hiya wa howa aswat

Rip currents are killing more people in Australia than shark attacks, floods, tropical cyclones and bushfires combined.

According to Rob Brander, a rip expert at the University of New South Wales, 21 people drown in rips around Australia, on average.

"Studies show Australians do not understand rips and cannot identify rips as well as they think they can", Brander tells The Sidney Morning Herald.

"The reality is that tourists are not the big issue as some people might think. Usually they account for less than 10 per cent of fatalities".

Rob Brander is a coastal geomorphologist, and has dedicated his research to understanding common beach and surf hazards, such as rip currents.

His study involves measurements of rip current flow using GPS drifters, as well as measurements of swimmer escape strategies using GPS.

You can survive rip currents. First, don't panic because rips won't pull you under water. If you're tired, raise your hand so that a lifesaver can see you.

Also, you can try to swim towards white water because it means it's shallow, you may stand up, and it will bring you back to the beach. Never swim against the rip.

How to survive beach rip currents

Keanu Reeves has ruled the possibility of participating in a remake of the classic Hollywood surf movie "Point Break".

The star of Kathryn Bigelow's multi-million box office hit is turning 50, and Patrick Swayze has passed away in 2009.

"Absolutely not. It's not my place. If they can find a way to do it that works out good, then God bless them", says Reeves, who starred in the 1991 film as Johnny Utah.

"Sounds very exciting - but is it a good thing? I don't know", added Keanu. The Canadian actor believes that some films - such as "Wizard of Oz" or "Apocalypse Now" - should have a "no remake clause".

After the death of Swayze, the "Point Break" sequel idea was abandoned, but a remake has been in the headlines since 2011, when Alcon Entertainment showed signs of interest.


Apparently, the script has been written by Kurt Wimmer, and the new film could be directed by Ericson Core.

Banzai Pipeline has delivered two consecutive days of classic big wave surfing, on the 21st and 22nd December, 2013. Add the words "epic" and "memorable" to the adjectives list.

The pro surfing craziness has settled down, we've got a new world champion and it's winter time on the Oahu's North Shore. Is there anything new? Well, maybe.

Banzai Pipeline has awakened for a classic day of big wave surfing, in Christmas mode. Makua Rothman, Koa Rothman, Jamie O'Brien, John John Florence, Kelly Slater, Mark Healey, Anthony Walsh, Damien Hobgood, Bruce Irons, Pat Gudauskas, Keanu Asing, and many anonymous wave riders got the most out of First Reef and Second Reef.

Waves touched perfection. For two days in a row, there were 12-foot faces rolling in for everyone. You had to pick the right one, otherwise you'd get a free wipeout for Christmas gift.

"Everyone who surfed Pipeline (and that's basically everyone who surfs Pipe) surfed one of the best days in memory. I drove to the airport to go surf outer islands away from the crowds with a friend and we couldn't get a seat on a flight", explains Kelly Slater.


"Haleiwa had a contest on so we headed back to Pipe. Life always guides you to the right place but occasionally narrows your options"

The most famous comic book heroes are avid surfers, too. The popularity of the sport of riding waves has been in the comic strips ever since, between epic battles and imaginary worlds.

Marvel Comics and DC Comics control more than 80% of the comic book market. Their longtime rivalry has attracted millions of fans to the fantastic world of super heroes. Each brand has its stars, and both emblems have their uniquenesses.

Surfing has been featured many times in the panels of images, speech balloons and front covers. Riding waves has been seen as a futuristic sport, in which super heroes are depicted riding waves and planetary atmospheres.


Can a surfboard be a trump for a super hero? Absolutely. Let's see how these fantastic behave in the waves.


DC Comics, founded in 1934, has showed his surfer characters in many strips. Plastic Man, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Superboy, Superman and Batman have been spotted surfing away or against their classic enemies.

Marvel Comics, founded in 1939, have presented three important heroes riding with surfboards under their feet. A full-time wave rider named Silver Surfer, the famous Spider-Man, and the villain Doctor Doom.

