We started a little surf thing and it turned into a big thing because we shared it
Words by Ed Templeton | 24th October '24
Since Covid washed us up in Sri Lanka at the Cove, a happy accident in the midst of turmoil, we dreamed of organising an event at the wave we have out front showcasing the kind of surf culture we love. Surfers who surf because they surf and with a smile on their faces. Surfers who surf a range of boards in creative, fun, sometimes silly ways. Surfers who leave their egos on the beach.
Kavi by @albaguell
We already knew a bunch of these surfers, coaches, business owners who live and work in Sri Lanka. We figured there’d be a bunch more. And we knew that the only way for this to be a genuine community surf jam is if we got as many of these movers and sliders involved, from helping to put the whole thing together, to sponsoring, to participating.
When we approached people to get involved the first response from everyone was pretty much ‘Yes! Now, what was the question?’
That created a groundswell of positivity, that spirit is infectious, we all got excited, we had some planning meets with a small surf jam team and we knew that whatever happened this little jam was going to be good. We crafted creative, non-serious, gender neutral, surf jams (not competitions). We talked about the surfers we would invite, the food we’d serve, the music we’d play, the hosts who would commentate, the films we’d show, the charities and local businesses we would champion, the brands we’d like to showcase. But we still thought it’d be us, the surfers and a dozen or so mates dropping by.
We could feel it on the eve of the first day as we met with the judges and volunteers and surfers. But when we really, really felt it was when dawn broke and the first few surfers entered the water, when Liam, Justin and Pof took to the mic to welcome people into the cove, onto the beach into the jam. In fact, I would go as far as to say that it was the combination of Liam, Justin and Pof as comperes that elevated this beyond what we had imagined. Their instinctive and perfectly apt blend of surf passion, knowledge and humour allowed the surfers to let their guard down, the judges to catch the off-beat vibe in their score, the spectators to realise how different it was to a surf comp this was and the atom sphere they built invited even more of the local community to come down and join in.
An impromptu band was formed and played super cool, bass-heavy instrumental surf jams all afternoon. Entrepreneurs bought ice and cases of beers and set up down the beach undercutting our prices whilst getting encouraging shout-outs from the hosts. It was delicious chaos.
To underscore what this was all about, Sam Bleakley, our friend and a very experienced professional surfer, commentator, author and all round surf enthusiast helped steer the judges toward scoring the fun, the experimental, the creative surfers. Hence, the winner of the ‘Anything but a Shortboard’ session on Saturday was 16 year-old Ellie riding a finless foamie wearing a pink flamingo floaty. And Kavi kept inventing new, never seen before, spinning switch-stance tricks to win the Sunday longboard event. These were seriously technical and accomplished surfers out there letting loose, having fun, experimenting and entertaining.
Anywhosie. Why am I rambling on about this again?
Because we are planning our next one.
Because we have a date.
1st & 2nd February 2025.
Because we are going to try something similar in Varkala, Kerala a couple of weeks before.
18th & 19th January 2025
Because we should tell people.
And because… it’s nice to reminisce.
Ellie by @albaguell
I’ll be honest, some of our in-house guests were not actually that happy that half of the south coast of Sri Lanka had descended upon them for a day of their surf & yoga retreat. We carved out VIP areas for them to eat, drink and relax but there were still a few hundred surfers hanging about on their doorstep, a stack of speakers and three loons on a mic talking nonsense all day.
Yet some of them were absolutely pumped that this infectious event had come to their doorstep.
So, to be one step ahead this time, we thought we’d invite more people who might be pumped by the jam to stay with us and to offer some specific surf jam focused retreat weeks either side of the weekend.
So the longboarders can work with some of the stars of last year's surf jam on long boarding all week and then watch the longboard event. The single fin, mid length and fish riders can be inspired by the ‘anything but a shortboard’ event and then launch into a week with some of the jammers focusing on their style, flow and technique. See what we did there?
We need to continue to thank all of those who made this happen. You can tell from this list here that this was truly a community effort… Lily, Alissa, Justin and the Soul & Surf crew, Liam - Lotus Surf & Wellness / Franco - You Are The Sea / Thili - Cruise Culture / / Yhevin & Yanik - Salty Swamis / Sam Bleakley / Malla - Kaffi, LBK & Spice Trails / Jack - Twin Fin / Barra - Doctors House / Max, Pof & Nikita - Ticket To Ride / Petter & Lin - Ceylon Sliders / Geeth - Tropical Essentials / Ravi, Anishka & Sam - Trax / Judge from Hikka / SeaSisters / Jesse - Big Mighty / Lamana / Rice & Carry… I know I will have forgotten loads of people. But, hey, I’m ageing, give me a break.
@malvalorensson
@ria.the_wildchild
