🏄‍♀️ Are you and your surf spot okay? 🥺

👋 Happy International “Love Your Surf Spot” Day! We just made it up—but that’s no reason not to celebrate it. Hug your break and hope it hugs you back. 😜

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• Are you and your surf spot okay? 🥺

• Shipstern Bluff is positively nuts 🌊

• Shooting the pier ☄️

• Surfboard making 101 🔢

• Don’t read the surf news 🙈

• It’s only drowning after all 🪼

^SURFODRAMA

 😱 Are you and your surf spot okay? 🥺

This sounds like a Daily Mail or People headline or quiz, doesn’t it? But can you even be in a “relationship” with your surf spot?

Everyone has their favorite spot—whether it’s your home break or one you stumbled across on your travels. It might be where you caught your first wave, where the conditions are just right, or where there’s practically no one in the water. The reasons for loving a surf spot vary wildly from surfer to surfer.

Most of us surf where we surf because it’s convenient. But what if you don’t love where you surf? Should you move on?

❌ Yes, if a spot is above your pay grade
The waves are… technically beautiful. The conditions are “fair” according to Surfline. And yet, you can’t actually surf there.

You paddle out—and paddle back in without catching anything. You get worked trying to get to the back. Everyone’s having fun on their teeny-tiny shortboards and you’re literally dying on your 8’ foamie. The waves seem too steep, too fast, too shallow, too hollow. It’s no fun for you.

This is not your Waterloo, but it may be your Pipeline (wow, I sound like ChatGPT–please forgive). You’re just not ready yet.

🧠 Possibly, if bad stuff happens
This is a recent story one of the Girls Who Can’t Surf Good shared:

“It’s been 17 years since I surfed. I loved it with my whole heart and then someone yelled at me for being a ‘stupid girl’ and called the beach his turf. I was too shy and too much of a people pleaser, so instead of standing up for myself, I gave it up and switched to paddle boarding.”

A single bad encounter at a surf spot can ruin surfing for you. You’re only human. Your brain works in mysterious ways. You have every right to feel like the world has ended. Localism and surf aggro are not easy to get over.

This is why it might be a good idea to try a different break—so you don’t lose the joy of surfing entirely. Get comfortable. Get more experience. Come back triumphant.

⚠️ Perhaps, if hazards are ruining the fun
Rocks. Currents. Narrow takeoff zone. Sharks. Murky water. Crowds. Parking is a nightmare. Your ex surfs there. As if surfing wasn’t hard enough already.

When you add all the little stuff you have to worry about every time you pull up to your surf spot, it becomes baggage you don’t need—especially when you’re trying to figure out the drop or trim for the first time.

If you’re lucky enough to find a spot with fewer “hazards” nearby, it might just give you more peace of mind. With less to worry about, you’ll progress faster.

🤷‍♀️ Hmm, if it’s not the spot—it’s you
Imagine a perfect surf spot that produces perfect conditions for your level... but only for two weeks in the summer. The rest of the year? A mixed, frustrating bag.

You can still hack it if you persevere. There’s nothing wrong with the spot. But the other, slow-rolling wave spots are calling your name. The only issue? You’d have to drive an hour.

Do you stay and work on it—or do you entertain a long-distance relationship?

Only you can answer that. I’m staying put.

Of course, there will always be people who say that all the above is just part of the surfing experience. That it’s unavoidable. That you shouldn’t sweat the small stuff.

It’s very un-surfer-like to complain, right?

But lest we forget: surfing is supposed to be fun. So, you do you. 🫶

^{SURF SPOT SPOTLIGHT (FOR THE INSANE)}

Shipstern Bluff—a wave within a wave 🌊

And you thought Mavericks was gnarly, and Cortes Bank insane. Let me introduce you to Shipstern Bluff.

Nestled on Tasmania’s remote Tasman Peninsula, Shipstern Bluff—nicknamed Shippies, or formerly known as Devil’s Point—is famed for being a surfing destination for the criminally insane. Why not. It is considered one of the most dangerous places to surf on earth.

The wave breaks over a shallow reef, which happens to be a razor-sharp reef, generating brutal slabs that are moving with insane speed. Oh, and there are sharks. And it’s bloody cold. It’s not easy to get to, either. You either have to hike for 2 hours through the national park or take a boat or jet ski, and that’s about a 20-mile ride.

What’s so special? 🌈
The Shippies is best known for its “mutant steps,” which are sequential drops that create a "wave within a wave." The wave’s height is not the tallest you would’ve heard of but can get up to 30 feet, which is nothing to sneeze at. But what’s truly impressive is its speed. We’re talking about riding at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour.

Shipstern only breaks on the largest southwest winter swells, and the wave is often unsurfable because of the winds. You could attempt to paddle in on a smaller day, but it’s mostly a tow-in affair.

👨‍🍳 The chef who found Shippies
The first surfer at Shipstern Bluff was a local chef, David Guiney, who since 1986 and then on for years rode the break by himself, just like Jeff Clark at Mavericks. He just wandered along the coast, found a new wave—no big deal.

