Longboarder magazine volume four is spearheaded by themes of Blue Health and Green Diesel. Blue Health is that body boost we get when we surf, bathed in a chemical cocktail of charged ions whipped up by breaking waves. Green Diesel is the exact opposite - the impactful petrochemicals we burn up to travel to waves. This awesome new volume explores the paradoxes of the blue and green sides of longboard surfing. But first we have to tackle a fault-line in surf culture - individualism. We are not encouraged ‘to share’ in surfing. So in this volume we celebrate the ideology of indigenous South Africans who cherish ‘ubuntu’, or ‘togetherness’ and ‘collectivism’ and ‘collaboration’. The outcome can be longboarding at its most inspired, blue health at it’s very best, slicing in style across the alchemical transformation of green glass to white foam.

To the background beat of ubuntu, the message of this volume is that longboarding is inclusive and not exclusive. Ubuntu invites talking with other surfers, reminiscing, sharing stories; and then communing with sealife. So, from Uruguay to Iceland, alongside El Salvador, Sweden, Norway, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Morocco, Papua New Guinea, Mexico, the Philippines, Spain, California, Cornwall and Devon, our contributors explore the blue health of longboarding in conversation with activists and artists and alchemical wavescapes sought by all travellers and locals.

Contributors include Dom Stone, Tom Prentice, Chris Burkard, Elli Thor, Armando Márquez, Malva Lorensson, Ignacio Pignataro, Giulia Panzetti, Mike Guest, Hamid Naciri, James, Paige and Zennor Parry, Carl Rowlinson, Sam Manning, James Stuart, Matty Hannon, Nathan Benham, Virginia Von Westphalen, Coko If and Ryan Watts.

Throughout the volume, there is regular reminder of our pressing duty to conserve the fluid ‘wild’. As longboarders, we must insist that the technologies that sustain every sweet noseride continue to explore sustainable futures. We must square our intense hunger for the punchy pockets in life-enhancing waters with these more extreme climate-change driven storms and natural hazards. It is no longer simply surfers against sewage, but surfers for sustainability - and for public health, spearheaded by the blue health movement that calls on us to reconnect with blue and green spaces rather than slump in front of the social media feed on our ‘phones.

Foreword - BLUE HEALTH & GREEN DIESEL

Editor Sam Bleakley writes about the blue health benefits of surfing and the ecological challenges we share. We raise the idea of ubuntu, or collectivism, where longboarding can be inclusive and not exclusive. The awareness of longboarders offers a powerful collective imagery, on display in every mouthwatering photo in this stunning volume. And we have to harness this love of longboarding and the nature and beauty of the sea to transform it into action for collective good.

ZENNOR’S FIRST WAVE

Word and Photos by Mike Guest

Photographer Mike Guest travels to Morocco with James, Paige and Zennor Parry. They catch up with local friend Hamid Naciri and James shapes a board in return for the Berber hospitality. And Zennor starts her surfing journey, tandem with James on the endless saltwater sand runners of Imsouane.

ART OF EL SALVADOR

Words and Illustrations by Armando Márquez

José Armando Márquez Carranza is a brilliant visual artist and illustrator. Fresh and free-spirited, his work voices a rad new platform for Salvadorian artists to be celebrated globally. These vibrant illustrations are now a cornerstone of Latin American surf and skate culture.

MALVA LORENSSON

Words and Photos by Malva Lorensson

There is an irresistible energy about Malva’s photography and art. And her resultant work is some of the finest at the core of surfing’s creative edge. From Scandinavia, to Iberia and Sri Lanka, Malva plugs inside the electromagnetic energy of underground surf culture.

ICE COOL ICELAND

Words by Tom Prentice

Photos by Tom Prentice, Chris Burkard and Elli Thor

Inside the Arctic Circle in Iceland’s West Fjords, Elli Thor has carved a cold-water career around ice surfing and radical art. Tom Prentice meets up with Elli to capture the overlooked longboard spots (with his own trademark flair) and explore how life at the edge of this living landscape demands a deep respect for the shape-shifting volcanic Arctic Atlantic.

SOUL OF URUGUARY

Words and Photos from Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Pignataro

Watching Nacho longboard is a feast for the senses. But beyond pioneering the modern logging scene in Uruguay, he has become an important voice for surfing through business, events, and the ISA Athletes Commission. Here Nacho shares his love of home.

SWIMMING THROUGH CARNIVAL

Words and Photos by Giulia Panzetti

Brazilian photographer and filmmaker Giulia Panzetti is quietly producing some of the most stunning work in surfing today. These are images that make your heart leap. Everything is luminescent and singing out with a South American sound of carnival samba.

NO TREES, NO SEAS

Words by Sam Bleakley

Photos by James Stuart, Ross McDonald, Matty Hannon, Mat Arney and Nathan Benham

From old Celtic Cornwall to roots in Papua New Guinea, we explore woods, boards and the forgotten relationship between our green and blue spaces. From clean energy to grassroots activism, we reveal how healthy seas are born from healthy trees.

PERFECT TEN IN PALAWAN

Photos by Dom Stone

Words by Sam Bleakley

Master photographer Dom Stone captures a lifechanging adventure to the Philippines, where a special collective of longboaders gather for competition carnival. But the trip is bittersweet as 23 year Yam Wisman dies in a scooter accident, and his friends pull closer together than ever before to hold the space in Palawan and celebrate the soul of Yam forever more.

LIVING COASTLINES

Word and Photos by Virginia Von Westphalen

In this portfolio, Virgina shares work from across the Pacific coast and describes her dedication to photography and appreciation of California cool. Her photos are cinematic in their interplay of light and focus.

CRAFT & CONNECTION

Word and Photos by Coko If

Hailing from Cádiz in Southern Spain, Coko If captures the delicate yet dedicated dance of longboarding in a magnificent style. Talking to champion shaper Jon Garmendia, and referencing his grassroots work at It’s Only Water, Coko interconnects artisan board-builders and photographers.

SAVE OUR SAUNTON SANDS

Words by Ryan Watts

Photos by Ryan Watts, Carolyn Seagers, Gordon Dryburgh, Luc Lacey, Chapter Surf, Museum of British Surfing and James A Grant

Saunton has long been an epicentre of British longboarding, a San Onofre for the South West. Local photographer Ryan Watts digs deep into the culture and future of this epic stretch of sand.

Longboarder Magazine - Volume Four