Heading Down South In Chile

We went searching for a wave that would handle the big, clean south-westerly swell. We had heard of a wave up north, and so we drove. The spot was a skunk. The boys went running the cliff, but I slept in the car. When we were driving away, out of the little dust road, another surf vehicle came tearing past us like a bat out of hell.They were driving way too fast for it to be normal on the narrow dust roads, and the dust cloud was smothering us. Our driver couldn't see much and had to hold back for visibility. We went back into cruise mode, came around a corner and there they were, sitting in their shiny 4x4, waiting in front of a gate. We cruised past slowly.Once we had driven past them and around the corner, we stopped to discuss tactics.We waited for five minutes, turned around and headed back. They were gone. So we pondered in the car for a while. The Kiwi among us got out to check the gate. It was open. We looked at each other. We had been warned over and over again not to go onto private property. The stories and rumours that abound down in the far south, of cowboys and shotguns and hard black magic, had made us all nervous and wary of venturing off the beaten track. However, it took us a unanimous split-second and a few grins to decide to go in.We headed down the track, nervous but so excited. We went over a rickety little bridge and came to another gate.'Here's where it ends," some pessimist said. I got out and tried the gate. It was open. We were fully committed and ventured through, closing the gate behind us.The track got rougher and more convoluted. Some steep sections, loads of loose gravel, and at the top of one particularly steep section we came to another gate. Our hearts sank. Here we were deep in private property, and the odds of this gate been open were slim. We tried it, and it yielded. The gods were with us. The track took a radically steep downhill, as it headed from a height back down to sea level. We rounded the corner, and the road was just way too steep downhill even to attempt. So we pulled over. Climbed the edge of the track, and came to a vast field. We all set out across the field at a trot. Rough ground, our pace was slow. We got to the far side to find ourselves at the edge of a significant, vegetation-rich drop. Below us was an empty bay.There was a flat beach, with a couple of cows grazing. Jutting out into the windy ocean was a headland, and reeling off the cape, over a super shallow bank, was a flawless left-hand barrel. The first one we saw just spat rudely as we watched in shocked silence. Another set racked up on the outside. From our vantage we could see the swell bending and refracting off outside rocks, connecting off the headland and reeling down over the bank relentlessly towards the beach. As we watched, the guys who had been waiting at the gate cruised across the beach. We all instinctively ducked behind the bushes and shrubs. So it wasn't a secret spot, but it sure wasn't well known. We sat and watched for maybe half-an-hour, weighing up the odds. Go down, show the guys we have found the spot, piss them off properly and get barrelled, or come back another day when they had gone, and we would for sure have it to ourselves without the pressure. We bailed, elated and bummed at the same time.On the way out we spotted another gate, leading into another field further up the coast, and made some mental notes.We returned two days later. The locals had left, the wave was terrible. The howling wind had ripped the guts out of it. We headed off for the 'new gate.'It too was open, so we headed in. The field was full of sheep. We felt it necessary to shield the Kiwis eyes from the field of frolicking temptation. Five people found it funny, and one didn't. So it was funny.The track came to an abrupt end at the top of a very steep downhill. We climbed out and ran down, incensed by a chance that there might be more waves. Then we came upon The Place. A perfect left was spiralling off yet another headland in front of a semi-deserted village. We were on it, and put on our wetsuits and ran down. The dogs in the town went crazy, some old couple came out and were full of smiles and Old Spanish phrases, and escorted us through the village and to the beach. Small, with deserted buildings, three black pigs, a few cows and loads of little dogs, and a perfect, empty left.Finding a new spot, whether it exists in other surfers' minds or not, is like the first time you get barrelled – a mammoth progression of a surfers' soul. Little Pumpkins was yet another perfect left in the land of perfect lefts.Stylish surf lodge Hotel Alaia is perched amid the dunes at Punta de LobosThe skatepark at the hotel’s entrance, the big, colorful surfboards in the lobby, the small in-hotel Patagonia store, and the view from every guestroom window all attest to the inspiration behind Hotel Alaia. The 12-suite property puts guests just moments from one of the country’s top surf spots—a picturesque stretch of coastline and natural wonder in itself—as well as being a celebration of all things Chilean.Online Booking / eMail / Instagram / Another top pick is Lodge del Mar


Peru. Longest Wave in the World?

Chicama is a surfers paradise. Waves can carry you as far as 2 km. The left hander at Chicama is the Queen of Peru’s northern region. Cristobal Col, a local surfing star, established a Guinness record for longest distance ridden on a wave. The young Peruvian surfer rode for 2 minutes and 20 seconds. And that’s not all Chicama is about. There are more waves in the area, many of which have identical characteristics. Almost all of them are relatively crowd free. You can be sure that in this part of Peru the average distance ridden will easily be three or four digits by the end of your trip.What more could you ask? All this is complemented by the impressive background of the Andes mountain range and the tropical rainforest. Puerto Chicama is most consistent during South America’s winter months from March to October. The wave works best when south or southwest swells move north towards the coast of Peru, sorting into corduroy rows before wrapping around the southern jaw of the bay.Chicama Hotel. Official Site / Facebook / +51 1 4406040The proper name for Chicama is Puerto Malabrigo. The actual distance between the furthest take-off point and the fishing jetty where the wave ends is 4000 meters, although to be fair no one has actually ridden it for that distance. Staying in one spot requires treadmill like persistence. On good days most people end up catching different waves on a journey down the point, surfing through a couple well defined breaks: Malpaso, Keys, El Point, and El Hombre. Surfers use the constant current to drift down to the next take-off point. Some avoid the pain by hiring zodiacs. Everyone else fights as long as they can to catch a wave, then they wash up on shore to take a 30-minute walk back to their break of choice.AC Hotel by Marriott Lima Miraflores. A great choice for travellers interested in gourmet food.It’s a long way from Lima to Chicama. Young dirtbags might want to bus it, older travellers with less time and more money might opt to fly to Trujillo and hire a car from there. Either way, you usually end up spending at least one night in Lima. The area around the airport is pretty sketchy. To avoid it, plan ahead to get a safe ride to a good night's rest before catching a flight to Trujillo.Miraflores, LimaGet the celebrity treatment with world-class service at AC Hotel by Marriott Lima Miraflores. Rates start at 132€ Booking / Official Site / +51 1 5969480If you’re an intermediate surfer, you’ll probably be heading straight to Chicama. Chicama Boutique Hotel. Official Site / Facebook / +51 1 4406040If you want to find the biggest, fastest, and best ones, chase the swell; otherwise, just head to Pacasmayo. Locals make rad little fishing boats called caballito de totora. They’ve used these to break through the waves for about 2,500 years. They claim original surfer status, and they deserve it. Pacasmayo is always bigger than Chicama. It can hold much more size and doesn’t have gaps in between peaks. Many claim it’s a longer wave.Puemape. La Huaca. Pacasmayo, Peru. BookingFacing the sea, with a large terrace and a privileged view of the surfpoint. Stairway to the beach. Built in mud, wood and cane. Rustic and cozy design. AirbnbCover Shot: Machu Picchu is located about 795 miles (1280 km) southeast of the capital city of Lima. Today, a 70-mile (113-kilometer) train ride connects travelers to Machu Picchu from the city of Cusco. By far the fastest way to get to Cusco is by plane. The flights take 1 hour 15 minutes approx. Book Flights at LATAM.The 15th-century Inca citadel is located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru, on a 2,430-metre mountain ridge. Embedded within a dramatic landscape at the meeting point between the Peruvian Andes and the Amazon Basin, the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu is among the greatest artistic, architectural and land use achievements anywhere and the most tangible legacy of the Inca civilization.The approximately 200 structures making up this outstanding religious, ceremonial, astronomical and agricultural centre are set on a steep ridge, crisscrossed by stone terraces. Following a rigorous plan, the city is divided into a lower and upper part, separating the farming from residential areas, with a large square between the two. To this day, many of Machu Picchu’s mysteries remain unresolved, including the exact role it may have played in the Incas’ sophisticated understanding of astronomy and domestication of wild plant species.


How To Handle The Supercrowd

The first ever event that the WSL ran, as part of their new ownership of the sport of surfing, was the 2014 Quiksilver Pro and Roxy Pro Gold Coast. During the opening days of that event the surf turned on, with excellent, barreling four to five foot gems peeling down Snapper and the Superbank. Then a very surprising but positive decision was made – the WSL sent the girls out, in what was actually looking like the best day of the waiting period.Photo by Veri F.It was awesome, but while Carissa was surfing out of her skin, a mounting crew of the best male surfers in the world and their best friends felt thwarted, and were frothing for the waves they felt entitled to. When the final heat of the day was over, the lineup turned into pure chaos. I paddled out, simultaneously with 20 others, and there were four or five deep rows of surfers behind me - girls, longboarders, professionals, groms and locals, all clogging up the gulley.Photo by Manny MorenoI hung at the top for about 3 seconds, before heading down the point, ending up in the middle of Rainbow Bay. There were hundreds of us out there. A head count from the judging tower that afternoon put it at an estimated 600 surfers in the water from behind the rock to the middle of Greenmount, with streams more doing the run around. It was hard to count though, as the whole crowd from entry to exit had become an infinite loop.A big set came through and Slater was on it. I needed to paddle out, to get out of his way, but there was no way I could move. I was totally hemmed in. Eventually, on my insistence – ‘dude, you've got to paddle!’  - The guy in front mobilized, and I followed him, literally paddling on top of him to get out the way. It was a stressful experience, and eventually I broke free and sat further out, watching.That day I got three waves in an hour. A bomb, dropped in on immediately by a muscular longboarding goofy-footer who looked back at me with utter disdain as he bounced his board around. He was never going to pull out. My second wave was a straight-hander, closing out immediately, and a final third wave that faded so quickly I was cutting back from take off, and I rode it in.Lessons learned.1. When it’s super-crowded, have no expectations whatsoever. That way you can’t get bummed.2. When you commit, you have to go. Pull back once on a super-crowded day and you will not get another wave.3. Go on anything. You do not have the privilege of wave selection.4. Take your best paddler. If you’re not catching waves you’re not surfing, and any advantages help.5. Don't be a prick. You do need a certain level of tolerance when it gets super-crowded. People will bump rails, there will be a bit of a push and shove on the jump off, and there will be people shouting and whistling. Don’t be that guy, and take offence to one person out of hundreds who might be irritating you.6. Also, don’t be that guy irritating everyone by whistling and shouting.7. Always give it a go and paddle out, no matter where you are and no matter the size of the crowd. It would have been so easy to say, ‘fuck it, too crowded’ and gone and drunk beer at the RSL with the rest of the media crew who were over it. If you don't paddle out, you’ll never be in line for a bomb, however remote the possibility.8. If you go to the Superbank, don't bother with a dawnie. They surf through the night there.


