🏄‍♀️ Are foamies the spawn of the devil? 😈

👋 Happy National Welsh Rarebit Day! Not to be confused with the National Bunny Day (that’s in three weeks) or National Grilled Cheese Day, which is in April. Observe it by going out surfing and gorging on some form of bread and cheese after.

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• Are foamies the spawn of the devil? 😈

• You don’t want to go to Dungeons 👹

• Surfer girls and their boards 🏄🏻‍♀️

• From Costa Rica to chilly Europe & Tofino 🍁

• Surf news roundup 🗞️

^SURFODRAMA

🏄🏻‍♀️ Are foamies the spawn of the devil? 😈

On Day 2 of my "can I surf every day and be productive at work" experiment, my Wavestorm came undone. The bottom became unglued and started flapping like a seal that sees the fish boat passing by.

I brought the board back home, left it to dry, and I haven't touched it since. It joined three other foamies (two I picked up on the street) that I "simply must repair" sometime, because… what else could I possibly do?

This was an actual question.

I asked about glue. Some people offered repair suggestions. Others suggested I stop riding foamies altogether. There were declarations of foamie love, recommendations to buy a used longboard, and concerns about plastic ending up in the ocean.

I had gone in looking for an adhesive and come out with a story. That's my favorite thing to happen.

For the record, this Wavestorm is somewhere between six and eight years old. I also own hard boards. The foamie was the board I wanted to surf in those conditions, and when it broke, I brought it home to repair it.

But the question kept nagging me. Are foamies particularly awful? Surprise, surprise. No, all surfboards are.

🔬 But how bad is it, really?
The headline is taking liberties, because otherwise, where is the fun? The bad news is that all boards have an "environmental footprint," but they don't all have the very same one. And "foamie versus hard board" doesn't really tell us enough to compare them.

First, the terminology is confusing. When surfers say "poly versus epoxy," they're often comparing a foam type with a resin type. A conventional "poly" board usually combines polyurethane foam, polyester resin and fiberglass. An "epoxy" board commonly combines expanded polystyrene foam, or EPS, with epoxy resin and fiberglass. Who wouldn't find it confusing?

Sustainable Surf's lifecycle study compared a conventional PU/polyester board with an ECOBOARD using bio-based epoxy and an EPS blank containing 25% recycled material. The ECOBOARD's carbon footprint was approximately 30% lower, and it generated 41% less manufacturing waste. The study also found lower emissions of carcinogenic chemicals during epoxy glassing.

The study didn't necessarily prove that every epoxy board is greener than every poly board, or tell us where my Wavestorm would rank. So that doesn't settle the foamie argument.

🥪 Soft tops are their own sandwich problem
You’re thinking: foam, but soft tops have their own material sandwich and their own world-class problems.

A Wavestorm has an EPS core, soft foam deck, wooden stringers and an HDPE plastic bottom. "Just foam" is doing quite a lot of work there.

That mix creates a disposal problem. Surfrider Canada's ReSurf program describes separating soft tops into their deck material, plastic bottom, wood and EPS, then cleaning and sorting the materials for recycling. Getting them apart is a whole operation.

🌲 What about wood and alternative materials?
You may be thinking that wood and alternative materials are the way forward, but it depends on the construction.

Some wooden boards still use fiberglass and epoxy. Even "wooden surfboard" can cover a range of different boards that are only partially wooden, which doesn't necessarily make them easier to recycle.

Then there's lifespan. Someone mentioned a favorite secondhand board that was twenty years old. My Wavestorm has been around for six to eight. If I'd treated my foamie right (I didn't), who says it wouldn't have lasted another five to ten years? I wouldn't call it a disposable board.

The practical takeaway here is: choose a board that suits you, look for durability and repairability, and keep it in use. A suitable secondhand board is a good place to start when you need another one.

🛠️ What can you do with a broken one?
First, waste not. Start by finding out whether it can safely be repaired.

