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

Gunner Day Driving Through Indo Collected Thoughts 113: What makes this kid any different?

what youth gunner day photography by timmy Ridenour
Photo: Timmy Ridenour

So you’re 16 and an up-and-coming professional surfer from San Clemente…so what? There are a lot of those. Like a lot.  T Street looks like an Olympic training ground of fluorescent wetsuits these days.  So what are you suppose to do to stand out in the surf world? Is it the QS grind three to the beach and a reverse? (No it’s not) And it seems to be the clear choice of most kids these days. But for Gunner Day there is another option. An opportunity that only a few kids his age have: Go to Indo, shoot with the best, and get better at surfing.

And Gunner does this, with his dad. He hangs with Nate Lawrence and gets photos, and escapes the procedural surfing of So Cal. We recently drove, flew, drove some more, hiked a bit, took the rental car down some dodgy four-wheel drive tracks with mud pit exclamation points at the end.

We eventually ended up at a magical little bay filled with German tourists (none of whom, to our astonishment, seemed to notice the left hand slab out front winding away). Allegedly there are Tiger sharks and unmentionable things lurking in the channel — which was more like a rip current — but no one was out. There wasn’t a ‘QS beach break contest site for thousands of miles, just Gunner having a solo session away from the stress of chasing results, ratings and abiding to the norm of the surf industry.

The sun gave away to a tropical storm and an interesting photographic moment presented its self in the rain. I snapped a few pics while caught in the rip got pretty creeped out from what ever was swimming below and decided to call it a day. We got some clips had a few surfs in between chatting up the Euros on the beach. Then hit the road once again. But this time in search of some solid food, maybe buffet lunch and relaxing spa day.

There’s plenty of time to chase ‘QS rating but for today it seems like Gunner made the right call. Hang with the boys, surf empty waves, relax in a foreign country and call it work. Get a shot. Learn. And surf good waves. Gunner wins. —Timmy Ridenour

Brendon Gibbens and Nate Tyler in Australia What Youth

Brendon Gibbens and Nate Tyler about to join a cauldron of ramps and sharks Collected Thoughts 039

PHOTO: Lawrence You don’t expect to feel like there’s a chance Jeremy Wade the River Monster fisherman will pop up at any moment when you’re on a surf trip, but after three straight weeks of incessant rain, it felt just like that this year in Australia. Every river we saw was swollen and bursting at…

Luke Davis and Kai Neville check out surfboards What Youth

You don’t have a clue who Luke Davis really is. Neither did we. Collected Thoughts 038

PHOTO: Ferré “Can I just style the movie?” Luke Davis asks us as we review footage high above Coolangatta yesterday afternoon. “I’m thinking combat boots…” Luke is in Australia filming for Reef and What Youth’s rapidly approaching film, Anything Sing, but he’s more interested in talking to us about what’s going on behind the scenes….

Creed McTaggart This is Us Australia What Youth

Creed McTaggart, Filming for This Is Us, a new What Youth Series Collected Thoughts 037

PHOTO: Lawrence It’s long been established that surf trips are difficult. Wind, swell, angles, coastlines, sand, reefs and human behavior all combine for a wild social cocktail. And the thing that’s rarely spoken of is how much time we have to get to know each other while chasing these conditions in a car. With the…

Chippa Wilson rides for Fox photographed by Nate Lawrence What Youth

Chippa’s new stickers Collected Thoughts 036

PHOTO: Lawrence This morning at 6:30 a.m. I heard someone out on the deck, scraping wax and drinking coffee. The sun was just starting to peak around the morning clouds and it was quiet aside from the prehistoric dinosaur birds that lose their minds in the Australian morning. Chippa Wilson had begun the process of…

Anything Sing crew What Youth

On the set of What Youth and Reef’s new film Anything Sing Collected Thoughts 035

PHOTO: Lawrence We were worried. We hadn’t had any communication from What Youth photographer Nate Lawrence since he said he would call from Marrakech. We began to think the waves never showed and the boys resorted to the local tea and hookah shops for salvation. But then we thought how could the swell that produced…

Dion Aguis Creed McTaggart What Youth

Old Fashioned road trip down the South Coast of Australia Collected Thoughts 034

PHOTO: Neville A mix of young and old, hunting for onshore reefs but also rising before sunrise in search of golden light. Are we getting old? I remember filming for Modern Collective, the photographer would bang his tripod on the ground, accidentally knock your mattress at first light and roust you awake. We wanted no…

Ben Nordberg and Curren Caples in Venice photographed by Scott Chenoweth What Youth

Ben Nordberg and Curren Caples, Venice, California Collected Thoughts 033

PHOTO: Chenoweth Ben Nordberg is a 23-year-old professional skater from Bath, England and Curren Caples is a 17-year old professional shred-on-everything-he-rides from Ventura, California. This odd couple find themselves sharing four walls in Hollywood (actually Curren has only stayed at their apartment for three nights in almost four months, but still, roomies!). They’re Flip Skateboard…

Craig Anderson What Youth

Craig Anderson Post-Flight nap on a cold California Day Collected Thoughts 032

PHOTO: Beren Hall Craig Anderson got here yesterday. He strolled into our place bright eyed and bushy tailed, toting coffee and post-flight chit-chat buzz. We talked skateboarding and surfing, holiday breaks, and how his film (the reason he’s here) is coming together. He’s got a pretty booked couple of weeks here in California going through…

Pretty Sweet What Youth

A What Youth Press Release Collected Thoughts 031

PHOTO: Screenshot from Pretty Sweet I think it’s the scene in the new skate video Pretty Sweet where they are spraying, toasting and blasting beer into the air. It’s snowing and it’s shot on RED, just a brilliant moment. Someone must have stomped a sick one. It’s unfiltered fuck it! Right there on the screen….

Hawaii photographed by Scott Chenoweth What Youth

Dane and Gabriel in Hawaii Collected Thoughts 030

PHOTO: Chenoweth I’m trying to keep calm. I’m trying to carry on. But after doing some responsible drinking, I’m going to chime in. Since Friday, two maneuvers were pulled off that were crazy. One by Dane in competition — a turn that perfectly demonstrates his disregard for things like waves, surfboards and competitive strategy. The…

Craig Anderson photographed by Kai Neville What Youth

Craig Anderson, Changed ticket Collected Thoughts 029

PHOTO: Neville When we spoke to Craig he was just home from Europe before coming to California, then New York and New England. Europe didn’t end well. Craig is a kind soul and to move against him is an awful sin, and a Frenchman had sinned. It happens everywhere.   CRAIG ANDERSON: I’ve been home…

Dion Agius in France photographed by Kai Neville What Youth

Day one in France with Dion Collected Thoughts 028

PHOTO: Neville Little did they know that this would be one of the only successful surfs of the trip. Kai and Dion were to meet up with Craig and Dane but had one free day while those two took the opportunity to rip Wave Garden, the fake European wave in Spain. Walking up this day,…

Sign up for letters from What Youth


By enabling this page, you are acknowledging and accepting our privacy terms and conditions.