A Shipwreck Leads To Perfection

In 1973 a 20-year-old Australian set off on a journey of a lifetime, to discover the world and to find his destiny. As fortune would have it, the boat in which Tony Hinde was in became shipwrecked, and his initial mission to reach Jeffreys Bay scuttled.The wreck was as serendipitous as could be, as the boat came to rest in the modern-day paradise known as The Maldives.“It all started with that movie The Forgotten Island of Santosha back in 1973. ... I knew that’s what I wanted to do: find a perfect wave out in the middle of nowhere, live simple and surf. ... I’m a natural-footer. So I figured Jeffrey’s Bay in South Africa was the go. The plan was to travel up through Malaysia, over to India, then find a way to get to Africa from there. That was my dream.” (Surfline)The modern-day paradise known as The Maldives.Don’t ever sail anywhere with a guy with an eye patch & a monkey on his shoulder.While working on the shipwreck, Tony and his fellow boaters spent some time exploring the nearby islands, and soon discovered the perfection of Pasta Point, of Lohis, Jail Break, Honkies and Cokes to name a few. It was Pasta Point, however, that Tony settled on, and started up a surf camp.It didn't take long for Tony to fully immerse into the local culture, and he married a local beauty and settled down in the Maldives, started Atoll Travel. The area where he had settled soon began attracting the hordes, and Tony adopted strict control of his piece of paradise, making sure that is was sustainable and eco-friendly. He put a cap on the number of surfers who were allowed to visit at any time and maintained that only the surfers staying at his resort were allowed to surf Pasta Point, using the local 'house reef' law of the territory. (45 max)Cinnamon Dhonveli Maldives - Water Suites - Online BookingPasta Point is an incredible wave and an enjoyable experience. It is expensive, but worth every cent. The wave is a perfect, roping left that has enough excitement in it to be a total thrill on the sets, but enough of the Maldivian style of fun waves to not be too dangerous as to be scary. Only on the bigger, offshore days does it get heavy, but it still breaks in the same spot, and it is mechanical, so it is easy to get to grips with the wave, the take-off spot and the speed run down the line.The wave barrels, particularly over the inside section, and it does break over shallow coral, so injuries do happen and you must have reef boots and medical insurance. There is a resident doctor at the resort, but only for emergencies, and you do need to have that insurance.Across the channel is the perfect right-hander of Sultans. It gets crowded, but it is a perfect wave with a bunch of barreling sections and a long winding wall along the inside part. It is one of the better right-handers in the area, but it does get crowded and stay crowded.Around the corner is Honkies, the left that gets hollow on the inside. It remains relatively uncrowded due to the inside coral and the chances of getting drydocked or injured. A little bit tricky for natural-footers, it is a quality wave that wedges due to the waves moving through the channel between islands.Slightly further afield is Jail Breaks, the perfect right-hander with three barreling sections that join up to make a perfect wave on the right tide and ideal swell. It is a bit sectiony at times, but is still a famous wave and is never really that crowded unless a few boats are staying right there.Even further afield is the perfect partnership of Cokes and Chickens, two perfect barreling waves within viewing distance of each other. Cokes runs down a ruler-edged reef and can barrel perfectly, but is not too dangerous or heavy.Chickens is a class left, but it is fast and shallow, frequented by the goofy-footers.If you're on the wrong side of the tide, and you need to paddle out to a boat against a dropping tide, beware of the 'Male Express' - the inter-atoll current that sweeps through the atolls just before the full low tide, and it is impossible to paddle against it. If you get stuck in the current you need to chill, and you'll get washed onto an island or around the corner and out of trouble, and your boat can send a tender to come and fetch you. It's all part of the Maldivian experience.Tony Hussain Hinde passed away while surfing at Pasta Point in 2008. He probably suffered a fatal cardiac event. 'Serendipity' pays tribute to the ultimate surfing destination, a legend and the journey that made a fairytale come true."It is the story of a man on an adventure who became a legend. By the most serendipitous chain of events Tony found himself shipwrecked on a deserted island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Tony stumbled across a multitude of discoveries, perfect surf on a chain of tropical coral attols, eastern islamic culture and a new personal identity. Tony had access to a fleet of perfect waves for 15 years. Alone! Over that time he had only a few select friends who visited. Amazingly non of the lucky few broke the agreed-upon code of silence. Eventually Tony’s secret was exposed, he protected those waves as long as he could. Tony realized that if he could not own the waves then he would provide the best surf travel experience by starting the only dedicated and most successful surf camp in the Maldives. Tony Hussein Hinde is considered to be the father of surfing in the Maldives, not only did he kick started the nation’s emerging tourism industry he also found his own personal nirvana and livelihood."Serendipity is written and directed by Simon Lamb. Produced by Blacklamb Productions. Rent the Serendipity Surf Docu for 3.5 EuroCinnamon Dhonveli offers an exclusive experience in a surfer’s paradise.Cinnamon Dhonveli. May to September is the most consistent.Well-designed suites feature thatched wood ceilings and solid wood flooring. Located about 16 km, or a 20-minute speedboat transfer, from Male Airport.Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda HuraaVibrant with tropical flowers, Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa is a garden-style resort arranged as a traditional Maldivian village on its own coral island. Just a 30-minute speedboat transfer from Malé international airport, it offers for year-round sun, surfing and diving. Booking / TropicsurfIn 2015 they suspended the development of a luxury surf resort on the Kaafu Atoll, home to the iconic Sultans and Honkeys. Thanburudhoo Island (Kaafu Atoll). Photo: Jesse Little"This will allow local surfers, surfers from around the world and organizers of surf competition to use the island in the best possible way," notes the Ministry of Tourism. We want Thanburudhoo Island to become a "surf heritage site." Adaaran Select Huduran Fushi - Premium All InclusiveLhohifushi Island. Fully air-conditioned, the private beach and over-water villas come with en suite bathrooms and have an outdoor rain shower. Photo: RasheedBeing host to five WQS events (Deep Blue Open 2001-2005), Lohi’s is a longer wave than Pasta, but not as "perfect". Guests may also make use of the on-site water sports facilities to kite surf, dive and wakeboard. Booking


