PACIFIC LONGBOARDER MAGAZINE #123

Photo Magazine

PACIFIC LONGBOARDER MAGAZINE from Australia is the ONLY magazine worldwide dedicated to long boarding. For 25 years they’ve aimed to be all things to all longboarders: female, male, youth to boomers, world beaters or weekend warriors, hip or not particularly. It’s all surfing, it’s all good. Intelligent, funny, often provoking, the stories are always well written and well researched, plus stunning photography. They love the beach, they love the culture.

ISSUE #123:

THE OUTER BANKS
Having broken the shackles of restricting our coverage to just the Pacific, we’ve been showing just how varied and immense the longboarding world has become. When Danish surfer Thilde Sofie Rasmussen is currently leading the European Womens Longboard Tour the skies obviously the limit! (And Aussie Lucy Small is holding third.) First up this issue is a surf destination none of us here in the GC hi-rise bunker had ever come across before - the Outer Banks, a series of narrow barrier islands stretching from southeast Virginia down almost the entire coast of North Carolina. Get up to speed on this amazing area’s surf as well as learn plenty of interesting geography and culture in this piece by local photographer and writer Callaway Ramsay.

LANKA LAND: A GUIDE TO WAVES, CURRIES & DROP-INS
And that describes it perfectly. Many of us figure that if you’re going to go that far you might as well head to the perfection of the Maldives, but if you want a totally different experience with a large side order of culture then Sri Lanka could be your go, particularly if it’s for an extended period. Like writer and traveller Kyle Fallon who hit the island’s southwest coast for 8 weeks recently and photographer Inna Robotyagina, originally from Russia but now in Sri Lanka as a resident for 7 Years. Kyle gives us his very frank take on the pros and cons of the southwest’s best breaks, while Inna supplies great surf shots and local scenes. Spicy!

PORTFOLIO - SIMON FITZ
Simon is a German photographer now living in Portugal - and loving it! We’ve featured his work before to much positive acclaim and in this portfolio are 10 pages of his best work, together with some notes from his friend and expat Brazilian Vovo Balian - who pretty much sums up the point and effect of Simon’s work when he writes, “He doesn’t simply shoot waves, he captures what the waves sing to him. And we the lucky ones get to hear the melody through his eyes”. And yes dear PLB reader, you are one of the lucky ones. Mesmerising!

CRASH LANDING
For many years our ed JB and Shane Peel were rival editors of Australia's only two longboard magazines. But life’s too short for adversarial rubbish and the boys were mates and wished each other well. While JB’s still in the chair, Peely's been over-achieving all over the place from big-shotting at Rip Curl, Telo Lodge, and the Hokkaido snow industry, to now running the Indies Trader operation! Now back to Oz on the NSW North Coast he writes a perceptive account of fitting back into the local surf culture as an “aging surf tragic”.

MUIZENBERG AND BEYOND
As predicted we’re all over the world in this issue. Now to South Africa and its burgeoning longboard scene focused around the famed Muizenberg area in Cape Town known widely as Surfers Corner. South African Tom Prentice bailed on a corporate career to focus full time on “story-telling through photography and writing”. Now residing in the UK, Tom takes us back home to some of his favourite spots and explains how surfing has shaped the local lifestyle and culture.

LOCKED IN, LOCKED OUT
This story is subtitled “Imagine being forced to endure surfing every day for five months straight” but it could also have added “at one of the best lefts in the world”. Duckdiver is his name and he’s giving nothing away about the venue. There are probably 30 to 40 out there as you read this, but he struggled to find anyone to surf with! It was the beginning of Covid, he could see the writing on the wall, flights being cancelled and rather than be trapped in KL he took the odds, bought a ticket to Indo and found his way to paradise before the gates shut behind him.

THE PROBLEM WITH PAVONES
Surfers have a knack for finding paradise for sure. Property developers have a habit of eventually following them - for very good reason obviously. But it can get particularly ugly when developers are in league with corrupt officials. Pavones, the world class left point in Costa Rica is a classic example of this. Investigative journalist Abdrel LeRoy blows the whistle on how to counter expected opposition - the power and internet were cut, access was closed and then bulldozers moved into town. But protests and opposition continue, and there is national and international outcry and lawyers have been retained. Can this be stopped? Stay tuned.

LENS FLAIR
We say it every issue - how can it be better than the last? But it always is. Another array of extraordinary photos from around the world.

THE BUZZ
THE SNOWY: 40 years of the Manly Malibu Boardriders was extra special and the contest had sun and quality surf all weekend. MAKORORI FIRST LIGHT IN NZ: Where the sun rises first for this famous surf comp. Featuring a star studded Over 70s division - and much more.

UPFRONT
Kiara Maguire from Cronulla is someone finding that surfing brings her clarity, appreciation and patience in an uncertain world.

GREY GURU
The GG adds his take to the incredible responses from the surfing tribe and others to the death of Jack McCoy, the King of Aloha.

+ THE 108th BOARD GIVEAWAY
A Wayne Lynch 8’4” Evo no less. Says Wayne, “The current Evo design has a modern bottom contour of single to double concave, with fin options for a single or a 2+1. With flow and speed in mind, the Evo will provide the powerful rail-engaging style of surfing that I’ve enjoyed and been addicted to for over 50 years.”

The magazine is in English