No Crowds, No Signal: Inside Katin’s New Zealand Surf Odyssey
There's a tendency to glorify the solo sessions, you know, those rare moments that you're out by yourself. Sure, it's better than surfing with 100 people but the real deal is surfing with a small crew of friends.
That's exactly what happened throughout the entire course of a Katin surfing odyssey in New Zealand's South Island featuring Greyson Messier, Saxon Wilson, and Tommy Coleman in the new film RECEPTION filmed by James Sarandis.
Greyson, Tommy and James had all flown down for the illustrious Single Fin Mingle (full story on that event coming soon) and had planned for some extra days for exploring after the event. Saxon arrived the day after the Mingle and then it was on--two vans, three logs, and almost zero cell reception throughout the journey.
As for the navigating one of the hardest surf destinations to properly forecast, the fellas said, "After the contest everyone was dispersing and heading to different places and so we decided to go our own way chasing waves. We relied on the wind forecasts to determine where to, basically heading to where it seemed like it would be offshore...we did a lot of driving and we even got the van stuck (laughs)."
James Sarandis
When I asked if they really surfed the whole time by themselves the answer was, "Yeah, we were pretty out there and didn't see many people. We'd cruise into these small, sleepy towns and people were surprised to see us. We even posted up at the very bottom of the island and that was wild. The only thing beyond that shoreline is Antarctica, it's a trip. We had everything from beautiful sunshine to heavy wind and rain. Sometimes we'd pull up and it would be onshore and we'd wait for a bit and boom, wind would switch offshore and it would clean up."
James Sarandis
As for equipment, they said, "We were there in the fall so it was cold but not much colder than a California winter. We know it can be much worse but it wasn't too bad. Having the logs was key though, a bunch of the spots would have been unsurfable with only shortboards. Getting them there can be a bitch though. Saxon had to leave one behind."
James Sarandis
The film premiered on Thursday night at Corner Pizza in Encinitas to a huge crowd. Greyson said, "It was such an epic party. We weren't sure how it would turn out but I don't think I've ever seen so many people. Huge thank you to everyone who came out and supported!"