Pittwater Life October 2018 Issue

PL’s OCTOBER SURF CALENDAR
October 3-14: Quiksilver/Roxy Pro, Hossegor, France
October 16-27: MEO Pro presented by Rip Curl, Peniche, Portugal
These events will almost certainly sort out the men’s world championship
this year, if not the women’s. Extraordinary truths now
surround the men’s title. Seven of the eight events on the Championship
Tour so far have been won by Brazilian surfers: Filipe Toledo,
Willian Cardoso, and Gabriel Medina. Only one has been won
by an Australian, Julian Wilson; none by an American or Hawaiian,
while the current world champ, John Florence, is missing in action
with an injured knee. It’s Filipe or Gabriel, and nobody will argue
with either, they’re too good. The women’s is boiling down to a
battle between Steph Gilmore and Hawaii’s Carissa Moore, and we
can’t see that battle being resolved in France; these two classic
surfers will have to wait till Maui in December to sort it out. Watch
on worldsurfleague.com
NICK’S OCTOBER SURF FORECAST
You know those switchback winds we experienced in September,
northerly one minute, southerly the next? Pretty typical of a normal
September. In a normal October, those winds tend to collapse down
and swing easterly for several days at a time, bringing in plenty of
moisture from the Tasman and by extension from the South Pacific,
along with a lot of sea life, the odd coconut, and more than a few
bluebottles. You never know about this, but it doesn’t feel to me as
if we are about to experience a normal October. Instead I suspect
we’ll see more of what September brought, but with the northerlies
gaining an upper hand over the southerlies. Those northerlies may
eventually begin to channel some rain and unstable weather down
from the approaching SE Asian monsoon, but don’t bet on it in
October. Instead, prepare for a month of weak early summer-type
surf, continued upwelling events, and an occasional long-range
groundswell pulse from remnant winter storms passing Tasmania.
Lord knows I could be wrong, a bombshell may strike, but nah.
Nick Carroll
Surfing Life
taboo for most men. (The
incident alleged to have
occurred at Lennox happened
well away from apparent
public gaze, down the bay
and out of sight of other
surfers.)
But direct surf-related
violence by men against
men has also been on the
decrease in recent years, as
lineup demographics have
changed, and old habits
altered in the process.
None of it alters the impact
of angry older men who, for
whatever reason, decide to
act out on women who’ve
chosen to enter what those
men consider to be their
domain.
It’s far from the historical
norm. Many pioneer women
surfers of the 1970s – a
time when surf violence
was far more prevalent than
it is today – have told me
they experienced nothing
The Local Voice Since 1991
of it, and on the contrary,
found the boys of the day
great company in the water.
Perhaps as the years have
passed, some of those boys
have turned more sour than
sweet.
And this research is far
from finished. Maybe nothing
like what’s alleged to have
happened at Lennox will
surface in the weeks to come.
And yes, lord knows,
#notallmen.
Nonetheless, if you’re a
man who feels impelled to act
violently toward others in the
surf, maybe use the impulse
as a sort of warning, ie, when
you want to hit someone,
go home instead, and have
a good hard look in the
mirror. And if you’re an older
middle-aged man inclined to
aggression of any kind toward
women in the surf, get out of
the surf. Like, really, get out.
There’s no place for it, or you.
OCTOBER 2018 43