poverty, violence and drugs have a strong draw on the youth population, surf can pull kids out of this life and keep them on the right. While rich in young surf talent and enthusiasm, Jamaica lacks both the surf infrastructure and imposes high taxes and tariffs on imported goods such as surfboards. In response the Gudauskas Brothers decided to ask the followers on social media to donate surfboards they could spare to send to the Jamaican surf community. After a grassroots surfboard drive, they ended up gathering over 200 surfboards and in 2016 the Gudauskas shipped the boards to Kingston Harbor, Jamaica, ground zero for the Jamaica surf scene.
The man, the legend, Chris Bertish just completed the first ever solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean on a Standup Paddle Board!
He was paddling to raise money and awareness for underprivileged children in South Africa, a truly worth cause. To learn more about the voyage, or to donate, see: http://www.thesupcrossing.com/
Lifelong symptomatic treatment for salt in the veins and a unquenchable yearning for empty lineups and endless sets is the only option, and it isn’t covered by insurance.
Jokes, we’ll stop now. You’ve started surfing and love it. Maybe you’ve taken some lessons, gone to a camp, or simply borrowed an old beater from a friend and paddled out. Cool, real cool. Your next step in feeding this addiction is to invest in your own shred stick, that’s what the kids are calling them, right? Gnarly.
The golden rule for buying a surfboard is buy within your skill level. It’s very, very, very unlikely that you’ll ‘grow’ into your surfboard. You can’t progress if you can’t catch a wave.The golden rule for buying a surfboard is buy within your skill level. It’s very, very, very unlikely that you’ll ‘grow’ into your surfboard. You can’t progress if you can’t catch a wave.
Yup, we just repeated ourselves, in bold no less.
THE GOLDEN RULE FOR BUYING A SURFBOARD IS BUY WITHIN YOUR SKILL LEVEL. IT’S VERY, VERY, VERY UNLIKELY THAT YOU’LL ‘GROW’ INTO YOUR SURFBOARD. YOU CAN’T PROGRESS IF YOU CAN’T CATCH A WAVE.
Yeah a third time. All caps, and bold. We ain’t playin’. When you’re ready to progress, then buy something you’ll be able to surf, but not necessarily rip on.
The two most important factors when choosing your first surfboard are your weight and your surfing ability. Unless you’re an exceptional surfer, the heavier you are the larger the board you’ll need and the less experienced you are the larger the board you’ll need. Surfboards are broken down into six common categories with a couple of extra outliers that really only apply if you’re an expert surfer. These categories are named after a general size and shape which corresponds with the type of surfboard. Within these categories are limitless combinations of volumes and shape details. The base categories for surfboards are: Malibus/longboards, mini mals/fun boards, eggs, hybrids, fish, and shortboards. Guns and tow-boards are two additional surfboard categories, but are reserved for surfing huge waves by expert surfers, so they’re not a consideration for the majority of surfers out there.
Malibus, mini mals, and eggs are all generally going to be larger and of higher volume, while Hybrids, Fish, and shortboards are generally going to be shorter and of less volume, this doesn’t apply 100% of the time, but as a hard and fast rule, it works.
Longboards/Malibus (9-12 feet)
The Firewire Flexflight is a responsive, fun modern longboard. Image courtesy of: Firewire Surf
Longboards are just that, long. They have rounded blunt noses with a rounded tail, and they typically sport a single fin but can also have a thruster set-up (three fins, two smaller ones in front of a large one in the back). They are wide and have a uniform width throughout, and a slight taper in the tail. Longboards are the Cadillacs of the surfboard world, large and comfy, but they don’t exactly turn on a dime. They are a good option for beginners, and great in small, slow surf, however their large size makes them difficult to handle in and out of the water.
Mini-mals/Funboards (7-9 feet)
The Aquatic Social Scene Mahi Mahi, brings stability and easy paddling with fun maneuverability for the beginner through expert on smaller days. Image courtesy of: Aquatic Social Scene
A mini mal or funboard is a great place to start when purchasing your first surfboard. Essentially they are smalled-down longboards. Typically set up in a thruster fin setup and being perhaps a little bit wider than a longboard they provide excellent buoyancy and stability. Their large size also makes them a breeze to paddle into waves and pop-up on, while staying under the large proportions of true longboards allows mini mals to be far less cumbersome in and around the water. Their smaller dimensions also makes turning on waves easier and more fun.