Surfing is surfing. However, can we find resemblances between the riding waves and other sports and performing arts? Let's get inspired.

Ballet is a performance dance, and performance dance is dance performed for an audience. Surfing is the art of dancing with the waves. Compare the "grand jetes" with the aerials, the "fouetté en tournant" with the roundhouse cutback. Surfing is ocean ballet. With spectators, too.

Painting is the practice of applying paint to a surface. Surfing is the art of applying lines to the waves. While painters have canvas in which they express themselves, surfers have moving walls of water in which they lay their turns and lines.

BASE (Building, Antenna, Span, Earth) jumping stunts resemble big wave surf rides. In both cases, athletes risk their lives by defying gravity, and the elements. It's stiff down below. Wipeouts can be deadly.

Chess strategy consists of achieving long-term positioning advantages and concentrating on immediate maneuvers, with personal tactics. Surfers make real-time decisions (left or right, cutback or aerial) and long-term options (this wave or the next one, hold priority or let go). It's all in the mind. Decisions, decisions...

Skateboarding was born to ride the streets when the ocean's flat. Many tricks and moves are surf-influenced maneuvers. However, today, skateboarding is changing the way we ride waves, too. When will surfers pull the 1080?

Snowboarding and skiing invite us to descend the snowy slope. They are gravity-based sports, just like surfing is, and they also require board and feet knowledge. Making turns in fresh winter snow, and trimming virgin summer wave faces. Opposites attract.

Pilates is the perfect physical fitness system for surfers. Although it was founded by Joseph Pilates, in Germany - a country with rare surfing swells - its principles work as a mirror for surfing. Concentration, control, centering, flow, precision and breathing. Perfect match.

Acrobatics demand balance, agility, and motor coordination. Like surfers, acrobats are pushing human body performance to extreme levels. Have you seen a rodeo flip by Jordy Smith? Pure acrobatics.

Synchronized swimming requires strength, endurance, flexibility, grace, artistry and precise timing. The sport, which was once known as water ballet, is both an individual and team sport - that's surfing and tandem surfing, isn't it?

Figure skating offers a wide range of competitive elements. Spins, jumps, moves in the field, lifts, throw jumps, and death spirals demand balance, experience and creativity. Sacry wipeouts included. Check.


Logrolling is an unorthodox outdoor activity that originated in the lumberjack/log driver tradition of the northeastern United States and Canada. Who can balance on a log the longest, while it rolls in the river? Undoubtedly, a man-on-man heat.

Sending press releases in Chinese? Attaching low-resolution photos? Communicating broken links? Caps Lock abuse? Hashtag madness? Check out the do's and don'ts in wave sports brand communication.

Wave sports are changing every three months. New gear, new trends, new technologies, new shapes, new design, new colors and new communications.
How does your action sports brand reach media and costumers? Interestingly, the biggest boardsport companies are not the ones making the best decisions and practices in the corporate communications field.

If you're sending a press release written in Spanish to international surf media, you might not get satisfactory annual results.
Brands are going crazy about social networks. They think that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest will boost their wetsuit, gear and clothing sales. The truth is that it won't happen if you don't kick off communications on a ground level basis.

First website, then social networks. That's the way. For example, many boardsports companies send their Press Releases in complicated .pdf formats that cannot be copied and pasted into Word. Wrong.
There are also wave sports brands that don't answer emails, requests, doubts and questions. Couldn't be worse. So, what are the basic requirements of the corporate communications professional in the wave sports world?
1. Press Releases. Written in simple, clear English. One idea per paragraph. Avoid the commercial-only approach.
2. Feedback. Answering emails, questions, doubts and requests, as quickly as possible.
3. Universality of Communication Formats. Sometimes a .txt file is better than a .pdf file. Forget .tiff and alternative video formats.
4. Managing Social Networks. Good sense works. Be active and coherent with all posts and messages.
5. Photo and Video Feeds. Providing raw, unedited video is great. Photos with huge watermarks go straight to the recycle bin.
6. Exclusive Content Proposals. If you've established a good relation with a news media, offer unique content.
7. Website News Updated. Get your official website a focus of interest. Make sure you earn returning visitors.
8. RSS Feeds. Get everyone connected if anything happens.
The best brand communication in wave sports for 2013 are:

