Nathan Florence surfs his newly resurrected “zombie board.” Photo: Nathan Florence // YouTube
In a world where most all of the surfable waves in existence are public information, somehow Nathan Florence still manages to break new ground. After the last time we saw him, during a chaotic session at Lance’s Right, Florence once again dipped into to uncharted territory in the form of a “side quest” to what he claims is an un-surfed slab in Indonesia.
“Me, Matt and Liam are checking out this crazy left slab down the way,” said Nate to his GoPro, out in the water. “Nobody’s really surfed it. A couple guys have tried, but pretty much untamed. Real shallow, real sectiony, real fast, but some crazy barrels.”
However, while the mystery slab tantalized Florence with one promising looking barrel, the break turned out to be more mirage than oasis. “We found…nothing,” concluded Nate once he’d returned to the boat. “We got teased with one, that’s it.”
Thanks to some quick thinking, though, the outing wasn’t a total loss. On the way in, the crew jumped out so Nate could test a newly resurrected “zombie board.” The 5’7” Pyzel had previously been snapped in half and lost its nose, but somehow was cobbled together into a usable (if strange looking) franken-board. Despite being an unlikely companion in what ended up being some formidable surf, it turned out to be just the right tool for the job.
“It turned on,” described Nate afterwards. “Wind went offshore. It’s pumping. So my 5’7” felt like a little skateboard, skating over the double-up.”
