Table of contents for Summer 22/23 in Zigzag

I realised the other day that I have an ‘elite’ level of enthusiasm for surfing. Nothing else about my surfing is elite; but my zeal is pedigree. Looking back, surfing has been a key factor in some of my most important life decisions. This is especially true of the places I’ve chosen to live. My dirty secret is that I grew up in Johannesburg. I never locked in those formative years at the beach, where the surfing infuses your DNA and manifests in a casual knock-kneed style. I didn’t do Nippers; I did a weekend lifesaving course in the school pool. But ever since surfing got me, my major life decisions have revolved around one non-negotiable, dealbreaker consideration: I want to surf. So I must live near the ocean. A…

For years, I've watched so many South African competitive surfers do well in their junior careers, and then take the next step to go and compete abroad. If they do well internationally they earn dollars, pick up an international sponsor, and in most instances settle abroad. That’s the pattern. Even in my own family, my eldest son Josh has followed the same path – moving to Germany to further his career in marketing, simply because the earning potential is so much greater there than in South Africa. When you add some of our social and political problems into the mix, the choice to leave can feel justified; but when you look closer, it’s not as perfect as it seems. I've often considered what it would be like to live in…

Donald Brink steps away from his SoCal shaping bay. Climbing behind the wheel of his Econoline van, he doesn’t start the engine. He crafts the order of his words with the same careful, algorithmic articulation he uses to design each surfboard. Brink takes his time. “I just learned the definition of stress,” Brink says. Behind the 42-year-old shaper, a quiver of prototypes lies stretched across quilted padding. The windows are spattered: grey soot from the wildfires, red dust from the sandstone cliffs at his favourite local spot. A South African flag sticker catches the flat Pacific light. “Stress,” says Brink, “is to face a challenge with a lack of resources. It can describe not having enough work. It can also describe not having the systems to accommodate the opposite. “I…

ENQUIRIES EMAIL: info@vansza.co.za TEL: (+27) 21 709 0084 FB: VANSSOUTHAFRICA IG: @Vans_ZA NATHAN FLORENCE SURF BOOT MID 2 RRP R1799.99 • Seamless second skin • Moulded toe cavity • Liquid rubber-dipped neoprene NATHAN FLORENCE ULTRARANGE VR3 RRP R1 899.99 • VR3 collection • New Ecocush™ midsole • New Ecowaffle™ outsole CHECKERBOARD MENS LA COSTA SLIDE-ON RRP R599.99 • Synthetic nubuck strap • Water-based inks and glues • Lightweight, flexible and durable ULTRACUSH™ Lite FORMER SURF BOOT 3MM S RRP R2 199.99 • Split toe and dual rubber-dipped construction • Gusseted top and engineered pulltab • Micro-waffle siped rubber outsole FORMER DESTRUCT MID MTE-1 RRP R2 499.99 • Traction and thermoregulation • Moisture management • Comfort and performance FORMER MID SLIP MTE-1 RRP R1999.99 • Traction and thermoregulation • Moisture management…

Home Sunset, Cape Town. I came back from living in Europe for a year thinking I’d completely missed out on big-wave season. Then I woke up two days later to the sound of the ocean roaring. Straight off the pillow, I knew it was going to be a good day. We reached Dungeons just after first light, and I saw Matt Bromley catch a bomb from right out the back, which got us all really psyched. We surfed Dungeons all morning, and then called it quits when our ski started throwing warning signals. It must have been destiny; because just as we came over Chapman’s Peak the fog bank lifted, and we got the most dreamy view of perfect 15ft-plus waves rolling through at Sunset. We drank some coffee, smoked…

The seed of my trip was planted years before: seeing photos of vans camped out, surfboards loaded on the roof, in front of cooking waves. I’d lie in bed dreaming of exploration, and the magic moments waiting to be captured in and around the ocean. Doing some research into the vast extent of South Africa’s coastline, and the potential for scoring remote, uncrowded waves, I knew I had to pull the trigger and chase swells up and down the coast. I traded in my hatchback for a 2009 VW Caddy van. My dad and I spent a few months kitting it out and turning it into an expedition vehicle. My dad’s very talented when it comes to DIY, so this was a great opportunity for me to learn from him.…

Away Snapper Rocks, Australia. I got this shot while competing in the first Challenger Series event of 2022 over in Australia, at Snapper Rocks. A free surf, in perfect, clean conditions; I managed to get a couple of runners among the crowd down by Green Mount, which is about halfway down the point. The waves ran perfectly: not too fast, not too slow. There was never a time you couldn’t get barrelled, if you just simply stalled. The crowds are the only negative thing about surfing Snapper. You could have a good surf and catch a lot of waves, or just sit the whole surf. There are plenty of waves that come through – but plenty of people, too. You can’t be nice in the water, if you want to…

Durban, Johannesburg, Accra overnight. Monrovia the next afternoon. Another night in Paynesville, then a four-hour drive in the back of a UN-edition Toyota Landcruiser. Equatorial West Africa in the rainy season. It’s hot-yoga studio hot. Finally, the Atlantic beckons, with the promise of a hard reset. Control-alt-delete. Rinse and repeat. It feels as if the whole town came down to surf with us. There’s definitely swell, but the cross-onshore wind makes it hard to connect the speed of the point’s perfect bathymetry with the chop that’s running through the surface. Finally, member by member, our team and the pack of local surfers admit defeat; and drift back to Big Phil’s Guesthouse to unpack, or to the Surf Club for a beer and a conversation, and to explore the infrastructure of…

HELLO STRANGER Wherever you go in the world, you'll find people who spent their formative years in South Africa, absolutely crushing it! There’s along history of South Africans leaving these fair shores in search of fame and fortune abroad… and achieving it. Here we namecheck adiverse and motley crew of surfers who have done good in strange places. SHAUN TOMSON AGE 67 JOB World Champ, Writer, Motivational Speaker, Entrepreneur LOCATION Santa Barbara, California, USA I always felt there were fundamental lessons that surfing could teach you about life. My first memory of catching that first wave imprinted on me. Ithink every surfer gets that feeling of seeing the world differently. And your life changes in that moment. TRAVIS LOGIE AGE 43 JOB Senior Manager Tours and Competition atWorld Surf League LOCATION…

Tom Carroll, Tom Curren, Martin Potter and Cheyne Horan boycotted the three South African ASP events in 1985, in protest against the government’s apartheid policies. It was a very strange moment in surf history: the sport’s only fullcontact interaction with global politics. We came out looking great. Or, no, we came out looking ridiculous. Both, actually. Depended on where you were looking, or who you were talking to, at any given moment. Very much on the ridiculous side was the fact that pro surfing, in 1985, was pretty much the only globe-hopping sport still running events in South Africa. The country had been barred from the Olympics since 1964. After 1980, visiting athletes who competed in SA risked being put on a United Nations blacklist. (There were no legal consequences…

I’d seen people ollie off a bridge with a skateboard, but I’d never seen someone do a jump with a surfboard. It just seemed like a cool idea. Surfing and base jumping are two of my passions; and I thought it’d be cool to connect the two, and try to get a photo of the jump. I wanted a shot of me with a surfboard and a parachute! It was pretty funny, walking across the highway with my board in my hand, my wetsuit on, and a parachute on my back. Luckily it was a Sunday, so the road was quiet. Thankfully, the jump went to plan. I didn’t use a leash, because I was worried it could get tangled in my pilot chute when I threw it out. So…