Not dark yet. Pipeline. Photo: Peter Taras

At 9:11 AM PST, on December 21, the earth’s North Pole was tipped at a 23 degree angle away from the sun. Turns out that petty little piece of information carries quiet a bit of weight. That moment, 9:11, was the winter solstice — the cold season’s welcome party. December 21 was the Northern Hemisphere’s shortest day of 2013 and that’s good news for everyone who does not like caves, crevices, grottos or darkness in general. It’s great news for everyone who enjoys the sun, light, happiness and — perhaps most importantly — surfing after work. Now can the West Coast finally get a taste of some of that NW swell energy? It’s practically summer already.

Filmed and edited by Wonderland Productions

Rob Machado’s “Through The Lens” video series continues its journey to discover and document some of the most inspiring and unexpected individuals around the world, all told through Rob’s eyes and creative story-telling. The third episode of “Through The Lens” features Sig Zane, the iconic Hawaiian aloha shirt creator and cultural practitioner. Rob travels to the Big Island of Hawaii to meet up with Sig and experience first-hand the magic of Sig’s design process.

Location: Scotland
Filmed and edited by Chris Mcclean. 
Update: This month of December of Nixon have upped the prize pot and will be sending watches to both the finalist surfers and film makers. It is Christmas after all.

Surfers will always remember their first real wave. But why did we start surfing? Was it a magazine, a friend or a surf video that ignited our desire to ride the ocean's energy?

We are surfers today. Surf addicts never miss a chance to get to the nearest break, whether it is cloudy, rainy or sunny. No matter what happens in the future, we will never look at the ocean the same way again.
When we drive along the beach, when we watch a surfer on television, when we spot a surfboard on a car rack, when we hear someone talking about waves in the public transports, we know that surfing changes lives.

But why did we start surfing? Is there a reason why we got a surfboard under our feet? Well, in fact, there are thousands of explanations behind our surf history. Let's take a look at the most common ones:

1. Your parents, older sisters or brothers surf.
2. You live next to a popular surf spot.
3. Your best friends were surfers.
4. Someone offered you a surfboard.
5. You really wanted to learn how to surf.
6. You got pumped by big wave surfing on television.
7. You saw a perfect surf photo in a surf magazine.
8. You heard dozens of stories about the benefits of surfing.
9. You love the ocean and you're not afraid of the waves.
10. You felt attracted by the surfers' lifestyle.
11. You wanted to meet good-looking girls or boys.
12. You had nothing to do in your long summer holidays.
13. You couldn't resist a beautiful surfboard and bought it.
14. You wanted to impress your work colleagues.
15. Your other half insisted you should give surfing a go.
16. You loved the surf wax smell.
17. You think surfing is highly trendy.
18. You thought it would be easy to learn how to surf.
19. You loved The Beach Boys.
20. You saw someone older than you mastering the waves.
21. You heard how surfing has changed someone's life.
22. You think surfboards are object of design.
23. You believe surfing positively changes the human body.
24. You tried bodyboarding and you wanted to stand up on a board.
25. You feel inexplicably attracted by the ocean waves.
26. You believe there's a spiritual connection between surfing and afterlife.
27. You wanted to be like Kelly Slater.
28. You wanted to defeat cymophobia, i.e., the fear of waves and swell.
29. You wanted to break the routine of the office life.
30. You wanted to do something you never done before.
31. You love water sports.
32. You thought surfers had so much fun.
33. Your father is a surfboard shaper.
34. You were suffering from depression.
35. You thought surfing was unpredictable and always different.
36. You were lost in life.
37. You fell in love with a surf movie.
38. You lived next to a surf shop.
39. You felt the need to surf.
40. You were a good swimmer.
41. You had nothing else to do in your small coastal village.
42. You loved skateboarding.
43. You think everybody surfs.
44. It's the oceanic equivalent to snowboarding.
45. You found a surfboard in the attic.
46. You discovered celebrities gliding waves.
47. You found out surfing is a cheap sport.
48. It is a good way to start a weekend.
49. You wanted a good excuse to travel frequently.
50. Surfing is the coolest sport.


