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Just Passing Through // Paradox Of The Coral Sea

April 19, 2017

“It’s not that often that you get to go on a trip with 3 amazing surfers to a place that all of us have never been. It's almost as if we were all taken back to being total groms again… flying in with our faces smashed up against the window looking for any signs of surf... "check this out over here!! wait.. what!! there's waves on both sides of the island!!" Not to mention that it’s probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.

We couldn't get off the plane fast enough. We couldn't get in the water fast enough... we were all frothing.

We surfed every day on the trip and dialed in with local crew on where to be and when.

One night we were invited to the shack by the pier for a little hang with the local crew and some sort of radio station take over. I guess once a week, they take over a radio station on the island and spin tunes all night from the shack. I couldn't believe my eyes when i walked in. It was like going back in time to some 70's radio station. The joint was small and everyone just crammed in there. Psychedelic posters and drawings all over the walls... black lights... an older more experienced gentleman sitting in the corner surrounded by records laying down some tracks. People jamming on congas's, bongos, djembe's, triangle's... felt like I walked into the a scene from the twilight zone. So we had a couple beers... and hung out for a few hours.

All in all it was an amazing trip. 2 regular foots, 2 goofy foots, a bunch of shredding going down and never a dull moment.”

- Rob Machado

Just Passing Through Mainland Mexico

April 19, 2017

The three amigos, Mikala Jones, Mitch Crews and Evan Geiselman, dip down into Mainland Mexico for a quick strike of tacos and tubes.

Despite not rearing up to its full intimidating form, this black sand stretch of beach didn’t let the crew down, providing a picturesque playground of fun surf and good times. Evan reeled in countless waves and a monster Snook, Mikala quietly bagged his usual quota of tube time and Mitch brought his infectious stoke and showed his capabilities both above and below the lip.

- See more at: http://server8.kproxy.com/servlet/redirect.srv/sruj/soopd/sklm/p1/blog/just-passing-through-mainland-mexico.html#sthash.MSCuTiNA.dpuf

The three amigos, Mikala Jones, Mitch Crews and Evan Geiselman, dip down into Mainland Mexico for a quick strike of tacos and tubes.

Despite not rearing up to its full intimidating form, this black sand stretch of beach didn’t let the crew down, providing a picturesque playground of fun surf and good times. Evan reeled in countless waves and a monster Snook, Mikala quietly bagged his usual quota of tube time and Mitch brought his infectious stoke and showed his capabilities both above and below the lip.

The three amigos, Mikala Jones, Mitch Crews and Evan Geiselman, dip down into Mainland Mexico for a quick strike of tacos and tubes.

- See more at: http://server8.kproxy.com/servlet/redirect.srv/sruj/soopd/sklm/p1/blog/just-passing-through-mainland-mexico.html#sthash.MSCuTiNA.dpuf

The three amigos, Mikala Jones, Mitch Crews and Evan Geiselman, dip down into Mainland Mexico for a quick strike of tacos and tubes.

- See more at: http://server8.kproxy.com/servlet/redirect.srv/sruj/soopd/sklm/p1/blog/just-passing-through-mainland-mexico.html#sthash.MSCuTiNA.dpuf

Spitting off The Cliffs // Mike Lay in Ireland

April 03, 2017

Just Passing Through is by definition a lifestyle that never sits still. It is always moving on, searching for new adventure and new experience. It doesn't suit everyone, a lot of people are happy and content to stay put, plant roots, start families, grow alongside a place. In my travels I enjoy spending as much time as I can in each destination, to understand a place and form an idea of what life might be like if I lived there on a more permanent basis. I wake up in the morning and eat the breakfast that I would eat if I had always lived there, the breakfast that I would eat if I were never to leave. I pretend I know the streets and trust the non-existent memories of my feet. I smile at passers by or ignore them, whatever the feeling is in the air, smiling obviously being preferred. I do all these things to get a taste of what it might be like to be a local and after doing all these things I always look forward to home.

But my last trip to County Clare in Ireland was different, it is hard to put a finger on it exactly, perhaps I truly felt like a local or perhaps I didn't really want to go home. Though I sit on the ferry now, looking out over the Irish Sea towards Liverpool, and I am excited at the prospect of seeing my family, my friends and familiar frontiers, it is just that the place I am leaving has grown to be just as familiar. It has shot roots down inside me, the feeling of the place has taken seed and it is growing.

