#gland

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Quercus coccifera (Chêne des garrigues)

Quercus suber (Chêne-liège)

Quercus ilex (Chêne vert)

Quercus faginea (Chêne faginé)

Coutiches (Nord), entre Douai et Tournai, avec son calvaire.

This is not a design article or surf trip story, but rather a combination of words that came to me after a recent trip overseas.

After 6 weeks of traveling throughout Europe and no surfing apart from a few 6” body surfing waves in the Mediterranean Sea off Italy, we arrived in Bali. I didn’t have any boards with me, but I had an old favorite stashed at my good friend, Captain Peter Fletcher’s house near Canggu.

Peter passed away nearly a year to the day that Karen and I arrived in Bali. His wife, Lia, graciously let me get my old board and also one that I had shaped for Peter a couple of years ago.

Packing up the boards to go to G-Land, it really hit me how lucky we are to be able to still go surfing even as getting older limits our options and the surf is getting more crowded all the time. Peter and I had made tentative plans last year to meet up in G-Land late season last year, but his sudden illness and passing put an end to that.

As it was, Peter’s board was the exact same dimensions as mine but a completely different shape and volume. Mine was a 6ft, 4 fin swallow fish tail and basically the same board that I have been taking to G-Land and Indo for years - tried and proven. Peter’s was a 6ft tri-fin arrow pin tail but more voluminous even though the same length, width, and thickness.

Anyway, arriving in G-Land after 6 weeks of no surfing and enjoying the food and drink of Europe, the waves were 6 to 8ft and pretty good. I surfed my trusty fishtail the first day and felt back at home on it, even though pretty unfit surfways.

The next day started off a bit smaller, so I took the pintail out to the top of the reef where the waves had more face and walls so as to get a feel for it. I could tell it had too much foam for me, but it did catch waves well, and I managed to jag a few nice long steep waves but not barrels. As the morning wore on, the swell came up, and after getting a long wave to the bottom end of the reef, I decided to sit with the crowd and try to get a real G-Land barrel.

I'm not particularly spiritual, but after waiting for a good hour, it seemed like I got a message to slowly drift out and sit next to a boil that started to appear just as the tide was dropping. After sitting there for about 15 minutes and simply enjoying the ambience of looking back to the jungle with the sun shining, wind blowing offshore, and swells rolling, I felt in a real happy place. Especially when there was no one sitting anywhere near me, and I caught a glimpse of what looked like the biggest set of the day on the way.

All it took was to sit tight and wait for it – a big perfect set wave aimed straight for me. Everyone else was either too deep inside or too far away to get out to me. The accompanying video shows what happened, and this is where the "One Wave, Two Boards" headline is associated. Pete’s board was so different from mine, but it still handled the wave no problem, except for when my knee slipped off halfway through the ride. Probably because of the extra volume and different fin location and set-up, I was not quite at home on the board but trusted it to make it to the other end. As can be seen, it was a bit of a rodeo ride!

As I turned off the wave, I again thought how lucky I was to be surfing and how we should not dwell on the negatives of crowded surf spots, onshore, wrong tides, flat spells, etc., but rather be appreciative of the gift that surfing is.

In my head, I said, "Thanks, Captain Pete," for the wave as I reckon it was him who guided me into it. And I dedicated the buzz I got from that ride to him.

RIP old friend Captain Peter - I'm sure you are sailing fair seas somewhere.

Words & Surfing: David Parkes