If you're already a surfer, discover a few things you didn't know about surfing.
In both cases, dive into 25 very good reasons why surfing is so addictive.

The history of surfing is very rich. There are multiple facts and figures surrounding the evolution of wave riding, through time. Some are strange, others are deeply bizarre.

The 2013 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing set a record for the largest audience to ever witness an action sports event.

The iconic surf contest founded by Fred Hemmings, in 1983, was seen online by more than 3.5 million people, in a total of two million hours of webcast viewing.

In addition, the final day of the Billabong Pipe Masters set a one-day surfing webcast record with more than one million viewers generating more than 1.1 streams and a whopping 596,000 hours of streaming.
"The gap between live surfing and live stick-and-ball sports has been officially erased. The quality of production, streaming and audience size make surfing the new gold standard in live interactive events", says Doug Palladini, general manager at Vans Americas.

Multiple camera angles, including from the water looking into the tubes, along with instant replay, hi-definition super-slo-motion effects, aerial views, and interactivity with show hosts drove viewers to the ultimate online surfing experience.


The Billabong Pipe Masters 2013, the last event of the professional surfing season, crowned the 2013 ASP World Tour champion Mick Fanning, young Hawaiian John John Florence as the Triple Crown of Surfing master and Kelly Slater, as the new king of Banzai Pipeline.

Munich is home to a few river waves and has been cited as the capital of the river surfing world. In summer, man made the fast-flowing Eisbach (Ice Brook) wave the most advanced wave in the city and and it has seen numerous injuries and non-surfing related fatalities from people entering the 2km long river in the nearby Englischer Garten park.

There is a strong subculture based around the Eisbach, but it is a far cry from the promenades full of shops oozing surf fashion and culture in your typical surf hotspots. Granted there are shops, but in this city there is a fraction of what you will find in a village in, say, Cornwall, UK. Faces become familiar to each other and many of those I spoke to had, after time on the Munich waves, eventually ventured to the far off waves of the Atlantic to see what sea surfing was like.

German surf tourism is stronger then ever at the moment and considering Germany’s only coast is on the North and Baltic sea, this is quite a phenomenon. Throughout the year on one of my frequent trips to Cornwall with my cornish girlfriend, we saw many surf tourists that have come from all over Germany and Austria.

Surfing on the Eisbach was deemed illegal by the authorities until they finally keeled to the unrelenting pressure that the open movement persisted with. Now it is endorsed by the city of Munich and has been surfed by world-class surfers Rob Machado and Garrett McNamara. The Eisbach is visited by a plethora of surf tourists in the summer and Munich opens itself in friendliness to all tourists with a hearty Bavarian warmth.

A problem that the increase of numbers poses due to the inevitable exposure of this unique surf spot is that only one person can surf at one time. The more that flock there, the longer the queues will be. However those who have glanced a keen eye at the wave need to remember it is not for groms.


For further interest on the wave, see the 2009 film “Keep Surfing.”

Just before blowing up on the world stage John John showed why he was the next big thing in Surfing to a few lucky punters left blown away in the lineup of Macaronis back in 2011.

Don’t think you can show up with a ski at Nazaré, catch a few bombs and waltz on out. It’s not that easy anymore. Nor is it legal. According to a message from Portuguese surfer and former Billabong XXL nominee Hugo Vau, tow surfing is banned by Portuguese authorities. This is especially unfortunate as the biggest swell of the year is set to hit Praia do Norte, Nazaré, this weekend.
This news doesn’t mean that it can’t be surfed, however. Surfers aren’t prohibited from paddling Nazaré, according to an article by Surf Portugal. Towing, on the other hand, seems to be out of the question. For some.

