Table of contents for Issue 584 in Tracks

Morning of the Earth is an Australian classic and its influence on surf culture, art and music is still felt half a century after it first made audiences wild with delight. Revered artist Phil Meatchem has painted 20 moments from MOTE in honour of the 50th Anniversary of the film. We will be exhibiting all 20 pieces of art at the Glenn McKimmin Gallery in Long Jetty. All one off pieces of artwork will be for sale. We will be running a screening of MOTE on the 27th May at Avoca theatre and the exhibition will open the following day on the 28th May. Morning of the Earth Screening: Avova Theatre, Friday, 27th May, 2022 Phil Meatchem Morning of the Earth Exhibition: Saturday 28th May - 10th June, 2022 Glenn…

“MANOA SAID, ‘OKAY, FORGET THAT…LET’S JUST WAIT FOR THE BIGGEST BOMB,’” RECALLS MATAHI. “KAULI’S WAVE CAME AT 9 AM. I WAITED NINE HOURS, UNTIL WE SAW A WAVE THE SAME SIZE OR BIGGER, AND I KNEW IT WAS MY WAVE.” “I wanted to get a huge one, so I called my brother, Manoa, because I needed the best driver to put me on the best, biggest wave of the day,” Matahi Drollet told Tracks. The day was Friday, August 13, 2021. Two weeks prior, Matahi had dislocated his shoulder exiting an eight-foot barrel at Chopes…on a foil board. We’ll come to that later. The swell was huge. As big, if not bigger, than the Code Red swell of 2011, the benchmark for maxing Teahupo’o. On that swell, Matahi, then aged…

I landed in Mexico early in August. My EU Visa had expired and my flight back to Australia had been cancelled, so I had to keep moving and there seemed like no better place to spend a few months. Marina had to stay in Europe for work, so I was there for a few weeks on my own. I had been to Nexpa before and had a ball, a nice spot to unpack, relax and focus on either surfing or swinging in a hammock with a cold can of Modello. When I arrived, I was greeted with a decidedly poor version of the break. Recent rains had broken the bank of the rivermouth the wave is situated on. The place was a ghost town, apparently everyone but me had heard…

Given the North Shore of Oahu has been a source of fascination for our surfing tribe for more than half a century, one might expect interest in the stretch to wane a little over time. But that’s never the way it plays out. Each year they all return like a flock of migratory birds seeking fertile, winter shores. And so the North Shore residents must share their wave-blessed home with an itinerant collective of ambitious pros, lifelong devotees (lifers) big-wave dabblers and regular tourists. You can appreciate why the locals get a little testy, particularly when the window for good waves is six months at best. Like those havens for migratory birds, the whole North Shore scene can descend into squawking chaos, but on a good run of swell the…

I’ve had two trips to Mexico to hunt for waves, and both times the surf pumped. Yet I still haven’t ridden a single wave in Mexico. Of course, both of those trips were for ‘work’, shooting photos and writing features for companies and magazines, but you’d think I’d be able to at least have a paddle, like I did on virtually every surf travel assignment I did in those days. Sadly, it didn’t work out. The first trip was in 2006, and I was sent by Tracks to cover the WCT Search event at that delectable southern Mexican right point. As I noted in the last Water Coloured Waves, I grew up at an unruly beach-break and as a result I’m mesmerised at the sight of a point break. So…

01. Lightbox SURFER: CRAIG ANDERSON PHOTO: JOSH TABONE Perhaps Josh Tabone’s image grabbed our attention because it captures the intersection of entities with three distinctly different lifespans. To the left is an ancient headland; the kind where an astute geologist might find secrets to the planet carved into the jagged-edged face. At the base of the sloping point is the broken wave, which bends and curls and beguiles for a few precious seconds. Curiously, the wave’s tapered edge is doing its best to match the gradient of the formidable rock-form that flanks it. And, of course, there is Craig Anderson, who will be riding barrels at a 100 if he is lucky, but in this moment he is consumed with artfully manipulating his slinky frame like a Balinese shadow puppet,…

As a passionate surfer and recreational fisherman, John Gowing has always felt an affinity for the ocean. Meanwhile, John’s role as the Brand Custodian for Gowings and Surf Hardware (FCS fins and Softech boards) means he has the capacity to channel his passion into initiatives that promote ocean awareness and positive change. Inspired by his interaction with whales, where he lives on the NSW North Coast, John created the Whale Trust. The Trust is funded by 1% of all sales made through Surf Hardware. The Whale Trust has its own line of merchandise (proceeds are channelled back into the Trust) and also shares a close relationship with the Sea Shepherd. According to the Trust’s coordinator, Zacharey Jane, one of the Trust’s first initiatives was to purchase what’s known as a…

Moana Jones Wong is being carried up the beach at Pipeline, weighed down by multiple celebratory leis locals are draping over her head. The grinning rookie, who is a mostly new face to international viewers of World Surf League (WSL) broadcasts, seems unable to decide on an emotion. One moment the vision captures her covering up tears with her hands, the next, launching both arms into the air in triumph as she sways through the crowd on her husband Tehotu Wong’s shoulders. It’s the same grinning, double-arm claim that has appeared time and again inside the pit of gaping barrels. Each time, Moana emerges Houdini-like from yet another of Pipeline’s treacherous offerings. She has just torched five-time World Champion Carissa Moore by 14 points to claim victory at the Pipeline…

