Summer 2021 - 46.1

Zigzag

SA's core surf mag since 1976

Zigzag1 min read
Zigzag
Publisher Andy Davis – andy@zigzag.co.za Associate Publisher Charlene Mazery – charlene@zigzag.co.za Online Editor Dave Armstrong – online@zigzag.co.za Consulting Editors Will Bendix & Alan van Gysen – editorial@zigzag.co.za Design Studio Kronk – inf
Zigzag7 min read
The Silver Surfer
It was never my dream to be on tour. So I think that’s a huge part of my story – I’m obviously very grateful for the experience of being on tour, but I was never that 13-year-old grom saying ‘I want to be a world champ’. Obviously, lots of opportunit
Zigzag6 min read
Dissident Nature
When I was about three years old, a new kid arrived on the scene. His name was Daniel. Like Daniel and the Lion’s Den… but nobody would ever call him that. He was small, skraal, pale and often sick. Our old man is a wordsmith – so names, stories, myt
Zigzag9 min read
Combo - Land
“So, where you from?” asks the middle-aged Israeli guy from under his white Florence Marine hooded rash vest, his face a mask of matching white zinc, his brown eyes two dots of colour. A human igloo. “Uh… South Africa,” I say, looking up the point as
Zigzag3 min read
The Spoils Of No More War
The lights from Maputo flicker in the distance, broken by the flaps of the jib as the yacht bucks gently against the rising swell. The light strumming and plucking of a guitar floats on the evening breeze. On board the 45-foot vessel are surfing's ne
Zigzag1 min read
Riding The Unicorn
The South African coastline is littered with go to waves; spots you know will have something to ride as long as there are a few basic ingredients in place - a pinch of swell, a wind that isn't howling onshore, and you're pretty much set. They may not
Zigzag2 min read
The One Behind
This was taken at Belharra during the Hercules storm of 2014, when Jamie Mitchell caught this gigantic wave. It's still the biggest storm I think Europe has seen in a hundred years or so. Luckily for us, the swell actually peaked the night before. I'
Zigzag9 min readCrime & Violence
Wild Seas
They are all gone. It can’t be. Did I swim into the wrong bay by mistake? No, of course I didn’t. To my right is the cake-shaped boulder carpeted by purple sea urchins; to my left is the distinctive crack at the base of a rocky pinnacle, home to a cu
Zigzag2 min read
Freak Easterly
After coming off what some regarded as KZN's best winter in 20 years, surfers' expectations ran high for 2021. Alas, KwaZulu-Natal's coastline was not blessed with the same quality and quantity of waves as the previous year. Some would go so far as t
Zigzag2 min read
When Tom Came To Jeffreys
Tom Curren's first session at Jeffreys Bay was the meeting of two legends. Curren had boycotted South Africa during the 1980s in protest against apartheid; and for years, pundits had speculated about what the finest surfer in the world would look lik
Zigzag2 min read
What's In A Name?
Peeling back the layers and legends of this fickle piece of reef will take you back to the early 2000s, when a motley crew of underground bodyboarders followed a lead from a fisherman who waxed lyrical about a slab he'd watched while enthusiastically
Zigzag6 min read
Zen And The Art Of Lockdown Survival
My story starts back in July 2013. The Sampson family left Cape Town in our Big Green Truck to travel Africa clockwise, through 47 000km of bush, desert, rainforest and mountain, using only waste vegetable oil as fuel. One of the main inspirations fo
Zigzag8 min read
Not Surfing In The Chatham Islands
Directly in front of the Chatham Hotel pub is a little curve in the shoreline that produces a perfect, peeling right. It’s not a real wave, as in rideable – it’s barely ankle high, and breaks right on shore – but if you were a GI Joe action figure it
Zigzag4 min read
OFF THE Leash
I don't think the editor is speaking to me anymore, because the brief for this edition came from the publisher. “Sessions,” said Mr Davis, a man who pays by the word and instinctively uses as few of them as possible. I tried to get more information,
Zigzag1 min read
Standing Out
If a surfer catches the best wave of his Life (even by jetski step-off), and there's no one around to see or document it, does it count? Did it even happen? I don't believe in Luck or coincidence. I do believe that there's a reason and a time for eve
Zigzag23 min read
Summer Buyer’s Guide 2021
“OFF THE WALL” EMAIL: info@vansza.co.za TEL: (+27) 21 709 0084 FB: VANSSOUTHAFRICA IG: @Vans_ZA RRP R2 299.99 • 5mm neoprene with an antimicrobial lining• Round toe construction for universal fit• Hook-and-loop strap for maximum adjustability RRP R1
Zigzag2 min read
Backwash
It’s a well-known fact that many more people are surfing since the pandemic. There have been healthy rebounds in most core surf businesses, both locally and internationally. Shapers are busy. Stock is moving off the shelves. Lineups are bustling. Thi
Zigzag8 min read
Growth Spurt Blood And Barrels At The Ments’ Most Gnarly Spot
It was late at night, and I was already in bed when Greig Sharp called. Swell chase to Greenbush! Two hard-charging freesurfers - Nic von Rupp and Nate Behl - had asked Greig to take them down to Greenbush on his 45-foot catamaran. Greig needed an ex
Zigzag1 min read
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Zigzag2 min read
Defeat
This is the view from the bottom of the point at Skeleton Bay. In the distance, in among all that sand and water, you can see a slightly hunched figure wrapped in four millimetres of rubber, board under arm, making the long walk back up the point. Th

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