Images straight out of a fairytale

Ralf v/d Veerdonk is 36 years old and based in the Netherlands. He runs his own film production company called Veerdonk Visuals. When he graduated from film school he immediately started his own film production company. That's now over a decade ago. It actually took off like a rocket and he never looked back. Where do you look for inspiration?Inspiration can come from anywhere, really. When I’m running or driving a long distance in the car is when the best creative ideas come up in my mind. But also watching other filmmakers’ work on Vimeo can be very inspiring. Any common themes that run through your art?Not any particular themes but I have a certain camera operating style. Which is a certain subtle cinematic camera movement. That can be a dolly shot on a slider, a steady cam or gimbal shot or a drone shot. It needs to be as silky smooth as possible as I dislike a deliberate ‘dirty handheld’ camera operating style. The speed and composition of that camera movement is very important to me. It needs to be perfect. What compels you to share and create?The feedback I get from people all around the world especially on my travel, lifestyle and hospitality content is amazing. It motivates me to create more content when people enjoy my work. What are you hoping to accomplish?To be honest, I accomplished far more than I would ever thought possible. I’ve been hired for assignments on the most remote and luxurious places on earth. From exquisite private island resorts in the Maldives, cast-away resorts in Fiji and the Cook Islands, fabulous overwater villa resorts with gorgeous lagoons in Tahiti and Bora Bora, Marlon Brando’s private dream atoll with a private airline that flies their exclusive guests in, to filming in submarines, on exclusive yachts in the Caribbean, and one of the world’s most exclusive ski resorts in Lech, Austria. But also tv commercials for national television in the Netherlands, interesting assignments for the Dutch government, multinational companies like Epson and Asus (to name a few) and many other national and international clients. It never gets dull!What is your creative process like?That varies a lot. For some clients I create an entire concept, script and shot list in pre-production with filming on location and the entire post-production afterwards. A full-service agency. And for other clients I only do the camera operating for instance. It varies all the time. You have to be flexible and multidisciplinary. However if I can develop a communication strategy concept and outline each individual scene with a storyboard and scriptwriting, that’s when the creative juices really start flowing. Working that creative concept out in collaboration with a client and then seeing it all coming together as we progress when the camera rolls, is always a fantastic process. What filmmakers inspire you most?Not many in particular to be quite honest. However I do like most of the work from Mark Toia, an Australian filmmaker. I’m also always in awe by the BBC World documentaries like Planet Earth series, especially considering the amount of work and patience they need to bring to the table in order to end up with the required footage of specific animal behaviour. I always enjoy the ‘behind the lens’ parts at the end of each episode where you can see a little bit of the struggles they went through. Just astonishing!What equipment and editing software do you use?I started out with Canon camera bodies and lenses. But as Canon was/is pretty conservative and slow with innovating technical features like sensor resolution, RAW video codecs and high frame rates to their cameras, I switched to Sony that was shaking things up in 2015. With the use of a Metabones Speedbooster I was able to use all of my Canon glass which worked well for me. I often used a Atomos Shogun Inferno to record 4K RAW externally. But just recently I switched back to Canon as they upped their game with the Canon C200. Being able to shoot RAW internally in 4K is just amazing, along with the perfect Dual Pixel autofocus really helps my workflow as a one-man-band filmmaker. The footage just looks so extremely pleasing and cinematic to my eye. I was instantly in love with it.  When I started to colorgrade the Canon C200 footage for the first time, I realized how much I missed the Canon colour science during my Sony era, so to speak. I mainly use lovely Canon Compact-Servo Cinema Zoom lenses that create stunning visuals. For editing I use Apple’s Final Cut Pro X. During my film school days I had to use Adobe’s Premiere and I was always so happy when I could switch to Final Cut 7 in those days. Now with FCPX editing is just a breeze as everything works so intuitive. I can’t imagine switching to any other NLE software. Veerdonk Visuals. Photos: Ralf v/d VeerdonkDo find yourself shooting a mix of stills and video?When I’m filming on location for an interesting assignment then I often shoot stills on the side for sure. But my core business and main focus is always film. Similarities between photography and video? The similarities between photography and video is often a good composition and telling a story with that composition. In post-production, the colour correcting and grading is also a similarity of course. But film goes way beyond photography in terms of complexity if you would ask me. I mean, film is 24, 25 or whatever frame rate you use, per second. That creates a lot more possibilities. Not mentioning the role of audio, which is also a huge addition to the entire experience of a viewer. You can really stimulate the senses with carefully crafted music and subtle sound effects. What advice do you have for visual storytellers?Well, just go out and shoot! Mess up, learn from it and try again. Watch other filmmakers that are out of your league (at this moment) and try to nail down what it is that makes their work stand out. Other than that, there are no shortcuts or hacks, you need to put in the work to develop yourself and work your way up. Eventually you will develop your own set of skills style that sets your work apart.When composing a shot, what are you looking for?Balance. Balanced compositions are strong and appealing to the eye. Sometimes these are tight shots with shallow depth of field, other times wide dolly shots with subtle movement. But I always try to find balance in my compositions. What do you find yourself enjoying most these days? During these strange days of social distancing, I’m enjoying my custom made screensaver with the full takes of my own best shots around the world. It blows my mind every time I see my own footage to realize that I was there. But I’m also working on the concepts of a few local passion projects that I’m going to do as soon as the whole situation has normalized. Looking forward to that! Any place that is high on your to-explore-list? Why?I’ve been to every single continent except South America. So I’d like to explore Brazil and Patagonia in particular. But I’d also like to visit Lofoten in Norway as it is so remote and looking so peaceful. I know that it’s been filmed and photographed already by so many people but I’d like to capture it in my own perspective.Destinations where you would not revisit? Why?I’m pretty sure I won’t return to Shanghai and Beijng in China anymore. Interesting city’s to explore but the people over there are so unaware of their surroundings and not hospitable. That was a cultural shock for me but that's just my experience. What is the next adventure for you?Good question. Could be Lech in Austria again for a summer image film for the same renowned hotel as I produced a winter image film for, but we’ll have to see how things will develop the comings weeks and months. It’s a serious crisis we’re all in at the moment and I’m afraid we’re not out of the woods for a long time.What are your 5 most favourite travel destinations?Bora Bora and Moorea in French Polynesia are definitely topping my list. Both islands are extremely lush and beautiful and have the well-known Polynesian overwater bungalows with Bora Bora being more exclusive at the top end of luxury. Bora Bora truly is the ultimate tropical island where dreams are made of. Just picture perfect and considered by many as the most beautiful tropical island on earth. The soaring volcanic mountain peaks, the pristine turquoise lagoon full of tropical fish and of course the luxurious overwater bungalows look even more spectacular in real life than in the pictures. But it’s a tiny island and that’s where Moorea comes into play. Moorea is one of the most scenically striking islands in French Polynesia. It has even more dramatic volcanic mountain peaks, is also blessed with a blue lagoon and there are more land-based activities in Moorea. So you can get more active here. I’ve been to French Polynesia three times now and I really like the mystical Polynesian culture with it’s traditional music, dance, art, language and friendly people. Spending several days for filming in the Brando Suite on Bora Bora was probably one of the highlights. Maldives. I think most people are familiar with the Maldives. But it is a nation of small islands encircled by the most perfect coral reefs in the Indian Ocean. The soft white sand, swaying palm trees and exquisite resorts make you feel like living in a dream. I’ve been flown in on 4 different Maldivian island resorts by now and it’s always a privilege to go there. Especially by seaplane which is a spectacular experience! I remember arriving on the airport in Male for the second time and how cool it was to see my footage of my first visit on several tv screens on the national airport. Cape Town, South AfricaCape Town is one of the greatest city’s I’ve ever visited. I’m not too fond of visiting cities in general but Cape Town is truly something special. On one side the ocean with awesome great white sharks swimming in it and on the other side the majestic Table Mountain. In between a vibrant and modern city with a European feel to it. It just has a fantastic vibe somehow. There are also more than enough game reserves in the neighbourhood to check out the big five. I never forget hearing the local Afrikaans that sounds like pre-historic Dutch. It’s so funny for Dutch people to hear and read that language. I really enjoyed my time over there! Last but not least, the Alps. Whether it’s the renowned Arlberg in Austria, the iconic Matterhorn in Switzerland, the Dolomites of Italy or Mont Blanc in France, the imposing mountains and beautiful lakes of the Alps are simply out of this world. Although it’s relatively close to the Netherlands, it’s really one of my favourite places to travel to. There are so incredibly many gorgeous places over there. But for me the most picturesque place is Val di Funes (or Villnöß in German) in Southern Tyrol in the rugged Italian Dolomites. That valley looks just straight out of a fairytale! I can’t describe it any differently. Val di Funes. Photo: Ralf v/d VeerdonkWhat’s the best decision you have ever made?Well many decisions have led to where I am today. But I think the best decision is one I take very often. Just be open for everything that comes your way. Whether it was starting at film school or taking up assignments where I didn’t had a clue how it would end. I just started and it worked out all the time. And it often led to even more interesting opportunities along the way. What’s your favourite part of your work?There are so many aspects that I like. Doing something that I love on a daily basis. Being able to turn my hobby into my profession. Traveling to great places all over the world, creating fantastic imagery where I could only dream of several years ago. Meeting the most fantastic people everywhere from all walks of life and cultures. Having an inside look at so many companies and learning a lot from the people that work at all these companies. Being my own boss and therefore being able to spend loads of family time with my wife and three boys as well. I’m perfectly happy and could’t ask for anything more, really!


This was a year in the making ...

Julian Wilson has always had two sporting passions: surfing and skateboarding. For his latest project the Australian decided to combine the two in the water. In essence, the plan was to surf a makeshift rail in the water as he might on the skate park but the project was not without its challenges. Here is all you need to know: - The project was a year in the making, Wilson and his team first attempting it in the ocean before the volatility of the seas made that impossible so they instead turned to a wave pool, URBNSURF in Melbourne.- Explaining his reasoning behind the project, the 31-year-old said: “For a long time I had the idea of combining the skatepark with the ocean. To take something I have so much fun with in the skate park with my profession as a surfer that’s going to challenge me.”- To undertake the challenge, he worked with shaper Jason Stevenson from JS Industries to create a board that actually proved hard to surf but importantly had the minimal weight and maximum carbon fibre strength required.- The problem was trying to get the make-up of the rail and its weight in the water just right so he could actually slide across it in time and safely without it moving too much in each and every set of waves.- In the water, he had a team with him, including a rescue diver and those able to move the rail back into position to tackle the next set. And it was all captured by photographer Andy Green.Photos: Red Bull- Wilson added: “It’s been about as challenging as it could possibly be. As much as I thought there’d be so many controllables in the pool, there ended up being so many challenges too.” After his close shave with the flying rail as he surfed past it, he admitted to himself: “This is maybe not going to work. It’s super dangerous. I nearly got my head taken off. With an hour to go [of the allotted session time] I thought maybe I was going to be dead in the water."- It required a late psychological boost from coach Luke Egan for him to have one final attempt at the water.- But with an hour to go, he cracked it and successfully rode the rail, again and again and again. Of the experience he said: “It was super fun. That’s the feeling I wanted to create with the wave.”


Kai Lenny made an indelible mark

Hawaiian star Kai Lenny received another accolade in his glittering career when he became the youngest person ever to enter the Surfers' Hall of Fame, aged just 26.He was inducted with Sam Hawk and Janice Aragon, their hand and footprints immortalised in cement out the front of Huntington Surf & Sport as the ceremony paid tribute to the stars who have made an indelible mark on the sport, industry and culture of surfing.Along with his surfing honours, Lenny has won the SUP world title several times and was runner-up at the Kite Surf Pro World Championships while he has become a leading global campaigner in fighting ocean pollution.Photos: Red BullHere is what the Maui native had to say after an impressive 2019 season riding the waves:How was your big wave season in 2019?For me the big wave season last year was probably the best I have ever had. We didn't have the most consistent big swells, but some of the most challenging conditions that I could ever remember. It super windy, with really big waves and conditions that were very unforgiving. The fact that I was able to survive another season but, at the same time, feel like my level went up a notch meant that I accomplished everything that I set out to do. Coming into this new season, I am really excited because there is still so much left to be done to go to the next level.You have said in the past you sometimes felt like an outsider, is that still the case now?I think I felt like an outsider growing up mainly because I had my hands in so many different sports and, within each sport or discipline of surfing, there are little tribes that you jump in between. You are either with the windsurfers, the kite surfers, the surfers or the stand-up paddlers, and when you are not consistently in one, you don't really have a place in any. I quickly outgrew that mentally and now I feel comfortable in my own skin doing what I would rather do. It was a good learning experience growing up.After winning so many big titles so early in your career, what is your main focus now?For me, right now, my focus is on winning a Big Wave world title on the Big Wave Tour. I have been able to win a lot of different things across a few sports. For me, each event is not so much about beating someone else but kind of proving to myself that, 'OK, I have reached this certain point and where can I go next?'. Winning is just basically having a lot of fun doing it and my goals, for sure, are always to try to be the best I can possibly be and that requires me testing myself against the world's best consistently.What is it about the ocean that makes you so happy?The sea makes me so happy because it is a place that I can constantly test myself, but also enjoy myself. It is always there. It is for free. I grew up doing it for so long that it is who I am now. Imagining not being in the water is almost worse than going to jail, just because it feels like it is built into my cells. The salt water feels really good, just being immersed in it and all that other stuff sort of melts away that you take from land.You are a shining star when it comes to environmental issues, what more needs to be done to help save our oceans?Growing up I have noticed the changes in the ocean, mostly the pollution and micro plastics. Now, with so many people around the world just spewing stuff into the ocean, there are a lot of fish that are consuming micro plastics which is morphing into their DNA. That is going to go back into us and, if we don't want to have cancer later on in life from fish, I suggest that we try to keep the oceans much cleaner. We have got to protect the environment because we are part of it. If it goes down, we are getting dragged with it too.


