Surfing, Skateboarding, Music, Photography, Travel, Culture and general antics of the youth on the run.

Chippa Wilson on the stoop Collected Thoughts 008

Chippa Wilson photographed by Nate Lawrence What Youth
06.07.12 – TAGS: ,

Here’s Chippa outside the rental he shared with Mitch and Craig on their trip into the Australian desert, where their minds drifted into a pleasant psychosis commonly called “desert fever” and they began to see things. Like tubes. Tubes and ramps.

Chippa recalls the experience:

I didn’t even check if there were good waves there, I just heard there’s like huge sharks, and it’s cold, and I wasn’t too psyched. But I was just like, Fuck it, I’m going for sure.

That was at first, until we got there, and then there was these rights and just perfect lefts, definitely different then I anticipated. I’m calling, like, I don’t want to make it public or anything, but it has like the best waves in the world.

The first day we got there it was real windy. We got there the day of a storm, and we drove up the coast for two hours, to these cliffs up the point from the slab. It looked pretty perfect but I hadn’t surfed a pit in a long time, so I was kind of on my back foot.

Then we checked another slab and I was like, What am I doing? I went to bed that night, woke up, and it was all offshore in the morning, and just perfect pits. Then we had this lefthand that would go into a little closeout section. It was like as much fun as I’d ever had surfing.

It was only me, Mitch and Ando out there and they have these sets with two to three good ones probably every 10 minutes or something like that. You’ve got no people to worry about, like you’re not going on one and then having to wait 20 minutes for the next chance.

We’d go travel 40 minutes on a dirt road to the west, jet uphill and get to the IGA, the supermarket, just stock up on Nutribars and water, you know just chips and snacks. Then snack all day and make it to the pubs at 8:30. Like a full Groundhog Day but with perfect waves, every day.

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Craig Anderson, Mentawai Islands Collected Thoughts 111: Horrible waves in Indo aren’t that bad

“We hopped on the Bintang boat and got the best waves of our year. Shortly after, we got back on that same boat and got the worst waves of our year. Turns out, horrible waves in the Mentawais still aren’t that bad…” —Nate Lawrence

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Gunner Day Mind Pump Collected Thoughts 110

“A three week flat spell led to an over-hyped swell. The over-hyped swell led to a crowded lineup. The crowded lineup led to searching for other waves. Gunner Day. A first timer to the inside-mind-pump section.” —Nate Lawrence

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Have Surf Magazines Lost their Minds? Collected Thoughts 109

Have surf magazines lost their minds? First off, surf photographers have always been creepy people. Writers, not much better. But it seems in my years dealing with surf magazines that the people in charge are usually pretty turned on. They know how to make a very selfish sport look fun and inviting. I always looked…

what youth collected thoughts nate lawrence photography surfing

Too Much Perfect in Indonesia Collected Thoughts 108

Living in Bali has it’s perks. It’s cheap, warm and has waves all year round. It also has it’s downsides. Traffic, pollution and kooks. But the perfect waves always conquer the cons when contemplating if there is a better place to live. But just recently the perfect waves didn’t seem so perfect. I found myself…

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Nate Lawrence nearly robbed To get you this Collected Thought Number 107 lineup shot

I nearly got robbed trying to get a lineup shot. I probably deserved it though. After all, I am exposing surf spots. And taking photos of a wave and making it look prettier than it is. The wind? It was onshore. The crowd? It was packed. But that’s the thing with us sketchy photographers, it’s…

Dillon Perillo, Indo Collected Thoughts 106: “Dillon lost his mind out here, which is kind of like finding it for him.”

On an island in remote Indonesia, Dillon Perillo can finally surf again. 5 hour sessions in the middle of the day with no one out. And then again just before sunset. This is not Malibu. —Nate Lawrence

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Chippa Wilson on the “Duo”, Bali Collected Thoughts 105

I was pretty amazed when Chippa pulled out this Neil Purchase Jr surfboard with only 2 fins and decided to ride it at pumping Uluwatu. The takeoffs were late and the drops were steep, but it didn’t hinder Chippa’s surfing. The positions in which he was riding the waves were something I hadn’t seen before.

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The Bukit Peninsula Collected Thoughts 104

The warm water splashes on your toes as you pass mostly naked women on the beach on Bali’s Bukit Peninsula. Left, right, left. Your head can’t stop spinning. Then you see the waves. One, two, three, four. Lines stack up to the horizon and then you pick your time and go. Paddle towards the sun….

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Julian Wilson in Bali Collected Thoughts 103

Still think spraying someone who’s paddling over the shoulder is one of the best things (and brattiest) in surfing. Julian Wilson partakes in Bali recently. —Nate Lawrence

Collected Thoughts 101 Bronson Meidy

Bronson Meidy, 12, Keramas Collected Thoughts 102

There’s a new kid to the surf scene in Bali. His name is Bronson Meidy and he just turned 12 this week. I usually don’t like to say anything about kids this young because you just want them to be kids. Eating candy and shit. Not worrying about sponsors and sticker placement. Just going surfing…

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The Indian Ocean Spotlight: beach parties, waves and Scandinavian women Collected Thoughts 101

The Indian Ocean is back in the spotlight. Swells are stacking up and surfers are busy paying excess baggage on flights. So what’s new? It’s still hot, dirty and full of Brazilians. There’s still corruption and crazy tourists. People are still getting crunched my motorbikes daily. But there are parties every night and Scandinavian women…

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Chippa Wilson, Bali 2016 Collected Thoughts 100

“Sometimes it feels so good to dig your back hand in the water and do a nice Larry layback. Chippa in Bali recently unveiling his new Brixton stickers.” —Nate Lawrence

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