On paper a lot of the other places I visit while just passing through are more appealing. Their climates are warmer, there winds lighter and more predictable, their waves more easily accessible. But I can never help judging a place on the virtues of Cornwall, my home, and in that regard Clare could have been hewn from the same rock. The air in autumn smells of woodsmoke and coal, the trees, not that there are many, grow in the same eastward tilt, people wave to each other from their cars with the same raised index finger while the rest of the hand grips the steering wheel, in the water I am enveloped in the same neoprene, from head to rubber-clad-toe. In fact there is only one major difference... the waves.

The waves in Ireland are captivating, rare yes, and even when conditions are right they're not as easy to come by as they may seem. But over the past few weeks they have come to hold a power over me, from the pitching lips of the slabs to the slow trundle of the points and all in-between, I am enamoured. And though the roots are not yet deep enough to put a halt to my travels, there is now another home in my mind up to which other places have to measure, I doubt very much that many places will stand as tall as Cornwall and now Ireland.

Words by Reef Ambassador, Mike Lay
Photos by Jack Johns/ @jackjohns

Live From The North Shore 2016 - Part 1

January 06, 2017

CONGRATS TO KAI OTTON FOR A DECADE OF GREATNESS ON THE WORLD TOUR

January 06, 2017

Some surfers are delivered from childhood to surf stardom. Others have rockier paths. Sometimes there is more to learn from the latter. Kai Otton embraced all sports as a skinny grom, from football to riding dirt bikes. Although he is now a staple on the WSL World Tour, he simply didn’t have a junior career. Originally hailing from the off-the-radar town of Tathra, he drove to Australia’s more high profile spots, surfing events without a seed, and living out of his car. He surfed on his own and worked in surf shops and surf factories.

After four years of fighting in the qualifying ranks, Otton found himself on the ASP World Tour in 2007, at age 28, and was runner up for Rookie of the Year honors. Otton became known as a giant killer in his very first year on tour by beating Kelly Slater and ending his then-ninth World Title run.

Otton came out swinging in 2013. That October, Otton took out rookie sensation Nat Young for his maiden World Tour victory at the Rip Curl Pro Portugal. Riding on the momentum, he rode his way into the fifth round at the Pipeline Masters to finish the season No. 7 in the world. Otton maintains a low profile out of the water, letting his rail do the talking.

A gifted athlete and tinkering musician, Kai has been a staple of the world’s best surfer’s on Tour for over a decade. Many say he’s the most likable character to be around and has always given the World tour on-looking spectator a nervous pill to swallow in gladiator locations around the globe. Places that include the infamous Banzai Pipeline to Teahupoo and Cloudbreak in Fiji. We will miss his fearless antics in the water on the world stage and look forward to following Kai’s next journey “just passing through” around the globe.

After four years of fighting in the qualifying ranks, Otton found himself on the ASP World Tour in 2007, at age 28, and was runner up for Rookie of the Year honors. Otton became known as a giant killer in his very first year on tour by beating Kelly Slater and ending his then-ninth World Title run.

Otton came out swinging in 2013. That October, Otton took out rookie sensation Nat Young for his maiden World Tour victory at the Rip Curl Pro Portugal. Riding on the momentum, he rode his way into the fifth round at the Pipeline Masters to finish the season No. 7 in the world. Otton maintains a low profile out of the water, letting his rail do the talking.

A gifted athlete and tinkering musician, Kai has been a staple of the world’s best surfer’s on Tour for over a decade. Many say he’s the most likable character to be around and has always given the World tour on-looking spectator a nervous pill to swallow in gladiator locations around the globe. Places that include the infamous Banzai Pipeline to Teahupoo and Cloudbreak in Fiji. We will miss his fearless antics in the water on the world stage and look forward to following Kai’s next journey “just passing through” around the globe.

- See more at: http://server5.kproxy.com/servlet/redirect.srv/sruj/soopd/sklm/p1/blog/congrats-kai-otton-for-decade-on-tour.html#sthash.M66RJCJe.dpuf