How to be part of the solution

The reason why surfing became a multimillion-dollar sports industry is that brands appeal to consumers' emotions and dreams in a very effective way. The surf industry is what it is, and surfing wouldn't be what it is today without the innovations and technologies companies have developed during the sport's first century of existence. Surfing is supposed to be a near-zero carbon emission footprint, but the future still doesn't look bright. So, how can we turn the surf industry upside down and become part of the solution. Isn't it time we glide towards a more sustainable world? Don't hesitate to send tips!Cover: Breitling’s partnership with sustainable apparel manufacturer Outerknown, co-founded by Kelly Slater. The watch features a Nato strap crafted from ECONYL® yarn, an innovative material created from nylon waste. ClothingBoard shorts are being reasonably easy to produce, but they can be as expensive as $200. Marketing strategists sell you innovative stretch fabrics, revolutionary water-repellent coatings, and super comfortable out seams. But really, what are they made of? Polyester and elastane. Could organic cotton become a thing?Actually, we really don't like the feel of polyester board shorts on our skin."Since organic cotton has not been treated with pesticides, it is also better for the skin of everyone involved - from the farm worker to the final consumer - you. Furthermore, less greenhouse gases are emitted (since the production of fertilisers mainly depends on fossil fuels), and less artificial irrigation is necessary for organic cotton, resulting in better water management and preservation of groundwater." Source: twothirds.comThere's no doubt, tons of small brands are out there that deserve our and maybe your support, reach out to us to complete the list of sustainable options.WetsuitsSixty percent of wetsuits are produced in the same factory. Believe it or not, the majority of the world's wetsuits are made in the same place. Taiwan's Sheico Group produces two million wetsuits per year for the planet's most prestigious surf companies. So, don't expect huge differences between neoprene models from rival wetsuit brands. So, what about Yulex and Limestone Neoprene?These wetsuit are lighter, warmer and last longer than oil derived neoprene."Created by Japanese company Yamamoto, the neoprene is made from limestone sourced rubber. Nitrogen gas blown rubber that increases the insulation of the wetsuit, making it warmer. A 23% higher closed-cell structure than oil-derived neoprene, making it more buoyant. It is 98% waterproof, whereas oil-derived standard is only 70%. "Limestone" neoprene is way more expensive than a classic neoprene but cutting classic distribution network cuts costs, today you can buy a limestone neoprene wetsuits, handmade in a specialist workshop for the same price as a classic wetsuit."Have a look at sennosen.comSurfboardsAll materials involved in the production of surfboards are toxic. Some surfboard brands outsource their production as is not a highly lucrative activity. NOTOX is leading the way and when this C19 nightmare is finally over, we'll visit them for a full report. Pretty cool to see the French brand inspire people across the globe.Surf WaxNinety-five percent of all surf wax sold worldwide contains petrochemical additives, solidifying chemicals, high-strength bleach, and paraffin. So, surf wax is basically a petroleum-based product that will do more harm than good to your health and will cause damage to the oceans and marine life. An alternative solution? Make your own wax or buy some eco-friendly alternatives.www.beeswell.comBee Swell means "Be a Good Person, Do Good Things, Live life to the fullest."SunscreenUnfortunately, there are no sunscreens 100 percent safe for corals and reefs, and marine life. It has been proved that oxybenzone and octinoxate, two of the most common ingredients in chemical sunscreens, decrease corals' defenses against bleaching. In the medium-term, and especially in crowded beaches, when sunscreens get in touch with the water, they will damage and eventually kill coral reefs. And it is not like there aren't any good alternatives. mandanaturals.comWave Pools Make no mistake: the first generation of wave pools is an energy-intensive industry. This explains the price you have to pay to surf an artificial wave. But can we not bash Kelly for chasing his dreams? This innovation is here to stay, and yes there is room to improve it. Soul-surfing qualms aside, the wave he created in a test pool in Lemoore, California, is perfect. Disgustingly so. But the amount of energy needed to created a wave that good is not a small thing. That’s why Kelly Slater Wave Company decided to partner with PG&E’s Solar Choice Program. What that means, is the the wave will be run off of 100% solar energy.Surf TravelOh boy, we sure kept the best for last hey. Surfers are known for globetrotting. Disappearing at the drop of a hat to chase down a perfect swell. But while traveling, we are burning fuel in cars, airplanes, wave-runners, charter boats and off-road vehicles. Each journey we take produces greenhouse gases that are causing climate change. When that time of year comes around where you can start planning your surf getaway, think smart. Surf trips are amazing experiences and a reward for working hard the rest of the year, so don't get a guilty conscience by trashing the environment. The past year, we planted 100 trees for every single surf charter booking. It's a start, but we can do better. More about that later.Choose Your SpotThere are destinations you can go that are greener than others, e.g. Costa Rica provides 96% of all its energy from renewable sources. Many famous surf spots are in wild areas filled with natural beauty. You can help preserve these locations by staying at eco friendly accommodations. Avoid hotels or complexes that have been built on cleared coral reefs, believe it or not some companies have been known to blow away parts of coral reefs to clear beaches for tourists and to make foundations for buildings such as hotels. And if you really want to have a positive impact, stay home and enjoy your local break. TransportWhen booking your flight look for a carbon offsetting option. A flight from California to South Africa creates over 5 tons of CO2. When booking a 1000 dollar flight, take 5%, and use it to plant trees. With 50 dollar you can have 50 trees planted and these will offset your carbon footprint. Our new travel app will make that as easy as pushing a button. Be A Sustainable TouristLeave nothing but footprints and take nothing but memories. Tourists can have a massive detrimental effect on a local economy by using valuable resources. Through a little research you can find ecologically sensitive companies and accommodation that work to preserve the local environment, culture & surf.


Healthy living starts with food

Jordy Smith has lit up the professional surfing world over the last decade with superhuman feats on the land and in the water. He is extremely excited to be representing South Africa at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Making the 31-year-old the first South African surfer to qualify for the Olympics. Trevor Moran/Ryan Miller/Red Bull Content PoolThe IOC and Tokyo 2020 organisers held an executive board meeting this week at which they reiterated their hope the Games can be the "light at the end of the tunnel". However the IOC coordination acknowledged Covid-19 could still affect the rescheduled Olympics, which are due to take place from 23 July-8 August 2021. More reason to stay healthy and that often starts with quality food. Ryan Miller/Red Bull Content PoolIt can't hurt to get some insights about healthy food from a world class athlete.What food and drink is on your shopping list?We eat chicken about 3 times a week, beef once and fish once. We also have veggie meals once or twice a week.What’s in your fridge and kitchen cupboards?I'm a huge believer in balance so there’s a lot of healthy, high in nutritional value foods, but also sweets and little sneaky snacks. Since we’re home in South Africa, we’ve got fresh fruit, berries, veggies, chia seeds, flax seeds, dates, a bar of chocolate or two, and Red Bull. Also lots of water, I go through about three litres a day whilst surfing in the salty water.What do you eat when you’re training?After training, I’ll usually make a smoothie – anything with peanut butter and banana, also I love berry smoothies and add flax, chia seeds and sometimes dates.Do you have cheat days? If so, what’s your guilty pleasure?Absolutely! They shouldn’t be called ‘cheat’ but rather ‘treat’ days’’. You can’t live every day at 100%, you’ve just got to balance it out. My wife, Lyndall, makes the deadliest pizza’s ever: Salami, feta, garlic and avocado. On a gluten-free bread base.How important is meal planning when training?It’s good to make sure you’re having food that helps you recover really quickly. I like to eat pretty clean and healthy – my body really works well with Paleo. I’m also pretty allergic to brewer’s yeast and dairy so it’s easy to stay away from it if we’ve got all the right ingredients we need at home in the fridge.Ryan Miller/Red Bull Content PoolWhat are your top tips for healthy eating?1. Eat healthily 80% of the time and whatever your body craves now and then.2. Eat foods that make you feel good! Foods that give you sustainable energy.3. Eat lots of whole foods and buy from farmer’s markets. 4. Have a plan for the day and don’t skip meals.5. You can eat a hamburger, just swap out fries for a salad.6. Drink loads of water!


