Surfing World Magazine April 2016

Dave Rastovich and Lauren Hill made this magazine. That’s a cool thing. Not only for me, who pretty much got to have the whole month off to snuggle with my lady while they did my job, but for you too, because this edition of Surfing World is a wonderfully original, warm and thoughtful tome. It’s a surf mag that reflects a culture and community increasingly seeking fresh perspectives outside of the industry bubble, eccentric ideas for new experiences in the water, and creative solutions to problems that affect us all as surfers. Dave and Lauren live on the NSW Far North Coast by way of Burleigh Heads and Florida respectively. Their house, an old Queenslander plopped walking distance from a long right point, is surrounded by native trees, chirping birds,…

“Oh yeah, you’re makin’ a mag, hey? Gonna fill it with patchouli oil, dreamcatchers, ecqualitarian stuff, and some bloody single fins or somethin’?!’’ says a fella down the beach. Well, yes, there are a few single fins in here, some relevant feminist musings, and we may or may not have put in some subliminal dreamcatchers and hippy gypsy spells too. Our “scratch and sniff” idea for the patchouli oil? Well, that didn’t get the nod, but whatever... As completely pumped as we were to be given the honour of weaving a whole issue of Surfing World, we were equally nervous about doing a good job of it and not delivering something completely cliché. At the core of what you hold in your hands here is our stoke for surfing, and…

Pacha Light, 15, Gold Coast Qld When you’re not surfing what fills your time? I like social media. I can share the message of having fun and enjoying life. I’m madly in love with travelling the world, meeting new people and seeing new places. I sing, play, hang with my family and friends (including our horse), go to the gym, dance around the house. I’m getting into some good causes like the campaign to get a Gold Coast World Surfing Reserve and joining our local Surfrider Foundation as an ambassador. What’s a shit day like? A day I don’t have any fun, where school occupies my mind and I stress out about tests and exams that turn out to be easy. A day I don’t get a chance to jump…

When asked as a teenager what I wanted to be, I always had the same answer: happy. I saw the struggle of adulthood all around me: punching time clocks and handing over eight-to-ten hours of your day, five days a week… at least. Plus, a job on the side to make ends meet. Sullen eyes, pasty skin, modern diseases of a sedentary life like carpal tunnel syndrome, stress induced shingles, beer bellies, and a general feeling of malaise. I wanted to get as far away from that definition of adulthood as possible. What I didn’t realise until I met Helena Norberg-Hodge and John Page is that these symptoms are not inherent to adulthood. They stem from a sickly monotonous global economic system. One that operates at inhuman speeds, forcing us…

Read: Mind Expanding Words On Paper Charles Eisenstein’s The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible relates real life stories that show how small, individual acts of courage, kindness and trust can change our culture’s guiding narrative of separation. Oh, and Charles is deeply in love with surfing! Legend. Female Chauvinist Pigs is a book about what happens when women become their own oppressors. Not so shockingly, exposure to objectifying images (like those token “bikini babe” shots in every surfing media outlet, ever) leads to self-objectification, or chronically monitoring one’s physical appearance. Basically, we’ve taken the work out of demeaning women by enforcing the oppression on ourselves and policing each other. It’s sad, and a call to action. Dumbo Feather is the most inspiring magazine on the shelves, featuring…

“The earth laughs in flowers” – Ralph Waldo Emerson The surfer’s garden has been a friend and healer since before Princess Kaiulani was the ruling surfer in Hawaii, through to now when legends like Greenough attend their patch daily after surfing. Here are just five plants for food and medicinal use that will keep us lit up and surfing without pharmaceutical interference. Mint – the word Mint is Latin in origin and means “to quell one’s morning corpse breath’’. Pretty straight forward this one, good to eat first thing in the morning on the way to check the surf, or put leaves in water for tea. More for the benefit of others than for one’s self. If your breath smells like pure methane, try spearmint or peppermint or maybe get…