Small issues you can fix yourself. Bigger mishaps can be tackled by a professional. The repairer will also give you advice on whether the board can become structurally sound and watertight again, and what that will cost. And whether it's worth it.

Some surf shops may be happy to take it off your hands too if you don't want the hassle. You can also:

• Sell or give away a surfable board

• Offer a repairable board to someone willing to take on the work, clearly describing the damage

• Ask a surf club, school or community program whether it wants a usable donation

• Ask a repair workshop whether it needs a practice board

And always check before donating. Passing a disposal problem to someone else is a poisonous gift.

We know. You didn't want the hassle and all the above sounds very much like a day trying to get rid of your surfboard rather than just being out there, surfing. Such is the price we pay.

♻️ And what happens when no one wants your leftovers?
More bad news, I’m afraid.

Recyclable foam does not automatically mean a recyclable surfboard. And now I understand how I managed to pick up three foamies from the street and from neighbors. No one wants the hassle.

There are specialist routes, but acceptance depends on the board and where you live.

In California, RERIP lists collection points in Ventura, Westminster, San Diego and Cardiff-by-the-Sea. It even collects old boards in Baja, but no longer accepts soft tops or loose foam blanks. So, no dice.

In Canada, Surfrider Canada's ReSurf says it accepts EPS soft tops through its landfill locations. Its material-separation process offers a more hopeful answer for some foamies.

If these types of programs are not an option for you, you can also look for someone who actually wants an old board as a sign, shelf, table or art project. This works, of course, only until it needs to be disposed of again.

Also, how many surfboard tables does one household need?

So, sometimes the available answer will be landfill. That's disappointing, but leaving a deteriorating board outside indefinitely, hoping that I will be swinging by and unable to control myself, doesn't solve the problem either.

Check your local bulky-item collection requests. Describe the board and confirm acceptance: the city's general bulky-item information is not a surfboard-specific guarantee.

🏁 So where does that leave us?
I don't think we get very far by making people embarrassed about the board they ride.

We can ask better questions about what manufacturers make, how repairable it is, and what happens when we're done with it.

And we can take some responsibility for the boards already in our possession.

Which is an inconvenient conclusion for someone with four foamies waiting to be repaired.

I suppose I should actually fix them. Because I am not going to hell. 😜

^{SURF THROUGH HISTORY}

👹 You don’t want to go to Dungeons

Dungeons breaks on a reef below the Sentinel, outside Hout Bay near Cape Town. It's called the Southern Hemisphere's Mavericks. The wave is fickle enough that it might deliver only a handful of truly world-class days across an entire season, and the takeoff is near-vertical when it does.

According to the Encyclopedia of Surfing, the wave was reportedly named by a local surfer who got trapped underwater for two straight 25-foot waves. Surf writer Steve Barilotti called it "a deadly prima donna of a wave, not to mention a favorite feeding ground for Great Whites."

Surfline's official guide to Dungeons is unusually candid. Under "Local Vibe": "None really." Under "Hazards": "You name it, it's probably a hazard here."

Hawaiian big wave charger Jamie Sterling once summed it up: "Dungeons intimidates me the most out of any wave in the world."

🗓️ First surfed in 1984, on the wrong boards
Two Cape Town surfers, Pierre de Villiers and Peter Button, are credited with first surfing Dungeons in 1984. They spent a year watching it from Chapman's Peak before working out how to actually get to it.

The route: park at an old rubbish dump at the top of Hout Bay, climb over the mountain for an hour, paddle across a deep channel beside a seal colony, in waters known for great whites, and try to figure out where to sit on a wave nobody had ever sat on before.

Their boards weren't up to the job either. De Villiers took a 5'4". Button took what he thinks was a 5'8" thruster.

"It was a Tuesday afternoon, gray, misty, a little glassy, probably about 12-foot plus, and very light offshore," Button recalled years later. "I remember us working out the best place to leap into the unknown from the boulders, paddling across the deep gully, and the powerful stench from the island teeming with seals."