Surfers are not very adventurous

Martin Daily is best known as the captain of the Indies Trader fleet, and for exploring the Mentawai islands. It is often said that Daly has discovered more high-quality surf breaks than anybody in the world.Martin Daily took the Rip Curl crew on the first filming trip to the Mentawais for The Search Film #2. They were the first to document the Mentawai's in film and magazine articles. Tom Curren rode the fish at Bawa. The very first trip with Martin Potter, Tom Carroll and Ross Clarke-Jones was to Enggano Island, not the Mentawai. The trip in 1992 was the first chartered trip to the outer Indo islands that resulted in a leaked photo to the magazines. Photo: Yves Van den Meerssche/LiveTheLifeTVMartin Daily is said to be as impenetrable as the steel hull of his ship. There's no way around it, while we are researching some data for an upcoming interview, we are, once again, reading up on his background, all the things that lead up to him becoming the most adventurous surfer. As they become increasingly rare to find we're not skipping the opportunity to learn something new, or at least walk home with a few tips on how to live life and keep chasing those dreams. If you are not into reading, or watching grainy old footage,  feel free to simply enjoy the 18 minute long documentary produced by GoPro in stunning 4K quality. Daly was born (1957) in Sydney, and began surfing at age eight, at Narrabeen, on an old balsa board. In his teens, while living in Queensland, Daly got crewing job on fishing boats working the Great Barrier Reef. Daly later said that watching Alby Falzon's 1972 surf movie Morning of the Earth, set partly in Bali, inspired him to look for warm, empty, exotic surf in Indonesia. "That was the whole focus of my life during my late teens," Daly said. "But I didn't actually get there until I was 23."Albert Falzon’s 1972 masterpiece, Morning of the Earth, is internationally renowned as being one of the greatest surf films of all time. The film’s audio visual tour de force redefined the cinematic experience and became an instant benchmark of avant-garde cinema. A fantasy of surfers living in three unspoiled lands and playing in nature’s oceans, Morning of the Earth tells the story of a group of friends exploring the measures of all things beautiful as they live the simple life throughout Australia, Bali and Hawaii; shaping their own surfboards, building their own homes and living off the land in harmony with nature. With an original rock soundtrack, and spectacular surfing sequences featuring some of the world’s best, Morning of the Earth is a must-see and pre-requisite for any surfer and cinephile alike.This trailer was edited using temporary 4K scans of the 16mm Kodak/Atlab release print, courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. The source material for the fully remastered version (coming summer 2020) will be the superior camera originals, which make up the original 16mm A&B rolls.morningoftheearth.comPhoto: Morgan Maasen Featured on the abandoned Indies Trader Twitter accountOriginal Story by Andrew Lewis. In 1971, a 16-year-old Martin Daly dropped out of school and left his family home of Townsville, a wave-starved Great Barrier Reef enclave in northern Queensland. The reason? "I wanted to go overseas and explore," Daly remembers.He'd heard the waves were good in New Zealand, so that was his first stop. He leased a gas station in Pauanui, a sleepy resort town popular with weekenders from Auckland, where he sold boards and filled scuba tanks. But when the Iranian Oil Crisis hit in late 1978, and the New Zealand government shut down the country's gas stations on the weekends, Daly cashed out and then spent much of his time surfing the North Island.Meanwhile, Martin had gotten wind of commercial diving work on the oilrigs in South Asia, so he borrowed $70 from a former girlfriend and took off once again. Within weeks he was in Manila, scraping oil rig bottoms for $120 a day. The job lasted three months before he took off yet again -- this time to Sumatra, where he promptly "went feral." The year was 1981.From Medan, Daly caught a local bus to Lake Toba. Chickens cackled. An elderly lady vomited in his lap. And when he finally got to Nias, he found 30 guys camped on the point. Daly hardly caught a wave from the crowd, many of whom were off their chops on some crazy Sumatran weed. But the place itself was stunningly beautiful -- white sand beaches, clear blue water... Daly stayed a month, caught malaria and nearly died.Some time later, Daly made his way to Jakarta, where he linked up with mates Jeff Chitty and Ross Hannon. The trio scored a contract diving the Ardjuna oilfield in the Java Sea. One day, they met an Australian "scrap pirate" named Dave Barnett on one of the rigs. Barnett was making a fortune in illicit salvaging or, as Daly puts it, "ripping off anything underwater that was lying around unattended." Once Barnett came up on a salvaging dry spell, he took a contract cleaning platforms from his boat, an old trawler aptly named the Rader.In 1983, while on a break from work, Daly, Chitty and Hannon asked Barnett if he'd like to take a trip to Sumatra's offshore islands. He was game, and the crew discovered setups like One Palm, Panaitan and others. They never saw another soul surfing anywhere. "It was epic," Daly says. "The hook was set."The crew swore an oath of secrecy before returning to Jakarta and heading back to the rigs. One day in 1986, Barnett got wind of a big wreck. "There was some controversy, disputed waters," Martin says. The story made the cover of Tempo, a Jakarta-based weekly, with a cartoon of Barnett running off with a treasure chest, which might as well have been a photograph, because Barnett really did split with his millions to Perth (where he still lives today -- right down the road from Daly, his wife and their two children). But on his way out, Barnett sold the Rader to Daly. "The boat was so hot that I needed to disguise it," Daly remembers, "so I painted it blue and re-registered it." He also extended its name to "Indies T-Rader."Daly started a commercial diving company while continuing his work on the Ardjuna. But in order to fund his surfing trips on the side, he needed surfers. He offered his services to a select few individuals in the expat surfing community around Bali -- so long as they "swore on a pack of Bibles" that they would tell no one where they had been taken. The deal worked... for a while.In 1992, one of his acquaintances in Bali asked to charter a trip with a few unnamed mates. Daly reluctantly obliged. "I needed to know for the port authorities who the crew was, and it was getting down to the wire," he remembers. Finally, the names came through: Tom Carroll, Martin Potter and Ross Clarke Jones were at the top of the list.They left Merak Harbor at midnight and motored out into six-foot seas. At a lefthander far to the north, Daly witnessed the biggest waves he'd ever seen. "Tom and Ross were doing crossovers," he says. "Pottz had the most amazing drop. I now knew the difference between them and us mere mortals."Later in the trip, at a wave that would eventually be known as "Lance's Left," Carroll hung back on the boat while everyone paddled out. "I hear this screaming and think, 'Oh my God, someone needs help," remembers Carroll. "So I run out on the deck and see Martin on this perfect left, high-lining, wearing these overalls with booties that look like tennis shoes, and he's screaming at the top of his lungs. I'm going, 'This guy's out of his mind.'"Daly was indeed out of his mind. After nearly a decade roaming around the Mentawais, this was the best surf he'd ever seen. But the thrill came with a heavy price. Within months, a photo of Carroll turned up in the Australian surf magazine Waves. Meanwhile in Jakarta, Daly remained naïve to the fanfare. "We didn't read the surf mags," he says. "We were completely isolated from that stuff."Indies Trader 2001. Photo: LiveTheLifeTVBack in Australia, Quiksilver's Bruce Raymond was beginning to see the marketing potential of boardshorts pictured in perfect outer Indonesia. Once he heard Daly was passing through Bali, he rushed to meet him. "Martin didn't want to see happen to the Mentawais what happened to Hawaii and Bali," says Raymond. "And I wanted to do right by him, so our surfers weren't allowed to bring cameras, and everyone signed a confidentiality agreement. We did it right for about five years."For Daly, the relationship with Quiksilver meant freedom from a gritty life in the oilfields -- and a future of full-time surfing. It also sparked in him an idea for another escape plan. "It was Martin's view that surfers were not very adventurous," Raymond says, "that they only really surfed within about 60 miles of international airports, that there had been no impetus to go and do a marine exploration for surfing."After having a few beers one afternoon at G-Land, Daly and Raymond hatched the "Quiksilver Crossing." Daly envisioned it as a travel slush fund between all the major surf companies in which the mission was simple: discovering perfect waves. Ultimately, only Quiksilver bit. In order to pay the bills, the Crossing became one part Martin's dream and three parts floating ad campaign -- a compromise Daly begrudgingly accepted. "I didn't sign up for Rio harbor cruises," he says, "but I got paid for seven years to drive around the world looking for surf. I lived all my dreams and surfed my brains out."Seven years, 27 countries, 160,000 nautical miles and some 100 new waves later, the Crossing made its final official stop in Oahu during the winter of 2005-06 for the Eddie's opening ceremony. With the Crossing finished, Daly set off for the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific, a destination so remote he never got the chance to go. What he found was, as he puts it, "the most pristine marine environment that I've ever seen."Since 2007, Daly has run his charter operation out of Majuro, the Marshalls' capital. He also partnered up with renowned windsurfer Keith Teboul to create Marshall Waves Experience, an operation that is as much about diving the island's World Heritage-listed marine sites as it is about offering surfers an opportunity to ride perfect waves in solitude. "I just returned from an exploratory trip from there to Fiji," Daly says. "I love that kind of adventure."While he has no illusions about the hazards of offering charters in untouched wave gardens, Daly insists tourism is carefully managed in the Marshalls, where the only other sources of revenue are copra and fishing rights. "Their marine environment is their largest asset," he says, "and their only hope for self-sustainability."And this time, the inherent isolation of these islands might actually work in keeping these secrets safe. It’s basically to inspire people to explore and not get discouraged. There are still heaps and heaps of uncrowded, perfect surf out there. You just have to get off your lounge chair and look for it. I’m basically allowing the next guy to come along, pick up the stone and feel like he was the first one to discover it. What I do want to achieve, is not to spoil it for the young, feral guys who get the maps, can still do it on their own.Click here to learn more about Martin Daly’s surf charters.