“I TOOK A MERE SNIFF AT ONE OF THE BODYBOARDER’S SET WAVES (HE WAS WAY TOO DEEP). MY CURIOSITY WAS ENOUGH TO HAVE HIM BARKING AT ME ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE TOP OF THE PEAK.” Our first destination was the Canary Islands. All I had heard about the Spanish governed archipelago off the coast of northwest Africa were tales of crazy slabs over volcanic reefs, and fiery locals who were known to send you to the beach without even catching a wave. The COVID restrictions in the Canaries were Europe’s least stringent so it seemed like the obvious place to hang out through the end of spring until summer, when things were predicted to become normal again. I spent my time in the north on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.…

ONE SUMMER DAY IN THE EARLY 70S, JOHN, GREG AND I ARRIVED HOME FROM ROSE BAY PUBLIC SCHOOL TO DISCOVER THREE BIG BROWN CARDBOARD BOXES ON THE FRONT VERANDAH. WE HAD NO IDEA WHAT COULD BE IN THEM AND MUM AND DAD PRETENDED NOT TO KNOW EITHER. THE EXCITEMENT WE EXPERIENCED WHEN WE DISCOVERED THREE BRAND NEW FIRESTONE COOLITE SURFBOARDS IS INDESCRIBABLE. This was the best gift a kid in the eastern suburbs could get back then. From memory they cost $6.50 each. The only down-side for me was that as the youngest I didn’t get to choose which one I wanted, as that privilege was bestowed upon the eldest. John picked the red, white and blue one, Greg chose the green and yellow one, and I was left with…

COVID19 and all its restrictions were like dust in our rear-view mirror. Yay freedom. The dream of a road trip across the country was just beginning. There were eight of us, spread across five vehicles heading west with no real plans other than finding good surf and seeing as much of Australia as we could. I was the only girl, and I was travelling with Grayson Hinrichs, the former World Under 16 Champion. We all finished high school six months earlier and were excited to blow-off more than a year of COVID lock downs, masks, QR codes and all the other blah blah that interrupted the sort of post school fun most teenagers take for granted. We weren’t in a hurry, and even before we crossed our first border, Grayson…

If you’ve ever harboured the romantic notion of shaping your own surfboard it usually ends with the realisation that you don’t know where to start. Aside from the confusing and complicated process of sourcing materials, there’s the apparent sense of inadequacy you experience when you start comparing yourself to world-renowned shapers who have decades of experience in fine-tuning their craft. Similarly, you fundamentally want your equipment to work and probably have precious little faith in your own ability to make something that will perform better than your trusty stick. But forget about all that for a moment and think about how much fun it would be to have a crack at shaping your own equipment. Enter the S-Lab shaping experience. An opportunity for surfers and non-surfers to step into the…

WHILE CONTEST RESULTS EARN RESPECT IN PRO-SURFING IT HAS HISTORICALLY BEEN THE MAGAZINES THAT ARE THE REAL KINGMAKERS. The revealing stories, the interviews and the defining images are what build the mythology around a surfer. When Kelly Slater recently claimed the Billabong Pro, Pipeline a few days shy of his 50th birthday, we decided to plunder the Tracks archive in search of the most telling Kelly references over the last three decades. Using the direct copy from the pages of the magazine we chart Kelly’s journey, from the bidding war to sponsor him, through his years of dominance in the mid-90s, all the way up to his miraculous comeback Titles in the early 2000s. Touching on the rivalries, the relationships, the ambition, and the controversy that made Kelly who he…

I was allowed back into the EU to start a new 90-day visa, just in time to catch some of the Autumn conditions SW France is famous for. After several weeks of Tacos and tequila, I also relished the chance to re-acquaint myself with the amazing food, wine and culture that can be found on just about every corner. That first glass of Irouleguy (red wine) with a little Ossau cheese on the side was reason enough to cross the world during a global pandemic. The Basque didn’t disappoint with days of swell and o. shore winds producing those clean, cool water peaks the area is famous for. While the crowds were a factor I tried to choose wisely and search a little further for the quieter rip bowls or…

Despite our grommet-hood dreams, let’s face it, by the time most of us reach adulthood very few of us get to surf anywhere near as frequently as our younger selves may have imagined. Instead, most of us find ourselves embroiled in some sort of internal war between our daily responsibilities and the lure of the ocean. And we have all become quite accustomed to the juggling act - work, kids, domestic chores, financial responsibilities… Throw COVID into that mix, and most of us have been left feeling a bit like ‘Pinky, the Juggling Clown’. Imogen Caldwell is no stranger to the juggle, but her act is a little different from most. But then, the 25-year-old West Aussie goofy-footer’s life has never really followed a conventional path. Born on the east…

January 2, 2022. Cyclone Seth was beating its path down from the Coral Sea lighting up all the breaks on the Queensland coast. Even Bargara Beach at Bundaberg, my surf starved old hometown, birthplace, and until recently, home of my mum and dad. I was there to see it, perhaps one very last time, as I prepared my family home for sale. Dad passed earlier in 2021 and a few months later mum had fallen, leg badly broken she went south to aged care near my brother on the Sunny Coast. Now the big family house on the river sat empty. Showing its age and quietly disintegrating in the tropical heat. The sense of time passing, generations slipping away forever, was strong as I cleared out my parent’s belongings. Much…