Is this the end of the bushmen/surfer, as more and more of the soul of the artform is stitched, glued and molded together in countries far from the source and brought back sealed in oblong containersto be sold en masse? No more Peter Troys?
I don't think so, there is a strong sense of individuality still running rampant through surfing. It's not going anywhere soon. This innundation of cheap to manufacture and highly profitable merchandise is natural part of virtually all activities in the west, clogging to unacceptable levels lineups maybe, but the surfer who wants isolation will still be able to find it for a long time to come. There are 10,000 villages out there....................
The benefit of these new numbers of surfers maybe in the lineage of Van der Post's eco-tourist. People who will chafe under the work week rigors and get renewal on weekends at the nearest beaches they can get to. Then for those who can pull it off will travel to distant reefs where hopefully the magic of those breaks will trigger a protective embrace. The creation of protected coastlines like wilderness zones. Funded by the masses in cities around the globe, warmly remembering days spent in waters far from home. It has and does work for the conservation of animals and their habitats.
It may be a case of preserving what we have, not a case of recovering what we have lost though. G-Land would be one of the better examples. The crowd-free earliest years will never be re-enacted but the break will remain relatively unspoiled despite the throngs who fly in from every corner of the world all year long.
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