Not always a Sea of Darkness

In his teens and early 20s, Martin Daly moved from New Zealand to the Philippines to Singapore to Bali, mostly working as a commercial diver for oil companies. In 1983, he and a group of friends began exploring the smaller islands along the Indonesian chain, in a 60-foot salvage boat borrowed from Daly's boss. By the end of the decade, back in Australia, having bought the salvage boat and refurbished it as the Indies Trader, Daly had earned an underground reputation as the man who knew where Indonesia's best secret breaks were hidden. In 1991, Daly took on his first pro surfer charter, ferrying Tom Carroll, Ross Clark Jones and Martin Potter out to Enggano Island, 90 miles off the coast of Sumatra. The surf astounding, photos leaked out, and while the exact location of this incredible new surf zone was kept secret for a few years, eventually the nearby Mentawai Islands became the hottest surf ticket in the world. A soon-to-be-booming Sumatra-based surf charter industry was born, with Daly at the fore.The Quiksilver Crossing wasn’t your typical surf trip. Supported by the United Nations, the Reef Check program was arguably the most ambitious ecological survey ever undertaken by man, evolving from a 12-month journey to a seven year expedition that circumnavigated the globe. The marine biologist-led Crossing employed the helping hands of thousands of volunteer scuba divers in a massive effort to find surf, respectfully engage with local cultures, and, above all, determine the global health of coral reefs, contributing to the universal scientific knowledge of the oceanic life source.Those who were lucky enough to see the Sea of Darkness documentary at the Malibu Film Festival will attest: the film is most certainly about surfing, and about a group of surfers who blazed a trail of adventure, self-discovery, mysticism and crime throughout Bali, Java and other, more remote parts of Indonesia long before the days of the fully catered boat trip. But at its core, Sea of Darkness is a film about choices.It follows the life-changing decisions made by early Indo surfers Mike Boyum, Jeff Chitty and Peter McCabe, who turn to drug-smuggling to fuel their passion for surfing -- and those made by Martin Daly and Dave Barnett, who funnel their wave addiction toward more legal pastimes that gain them fame, fortune and a lifetime of perfect waves.Filmmaker Michael OblowitzMichael Oblowitz is a South African filmmaker born in Cape Town. His early fine arts short films have been shown in the Whitney Museum’s No Wave Cinema series, as part of a tribute to the innovative work of filmmakers and artists in Manhattan’s Lower East Village. Oblowitz was included in the historic Club 57 show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and his early film and photography work is in the Permanent Collection of The Museum of Modern Art.The Sea of Darkness documentary took Oblowitz over three years to make, and, beyond Daly, McCabe and a host of other Indo adventurers, features Steve Spaulding, Jeff Divine and John Milius. Dave Gilovich from Surfline caught up with the filmmaker: How did the project get started?Martin and I talked about what we respectively do. We are about the same age. We both love surfing. I am from South Africa and I talk about the early days of surfing in South Africa. So Martin and I were having this conversation about all these strange and mysterious waves, and he had his Mac with him and it was just loaded with amazing, exotic photographs because he was in the midst of the Quiksilver Crossing at the time. He started talking about Jeff Chitty and Dave Barnett and the elder guys and how all of this had come about -- what his boat had previously been used for. And of course out of all these names comes the illustrious Mike Boyum. And how Mike Boyum had built a camp at G-Land. How Boyum was dodging the cops in fifty countries. How he got booted out of G-Land, and how he came to live with Martin and Jeff Chitty in a place in Jakarta -- a little house called the "Skull Cave" from which Boyum conducted many, many sojourns, forays and drug dealings. And how all of this was done to fund Boyum's dream of building another G-Land somewhere. It all sounded as a movie script to me.Photos: Shirley RogersWhat happened to Mike Boyum?The film revolves around a fork in the road. And that fork in the road really turns at a certain point when Boyum is presenting to Martin Daly and various surfers: 'Let's get together with all your technical and oceanic knowledge and let's build a fleet of drug-smuggling boats that could really work and could really get that 60-feet on the waterline filled with tonnage. We can pick it up in Engano in Sumatra and drop it off on the West Coast of Australia. We'll make millions.' And Martin turns him down.Jeff Chitty and Peter McCabe, on the other hand, allow him to contract them to smuggle drugs and they do all kinds of crazy stuff like swallowing pounds of cocaine. They eventually all get arrested. When they come out of jail they decide to do one more big run to build up some money for Vanuatu where they are going to set up another surf camp. And Chitty has a kilo or two that he gets busted with in Australia and goes to Boggo Road Prison for ten years, and with him goes Boyum's stash money. Boyum arrives in Australia but he can't access the stash money because Chitty has already been sent to solitary confinement. He attacks Chitty's beautiful girlfriend; tries to get it that way. In the end, he can't get the money. Boyum goes off to the Philippines, to Siargao; you know that island there, Cloud Nine? And we have a number of different stories about what happens to him. But the general story is he tried to cleanse himself through a diet and absolve himself from his sins and start all over again. One of the interviews we did had him lying dead; found by a pastor in the town, of starvation. Photo: @indiestraderIn 1991 Martin hooks up with Bruce Raymond and Quiksilver hires the Indies Trader, formerly called The Rader. And that was more or less when I met Martin, but then I lived through the entire collapse of the Quiksilver Crossing with Martin. 2007 is when I think the final shot was made. Jeff Chitty is now out of jail after being there for 15 years and he is sitting on Martin's boat, along with Martin and Dave Barnett, and he is talking about what might have been, and Martin's pretty happy with what is.Surfing is an addiction, if you let it consume you, it will consume you. 'There are absolutes and there is a right and there is a wrong. Though the universe may appear indifferent, it does matter.'Photo: @indiestraderYears later, Daley said he explained the idea to Quiksilver executives in meeting thusly: “You guys are going to pay me to drive my boat around the world and go wherever I want and look for surf.” Read More: indiestrader.comThe Crossing campaign lasted six years, with the Indies Trader visiting 27 countries, and covering 160,000 nautical miles. By that time, Daly's own charter business had 60 employees. Join Martin today at indiestrader.com He is still living the life!


Fletcher: A Lifetime in Surf

Through fifty years of epic stories, art, and personal ephemera, The Fletcher Family spans surfing's golden era to the present day, when bathing-suit model Dibi and competitive surfer Herbie met, to raising talented Christian and Nathan on boards and waves, to passing the torch to their skating-phenom grandson, Greyson.Greyson Fletcher & Christian Fletcher. Photos: Red Bull Content PoolThe epitome of both surfer cool and punk counterculture, the Fletcher family for the first time has put together a window into their immensely colourful life. A visual memoir of this near-mythological surf family, The Fletcher Family is sure to appeal to their massive surfing fan base, young skaters, and those who are interested in the Fletcher family and their place in Southern California as a subcultural force of nature.Fletcher: A Lifetime in Surf, is written by Dibi Fletcher—wife of Herbie and matriarch of what Esquire has called “surfing’s first family”—simultaneously traces the evolution of the Fletcher family’s life and offers an oral history of surfing’s counterculture from the 1950s to today.Throughout the volume, the family’s intimate storyline is augmented with anecdotes from luminaries including surfing legend Gerry Lopez, Mike Diamond of the Beastie Boys, artist Julian Schnabel, eleven-time world champion pro surfer Kelly Slater, and Steve Van Doren, of the Vans skate shoe company. Dibi’s recollections begin with her childhood memories of her father, big-wave surfing pioneer Walter Hoffman. She then goes on to narrate her union with Herbie, as well as the lives of their sons Christian and Nathan, both surfers, and their grandson, Greyson, a renowned skateboarder, all of whom have erased the boundaries between surfing and skateboarding.The book is now available on AmazonTo commemorate the publication of the book, Gagosian installed artworks from four different series by Herbie Fletcher at 976 Madison Avenue. Fletcher’s Wrecktangles are large sculptures made from once-perfect, custom surfboards that have been ridden and broken by the greatest contemporary tube riders at the Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii. For years now, elite surfers, known as “Wave Warriors,” have saved their boards to be made into Wrecktangles. The accumulated boards tell oblique stories about the culture of surfing.Herbie Fletcher is a surfing legend. Fletcher and his sons, Christian and Nathan, made a habit of doing things exceptionally well and in their own way before they became the norm. But the Fletchers are not merely trailblazing surf and skate legends; they also are counterculture and subculture icons. T Magazine referred to them as having "punk family values." Their sincere love for art and surfing and their collective DGAF attitude has earned them legions of devoted fans and friends from so many different worlds: music, fashion, streetwear, and art.Gagosian presented an exhibition celebrating the publication of FletcherIn his Blood Water paintings, Fletcher uses mineral-rich earth from the Waimea River, Hawaii. After the winter rains on the North Shore of Oahu have subsided, he paddles up the river with large pieces of untreated canvas on the nose of his surfboard, staining them in the iron-oxide-rich red earth washed down from volcanoes. After they are completely saturated, he paddles back to the coral sand beach and lays the canvas out to dry, creating visions reminiscent of ancient petroglyphs. Similarly, in his Connecting to the Earth paintings, Fletcher affixes found objects from the Hawaiian shores such as netting, and burlap used to carry taro, to the canvas, paying homage to native Hawaiian traditions.Gagosian also screened the film Heavy Water, a documentary about Nathan Fletcher, with an introduction by Julian Schnabel.Nathan Fletcher. Photo: Alfredo Escobar/Red Bull Content PoolNathan Fletcher was a world-class aerialist early in his career, then a fearless rider of big, dangerous waves. Fletcher was born in 1974, the scion of an influential surf-world family that includes older brother Christian, the sport's heavy metal aerial pioneer, father Herbie, longboard maestro and surf accessories manufacturer, aunt Joyce Hoffman, twice world champion, and grandfather Walter Hoffman, big wave original and textile magnate.In 1976, Herbie created Astrodeck in his own lab—the world-famous traction pad company. “I looked at it like the last part of my shaping job by adding kicks, arches and different surface patterns for ultimate grip and control, until the designs eventually evolved into the patented multi-grid lock high performance foot pad of today,” explains Herbie. Dibi added, “We’ll always have market share as long as I stay authentic. Companies went too big, they have to make their quarterly earnings. If you want big, you have to go and push your brand all over the place. Pretty soon you have no story left because you whitewashed it to death to get your corporate earnings.” Next time you are going out to buy some traction pads for your board, think about who you would rather support. Check out the new collection on the official site.