There is one way to circumvent the law which is to get permission from the Captain of the Port of Nazaré. Garrett McNamara and his tow team are allowed to tow as they have received permission. So has the Red Bull team of Maya Gabeira, Carlos Burle and Felipe Cesariano. Any tow team must, by law, include two personal watercraft, a person on land as look out, an emergency vehicle on the beach and connectivity established between all aforementioned parties. Anyone driving a Jet Ski at Nazaré must also have a letter from the Navy.

There are fines issued to anyone, or any organization, who chooses not to obey the laws. Though there are steps to garner permission to tow in Portugal, it is still illegal. The ways around the law are, however, permitted in special circumstances.


Had surfers not found a way to bypass these restrictions, Nazaré probably wouldn’t have received all the media attention it has in the recent years. While it is a stringent set of rules, they were designed for the safety of big wave surfers. A bigger support team and the knowledge of exactly who will be in the water makes for a more controlled situation and, therefore, safer tow sessions. Of course, danger is ever-present in big waves and should a bad wipeout occur, like that of Maya Gabeira’s on October 28, injuries and even death are still possible.

In a country with a population of 1.2 billion and just over a hundred surfers, the film sets out to explore the journey of some of India’s pioneer surfers, their humble surf beginnings and their deep connection with the ocean.

Through interviews with local watermen we celebrate the joy of riding waves and the aloha spirit of the Indian surf tribe. As the numbers of surfers in the country keep growing each day, we hope that these stories may never be lost and shall help create a deeper sense of surf community in India.

The first documentary surf film to come out of India, ‘A Rising Tide’ features pioneer surfers Mukesh Panjanathan, Jack ‘Swami’ Hebner, Velu Murugan, Satyaraj Das, Tushar Pathiyan, Ishita Malaviya, Kishore Kumar, Kiran Kumar, Spandan Banerjee, Rahul Malaney, Shamanth Kumar, Murthy Megavan, Melville Anthony Smythe, Kalyan Raithi, Hari Varma, D. Anudeep and Nissam Yoshikawa.
Thanks to Varoon Nair, The Mavyns, The Supersonics and Dhruv Visvanath for composing original music for the film.


Thanks to Quiksilver India for their support of this film.

Words by Luke Kennedy

“It’s a big west swell and when the waves come I feel like a cat being chased by a dog.” That’s how Mason Ho described the conditions at Pipe on a day when several of the world’s most highly rated surfers hung around to chase big Pipe alongside an assembly of Banzai specialists and Hawaiian chargers. The West swell is best suited to classic, left-hand Pipe, and because a ‘real one’ on the lefts at Pipe is one of surfing’s most coveted prizes, it’s little wonder an all-star cast showed up.



Dean Morrison has had a long love affair with Backdoor and it shows. Photo by Peter Joli Wilson
       
“It’s almost super perfect out there,” suggested a smiling Pat Gudauskas after his morning session. According to Pat the problem was that it was a shade too big to sit on the first reef where the wave is more of a top-to-bottom slab. Many modern Pipe specialists consider ledging, first reef barrels as the ultimate challenge as opposed to the faded bottom barrels the likes of Lopez made famous. However, chasing the first reefers on Friday meant running the gauntlet with the second reef rollers that were offering alpine drops but rarely any barrels.



After suffering a lacerated foot it's good to see Anthony Walsh back in the water at Pipe. Photo by Peter Joli Wilson
        
Pipe veteran, Tamayo Perry, delivered another perspective on what it’s like to sit inside and chase the first reefers when second reef is in play. “You pretty much have to get that first wave of the set or it’s doom!” he stated with a dark chuckle. Tamayo was however confident that some of the season’s best waves would be ridden on Wild West Friday. “Someone’s going to get the wave of the winter today,” he stated, before going to get his board and put himself in the mix for the prize he’d mentioned.  