David said about Shipstern:

"Takes everything. It takes your energy, it takes your confidence, it takes your ego, it takes it all so you've got nothing left."

Thank God it’s such a pretty wave—as photographed by Sean Davey, who took Kieren Perrow, Mark Mathews, and Drew Courtney to Shipstern Bluff in 2001, and effectively broke it to the world.

Surfing at the Shippies is a badge of honor for many surfers like Andy Irons, Kelly Slater, and Mick Fanning. It truly is a miracle that no one has died there yet.

But one came close. In 2024, big wave surfer Mikey Brennan disappeared from view as the wave crashed over him. He later recalled:

“To be honest, [the Shipstern wipeout] was the closest to death because even when I broke my back on the east coast at Governor, I was conscious for the whole time. It was equally as dangerous, but like this was just being knocked out and going unconscious. I really can’t quite explain it.”

Guess where we won’t be surfing any time soon. 😜

^{WORD OF THE WEEK}

Shoot the pier at your own risk ⚠️

When Laird Hamilton shot the Malibu pier in August 2014, he caught the biggest wave of the day, thanks to Hurricane Marie. People say he didn’t even see the pier. I say: he probably thought the pier would move for him.

🏄‍♂️ Threading the pilings
But what does shooting the pier even mean? It basically means riding a wave from one side of a pier to the other by threading the pilings. Literally surfing through the open spaces underneath the structure without hitting it. Not something that came out of ancient Hawai’i, because no piers.

According to the Encyclopedia of Surfing, shooting the pier is sometimes the most practical surf maneuver, because it’s safer to get through the pilings while riding rather than pulling out before the pier and getting eaten by the next wave.

But who are we kidding? It’s a showmanship move. Immortalized in “Surfing Safari” by Beach Boys in 1962. “At Huntington and Malibu they’re shooting the pier…”

It’s considered high risk, because you’re maneuvering your board and body through a narrow space at high speed. And advanced of course, because it requires precise control, timing, and confidence. But come on, it’s a flex!

📍 Where to flex
In California, there’s the Huntington Beach Pier, Scripps Pier in La Jolla, and Ocean Beach Pier in San Diego. Still waiting to see someone try it at Venice Beach Pier.

On the East Coast, piers are lower and trickier, but some surf-cases take on Cocoa Beach Pier in Florida.

In Australia, it’s less common and more tide-dependent, but you’ll occasionally see surfers thread Manly Wharf or Cronulla.

Not into the old-school wooden vibe? Head to South Africa and shoot a concrete pier in Durban—just know it’s risky as hell.

😬 The dark side of the flex
Just don’t end up like Pete Syracusa, a Huntington Beach local! He described his pier shooting in the 1964 issue of Surf Guide 😀 

“We were out on a six-foot day, and I was getting a little cocky. I went through the pier on the nose, caught a rail, and knocked out two teeth. Ended up with 40 stitches in my face.”

^{SURFBOARD SAFARI}

🩺 Grey’s Anatomy? No sorry, Stick’s Anatomy.

Ever experienced a slight mishap that exposed your surfboard’s insides? Aren’t the surfboard guts just fascinating? 😜

Yes. We should really have a talk about how surfboards are made.

👉 Read the full story

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Super Girls in Oceanside • Ron Jon founder remembered • Sewage shuts UK comp • Fatal shark attack in Sydney

👩‍🦰 Super Girl Surf Festival returns to Oceanside
The 19th annual Super Girl Surf Festival hits Oceanside Pier Sept. 19–21 with 170+ top female surfers, 10 sports, and 17 free concerts headlined by Lupe Fiasco, Plain White T’s, and more. It’s free!

🚫 Sewage cancels UK surf comp
The English Interclub Surfing Championships at Porthtowan were shut down after sewage overflow red-flagged the beach—an “absolute first” for Surfing England.

📰 Ron Jon founder dies at 88
Ron DiMenna, who started selling surfboards out of his car in 1959, built Ron Jon into one of the world’s most iconic surf shops. The Cocoa Beach megastore remains a landmark.

🦈 Fatal shark attack in Sydney
57-year-old surfer was killed in a suspected great white attack at Long Reef—the city’s first fatal shark incident since 2022. The tragedy has reignited debate over shark nets.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY PODCAST}

🏄🏻‍♂️ It’s only drowning after all — with Obama’s speechwriter David Litt

Enjoyed Barbarian Days? David Litt’s new surfing memoir, It’s Only Drowning is… not like that. Not even close. It’s funnier. Shorter. And more relatable for beginners.

Only 2 stars from Christine on Good Reads though: “Not what I thought it would be. It was almost exclusively about surfing, which was quite boring.” 😜

We chatted with David—former speechwriter for President Obama—on our pod about the book, learning to surf alongside his more experienced brother-in-law, and discovering surfing step by step: local breaks, surf camps, wave pools…And yes, how he went from non-surfer to paddling out on the North Shore.

🎧 Listen to The Wipeout Weekly on your fav pod platform or right here.

⬆️ 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! 🌊

^HOUSEKEEPING

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