The Reality Of Reunion Island

Imagine a surf destination that is part-Indonesia with mechanically perfect waves, part-Maldives with turquoise water and part-Hawaii with some big waves and thundering barrels. It is an absolute surfer's paradise, a dreamy destination that was kept quiet and those in the know slipped off to, and rode perfect, uncrowded waves.Dreamy Surf SpotsThe most famous wave in Reunion is St Leu; a perfect coral-bottom left that reels and barrels. It was the venue for much of Jack McCoy's original Billabong Pump movie with a marvellously braided-hair Occy going crazy, along with Ronnie Burns RIP. Along with the high-performance sections and the odd inside barrels at St Leu, there are the barrels in St Pierre, big waves at Le Port and sometimes Etang Sale, grinding reef-pass barrels at L'Hermitage and nudity at Trois Bassons.What went wrongIn the last eight years, there were 24 attacks, and 11 of those were fatal. Half of those attacks involved surfers and bodyboarders.It has the highest attack zone in the world, and government officials continue to wring handsSurf shops have closed, surf camps and resorts are empty, with their doors shut. Surf schools have packed up their soft-tops, and the industry finished.It is still illegal to surf, and the rules and regulations are simply in place to protect those officials in charge from getting into legal troubles, and not to safeguard ocean-users.There have been nets, there have been drumlines, and there have been extensive security watches – divers, boats, drones etc. – but all have been short-lived and experimental. At the same time, nothing is being done on a political level to stop the constant attacks.It must be difficult growing up as a surf-stoked kid in Reunion. Thirteen-year-old stoked-out grom Elio Canestri was killed in 2015 while surfing at Les Aigrettes. Nowadays, for a kid to go surfing there has to be a full shark vigil in place.Most surfers use an anti-shark device of some sort while surfing in Reunion, but the jury is still out as to how effective these are. The theory goes that an anti-shark device generally creates an electric field. Sharks have gel-filled sacs called Ampullae of Lorenzini which they use to sense electrical fields given off by prey. When a shark senses the electric field caused by an anti-shark device, the severe discomfort is supposed to cause the shark to swim away. In theory.In practice, however, for must prudent Reunion surfers, the most effective method of shark protection is to stay on land.Photos: LiveTheLifeTVWhat Happened?A large chunk of coastline on the west coast of Reunion was declared a no-fishing zone back in 2007, and something went out of whack with the ecosystem in the process. There are many theories, including loss of natural food for sharks, and the sudden drop on shark catches, but either way, the bull sharks came to town.Another theory was that the natural shark populations flourished after the island banned the fishing of sharks for food way back in 1999. This decision was motivated by confirmation that shark meat contains high levels of the dangerous toxin ciguatera. The prevalence of larger shark species is also due in part to overfishing in Reunion, which possibly caused the collapse of resident reef shark populations. In response to the resulting biological space, bull shark numbers in particular soared.So, as a surfer, you have hordes of bull sharks tearing around the line-ups, wanting to eat anything in front of them, be it birds, fish, car tires or surfers. If you go for a surf you are running the gauntlet every time, and any session you brave might be your last.


Finding Lance's Right

I didn't plan on going to HT's. There was never the intention of surfing HT's, or Lance's Right. I booked a ticket from London to Singapore, and the plan was to get across to Sumatra and find a way to Nias.Being There.Getting to Nias in 1996 was transcendental. After Singapore, I just started moving, and I would climb on board taxis, meet people in Sumatra and sleep in their houses and drink bitter kopi in the morning before moving on to the next cab. It took days to get to Sibolga and then a night there, before another full day to reach Nias.There have been a few little rumours floating around in 1996 about the Mentawais. People spoke of the Indies Trader and Enggano. They spoke of a myriad of perfect reefs, but not much was known. At Nias however, a surfer had hired a feral boat and had headed down to the Mentawais. He had scored. The captain from Nias knew the deal.We took the overland route, and head down Sumatra, aimed for Padang. The journey to Padang from Sibolga was torturous. It took us days and days of travelling through the poor heart of Sumatra. There was not much to see except poor people, wet villages, and TV's everywhere. Every shack had a TV, and some had two.Padang, 1996.The jump-off spot to the Mentawais had seen very little surfer traffic in 1996, and locals treated us with curiosity and interest. The backstreets of Padang back then were wild. It was busy and poor, but it still felt strangely safe. People wanted to sell you things and to talk, but there was no chance of being robbed, or of having stuff stolen. We were in safe hands with the locals.The Local FerryThe ferry to the Mentawais was a junk ship, and it was a wooden pile of junk. The Fast Boat didn't exist, and about a hundred people overcrowded this local ferry. We were stuck in the sand in the harbour and waited for the tide to move before we got going. Locals slept everywhere, on our surfboards and our bags. It was unbelievably hot, with thousands of cockroaches crawling all over the hold.The Other SideWhen we landed in the Mentawais, at some arbitrary port, there was a market on the go. People flocked to the port to see their friends and families who were coming over. We were a curiosity again. There had been a few surfers, but no one head down the local ferry and had just breezed past in the luxurious boats like the Indies Trader. We ate some food, and I used the 'bathroom' – a tiny square on the edge of the food shop that had an open conduit that ran into the sea. The toilet had a door that didn't close and a low wall. People watched me.We eventually hired a local outrigger to take us around, to where a hand-drawn map had an X marked in a little bay. When we showed the skipper of the boat the spot, he knew where we were going.It took us two hours in the beating sun to reach the bay. The outboard died twice. We were safe, inside the reef, but we drifted for a while as he desperately tried to coach the engine back to life.Eventually, we alighted at a small bay, and a few locals and the village elder came down to greet us. They grabbed our boards and our bags and helped us off the outrigger. They walked us in the village, and the village elder, Pak Hosien, invited us into his house.Surfers had been here before. There were remnants of a surf magazine, and a few bits of surfboards lying around. There was a nose, a fin, and a piece of foam. We weren't the first, but not many had been before us.We didn't have much of the language – this changed quickly – but we figured out that there had been a surfer before us who travelled alone to HT's. He had walked to Lance's Left – over the top – but had speared himself under his arm and had lost so much blood that he had nearly died in that very house. He had recovered, looked after by the locals, but no one knew what had happened to him when he left the island.We slept on the dirty mattresses with make-shift mosquito nets that we all carried in our packs. We were exhausted, and sleep was comfortable. The next morning Lance's Right was six-foot, light offshore, with not a soul in sight. The view from the empty window frame was straight into the barrel.


Riding the world’s longest waves

Throughout his storied four-decade career, Robby Naish has been a true pioneer, ushering once-niche activities like windsurfing, kiteboarding, SUP, and foil surfing into the forefront of the global sports community, racking up 24 championship titles along the way. It is this lifelong quest to master all obstacles that led Naish to his latest undertaking.Oscar-nominated filmmaker Joe Berlinger travels the globe with legendary windsurfer Robby Naish, whose quest to master the world’s longest waves unexpectedly reveals his vulnerabilities as a competitor, mentor and father.Photo: Red Bull Content PoolThe Longest Wave transcends the action sports genre by capturing obstacles outside of the legendary athlete’s professional life in an intimate, cinéma-vérité style, revealing Naish balancing the pursuit of excellence at sea with the demands of life’s complications on land. Mere weeks before his inaugural attempt at taming the longest wave, Naish suffered his first major injury: a near fatal hip fracture. With Robby also navigating a difficult divorce and financial tumult, his quest to return to the water takes on new meaning, as a volatile personal life and unwavering drive for professional performance escalate the already-high stakes Robby sets for himself. A personal story of drive, dedication athletic conquest and self realization, Naish’s tale is emblematic of universal themes that touch on all aspects of life.Photo: Craig Kolesky/Red Bull Content PoolThe Longest Wave offers a rare glimpse into what motivates an athlete who has everything to lose to push his body and mind to the limit. With a mix of intimate interviews and high-octane state of the art action sequences, the film provides more than just sensational sports action; It’s a raw portrait of one of the world’s most accomplished athletes, diving deep into what exactly makes him the champion and man he is today.


How to pack for an Indo surf trip

There is so much to think about when packing for a trip to Indonesia. More so for an extended trip. Surfers might not carry as much stuff as a kiteboarder, but a surfer planning on a more extended surf trip is going to need to pack carefully. There is a golden rule when packing for a surf trip or any trip whatsoever – 'half the clothing and twice the money.'Outerknown boardshort made from 100% Australian Merino wool.Threads.You're going into boardshorts territory, so that cuts out a whole list of clothing you're not going to need. There is no need for jeans, no jackets, no tracksuits and no socks. It makes a big difference if you eliminate all of those except for maybe a pair of socks or two, especially for flying, and one or two long shirts or thin jackets for late evenings on the beach.For most of your trip, you'll be living in boardshorts and tee shirts, so you do need a couple of pairs of boardies and a pile of tees. A couple of wife-beaters will also work in a hot climate, as well as long cotton shirts for mosquito protection. You'll be wearing flip flops for most of the time or other sandals, but make sure you pack a few spare pairs because they break pretty easily.As mentioned, a thin jacket or two for drinks on the beach, and don't forget a range of hats and headgear to keep the sun off and the melanomas at bay.Three boards maximumUnless you're a full-time professional surfer, you don't need more than three surfboards on any trip in the world, including Hawaii. If you try to get more than three through most of the Indonesian airports, they'll hit you with a tax anyway.Your standard shooter, you basic go-to board, is the first board you need to pack. On any surf trip, there will be small days and average days, and that's where your go-to boards come in.A step-up, your second board, is always a good idea to have along. If the waves get a bit chunky, or there is a long-haul paddle, or even if the rip is rushing down the point off the cliffs, then a step-up can make your life a lot easier.A gun, while not always a necessity, is excellent to have. Should a swell arrive and there are real waves out front, you don't want to be under-gunned. It is way better to be over-gunned than under-gunned. The problem with a gun is that if the waves do get monstrous and you have a big board, then you're obliged to paddle out. If you're not prepared to paddle out, then leave the big board at home and pack 2 x step-ups.AccessoriesThere are so many accessories needed, all just as important as the next. Here is a brief list of what you need for a trip to Indonesia. You're going to need a couple of pairs of sunglasses. If you lose a pair or break a pair, you're going to need some backups. Along with this is some sun cream, and some zinc for your face. Rash vests and surfing hats are also essential to stave off the rays of the sun.Make sure that you have your fins and fin keys packed, as well as some wax. A few leashes and a few more leashes. These types of accessories are also suitable for trading and leaving as gifts.You need your phone, a strong case and a couple of charge cables, possibly a spare battery and some headphones. If you need a laptop, make sure you have all the necessary plugs and wires. Download some books before you go and update your music.First Aid KitAn excellent Medical Aid kit is essential for all Indo travel. You also need knowledge of how to use most of the stuff therein. To get the best, we would recommend a surfer's first aid kit. The best one out there is the Calm As… kit. Specially designed for surfers to be able to throw into their board bag and forget about until needed. Inside you'll find the items packed into six resealable plastic bags, each labelled with the condition the bag's intended to treat and it's contents. Includes hospital-grade medical equipment from Australian suppliers:Ten alco wipesTen packs of gauzeTen non-sterile emergency nitrile glovesFive x betadine wipesFive x 30mL packs of sterile saline for wound irrigationSterile scissorsSterile tissue forcepsTwo sterile packs of small wound closure strips ("steristrips")Two sterile packs of extra-large wound closure stripsTwo sterile 10mL syringesTwo sterile 18G blunt needlesSterile cotton applicators ("Q-tips")Triangular bandage ("Shoulder sling")1.5m of flat-packed 3.75cm strapping tape50cm x10cm sheet of breathable fabric wound dressing ("fixomul")Two x medium waterproof transparent wound dressings (6x7cm)Two x large waterproof transparent wound dressings (10x12cm)Two x medium combines with waterproof backing (10x20cm)Two x large combines with waterproof backing (20x20cm)Two x tongue depressors ("finger splints")Five x fabric bandaidsTube of Burnaid gelAeroform Snakebite bandage (doubles as a "tensor bandage")Calm as… First Aid Kit for Surfers. Alternatively buy (sold out now).


