“Been in shock” Kelly Slater posts tribute to Mercury Psillakis, killed by Great White shark

And reveals surprising connection to the popular Sydney surfer.

And while we might hang a lot of things on Kelly Slater, greatest ever to do it with the exception of Dane Reynolds, as previously stated, there is one immutable truth: there is no person alive or dead who has passed through the world of so many others surfers.

From Obama to the kids he gave busted boards to in the shore break at Pipeline and France and wherever, to the schools he’s spoken at, the girls he’s loved, the men who’ve tried to fight him or hug him or corner and kill him with dull conversation, to the shapers he’s known, and to the current director of the US’s mighty National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, he’s a man who’s orbited the earth for so long there’s a real good chance you’ve had at least one encounter with Kelly Slater.

Therefore it didn’t come as a surprise when Kelly Slater revealed his surprise connection with Mercury Psillakis, the popular Sydney surfer and the twin-brother of the noted shaper Mike Psillakis, a man whose high-performance surfboards have long been a staple of the area’s best surfers, who was attacked and killed exactly one week ago by a Great White shark.

As it turned out, Mercury Psillaksi had sanded Slater his favourite board from Simon Anderson, one of those slender six-ones he looked so beautiful at Jeffreys Bay on, only 18 1/4” wide and 2 1/2” thick.

“Been in shock for the past week about Mercury Psillakis and another tragic shark incident. My condolences to the huge group of friends who have grown up with him and are mourning his passing,” Kelly Slater wrote.

A few moments ago, Long Reef, the stretch of sand just north of famous Dee Why point and where Mercury was killed, was empty despite six-foot roll-ins into perfect A-frame peaks. Police boats and jetskis were in the lineup, reason unconfirmed.