SOLO SESSIONS?
Post-apocalyptic fiction is my favourite genre when it comes to reading (closely followed by Dystopian tomes). Nothing froths me more than diving into an ‘oh shit the world has only gone and ended and what the hell are we going to do now?’ story. The great reset is a fascinating concept. A flight of fancy where some appalling calamity has struck the Earth, and we are consigned, in large quantities, to the great bin of history like those feathered dinosaurs. I enjoy them as a literary construct. Not so much as a reality. The climate crisis is bad enough; it’s hard to keep on top of where is on fire and where’s underwater. The rise of authoritarianism and social media messing up democracy is a low blow, but now we have to deal with a pandemic as well? Sure it’s not a world ending, militarily tweaked flu that swiftly decimates* the globe like in Stephen King’s legendary, weighty book -The Stand, which you’ve got to read btw. That book is the bible of pandemic stories. But it is the biggest threat we’ve all faced in a generation. Part of the fascination, as any surfer will soon twig, of course, comes from the ‘imagine *insert surf spot of your dreams* with a couple of people out instead of 150+’. The end of the world doesn’t mean the end of the waves. Hopefully. Although sea-level rise may mean those spots are a bit further inland than they used to be. Would having the pick of the set waves at Mundaka, the Superbank, Padang, Rincon, Safi, Coxos, JBay, Lev, Thurso or wherever is your dream, worth enduring the end of the world for? It’s a fascinating thing to rattle around in your brain box. Let’s hope to imagine it is all we ever get to do.

Sharpy
Editor

*Not the best choice of words. Decimate literally means to remove a tenth of. So it should be whatever the opposite of that is … removing pretty much everybody. **Written at the start of March before everything went batshit crazy. With lockdowns across Europe and surfing banned in some countries these are certainly interesting times. Stay safe, be good to one another, don’t be a panic buying prick, look out for your crew, and we’ll see you on the other side of this unprecedented situation.

It’s only a new flipping decade innit? One with a proper name and everything. Couldn’t ever really get on with the noughties or the teenies or whatever the last bit was called. Now the ‘twenties’ has a nice ring to it. Surf’s been roaring in as well; you knew that was inevitable. What will a new decade bring? Where is surfing right now? On the surface, surfing is booming. You’re never short of friends in the lineup. Crew on all kinds of craft, of all sorts of levels, are enjoying the slide. Any coast of the UK with a rideable wave gets sessioned and with the wave pools surging even the inland folk will find it easier to go for a wiggle. (Not that you’re ever really that inland, seeing as you can only ever be 70 miles from the salt in the mainland UK). Buoyant as surfing for the everyday punter seems it’s not so rosy at the high end. You’ll have read about Nike selling Hurley and the resulting booting of, arguably, the strongest surf team ever assembled. John John Florence, Machado, Riss, Bourez and many more are now hunting for a new sticker for their beaks. Surf companies always rise and fall. Ocean Pacific and Town & Country were massive when I was a grom. Don’t see them anymore. The cream will still rise, and there was a bloat where a lot of folks got sponsored for not doing much at all. It’s all change and the people that surf good, make good gear, boards and suits will carry on doing so. The happenings of the WSL and the pro world’s paychecks don’t have much resonance when you’re struggling into a nearly frozen 6mm in February to go for a quick surf in two-foot brown closeouts after all. Which leads neatly, in conclusion, to where we are at as a magazine; since we’re now entering our 26th year of publishing. The 25th season celebratory bunting has been taken down. The cake long since digested. Normal service resumes. As ever we’ll be pushing the British and Irish crew that are blowing up and chatting to anyone and everyone we find interesting in the world of salty fun.

Sharpy

Editor