"Our tamariki are particularly susceptible to strong currents, and with all the water we have seen moving about they can quickly be swept away.”

Oh the ever-present joys of being a parent. Those, here, who count themselves amongst the lucky know well how situational awareness is spiked and especially during those early baby/toddler years though not abating into the pre-teens nor beyond. Of course, levels of protection can, and certainly should, be debated. Is a helmet necessary for every wheel’d activity, for example?

Or at what age is paddling out alone ok?

Well, New Zealand parents have found themselves on the sharp end of a frustrated surf lifesaving chief executive, this holiday week, as their young children are being swept out into the wild surf en masse.

Extremely laissez-faire.

Matt Williams released an “urgent” plea to the folk, declaring that “watching your kids from shore is not enough.” “Please don’t overestimate your ability or your children’s ability to cope in the conditions,” he continued. “They should be within an arm’s reach. Our tamariki are particularly susceptible to strong currents, and with all the water we have seen moving about they can quickly be swept away.”

Emphasizing his point, a story was shared about a seven-year-old boy who went for a little beach jog only to get caught up in some messy surf and carried three kilometers down the beach.

Yikes.

But a fun adventure for the little man?

Exciting and life affirming?

Also, will New Zealand’s next great surfer come from a longer leash from parents?

Something to ponder.

And in other beach activity related news, here is a three hour loop of the football scene in Top Gun: Maverick.

Enjoy.

Love island!

2022 is careening to its official conclusion but not before piling another giddy shock on surf fans still reeling from the latest blast. Days ago, as you know, Lupita Nyong’o made her relationship with Selema Masekela “Instagram Official” by posting a series of cute outfit changes. The extremely talented Academy Award winning actress and the surf broadcaster had officially eclipsed the heat surrounding Gisele Bündchen and Kelly Slater thus making them surfing-adjacent’s most powerful couple.

Until, that is, days ago when it was revealed that Jody Sweetin had married Mescal Wasilewski.

Best known for playing lovable Stephanie Tanner on the hit television program Full House, Sweetin has long been considered an American darling. Wasilewski, of course, the brother of surf broadcaster Strider.

The two officially got married in the summer but surf fans are generally slow to this kind of news therefore the giddy shock.

Sweetin told People magazine, “We intertwine so well. He’s funny and smart, and he’s my biggest supporter. It’s really magical.”

Adorable.

With the marriage, Sweetin and Wasilewski’s status supersedes Nyong’o and Masekela’s simple dating and a new surfing-adjacent most powerful couple is crowned.

A dizzying game of intrigue.

With three, or such, days left in the year will there be any more surprises?

Griffin Colapinto’s uncle and Rebecca Romijn?

World Surf League chief strategy officer Dave Prodan and Heidi Klum?

I saw her at Disneyland, recently, and though she was with a boyfriend I feel Prodan could sweep her off feet.

More as the story develops.

Chaos.

Bali, or the island of the gods, is a very magical place and if you have not visited before, I would very much suggest. There are many places to stay, sights to see, waves to surf though, it must be noted, raggedy hordes of hopped up tourists have become a serious problem.

These menaces, often dressed in Bali-branded merchandise, zig and zag on scooters, vomit into the gutters after drinking mushroom milkshakes and attempt to fulfill misguided childhood dreams of “learning to surf.”

The “learning to surf” bit has become such an issue that even the South China Morning Post has taken notice.

Founded in Hong Kong in 1903, the broadsheet was the official mouthpiece of British colonial rule, then the Rupert Murdoch empire until being sold to the Alibaba Group. While these days it suffers some criticism for promoting China’s soft power abroad, its journalist Dave Smith spared no disdain for Bali’s scourge of beginner kook scum.

Describing one incident, Smith wrote:

I get a very clear picture of what they are talking about when I paddle out to Medewi’s popular “point break” at high tide. The waves break slowly and consistently and are at times more than 100 metres in length – perfect for beginners. And therein lies the problem.

A few minutes after I get into the water, I see a beginner try to stand up on her surfboard before being wiped out.
Unfortunately, she didn’t properly attach her surfboard’s leg rope to her ankle and it comes undone – a crime in the surf world because it turns any surfboard into a dangerous waterborne projectile. And sure as death and taxes, it hits someone in the head – and that someone happens to be a local.

He doesn’t hold back from voicing his discontent.

While no punches were thrown, there is a heavy suggestion that there should be as various Austrian locals are interviewed, declaring, “When conditions are right, you can ride waves for up to one-and-a-half minutes here. (Before the pandemic) there would be maybe 20 surfers out on the waves – mostly locals and a couple of blow-ins from Kuta. But today there can be up to 100 surfers on any given day. And they’re all hungry for waves. They forget the rules.”

What should be done to help them remember those rules?

You tell me and the Austrian local.