Eggs (6-8.5 feet)
The Greedy Beaver by FireWire Surf is a super fun board, ideal for smaller days and suitable for competent beginners. Image courtesy of: Firewire Surf
Eggs are stubby, rounded, and shrunk down minimals or funboards. Not recommended for beginner surfers, however they are great for intermediate through expert surfers in smaller mushy surf and are all about having fun and catching lots of waves. While not ideal, larger eggs are manageable for beginner surfers due to their width and volume and allow room for progression.
Hybrids (5-7 feet)
The Hypto Krypto is one of the most popular hybrids on the market today for a reason, it’s fun, responsive, and in the right hands lets you rip in a variety of conditions. Image courtesy of: Hayden Shapes
Hybrids are designed to be one board quivers, meaning they’re going to be surfable and fun in a variety of conditions. Having said that, while some hybrids feature shapes similar to eggs and minimals, they are not intended for the beginner surfer.
SHORTBOARD (5.5-7 feet)
The Lost V3 Rocket is a tried and true shortboard for surfers who want to get out there and rip. Image courtesy of: Lost Surfboards
Shortboards are generally going to be the smallest boards out there and are reserved for expert surfers who can shred with their eyes closed. The small size and volume of shortboards allows excellent mobility for tricks and sharp turns, however you have to be a good surfer to catch and stay up on waves. Shortboards look rad, and are what all the pros are riding in everyday surf, but don’t be tempted to step up to a shortboard until you’re absolutely bulletproof on larger boards.
FISH (under 7 feet)
The Channel Island Twin Fin is a performance fish which is a fun wave catching machine. Image courtesy of: Channel Islands Surfboards
A fish surfboard is generally a short, wider, stumpy, board which is designed to surf and have fun in less than desirable conditions. Fishes do come in larger lengths and can be suitable for the beginner/intermediate surfer however if they do not have enough volume they can still be a challenge to surf. As always volume plays a big role in how easy it will be to catch and surf waves with a fish. Fish boards usually have the swallow tail, and are often twin-finned which allows for more slide and more fun for good surfers on small days. Fishes are great boards to progress on. They still generally maintain a lot of volume, while giving intermediate surfers a taste of what a shortboard feels like.
Well there you go! A foray into the wide world of surfboards! If you have a favorite board, we’d love to hear from you! Hit us up in the comment section!
Mahalo and aloha!
And as always if you’d like to learn more about what GorillaSafe is all about, check out our website at: GogorillaSafe.com
We love to surf. No, WE LOVE TO SURF! The thing is, we can’t get in the water nearly as much as we’d like to. And truth be told, when we do get out for a surf, it’s probably after a long hiatus and we can’t help but notice that people are paddling back out a whole lot faster than us. Is that the ocean we taste on our lips? Or is that the salt of our sullen tears as we see people peeling off on waves that could be ours? If only we were in a little better shape.
The good news is that you stay surf fit sans waves. In fact some of the best exercises for surf training require little to no equipment.
Paddle, paddle, paddle. Look, we know it might seem silly, but if you have access to a body of swimmable water, and you won’t get kicked out of that water if you’re on a surfboard, then get in there and paddle. Your paddle fitness is the most important thing to increase the enjoyment of your next surf trip. Paddling for surfing requires both strength and endurance. It’s important to build both. To focus on power, try paddling on surfboard and take 6 strong strokes with each arm. Commit your whole body to a deep, powerful stroke, determined to make an imaginary wave on that 12th stroke. Experiment with more open fingers, researchers have proved that the optimal width between fingers is 20 to 40 percent. When paddling for power, make extra sure that your non-stroking hand isn’t causing unnecessary drag. After your have done six strokes with each arm, take a rest period with 10 easy strokes each side, this is one set. Do this without rest for 5 sets. Consider getting a prone paddle board or a standup paddle board. Both are fun ways to build endurance, shoulder, bicep and tricep, and core strength.
