Interview for Phuket Post
By Triin Tulev
The full interview
[img]http://www.saltwater-dreaming.com/gallery/albums/wpw-20100921/normal_cut-back-print.jpg[/img]
Name: Rick Gamble
Age: 40 something
Does for living: Surf Shop and Surf School
Surfing for: 35 years
Lives in: Bang Tao, Phuket
Comes from: Sydney, Australia
Loves: Surfing, Genuine People, Girls who surf, Cold Beer
Can’t stand: Pollution, warm beer
1. How did you become a surfer? When and where?
[b]1. How did you become a surfer? When and where?[/b]Ever since I can remember I have dreamt about the ocean, when I was very young I used to lay on the ground and look up in the sky and imagine the big white clouds where waves rolling in. In the early 70’s I got my first surf mat (pre bodyboard days) and in 1975, I got my first real surfboard a beaten up 7’2 Barry Bennet single fin.
I learnt to surf at Cronulla beach in Sydney Australia and learnt about the ocean when I was 7 years old, with the Elura Nippers surf life saving club at Cronulla. Eventually my real surfing development was at Sandon Point near Wollongong in Australia.
After 35 years paddling out, I still am never bored and am still learning. It’s difficult to explain how surfing makes you feel, but when you are hooked, you dream, and in waking hours, daydream about the ocean and riding waves.
[b]2. What is the best thing about surfing?[/b]The best thing is that surfing makes you feel good! It is relaxation, meditation, exercise, exhilaration, being one with nature and a time to face your fears, all rolled into one. It’s also a sport you can do all your life, I know a guy in Phuket who is 70 years old and is still surfing. Something Kelly Slater once said, “Surfing is like the mafia, once you’re in’ you’re in, and you can never get out”
[b]3. What’s the best wave you ever caught? Where and when?[/b]It’s difficult to say which is the best wave, but some of my best memories are surfing with friends and sharing the excitement. Surfing sometimes isn’t about the best waves, although quality waves are a stoke too, it’s about just doing it and that feeling you get.
There are so many great waves in the world, but if I had to choose, my favourite would be where I surfed when I was young, Little Pipeline at Summer Cloud Bay in NSW Australia, it’s a sacred and spiritual place for Aboriginal people in Australia and has a perfect barrel.
[b]4. Not too long ago there were just a few surfers around the world. How did it become such a popular sport? [/b] Surfing started growing back in the 60’s when people saw the lifestyle that went with it and once you try it, well….surfing is like a drug, it’s an addiction for life and it’s healthy too. When you become a surfer you will always be one. Although Surfing is now a multi-billion Dollar worldwide industry, as long as people keep in touch with the soul of surfing it will continue to grow.
[b]5. There are a lot of competitions going on. Do you like to compete? Any awards?[/b]There are 2 groups of surfers, those who like to compete and those who like to free-surf, I belong to the latter. I only entered the 3 Quiksilver contests about 10-11 years ago in Phuket, so I could meet other surfers. I met a lot of very cool people and many of them have remained good friends since then, I placed in the top 10 each year, best was 5th or 6th, can’t quite remember, old age catching up with me .
[b]6. What do you say to someone who really wants to try surfing but is scared?[/b]Sounds like someone I know . Get some lessons first with experienced people who know what they are doing and can take care of you in the water Start on the biggest Surfboard you can find on the smallest waves. I have many people who learn with us that are scared at first, but when they get the feeling they are hooked.
[b]7. Any scars from surfing?[/b]Not too many, probably the worst is a cut on my foot from my surfboard fin, severed tendon and nerves and 25 stitches, still can’t feel some of my toes. Popped my ear drums a few times, but nothing serious.
[b]8. What are your ambitions related to surfing?[/b]To never stop surfing!
[b]9. Tell us a funny story that happened while surfing![/b]
1
When in Australia we used to go in a 4 wheel drive car along isolated beaches looking for waves. One night we finally arrived at what we thought was a 32km long beach, so we drove over the sand dunes onto the beach, happy to know we could drive along the beach in the morning and not have to go back up the sand dunes. In the morning we realized we were on the wrong beach and the only way out was the way we came in. It took us 2 days to dig our way out of the sand and get back to the road. No surfing on that trip!
2
Back in the 70’s surf leashes were a piece of nylon cord threaded through a hollow tube of rubber. When the rubber stretched to its maximum the cord came into play to stop your surfboard. 99% of the time the rubber would stretch to its maximum creating a real fun pain effect as the surfboard wrenched your leg.
In those days my mother wouldn’t let us use them. They were considered dangerous in that they will make the board come back at you and hit you in the head. But we found a way around that and made our own
….. here is what we did….. 50% of the length, was nylon cord, and the other 50% was a bungie/luggage rope (octupus strap)… the ankle strap was a hankerchief. We used to hide these in the bushes and pick them up on the way to the beach. Please do not try this at home!! The bungie part of the leash really did make the surfboard spring back at you.