CAUGHT INSIDE # 131

Death is no big deal, it’s living that’s the tricky part. And don’t we do that well, us surfers. Living, I mean. Oh no, maybe not always, measured by societal success, but in the goal of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we win. Every time we jump in the ocean. It’s that pursuit of happiness thing. On the face of a wave, a really good wave, there is literally no where else we would rather be. Think about it. In bed with a lover? Or rocketing down the line with a perfect wall lining up in front of you. C’mon, be honest. George Greenough, 70’s kneeboarding savant, even named his seminal surf movie about it. The Innermost Limits of Pure Joy.

We’ll say two things about that. One, it was the first time anybody ever filmed surfing from inside the tube. And with a home made housing with a hand wound 16mm camera crammed inside it worn on his back and weighing 30 kilos. Think about that the next time you have a weightless Go Pro clenched in your teeth. Don’t worry, we don’t expect most of you to remember the movie, but Pink Floyd sure will, and you are going to have to look that one up. Anyway, this film thing is back. Sort of. On the fringes of the photography world. Popular with the younger set that likes the super cool look of nostalgia. Good for them, we say. And we feature in this issue a portfolio by Australia’s Jack O’Grady that also features some clever use of film over digital. That’s some of Jack’s work in the photos above. (which pretty much makes the statement that we are no longer surprised by seeing women barreled in perfect waves, and isn’t that wonderful?).

And getting back to that joy thing, we are super stoked to celebrate it in this issue. Recently, Mick Fanning, Gabriel Medina and Mason Ho sought the joy on a wild trip to the South Australian desert recently and we have partnered the images with a remarkable, if bizarre, meditation written by the naturalist Barry Lopez. No kidding. That’s his real name. We also have a very personal feature on Matt Biolos of Mayhem fame. And not about his surfboards, but about him. He is, after all, a master of his Universe, an artist and the greatest marketing genius the surf world has ever known. Read it and see. We have big news about a big deal with our country’s biggest surf star, Rio Waida. Sharpeye surfboards is coming to town and are going about sponsorship of Rio in a very innovative way.

Smart and community minded, it just may be the way of the future here in Indonesia. And speaking of joy, we also hear from one of the most unique surfers on the island, Wouters De Regt, from Holland. A talented goofyfoot who worships Balangan, we asked him about surfing in his home country. The hardship back in the North Sea may be bleak, but somehow these Dutchmen still seek and find the joy in the numbing cold. Though it does take a lot of coffee and a bottle of Schnapps in every glove box. And it is always profound to catch up with Jim Banks, expat surfer extraordinaire, who, along with Gerry Lopez, makes up the duo of western pioneers whose exploration, gracefulness and love for Indonesia will resonate here forever. We have the groms of course, the next generation keeping the fires lit.

Now, understand we struggle to get the world class photos of them in this video clip world, but regardless, every single image we publish of them screams the stoke. We are here for them and when you think about it, they are here for our future. And speaking of groms, we have an essay written in a childs voice. A child who perhaps belongs to a very unique Mentawai tribe made up of international visitors and locals alike. A very different voice for a surf Magazine and surprising it is. So the joy continues at The Surftime Journal for all of us and all of you. Grom or Granny, we all feel it. And we are lucky to do so. So revel in your time on a wave, it really is the innermost limits of pure fun. After all, when society, or anyone else makes fun of surfers, remember, we must be doing something right.

-Matt George, Editor-in-Chief