Swim. If you can’t get out for a paddle, get in the water and swim. In fact, swim as well! Swimming is one of most physically beneficial exercises which is low impact on joints and ligaments. It also helps train you physically and mentally for staying calm while not being able to breath as you normally would. A good entry level swim workout for surf would be:
– 200 meter slow, easy warm-up freestyle
– 100 meter pull, freestyle arms with a kick bouy in-between your legs if you have one, if not just don’t kick. Again focus on powerful strokes, hands cupped, but not tightly clenched with space between your fingers
– 100 meter freestyle
– 100 meter pull, freestyle with kick bouy
– 100 meter freestyle
– 200 meter cool-down
Ramp up the distances as your strength and endurance increases, and throw in swimming distances underwater to build confidence and lung capacity.
Cross training/Circuit training. Surfing is a whole body workout. So if you’re going to train for surf, you’d better train everything. One of the best ways to get both a cardio and strength workout is to circuit or cross train. Circuit or cross training incorporates multiple exercises in succession which strategically work different muscle groups, giving you a whole body workout.
An example circuit for surf training would be:
–Bear crawl 10 meters
–Do 10 tuck squat jumps
–Do 12 pushups
–Hold a one minute low plank on your forearms
–Up into a 45 second wall sit
Rest for two minutes and repeat the whole thing two more times. Mix it up, and sequence in high impact exercises which don’t work the same muscles back to back. There are plenty of bootcamp/circuit training groups which help make staying in surf shape fun and social. Check out November Project, a free circuit training group which has ‘tribes’ in many major cities globally.
A good resource for surf specific exercises can be found at Surfer Today’s website.
Yoga. We’re not huge into yoga. There, we said it. But we have done it, and we know it gets us into and hold positions that aren’t real comfortable but definitely work muscles we otherwise wouldn’t. Also, yoga is great for balance and flexibility, or something… I don’t know, we heard that. Yeah, so, yoga is totally great for helping you stay surf fit. We don’t know much about yoga, but watch this, it seemed pretty good when we googled yoga for surfers:
Seriously though, yoga is great for developing and maintaining core strength, flexibility, and body awareness, all hugely beneficial for moving in and on the water.
For more out of water surf fitness tips, training ideas and inspiration check out Elise Carver on Instagram (@littlebantamsurftrainer).
It’s super cool to see one of the biggest names in the surfboard manufacturing game taking another step in the right direction towards reducing the ecological impact of surfboard manufacturing.
The Firewire experimental Almond Butter as shown at ISPO 2017. Source: @firewiresurfboards
Presented at the ISPO show in Munich by Firewire, this experimental version of the Almond Butter, designed by the mythical creature that is Rob Machado, was built using pieces scrap paulownia wood. The use of scrap wood is responsible for the very cool looking patch work finish on the board. We think it looks rad! As well as using scrap wood, paulownia trees are extremely fast growing, as much as 20 feet in a year. They can be harvested in as little as five years, and can regrow from harvested roots, making them a more eco-friendly wood option. In addition Firewire used a 20% recycled EPS core, 25% less fiberglass, 20% recycled material Futures fin boxes and leash plug, and coated it with Re-Res, a recyclable epxoy resin.
While far from a perfect solution we applaud Firewire for taking steps in the right direction!
And in case you want to hear the man himself, and those sparkly eyes and pearly whites muse about the Almond Butter, and how he rode one into the biggest wave of the day at a Teahupoo session, here you go:
If you want to read about some super sweet, zero waste and super eco-friendly snowboards check this out: Zero Waste Snowboards
And, as always, if you want to learn more about GorillaSafe please check out:GoGorillaSafe.com
Japan is firmly planted on the international ski and snowboard map, an exotic dream destination for many. Powderhounds the world over start drooling with the mere mention of ski resorts in the Northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido such as Niseko, Tazawako, and Minow, all of which are known for their insane (see below) amounts of high quality, dry powder.
Yup, that’s all sweet, sweet Hokkaido powder. Source: The Perfect Snow Experience/tinyurl.com/jsqf6cd
With these resorts being world class destinations, resorts in Fukushima’s lesser known Aizu and Minami Aizu mountain regions are attempting to put their name on the map by offering free lift tickets to anyone with a foreign passport between the ages of 19-24. Simply present your passport at the ticket window and away you go. Now, before you quip about the misleading title of this article, if you hold a foreign passport and you’re over (or under, not sure there 19) 24 you can get lift tickets for roughly USD $17. Not a bad deal any way you look at it. The offer is available through March 31st, 2017, at 22 ski resorts in the Aizu and Minami Aizu mountain region.
With 22 resorts on tap, the Aizu and Minami Aizu mountain regions have something for everyone.