Mason Ho makes his espace in a game of cat-and-mouse on Friday. Photo by Peter Joli Wilson
       
Not surprisingly John John Florence seemed to have the first reef, cat and mouse game dialled. It can take hours to get one decent wave at Pipe and on a day like this plenty of punters will find themselves plucking sand from every orifice without a single worthy ride to their name. Meanwhile John John scored two of the morning’s best waves in the space of ten minutes. Both waves featured super-late drops into foam-ball-express barrels that spat with volcanic force. Standing out isn’t easy in a lineup with a 100 odd guys who are damn good at what they do, but when John John is on at Pipe he’s hard to touch.



We love Mason's tube style. And one of the funnest surfers to watch just about anywhere. Photo by Peter Joli Wilson
       
Another blonde barrel merchant of repute, Jamie O’brien, was adopting a more novel approach to the session. Jamie rode a single fin, long board that was a re-make of a Greg Knoll design. After a few second reef, roll- ins Jamie even managed to hurl the cumbersome craft over the ledge on a couple of first reef cliff-drops. In the perennial contest to be the unofficial king of Pipe, it seems Jamie is hedging his claim on the ability to ride any kind of craft out there.    



Pipeline. Score the wave of your dreams or a trip to the hospital. Photo by Peter Joli Wilson    
       
Adriano De Souza certainly wasn’t indulging in any board fetishes. The Brazilian CT surfer was there with his high performance semi-gun and just one thing in mind.
“I want to catch the wave of my life out there,” he insisted with a determined glance towards the lineup. “The locals don’t give you many chances to get that wave and you don’t want to fall when it comes.” On an earlier wave Adriano had pulled in deep on a meaty left, only to be squashed by a foamy cement-mixer section. On the beach Adriano squinted in pain and complained he’d been hit hard in the rib by his board. However, he insisted he would return to the lineup later in the day. Although most of the CT surfers were heading home, the diminutive Brazilian, who is not known as a Hawaiian specialist, had made plans to stay longer and chase the kind of wave that would change his world.

 

The welcoming party wait for their moment to go. John John Florence front and centre. Photo by Peter Joli Wilson
       
From the Aussie contingent Dean Morrison faired best, charging massive backdoor on a day when most surfers wanted no part of the wrong way rights.  Young West Australian Jack Robinson was weighing it up from beneath the trees, having only just flown into town. His father Trevor had a simple explanation for the late season dash to the North Shore. “It’s a good excuse to get away from the sharks back home… Jack’s already had five encounters with them.” Jack was picking up a brand new Erik Arakawa 6’3” that night and had his heart set on a Pipe session the following day while the swell was still up.



Julian Wilson now knows what it's like to fall six stories, Hawaiian style. Photo by Peter Joli Wilson
       
On dark the recently volatile Bruce Irons restored faith in his ability when he scored a bomb that almost required a pair of night vision goggles to find the exit point.
Meanwhile, notorious night-walker, Kelly Slater, attempted to paddle out in the failing light, got washed hundreds of metres in the sweeping west swell and had to do the walk of shame back up the beach and try again, at a time when the only thing visible was the exploding white water.  
And that my friends was the way the Wild West swell was lost and won on the third Friday this season that Pipe has turned on.


J.O.B puts his board fetish on hold and adds more megabytes to his GoPro show reel. Photo by Peter Joli Wilson




Pat Guduaskas is one of those freakishly talented Californian surfers that excels in heavy water. Photo by Peter Joli Wilson



More artefacts wash up on a day that was more challenging for some. Photo by Peter Joli Wilson



John John Florence demonstrating once again why this is his backyard. Photo by Peter Joli Wilson

 

Damien Hobgood perfectly poised on the ride of his dreams. Photo by Peter Joli Wilson



The dream machine as the west swell pours into Pipeline. Photo by Peter Joli Wilson

Filmed by :Gudi Ferrer, Ashley Burns, Kendall O'Brien, Talon Clemow, Jimmy Graham , Maxime Desmet
Starring James Woods.

