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Chippo’s Time to Shine
“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far”
By Ben Mondy
Ben Mondy charts the journey of the West Australian goofy footer, Jacob Wilcox, from tube-riding wunderkind to CT graduate. Jacob is known affectionately to friends and family as Chippo because when he first tried to pronounce his own name it came out as ‘Chip’.
“You know, until recently I’d always felt uncomfortable about calling myself a professional surfer. I think only in the last few years I can call myself that because I’ve dedicated every part of myself to being the best I can be.” Jacob Wilcox
The Indo Motorcycle Diaries: Chapter IV – The Black Camel
Scouring the nooks and crannies of Sumba’s rugged coastline
By Tom de Souza
Tom’s intrepid Indonesian adventure lands him in Sumba where he’s greeted by betel-nut smiles and invited to a ritual feast of fire-roasted pig. Surfing solo, and alongside local rippers, Tom reveals there is much more to Sumba than Nihiwatu (aka Occy’s left), the exclusive left in front of the luxury resort, Nihi.
“The deeper into Indonesia you go the more of a curiosity you become, the more at odds your life becomes with theirs.”
Divinations: Seaworms, Signs and Sumba
It’s not an adventure ‘ til something goes wrong
By Lauren Hill
Lauren Hill travels to Sumba with her partner, David Rastovich, and their young son, Minoa. Between tubes there are plenty of character-testing moments as major mishaps threaten to derail the trip.
“I get compressed, and both my knees cave inward, pressed to the deck. I hear a pop and feel a flash of hot pain through my knees.” David Rastovich.
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Earthquakes, Waves and War Zones
Sometimes a surf trip takes a few wild deviations
By Lachlan McArthur
Despite locking down an engineering degree, Lachlan McArthur wasn’t ready to commit to a career, so he embarked on a six-month global odyssey. Much more than just a surf trip, it was a transformative adventure that took Lachie well beyond the fringes of his comfort zone.
“As we rode camels across the Sahara Desert, a quick check of the swell charts revealed an opportunity not to be missed.”
Big Day Out
Wall hangers and grom tax, deep in the southern ocean
By Noah Hassett
When a giant swell collides with Pedra Branca, 25km south-east of Tasmania, 17-year-old Noah Hassett gets the call-up to join a contingent of ‘Tasmaniacs’ on a day trip to one of the wildest places on the planet.
Bill Morris: Grajagan
When it comes to G-Land Bill Morris has enjoyed the view from every angle.
Photos and story by Bill Morris
Bill Morris first travelled to Grajagan in 1982 as a 22-year-old. Since then he’s spent over 40 years surfing and photographing the jungle-fringed left in east Java. Bill reflects on that eventful first trip and draws on an eclectic photo archive to perpetuate the G-Land mythology.
“It had uninterrupted, sweeping views of the lineup and when you woke in the morning and opened your eyes, you could see the entire reef and bay without actually moving your head.”
The Golden Age of Surf Piracy
Middle-aged surf raiders in the Mentawai islands are the luckiest bastards on Earth
By Kirk Owers
It may be a kind of surf-travel cliché, but a Mentawai boat trip with your mates is indisputably fun. For surfers, it might also be an effective weapon against the mental-health woes many of us confront in our middle years.
“Being a surf pirate is the reward for working your arse off for decades while raising kids, maintaining marriages, picking up dog shit, paying your taxes, and ferrying children to sports grounds and the emergency room.”
Bali: Surfing’s Favourite Foster Home.
It began so well, but after 18 months I started to wonder, is this all it’s cracked up to be?
By Isis Flack
We all think about it. Quitting the nine to five, packing up the essentials, jetting off to some sun-drenched island to chase waves, purpose, remote work and freedom. Here’s a reflection on doing exactly that; a raw, unfiltered take on island fever.
“Everyone around you is in holiday mode. So,there will always be a swell, a strike mission,an excuse to crack the Bintangs.”
The Maldives: Thief of My Heart
So you want to surf on your honeymoon right?
By Kate Allman
Kate Allman and her husband Nick embark on a quest for the perfect, surfing honeymoon in the Maldives. Atoll-hopping from one luxury resort to the next, the couple enjoy fine-dining, first class lodgings and firing waves. You’ll weep with envy and then decide to book a second honeymoon.
“Glittering cyan water, sea turtles bobbing their heads up to check out the guests, and those iconic, overwater bungalows stretching like fairy lights across suspended boardwalks; exotic fish and rainbow coral shimmering below.”
Surfing In The Baltic States
A starving artist’s Northern European Surfing Sojourn
By Abraham Kenny
Abraham Kenny moved to Europe to play music. His beatnik adventure took him to the Ukraine, where he lived in an abandoned Soviet Concert Hall, which just happened to have a perfect view of a random, Ferry-made left-hander. And so begun his bizarre surfing journey in the Baltic states.
“There is a thrill of being a part of something that has not yet fully formed, of finding spots and naming them, of barbed wire and broken concrete.”
Why The Galapagos?
When a surf trip lands you on the set of a nature documentary
By Damian Harmon
Damian Harmon hops a flight from the South American mainland and lands on the Galapogus Islands where he surfs with iguanas, sea lions and litany of animal species he’d never seen before.
“Pristine water, so transparent it was difficult to decipher the lines from the ocean. Sea lions surfed alongside me, turtles basked in the shallows, and birds swooped overhead.