The promotion, as reported by local news agency Rocket News 24, is being held by Visit Fukushima, the prefectures’ tourism board. Some of the best looking resorts participating in the promotion are:
A major benefit of the Aizu and Minami Aizu mountain regions are their proximity to Tokyo, a very comfortable 2 hour bullet train ride away. Two Japan destinations for the price of one.
Tokyo is a 2 hour bullet train ride from the ski areas included in the promotion
And if you didn’t know… you can do this in Tokyo:
So yeah. Do it. Now. Right now. Why are you still reading this? Stop. WAIT! CHECK OUT GORILLASAFE FIRST: GoGorillasafe.com
If you’d like to learn more about the promotion, please visit: iplayfukushima.com
Reelers is a short film competition for everything surf and surf related. Brought to you by Surfing World, the competition features films under 3 minutes in the categories of Story, Action, and Youth. Cash and swag prizes are up for grabs for each of the categories and is judged by surf cinematographer greats; Taylor Steele, Kai Neville and Jack McCoy. Entries can also be selected for audience choice awards via votes on the competition website.
There are some great submissions in the competition so far, so we decided to sit down and highlight our favorite selections for each category. Here are our top picks (and a couple honorable mentions) of the competition so far:
Category: Youth
Submitted by Alex Corcoran, a man of few words who describes his film, Up North, as: “A short made for Reelers 2017. This was made from a trip to Lennox Head ‘ UP NORTH ‘. I am 14” Well 14 year old Alex Corcoran we really liked everything about this film but overall it made us feel all warm and fuzzy inside and captures perfectly what it’s like to have a great day out in the surf with your friend and mellow fun waves. Well done Alex Corcoran, well done.
Category: Story
This short is submitted by Gold Coast videographer Dru Adler. Titled The Uplifting, it tells the story of how the recent earthquake in New Zealand has changed the surf landscape in and around Adler’s wife’s home town of Kaikoura. We liked this entry in the Story category as it highlights the silver lining of what was an otherwise destructive and tragic event, and that this silver lining is bringing new opportunity and stoke to a generation of young surfers. High five, Dru, for seeing the glass as half full!
Category: Action
Surfing Private Island is a short film shot in the Mentawais about a group of local surfers having a ton of fun. We liked this entry because it just made us want to go out and surf. Ok, we always want to surf, everyone can relate, but you know what we mean, it was feel good, the waves looked perfect, warm, and fun and it captured everything positive about surfing.
Honorable mentions:
Standards Suck is a short film following Jaleesa Vincent. Filmed and submitted by Olivia Williams the two have ton of fun with the project and it radiates sunshine and good times.
A short film by 17 year old Tai Jennison Rupiah For Shade features four of the best young surfers in the world; Rio Waida, Caleb Tancred, Griffin Colapinto and Ethan Ewing. These dudes are young and they rip.
Submissions for Reelers 2017 can be made until February 1st, 2017, so it’s not too late to submit if you’re a budding surf cinematographer. And don’t forget to vote for your favorite entry for the audience choice awards.
To view all entries click to visit the competition website.
After a year spent like most pro surfers chasing perfect barrels in balmy far flung waters, Mick Fanning admits that “I don’t think I’m well, I can go anywhere in the world, boardshorts, whatever. But no, I come here.” “Here” being the frigid waters off the coast of Norway. While a little off the radar of the WSL and this week’s Pipe crowd, Norway offered an opportunity of a life time to surf under the Northern Lights.
Captured by Norwegian photographers Emil Sollie and Mats Grimsæth, the resulting images and video are stunning and unlike anything ever seen before in the world of surf:
Stretching across such diverse territory as Hawaii, Indonesia, Iceland, South Africa, and Europe, surfer Matt Bromley and videographer Guy Mac show the risks and rewards associated with escaping their comfort zones and globetrotting across some of the world’s most unique surf. Chasing swell and sticking to a budget a lot of surfers can relate to, the two journeymen sought to make a modern surf classic.
The golden rule for buying a surfboard is buy within your skill level. It’s very, very, very unlikely that you’ll ‘grow’ into your surfboard. You can’t progress if you can’t catch a wave.The golden rule for buying a surfboard is buy within your skill level. It’s very, very, very unlikely that you’ll ‘grow’ into your surfboard. You can’t progress if you can’t catch a wave. 