Beach House- Irene

This is what happens when Ocean Beach and a big west swell get together. Isn’t it beautiful?

Guilherme Tripa, Ian Consenza, Stephan Figueiredo and Eric de Souza manged to time their trip to Lombok’s Desert Point just right; they were rewarded with flawless barreling lefts (so long as you squeezed out of the doggy door at the end). Video thanks to Kaleu Wildner.

Surfers: Guilherme Tripa, Ian Consenza, Stephan Figueiredo and Eric de Souza.
Shooted and Edited by Kaléu Wildner
Music: Pogo - Digitalism by Alice V & Leonardo Dessi (Cover)
Location: Indonésia 2013

Because, through out the span of your life as a 'surfer', it is an individual effort with no winner or loser and you only rely on yourself. It also is a sport/lifestyle with a constant learning process.

I would say the first two years of surfing are your best years. During that time you have little expectations of the conditions and yourself as a surfer. It morphs into a focus on the act of riding the board, with all the anxiety around not surfing up to your and other surfer's expectations. Later in your surfing life, it becomes more about the act of surfing, being in the ocean, enjoying nature, getting away from technology and stressors that exists on land (cell phones, computers, ipads, kids, wife/husband, work, ect). I am at this point now.

I am sure there will be more lessons from surfing for me and I look forward to surfing untill the day I leave this life....

Wetsuits are so cool. We get to put on a superhero costume every time we paddle out at coldwater spots. Yes, surfing in boardshorts is undeniably better, but breaking in a new pair of boardies is nowhere near as satisfying as pulling on some soft, fresh rubber. At $400 a pop or more, good wetsuits are annoyingly expensive but worth every cent. Keep that new suit new for as long as possible by sacrificing a few minutes of your post-surf burrito time for some crucial wetsuit care. Proper, meticulous, obsessively over-the-top maintenance will not only prolong the useful life of your suit, it keeps it looking and feeling fresh a whole lot longer. Here’s a must-do list:

1) A thorough freshwater rinse. If you do nothing else, rinse your suit inside and out each and every time you use it, even if you’re planning a second session. Salt will destroy your suit faster than everything but direct sunlight. Save time by dousing yourself with a big jug of warm water after you get out of the water, but before you take your suit off, then when you get home rinse out the inside. Take the time to do this, every single time. Seriously.

2) Hang up your wetsuit properly. Not in the sun. Not draped over your car’s side mirror. Not slung over your balcony. And definitely not by the neck or shoulders; this will quickly stretch everything out. Take a plastic hanger, slide the top or bottom of the suit through, and hang it doubled-up, inside-out in the shower or the garage. Or somewhere in the shade if you absolutely must hang it outside.

3) Turn the suit inside out each day until it’s dry. So you’ve rinsed your suit out and hung it up inside-out like a responsible adult. Great. But if you don’t surf for a couple days, only the side of your suit facing outward will dry, leaving the other half marinating in a rubber-destroying moisture farm. Once the outward part of your suit is dry, flip it inside out again to dry the other side. This is a commonly overlooked routine that will greatly lengthen the life of your suit.

4) Use some wetsuit shampoo occasionally. No matter how thoroughly you rinse your suit, you’re going to miss some spots, letting salt collect in crevices where it will happily erode the warm, flexible, but infuriatingly fragile space-age neoprene that we spend all that money on. Fill up your wetsuit changing bucket with cool water and a few capfuls of whatever wetsuit cleaner you like, get it nice and sudsy, drop in your suit, then get your hands in there and knead the cleaner into the neoprene. Pay attention to the zipper too, you’ll want to keep that nice and clean and free of corrosion.

5) Banish the stink. Coffee before dawn patrol is mandatory. So is the automatic peeing that comes from downing all that caffeine. And coffee pee isn’t helping your suit smell any better at all. You can buy products like Mirazyme, specially made to flatten odors from bacteria and mildew in wetsuits, and add that to your wetusit shampoo regimen. Or you can use a little bit of Listerene instead. Works great.

