Swell Lines Mag

Bodysurfing yarns woven ‘tween crest and trough

Volume 4 Issue 5

  • Volume 1 Issue 8

    a. Purple Blob Report: Summer 2014 b. Proning: Riding the Roots of Bodysurfing c. Brush Strokes: Matt Beard d. Ode to Pains e. Visions of the Month: October 2014

  • Purple Blob Report: Summer 2014

    Record breaking Pacific Tropical season, solid Southern Hemisphere energy, early start for the Northern Hemisphere, warm water, moderate winds, clear skies: the 2014 summer surf season was/is phenomenal. An all-timer, a comparison for epic summers of the future, literally one for the record books. Wave-riders are battered and rashed… but smiling in remembrance of summer and…

  • Proning: Riding the Roots of Bodysurfing

    Prone: likely to or liable to suffer from, do, or experience something, typically something regrettable or unwelcome. lying flat, especially face downward. The Prone Form of bodysurfing is characterized by the rider leading with the head while aligning both arms parallel to the torso. Riding Prone, the bodysurfer experiences the Ocean nose-to-surface. This raw style…

  • Brush Strokes: Matt Beard

    Matt Beard is a very talented and Ocean-inspired artist. Originally from Long Beach, CA, Matt now resides in Humboldt County with his wife and children.  He frequently roams the California coast in a large van full of “art and surfboards and friends and wives and childrens and on occasion even people from Oregon can be…

  • Ode to the Pains

    Weeks and months of good surf! Cuts and scrapes and tweaks and rashes. It hurts… but the pain is good. It’s a reminder of pumping swell. You have not been sitting on the couch. You’ve been spending hours/days in the Ocean. Hard rubber fins rubbing and grinding. Hamburger feet. Wear your foot ulcers like a badge…

  • Visions of the Month: October 2014

      Thanks for all your entries! For a chance to have your photo in our Vision of the Month collection, send in your photos to swelllinesmag@gmail.com and label the email “Vision of the Month.”  Please include name of rider and photographer.

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Scenes from a very special run of swell. Merry everything. Find your happy little corner. WBC 2025 is on. We hope everyone creates lasting memories with the big bodysurfing family. Thanks to Scott, Casenelli and all of the awesome volunteers who keep this tradition going. Yew! June was solid with consistent combo swells and windows of clean conditions. July began with 6 days of pumping SSW swell. An excellent start to Summer! We met Mark in the water during a massive swell at a local North County San Diego beachbreak. Today our bodysurfing family is saddened to learn of the passing of Fred Simpson. Fred Simpson played a major role in shaping modern bodysurfing performance, culture and equipment. He was a fatherly figure to many young guys scrapping for waves at one of the most famous surf spots in the world. He also designed a fin built to perform for wave surfers. As a vessel of bodysurf and surf knowledge we have lost a titan. He was humble, kind and always willing to share his wealth of experience with us. While he loved Newport, he would often be seen roaming the Oceanside Pier on the Sunday of the WBC championships watching the performers and talking about technical bodysurfing. We wish our wedge family peace in their time of grief and we wish his family the same. Feel free to share memories here and read our two articles about Fred on Swell Lines Mag. 🖤💛 Thanks 2024…here’s to a swell-filled 2025 for all! Pocket rider.

Categories

The History of.

How to.

All-Time Sessions.

Salty Fins.

The Science of.

Sandy Pages.

Glassy Feature.

Ocean Verse.

Tripping Fins.

Visions of the Month.