THE AUDACIOUS SURF TALES OF VLADIMIR BORIS WAXANOV

... Story 1 - THE BALLARD OF OWEN ROBERTS

... Once us Aussies discovered the surf in Bali we invaded. There was hardly a beach anywhere along its coast, and beyond, where you couldn't swing a cat without hitting half a dozen Australian surfers at any given time. Now it's the turn of the Russians. Yes, they have finally come - although not armed with Kalashnikovas AK-47s but surfboards. Some every bit as surf-obsessed as any full-on charger wherever they may have come from. Some too are best described as hard-core mavericks who have devoted their whole lives to nothing but surfing. Living feral or otherwise. Vladimir Boris Waxanov is one such individual. Quite a character with a sharp mind, sharp eye and a drive to raise a laugh as much as possible. Meeting him forged an unlikely friendship and outlet for his surf tales.

DANE WILSON - Part two

... Dane has more surf stories that we can fit into a thirty-five-minute podcast. Yet somehow he manages to tell quite a few, pass some interesting observations of surfing and surfboards, plus recount some of his family's, and his own, adventures. Any one of those topics, with Dane's re-telling, could have easily stretched out into many, many minutes. Probably longer. With a life deeply rich in surfing the young Cronulla charger is still well and truly alive in Dane. Albeit somewhat tempered with maturity but definitely not dampened. If anything the maturity adds a deeper perspective.

DANE WILSON - Part one

... Cronulla boy Dane was born into a surfing family with deep roots in the local surf scene and industry. As long as he can remember Dane's father has always made surfboards. When Floyd Smith, partner of the famed American surfboard brand Gordon and Smith, set up a surfboard factory in Cronulla in 1965 it wasn't too long before his father worked there. The coastline around Cronulla is wave-rich with slabs, beach breaks and rock-bottom coves - a stretch of beaches that has nurtured a long lineage of chargers. Dane is one of them. Yet while an accomplished shortboarder Dane was drawn to longboards. How could he not with such a background plus falling under the influence of the legendary surf photographer Jack Eden? While never straying too far from his family roots, Dane soon forged his own path and reputation as an accomplished young longboarder.