Every now and again I’m reminded that no matter how messed up things get, there’ll be a little sequence of events that remind me that everything is in order. That even though life may get a little repetitive, if you allow yourself to open up to the possibilities and just go with it and you may just have an experience of a lifetime.
This was one such trip - a trip to surfers Disneyland. Iballa Moreno is an old mate from my past life as a professional windsurfer. Which is part of Iballa’s current life, for even though she’s just cracked 40, she’s the current women’s wave world champ and been pushing the world’s best in SUP as well for quite some time. Basically she’s a legend.
We have this love-hate relationship, like we just love to give each other shit. We’ve hung out a lot over the years at various places around the world and she’s been niggling me to go to Indo on a surf trip for the last couple of years. Despite constantly competing between the two disciplines, she just wanted to go surf.
The other link of this seemingly pre-destined chain of events started when I was with another old mate, Rourkey, in Bangkok. We’d just arrived, booked into our hotel and were having a beer on the veranda waiting for our rooms to be ready, and I was talking about how this other fella we knew, Pete, was living in Bangkok. So who at that precise moment should come walking down the street? Yep, Pete.
That led to catching up for a few more beers later on with talk coming around to the fact that he’s living in Sumatra and that there’s “this wave”. Hardly anyone surfs it and the pics on his phone had me pretty excited.
I told this to Iballa and she fast tracked everything. With me being reluctant to commit to anything these days, she had me committing to a date when we would meet up. I wanted to get some footage of young Wes Fry, so I booked his ticket too and there was no backing out.
Denne historien er fra Summer 2018-utgaven av SUP International.
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Denne historien er fra Summer 2018-utgaven av SUP International.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Turning Points
With spring in the air and the start of a new decade, thoughts naturally turn to what we can do differently in the name of betterment. Finn Mullen reflects on some changes to consider when looking to improve your SUP surfing.
THE CLOSE OUT- TREV'S GREAT BIRTHDAY ADVENTURE
I have had my fair share of great birthdays, usually coinciding with a national holiday in a country that I’m visiting. But this one was a bit different.
Paddle Science #18 - The Body Fortress. Boosting Immunity
At this time of year, the rate of infection for colds and flu normally tends to slow down as we enter warmer, springtime months. However, if you’ve been anywhere at all in the world recently, then there’s one word you can’t escape at the moment: Coronavirus. Infection rates, mortality rates and prognostic data are changing daily at the moment. As a new virus none of us have previously been exposed to it, meaning that currently, we have no immunity to it. It’s only through being infected by a virus that our bodies are able to make the right antibodies to not only enable us to recover but to also help protect us from any recurrent and future infection from it. If you’re keen to stay well and keep getting out on your SUP board this spring, then focussing on boosting your immune system is a positive step to take.
Ceylon Stories
Like a teardrop on the tip of the Indian sub-continent, Sri Lanka is a little tropical El Dorado of beautiful landscapes, rich cultural heritage and people with incomparable kindness. Thanks to its favorable exposure to the swells of the Indian Ocean, the has a large number of good waves along its incredible southwest coast where French pro Alexis Deniel and his partner Melanie had an unforgettable experience this winter. Discover their colorful journey through this dream destination sharing its jewels after decades of civil war and the tragedy of the 2004 tsunami.
Polar Bear
In 2019, the Polar Bear showed the world his teeth. After a fourth place in the toughest SUP race in the world, the Red Bull Heavy Water, the now 19-year old Christian Anderson became World Champion in November in the Technical Race at the ISA World Championships in El Salvador. He also won the U-18 title on the Euro Tour with an 11th place overall. What’s behind the young Dane's rise to power?
SHADENFREUDE
TEST REPORTS
Desire Lines
We were on the outskirts of Helsinki, scouting a new destination for our sup camps. Just 45 minutes’ drive from the city, the untouched nature of the Nuuksio National Park stretched out before us. Mirror-smooth lakes, wild herbs and an impressive fauna waiting to be explored over on board or on foot via the many desire lines made by the land mammals.
Magical. Mystical. Epic.
Alexandra is a club ambassador and SUP racer for Bray Lake; relatively new to the SUP scene she completed her first race season in 2019. She participated in her first international event, the Gla Gla, 2020, and placed 1st Brit, 8th lady and 81st overall, out of a mass start of 637 paddlers. Here she shares the highlights of her first Gla Gla experience.
Green Medicine
As a keen outdoorsman and busy GP, Paul Sampson has come pretty close to attaining the mercurial work-balance. When not busy with his patients, he can be found hiking, climbing, paddle boarding, wild swimming… anything that gets him outside soaking up the great outdoors and reconnecting with nature in the beautiful South of Cornwall.
Depth Charge
Many of us have are staying away from the beach for a while, some are confined to our homes, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still train for the surf. If you try the following for just one week you’ll see results, never mind three months…
