Matt Rohrer shares some of the highlights of his conversations with Bay Area surfer Jimmy Holt, focal point of one of the few surfing photos to ever appear in National Geographic Magazine. Selected photos: Jim Shaw

Ireland's fierce and unpredictable breaks have been valued by its home-grown big wave riders for some years now, but competition has been a long time coming. All that changed with the inaugral Mullaghmore Tow Session 2011. Conn Osborne got in harm's way to steal a photo essay.

Cyrus Sutton made an impression on the international film circuit with his 2003 breakthrough movie 'Riding Waves'. Now the EMMY award-winning documentary maker has turned his attention to the divergent surf scenes of Australia's Gold Coast and Byron Bay. Words: Tommy Leitch Photos: Courtesy of Cyrus Sutton

Championed by surfers in the know for over 30 years, but largely ignored by mainstream riders; has the time finally come for the Bonzer to shine? Words: Steve Croft & Mark Sankey Photos: Alexa Poppe

Tucked away at the top of a hill near Gwenver beach in Cornwall, Skewjacks was the definitive 1970s surf camp. Drift took four of its founding fathers - Dicky, Harvey, Jamo and Mickey - to the pub and reminisced about good times gone by. Words: Jamie Bott Credit & thanks to Graham Shephard & Mel Sedgwick

Chris Burkard's photographs are about more than barrels, perfect point breaks, and carving radical lines – they capture a moment in which the surfer is a mere player and the real star is the scenery. Words: Dan Hamlin Photos: Chris Burkard


5.5ft and glassy

August 12, 2009 | Words By:

blissed-out-inkadogThis morning, after suffering through two weeks of heavy winds that turned otherwise perfect 9 foot waves into choppy schwag, the air was still, the ocean was perfectly glassy and the 5.5 feet waves were peeling just right. It was bliss.

That zen-like surfing feeling returned after two straight weeks of despair induced by blown out waves, frigid winds and ‘desordenado’ mush. The break I was at, Punta Roquitas, often closes out too quickly and its allure diminishes quickly if waves are higher than 6ft. But in the range that is considered small for Peru, say from 4ft to 6ft, it works beautifully, especially if you have a fish that allows you to get up on the wave a wee bit faster and earlier. Today the conditions were perfect. All you had to do was paddle a bit, make a quick turn to after dropping in, pump your legs a couple times, put a rail halfway up the wave and then just boogie on down the line all the way to the jetty as the wave walled up… In between waves, we watched big, lazy pelicans scoop fish out of the water right next to us…

The dog loved it too.


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