Lucky Saturday 14?

Local PE surfer and one of the founders of the CYOH surf club will need support come 12midday tomorrow.  He will be attempting to break the current Surf Marathon World Record of 29 hours and 27 minutes! In order for him to smash this record, he will have to catch on between 350 and 400 waves, surf a wave every 5 minutes, will be drinking and eating in the water, and will only be able to take a break for 5 minutes every hour.  A long hard 30 of continuous surfing, but if there is one person who can do it, its Josh Enslin. We sat down with him today, to ask him a few questions:

Why are you doing what some people might call, this crazy attempt?

A while back, I read that Californian surfer, Ben Shaw, had set this record, and I thought it would be cool to try and beat it.  I applied to the Guinness World Record body and three months later I got the go ahead.  But during those three months, I kind of lost interest and thought it was too difficult and too insane.  There wasn’t really a hook.   It took my fiancé, Shelley Wells, to look me in the eye, tell me I could do it, but that I needed to do it for charity. That I could make a difference and I could use my talent and passion to make a difference. So, I approached our club CYOH (Create your Own Happening), and formed the CYOH Development Fund that is aimed at helping a number of charities (Love Story, Street Kids, Homeless Shelters, underprivileged surfers).  It just grew from there and we all got very excited.  I feel lucky to be able to be in a position to help others.  Its why we started CYOH in the first place.

How will it work?

Well, tomorrow at midday, I enter the ocean with my board and wetsuit, and hopefully, I emerge 30 hours later, with a new world record, and a whole lot of goods and money for our charities. Anyone who wants to come down to Pipe in PE, please bring canned foods, blankets, old wetsuits, equipment or anything that you think our charities will need.  That pile will hopefully grow and grow as the hours move on.  Anyone wanting to donate money, our Bank Details are:  JW Enslin, ABSA, Cheque account no. 4072937350.

How have you been preparing for this?

Surfing at least 4 x a week in all conditions!  And when I am not surfing, I have been working out with my MNA trainer, Chris Bright at PESFA.  That has worked my core and other muscles that I think I might be using!  Mentally, I am visualizing and practicing extreme positivity!

Tell us about your equipment?

During the day – a 3mm Billabong wetsuit – at night, a 4mm !

Booties, hoodie and gloves for the night.  And my Thruster 5 10 board.  Ben Shaw (the current world record holder) set this record with a 9 foot longboard, so hopefully by using a more difficult short board, I will make this accessible and possible to all surfers.

What do you fear the most?

Probably not knowing how much my body can take.  I have prepared as much as I can, but this will be in unchartered and unknown territory  - and as exciting as that may be, it is also terrifying.

That, and sharks, of course. I really believe they will tap into the charity aspect and feel the love.  I will have shark pods and lighting all night long but its always a thing.

What’s the first thing you will do when you get back on land?

Hug my fiancé Shelley, and thank her for putting up with all my shit!