They kept going back. We can only ask ourselves why, oh why.

For years, Dungeons stayed hidden. But slowly a small group started paddling it by the mid-90s. Grant "Twiggy" Baker eventually became one of the wave's most accomplished riders.

Red Bull Big Wave Africa ran from 1999 to 2008. Eighteen years later, Cape Courage is bringing competition back to Dungeons in association with Red Bull SA. But with the waiting window closing on September 15 and the event still on hold, it may not happen.

🌊 So you don't want to go to Dungeons
You don't. It's cold. The paddle is a mission. And it’s shark AF.

According to SURFER's account, a 15-foot great white was spotted in the lineup during the 2001 Big Wave Africa event period, cruising near crews towing into wind-blown waves. American surfer Mike Parsons, one of the most experienced big wave surfers alive, saw the shark and decided a paddle-only event wasn't for him.

So you don’t want to go to Dungeons.

^{PIC OF THE WEEK}

🏄🏻‍♀️ Surfer girls and their boards

We may not surf good… but our boards look extra primo good. 😎🏄‍♀️ 

Thank you for being awesome! This is just a small collection of Girls Who Can’t Surf Good and their tools of the surf trade.

Tune in on @girlswhocantsurfgood on Instagram for part 2 and part 3.

^{LATEST FROM GIRLS WHO CAN’T SURF GOOD}

💬 3 things we’re figuring out this week

🇨🇷 Costa Rica surf camps for a solo beginner going in January? Community top picks: Witch's Rock Surf Camp (Tamarindo), Dreamsea (Santa Teresa or Avellanas), Ticasurfbikinis (Santa Teresa, all-women instructor school), Dominical Surf School, Surf Bikini Retreat (women only), Surf With Amigas.

🌍 Europe surf camps for a solo female traveler in her 30s who wants real coaching, not party vibes? Community top picks: Olo Surf and Nature (Morroco), Surf Maroc (Morocco), Rapture Camps, Chicks on Waves (Portugal), Arrifana Surf Lodge, Joyride Surf Retreats (max four women per group), Mainty Studio (Azores), and ConsciSea Retreats (Portugal).

🇨🇦 Tofino in May as a beginner worried about the cold? Community top picks: rent a car (Nanaimo to Tofino is a real drive and buses limit you), or use IslandLink if you must; Hotel Zed for accommodation with Swell rentals and lessons right there; go for a 5/4 with booties and gloves. Members who've done it in May say it's often warm enough to ditch the booties mid-session.

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter, and support

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ A wave pool => a data center. California cliffs are falling into the ocean. A Korean wave pool heats to 86°F. SurfAid is at it again.

🏢 A scrapped Florida wave pool could become a data center
The 200-acre Koa Bay Wavegarden surf park in Fort Pierce is officially dead after five years, and the property is being rezoned for a data center.

🪨 California coastline is crumbling into the ocean
Aliso Beach in Laguna has been stripped of its sand and Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz has had two cliff collapses this summer.

🌡️ A Korean wave pool heats water to 86°F in winter (and still closes)
Wave Park in South Korea uses steam from a nearby waste-to-energy incinerator to keep the pool temperature at 30°C.

🦸 Surfers pulled an unconscious man from an Oregon river
Five surfers at Bend Whitewater Park on the Deschutes River jumped in when a man got swept through the surf channel and started life-saving efforts.

🏆 A 15-year-old from Florida is off to the ISA World Junior Championship
Marlynn Glaub of North Palm Beach has been selected to represent Team USA at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship.

🌊 SurfAid is running its sixth Make A Wave Challenge all September
Surfers worldwide are asked to paddle out every day of the month to fund clean water, healthcare and food security programs in the communities near the dream breaks the rest of us chase (over $3.6 million raised since it began, and sign-ups are still open).

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—surf stories and guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 87k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

With stoke,

Zuz & The Wipeout Weekly