6) Slow down when taking your suit off. Diagonal chest-zip suits are a godsend when it comes to sealing out water and improving comfort. But they are hell to take off. Trying to quicken the process by grabbing at any piece of rubber you can and ripping it from your body like an animal isn’t doing the neoprene any favors. Try not to use your thumbs when you’re pulling the top of the suit off. Don’t stand on one leg of your suit while trying to yank your foot out of the other. Especially not while grinding the suit into oily asphalt. Take it slow, apply pressure across a broad area when slinking out of the suit, and keep those seams happy.

OPT FOR A ROUNDED TAIL: A rounded tail will help draw out the shape of the board, keeping more of the rail in the water. At J-Bay, a point known for its blisteringly fast sections, a rounded tail is a necessity. “When Supers starts firing at 4- to 8-foot, we’ve found that rounded pins are the go-to tail,” says Jon Pyzel, shaper for John Florence,  among others. “You’ll need that drive they create to keep pace with the wave. Rounded pins give you a bit more flow while also increasing your ability to connect your turns. Having that little bit of extra rail makes a big difference when you’re racing past a section.”

STICK WITH A THRUSTER: While the last few years have seen quad setups grow in popularity, Santa Barbara shaper Jason Feist still believes that standard thrusters are superior for pointbreaks. “I’d say that 80 to 90 percent of my customers are still sticking with thruster setups when they get boards for Rincon. I think that’s a solid choice. For that one-in-a-million-wave where it’s hollow from the takeoff point all the way through the rest of the wave, you can ride a quad to get that extra speed you need, but for the vast majority of points, a thruster setup is what you want. It’ll offer you a little more connection to the wave and will help you link your turns together a little easier, which is exactly what you want.”

THE DIFFERENCE OF A FEW INCHES: “I see a lot of guys on shorter boards not making the sections and doing small turns that are lost on the long walls of J-Bay,” says Andrew Carter, a South African shaper who’s shaped more than his fair share of boards for Jeffreys Bay. “When it comes to surfing a solid pointbreak that’s really standing up, you can go a little bit bigger than your standard shortboard,” agrees Feist. “An inch or so should do it. It’ll give you a little more rail that you can really use to your benefit.”

NARROW YOUR OUTLINE: “You don’t want to do anything too drastic,” says Pyzel, “but if the wave is at all powerful and not burgering out, you can go a little more narrow. This’ll make it easier for you to transition from one rail to the other, give you a quicker reaction time, and help you link your turns together faster.”

ADD SOME VOLUME: Typically when you’re surfing a point, you’ll be doing a lot more paddling than you would at your standard beachbreak. You’ll likely appreciate a little extra foam after riding a leg-burner and staring down 150-yard paddle. “We like to go about 1/8 or 1/4 inch thicker than your standard shortboard,” says Thys Strydom of J-Bay’s Rebel Surfboards. “When the waves are good and the wind is really blowing, that extra bit of thickness really helps with paddling into a set and back out to the lineup.”

BUY LOCAL: “If you can, I’d definitely recommend ordering a board from a shaper that knows the point you’re looking to surf,” says Pyzel. “Take advantage of their local knowledge. They’ll know the wave—and what boards will work best—better than anyone.”

Jayce Robinson and Lyndon Wake are at the start or their epic journey. They have spent the autumn months searching out liquid monsters in Ireland, and plan to travel throughout Europe this winter with nothing but cold, dangerous waves on the mind.

This is the trailer to the first edit, documenting their Irish adventures, which will be released at the end of the month. Beyond that we can expect more footage from the UK, Portugal, The Canaries, and any other European stretch of coast which gets hammered by the Atlantic.

Surfing short thanks to Billabong. The 18 minute surf clip sees team riders Laurie Towner and Wade Goodall head to Tahiti chasing a massive south pacific swell. Skip to  5 minutes in to see Tahiti starting to get really mental.