Listen: Wayne Lynch and Gerry Lopez

Podcast courtesy of Patagonia

In 1974, while out to dinner at Jack McCoy’s vegetarian restaurant in Torquay, Gerry Lopez noticed a photo hanging on the wall outside the toilet and stared at it, mesmerised. The photo, taken by Jack’s long-time collaborator Dick Hoole, was of a surfer racing across a long lefthander. It didn’t offer many clues. It had been taken from the water and there were no geographical landmarks to go off, it was just a beautiful, lined up left. The surfer, however, Gerry knew well. The photo was of Wayne Lynch and had been taken in Bali the previous year. Gerry had no idea where Bali even was at this point. Few surfers did. The Indonesian island had only just been discovered by surfers, and the secret was tightly kept… for now. Gerry surfed Uluwatu later that year and was immediately spellbound not only by the wave, but by the mysticism of the island itself. They’d found the Island of the Gods.

Over 40 years later Wayne and Gerry returned to Bali to find it a little busier than when they were last here. The cliffs at Uluwatu were lined with resorts and warungs and the lineup was a cosmopolitan full house. But the wave was still the wave and Bali was still Bali and over a week of surfing and yoga the pair reconnected with the spirit of the place. On their final night on the island, these two surfing legends gathered on the cliff and held court, discussing Bali then and now and the whole notion of change.

Click here or on the image below to listen to the conversation

Comments

Blowin's picture
Blowin's picture
Blowin Sunday, 25 Nov 2018 at 11:09am

Morning of the Earth came out in 1971 didn’t it ?

Pretty hard to call Uluwatu a secret spot after that blow out .

Westofthelake's picture
Westofthelake's picture
Westofthelake Sunday, 25 Nov 2018 at 8:42pm

Wow that's almost 50 years ago.

These 2 guys are living legends.

Never going to sell my almost immaculate epoxy Wayne Lynch thruster that I scored a few years ago for $200.
Ever.
Don't know about you but goofys are fucking cool.

stunet's picture
stunet's picture
stunet Sunday, 25 Nov 2018 at 8:53pm

Here's a shot from Blowin. I'm posting it but I assume he'll pick up the commentary....

goofyfoot's picture
goofyfoot's picture
goofyfoot Sunday, 25 Nov 2018 at 9:28pm

Isn’t he natural?

stunet's picture
stunet's picture
stunet Sunday, 25 Nov 2018 at 9:34pm

I thought he was a kneeboarder.

CryptoKnight's picture
CryptoKnight's picture
CryptoKnight Sunday, 25 Nov 2018 at 8:59pm

I remember getting a Lynch/Roar custom. When it finally came, after the Roar guys took over the never ending project, it wasn't what I ordered, but looked ok. Nice sticker. Twinny ledge was interested in one too, and we had a laugh when we unpacked it. First surf, it was on the roof of the HQ, and we were heading to another left for a dawny. A huge roo flew over the sand ridge gully we were driving through, lobbed with pinpoint accuracy right onto the Lynch and completely crushed the nose of it hanging over the windscreen, before attacking the windscreen and bounding off. We drove on, with the crushed, fur impregnated Lynchy beak flapping in the wind. It made a great topic for some bewdy stories on the cliffs. After the repairs, it went ok. Some of those guys came over shortly after and I surfed it with them. It was bigger than chest high to a grasshopper bombers. They reckon it was huge. No body could be fucked setting up a camera crew. Why would ya? Fuck knows where it is now. Maybe in Keaney's shed. Buried under some bags of concrete. Or maybe resting under hundreds of empty kitchener bun bags, empty twisties packets, coke tins and mars bar wrappers, out the back of the 'dominators' place. Dunno.