rob machado – Swell Lines

Rob Machado:

Bodysurfing played a huge role in my development as a wave rider. My first memories were from the shore break. It was my first understanding of what it felt like to get tubed. From there I graduated to riding a body board and then eventually on to a surfboard and I took those same fundamentals of “how to get tubed” along with me ever since.

I love when I see guys bodysurfing. I always give them the right of way. It takes so much more effort to get in the line up and put yourself in the right spot for the right wave… They deserve more respect.

I still bodysurf and I don’t leave home without my fins… Always in my car or in my board bag.
*Cover Photo: Sean Davey

Greg Long:

Bodysurfing…. The most pure and beautiful way to experience the act of wave riding. Every surfer out there should occasionally take a step away from their conventional wave riding craft and dive back into the water with nothing but a set of fins. There is no freedom quite like that which you experience when you’re body surfing, fully immersed in the ocean, gliding in harmony with mother natures energy. Body surfers are welcome in any lineup as far as I’m concerned.

Gary Linden:

Bodysurfing was my first experience riding a wave and one I will never forget. My Father grew up in Hermosa Beach and started teaching me about the Ocean from an early age. In those days there were no Boogie boards so we learned to bodysurf. Once I had a feel for how the Ocean worked with the currents and swells it became my number one priority. I eventually got a surfboard but the knowledge acquired from bodysurfing is still in use to this day.

I am really stoked that a group of guys are bodysurfing at the beach where i always surf. It reminds me of what we are out there for, to feel the force of nature. Bodysurfing is the root of all wave riding and seeing it being enjoyed keeps it all in perspective for me.

If you’ve seen many photos of waves, chances are high you’ve seen a Sean Davey photograph. Sean was inspired to pick up a camera by the dynamic Ocean and stunning landscapes of Tasmania. In Sydney, Australia, he photographed world-class surf talent, making a name for himself with attention to detail and artistic composition. Sean then began traveling around the world with frequent stops on the North Shore of Oahu. There, he met his wife and found the ultimate combo of heavy waves and talented surfers riding them. Sean still travels but spends the winter on the North Shore, capturing the world’s best surfers in the world’s most famous waves…sometimes without a board.
@Sean_Davey

From SeanDavey.com:
“Sean Davey first picked up a Kodak 126 Instamatic camera after school one afternoon in late October of 1977, to photograph a tiny perfect wave at his home beach. Little did he know at the time that it would develop (pardon the pun) into a lifelong obsession that would take Sean many, many places, in pursuit of his chosen craft of photography.”