Surf charter etiquette is needed

The boat trip is a strange thing, an anomaly of surf trips. It has been around in its present form of luxurious travel for a good few years now in relative terms, and rules, laws and etiquette have slowly started to form around this form of travel. There are just a few points to remember when on such trips. Here's the lowdown on cruising around paradise on a boat.1. During a boat cruise, the boat gets quite crowded and cramped. It's part of the whole thing. If you're not good with loads of people in small areas, find an escape area, maybe on the roof of the cabin, perhaps somewhere else, where you can chill with your music, watch the stars, and relax with the rhythm of the ocean.2. Most boats have a designated area for boards to be stacked. This system is for a reason, as boards lying around the vessel can result in accidents and injury. Don't want to be tripping up over a board or a leash and breaking a bone. So put your boards away, tie your leashes up, and don't leave boardies and rashies on the deck – hang them all up.3. There is always going to be food for everyone — no need to panic and jump queues on a boat. Food comes.4. When the captain or skipper suggests against going to a specific surf spot, it usually means that he either knows it is going to be poor, or he knows that it is going to be hell getting there due to approaching bad weather. Take his word for it.5. If there is an engine failure, it is not the captain's fault either. He doesn't want to be floating around aimlessly while the waves are cooking. If you can help, then volunteer, otherwise stay out of the way and keep quiet until they have repaired the engine.6. If you arrive at a surf spot and there are three guys out, and a local is sitting in a little canoe waiting for them, it is poor form for all 10 of you to jump overboard and paddle out at once and hassle for every wave. Try and stagger your attack, with three or four guys going out at any one time.7. Don't paddle out into waves beyond your skill levels. You will be a menace to everyone in the water, including yourself, and you could very easily injure yourself, putting yourself as well as the captain or anyone with a medical background through some severe trauma. Know your limits. If it's ten-foot Nokanduis, please be very sure of your skill levels.8. Getting drunk on a boat is beautiful. Just don't go for a drunken late-night pee over the edge because if you fall and no one hears you. You're gone forever. Just use the inside toilet at night.9. Also, while getting drunk with your mates is all good, playing pranks like smearing toothpaste in a bed or hiding a turd under a pillow isn't that funny if you're the person who has to clean up the next day.10. Some captains and their boats are inexperienced and shoddy and are pushing their luck with taking on people for expensive charters. Do loads of research before slapping your coin down on some new boat. Find people who have been on the vessel before and speak to them. Go through a reputable travel company when making your booking.11. If you are on a boat and the waves go flat, and the winds go wrong, be prepared to read, and to play backgammon, and to drink Bintangs. Think about it – life's not that bad is it?LTL Surfcharters has over 10 years experience in assisting surfers with their surf charter bookings. All you have to do is fill out the form with your requirements on the contact page. We will email you within 24 hours and find you the best suitable options. Is there a specific boat that interests you ? We’ll check with that boat!


Nunti Sunya - Vincent Lartizien

Globally, cannabis has a long history as one of the mainstays and drivers of early industrialisation, providing fibre for ropes and canvas for sails that powered maritime trade to help build the global market that exists today, as well as textiles for clothing and an important role in medicinal apothecaries.The banning of industrial hempIt was South Africa’s colonial government that nominated “Indian hemp” to be listed as a dangerous drug by the League of Nations in the mid 1920s followed by the banning of industrial hemp as the result of a corporate agenda of nefarious interests in the US in the mid 1930s. It has been illegal for the past 80 years in most parts of the world for its narcotic properties while the industrial capacity continued to contribute to the economies of China, India and parts of Europe.Currently, more than 30 countries have legal cannabis for medical use and a growing number of states in the US and other countries are legalising or tolerating cannabis for recreational use, including South Africa where the Constitutional Court ruled in September 2018 that it was legal to cultivate and use cannabis in the privacy of your own home and gave Parliament two years to amend legislation.The cannabis value chainToday, the global medical and recreational cannabis market is growing from an estimated $9.6-billion in 2017 to a projected market value of $57-billion-plus by 2027. The cannabis value chain is based on the components of the plant that have economic potential: the seed offers food and oil that is high in essential fatty acids, resulting in boosted immune systems. In addition, the plant can be used to produce both ethanol and biofuel that could potentially feed directly into the energy and plastic sectors. The stalk offers two main agro-processing streams, the outer layer that can be stripped providing one of the longest fibres known to humanity to be used for an extensive range of consumer and industrial textiles. The inner part of the stalk is used in the paper, automotive and building industries. The flower and most controversial part of the plant is where the medicinal and recreational benefits lie."The potential income per farmer per hectare is dependent on bio-region, climatic conditions and seed strains. Conservative estimates indicate that per hectare, stalk biomass is worth R50,000, fibre R18,000, seed R155,000 and cannabinoids R100,000. Average income per hectare is about R175,000, generating revenue of R350,000 for a small farmer on two hectares." (estimates in ZAR)There are also noteworthy climate crisis mitigation benefits to cannabis farming and the possibility to access climate funding to roll out an industrial cannabis strategy. Cannabis sequesters up to 10,000 tons of carbon per hectare.Nunti Sunya - Vincent Lartizien
On her podcast, Imi, had the privilege of having a chat with one of the pioneers of big wave surfing: he’s French and his name is Vincent Lartizien.  Vincent started his career as a professional windsurfer. He traveled to Maui in the ’80s to follow his dream and ended up living there for the next 20 years.  It turned out big wave surfing was something he loved doing, and during the time he spent in Hawaii, he learned and mastered the art of tow-in surfing just after it got invented by Laird Hamilton. He was, in fact, the first non-Hawaiian to be allowed to surf Jaws and spent the next 30 years pulling off incredible exploits in dangerous situations in Hawaii and the rest of the world.The podcast covers these early years and beyond, but turns into a more spiritual conversation about the flow of energy in the ocean, and how Vincent’s spiritual connection with the ocean has helped him see life differently.  In fact, about 6 years ago, Vincent, against all odds decided to create a hemp t-shirt manufacturing business. Six years later he is a successful soulpreneur with a vertically integrated hemp manufacturing facility near Hossegor.Nunti Sunya - Photos: LiveTheLifeTVSeedThe seed can be processed into food with a focus on preventative healthcare to boost the diet of the poor in the form of hemp hearts, the inside of the seed, or protein powder made from crushing the seed shell. Both are extremely high in proteins and omega essential fatty acids. The seed can also be cold pressed into an oil for human consumption.Bio-fuel and plasticThe seed can be cold pressed into oil, the whole plant can be processed for fuel through a pyrolysis process or converted into ethanol by a fermentation process. There is also huge potential for an eco-friendly bio-plastics industry that will start to reverse land and sea plastic pollution.BuildingThe inner part of the stalk, the hurd, can be processed into hempcrete for building houses that are stronger, fire- and moisture-proof and more durable. Communities can grow and build their own homes transforming the government’s housing programme from handouts to skills development and empowerment. The hurd can also be processed into eco-friendly insulation and pressed fibre-board similar to existing wood-based options.TextilesThe outer part of the stalk, the bast fibres, can be used to make textiles that are extremely versatile and used for a wide variety of applications from accessories, shoes and furniture, to home furnishings.PaperPaper is made from either the hurd or bast fibre. Industrial cannabis/hemp paper is a valuable alternative to conventional paper made from trees, and could provide a more renewable source for much of the world’s paper needs — one acre of hemp can produce as much paper as four to 10 acres of trees over a 20-year cycle. Hemp stalks grow in four months, whereas trees take at least 20 years.MedicineCannabis medicines were once the most commonly used medicines in the world until the 1920s and were listed in the US Pharmacopoeia until the mid-1930s. Today medical cannabis is playing an increasingly significant role and offers potentially cheap healthcare solutions for a variety of ailments that can directly contribute to primary and preventative health care on a community level and pharmaceutical medicines for specific conditions.The rapid introduction of far-reaching, proactive and empowering legislation is required to create the conditions to allow cannabis the possibility to create jobs and to grow and manufacture sustainable food, fuel, fibre, shelter and medicine in a green sustainable way.