30 Aug SURF, SKATE AND DESTROY
For 8 weeks I have been working together with Piter at our Dreamsea Surf Camp. While I am photographing the life in the camp, Piter is helping our chef in the kitchen. Nothing can disturb him from his clear and simple joy. His formula for happiness holds no confusion: waves + skate + rolling tobacco + cold beer. It’s like having a guy from Lords of Dogtown working at the camp: long blond hair, sad deep blue eyes and sketchy tattoos all over his body. I bought him a sixpack of his favorite beer and took him to watch the sunset at the harbour to listen to all the secrets saved in his tattoos.
Q: Man, I want to know everything about your tattoos. 
A: On my right leg I have surf tattoos: “No waves, no life” because I can’t live without surfing. Here it is a tiny surfboard; and C.O.R.E. My left leg is about skate: “Skate sketchy”, a tiny skateboard and a beer.
Q: Who made them for you?
A: My cousin made all of them, though he has no idea how to tattoo. “Skate sketchy” was the first one.
Q: Ok, let’s start from your left leg: “skate sketchy”? What does it mean?
A: It’s a concept, often used in skateboarding. We use it when the rider is unsteady and without control of the board.
Q: Is that a beer in the back of your leg?
A: Yes, I love beer. People think that it is a crafted beer but it’s actually a very common and cheap beer that me and my friends used to drink when we skated in Barcelona. We spent
the days riding the roads and drinking beer all together. And I also wanted to give the tattoo my personal touch so I inserted it a funny quote: “s**k my d**k”.
Q: What’s that at your left arm?
A: It’s an ode to the beginnings of skateboarding, an old american pool quarter. That’s where skateboarding was born in the early 50’s. Surfers in California wanted to do something when the waves were flat. So they tried to slide in void pools.
Q: So the right leg is all about surfing. What do you feel when you ride the waves?
A: It’s like the wave has you under control until you ride it. Then you win. It’s a constant, mental battle. You and the sea fighting all the time. When you take off, you feel that you’re the king of the world. It’s between you and mother nature. And I surfed once in Bali, so I can die in peace.
Q: How was it to visit there?
A: We just surfed. We spent the first days in Lombok, an island of Indonesia. There is nothing there, just 3 hostels and a few shops. You surf alone. To get the waves, you have to take a little boat because the swell is inside the ocean. Like they do on Youtube. Now I watch surf videos from Indonesia and I think: “I can’t believe I’ve been there”.
Q: Did you surf big waves?
A: No. I unfortunately broke my ankle back then. I just went to Bali because I already bought the flight. I felt very disappointed with myself because I didn’t get the swell, I was scared. And that’s why I made the “C.O.R.E” tattoo.
Q: What does “C.O.R.E” stand for?
A: It’s an anagram for remembering myself of the skills I miss. C for confidence. O for organization. R for repetition and E, doesn’t exist anymore because is erased, is for energy. I always walk barefoot when I have the chance so I don’t forget what I need.
Q: And are you getting these skills?
A: Yes, I’m getting it step by step. Since I have been working at the camp I rode the biggest waves ever. Last week in the swell I got scared but I took the first one and I knew that I could do it. Every ride is motivational.
Q: Do you think the camp life has helped you in the search for these four skills?
A: Yes. I get ‘Organization’ from working as a chef assistant. Cooking healthy food teaches me that everything has an order and to do it for my friends and guests makes me feel good. Every day I get more ‘Confidence’ and ‘Energy’ because it’s what I get from the people here around me. I can do ‘Repetition’ because the beach is 2 minutes walk from here and I can surf every day no matter the situation. Here I can destroy the fears and the obstacles that don’t let me reveal my Core.
