The Global Paddling Community

Interview with kayak surfer Nathan Eades.

This interview was originally produced for the Portuguese web site 'kayaksurf.net' and is published exclusively on Playak in english to make it available to a wider audience. The portuguese version of the interview is available here.

Name: Nathan Eades
Age: 24
Nationality: Welsh
Occupation: High School Teacher- but i'm just working as a sub teacher for the next few years to concentrate on my travelling.
Competition records:
Brazil World Championships 1999- 5th place Under 18
Brittish Championships 1999- Brittish Champion Under 18
Santa Cruz, California World championships 2001- 2nd place Under 18
Men's Brittish Champion 2001
Mundaka 2002 European Champs- 2nd
Mundaka 2003 European Champs- 2nd
Costa Rica World Champs 2005- 9th
Sponsors: Nookie, DBxclusive kayaks, Robson paddles, Shred Ready helmets.

Hi Nathan, after Teahupoo in 2003, Sri Lanka. Why did you choose this destination?
I'm always looking for exciting new places to go surfing with exciting cultures. Although my main drive is surfing and I could never see myself jumping on a plane with just a back pack, I really enjoy the exploration/expedition side of a country like Sri lanka.

You and your friends stayed there for three months! How was it living in Sri Lanka for so long?
To be honest it wasn't long enough! I just feel so much more at home in 3rd world countries, it's for this reason that I've spent so long on the White Nile and the Zambezi. Everything is so cheap to westerners in the 3rd world so you live like a king on very little. Everyday is an adventure, just simple day to day tasks we take for granted over here are so much more difficult in a country like Sri lanka: There are no supermarkets to pick up your food- you have to go and barter with the local fishermen to get a fish and hustle in the hot sweaty market for things like rice and fruit. Your washing has to be done in rivers and streams and for most running water supplies are none existant. For many people this sounds horrific, but for me that's all one giant buzz so I loved every minute of it! Man I want to go back just thinking about that place.

And the local people received you well?
Yeah, they just love people bringing money into their country, we landed some great guesthouse type places offering beds and local curries. Our hotel operators could learn a lot from the warm hospitality you receive at these places.

You were the only one there with a surfkayak?
I bumped into a waveski paddler called Steve Chivers out there in my last week, he was from England. Other than that, I got a few funny looks as I sat in surf board dominated lineups in a kayak.

Hikadua was one of the great spots you surfed there. Was there a "special one" you liked most?
Well I found this incredible secret spot that I heard about through word of mouth from surfers that warmed to me. I'm not usually some one that keeps secret spots to myself, but the locals as well as travelling surfers were really good to let me into that line up in a kayak and it would be wrong for me to advertise it on the world wide web. Having said that, a true surfer will always find a secret spot...

You surfed in many countries (Brazil, Basque Country, South Africa , Tahiti, USA, Central America). Which is your favorite?
They all have their own merrits and I find it impossible to narrow it down to one. Right now I would say Sri Lanka, but that's because I've just got back from 3 months surfing in just a spray deck and boardshorts! Tahiti was incredible as the only way to get to the breaks was by boat rides, Central America has incredible point breaks that go on and on for miles, Brazil- amazing waves and hot hot women... how can I dismiss these great places by naming just one? As long as a country is warmer and serves up higher quality waves than home, I want to go there!

How do you like your Fusion?
It's great - but i would say that. I think the worst thing about designing your own boat is that when you absolutely love it and tell people you love it, they'll always be dismissive of your comments. You know the stuff - "well he would say that, he designed it". It's designed with the type of waves I love in mind; steep fast and hollow! In Sri Lanka it absolutely ripped! I got more air time than I've ever experienced in a kayak and I easily made sections that I would normally walk away from! More and more people are buying them now so that's great news for Dbxclusive and slowly the message is getting across that there is more than one surf kayak manufacurer on the market that is serious about the kayaks they build!

Is there another model on the way?
We'll have to see about that one... surf boarders travel with a quiver for different waves and conditions, where the Fusion rips other kayaks fall short, but then again where others rip the Fusion falls short so perhaps there's room for something in the quiver.

In your opinion, what is the current state of surf kayak design? Are things innovating?
Right now it's the best it's ever been! For me it's ALL about the flat hull with no channels or dimples, just flat like a surf board and the high volume in the tail is so important! As soon as these two things turned up in kayak design the BIG moves started coming into town. My only concern is that kayak design is getting closer and closer to wave ski's and every now and then I find myself asking that dangerous question - "why aren't we all riding waveskis?"

Imagine I want to go surfing to Sri Lanka… what kind of advice would you give me?
Get as many vaccinations as you can get your hands on, there are more nasties out there than you can shake a stick at! All of the breaks are super shallow coral reef which is the worse reef there is, the corral leaves bits of itself in you if you hit it and this will quickly turn infected. You really must know what you're doing in your kayak before considdering going so that you don't cause yourself a serious injury. Make sure that your surf etiquette is impecable, the guys I surfed with in line ups often took a while to warm to a 'goatboater' even with me being on my very best behaviour. I would say a single collision or drop in and you're not going to be welcome in many places out there.

The best memories you keep from Sri Lanka…
The whole package really: the waves, the sun, the water temperature, the people, the food, and of course the beatdowns!

And the not so great memories …
There were no chicks - like seriously none! The locals aren't really my cup of tea and their religion makes them out of bounds in any case. Sri Lanka normally attracts quite a few tourists but due to the bombings out there at the moment there weren't any - in that respect 3 months was a LONG time!

And this year at the Mundaka/Bakio World Championships, are you going?
Yeah i'm really looking forward to it. Mundaka in October when it's absolutely going off its nuts could prove to be a very entertaining world champs for everyone involved. There's going to be some sick sick rides but some absolutely brutal beatings too! I'm not too concerned about the comp, I just want to be able to surf that place BIG!

You missed the World Cup in Portugal… Any plans to come and surf here?
I know, that was shitty! I've been studying away from the coast for the last 4 years and have really found it difficult to make it to competitions in the UK let alone qualifying events around the globe. But I'm past all that now - I've just bought a house 100 metres from one of the best breaks in Wales and I'm supply teaching so the money's good and I'm totally flexible! I can go play in the waves and make it to comps whenever i want now so expect me at the next World Cup event.

Final message to our readers?
Get out there amongst it! The best days are always the days when it looks crap, but if you get in you'll always get out smiling!

Thanks a lot Nathan!

Nathan's sponsors:

Text - Luis Pedro Abreu
Photos - Jamie Brammel