Watch: Margo // The Lost Tapes
Says Margo of this short pre-digital clip:
“It was a boat trip six months before the Banda Aceh earthquake in 2004 and I was lucky enough to surf the waves in the area before they changed or disappeared, Azure being one of them which is featured in the footage."
"Years passed and video cameras went from tape to digital. This was one of the best surf trips for waves and company that I'd ever done, exploring with Dylan Longbottom and Rasta. Eighteen years later I managed to dig through piles of tapes kept away from moisture and mold and found these."
Filmed by Bali Strickland.
Comments
so good
Such an incredible style.
Sensational.. love the t shirt n boardies look.. ripper
Anyone know of any academic studies of how much the sea floor rose in that area after the Boxing Day 2004 and March 2005 earthquakes?
Anecdotal evidence says as much as two meters, as several waves were significantly altered - along with lineups in the Andaman and Nicobar islands to the north.
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature04522
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Aceh/aceh2.php
Thanks, Hamish!
"The Boxing Day 2004 earthquake was generated by rupture of the Sunda subduction megathrust over a distance of >1,500 kilometres and a width of <150 kilometres"
This was a massive event - a 9.0 on the scale
More complicated than simple sea floor rise - "Land predominantly sank around the Nicobar Islands, both sank and rose around the Andaman Islands, and predominantly rose around Simeulue Island. The satellite-based map showed that the earthquake rupture stretched nearly 1,600 kilometers along the fault—100 kilometers farther north than previous estimates suggested"
A bit of Parko, a good dash of Andy, and so much more.
Arghhhhh Swellnet. It's like Christmas coming home and seeing this. Thanks!! Style, power and precision like no other.
Still right at the top of the tree in my opinion as best surfers of all time. Never needed a world tour to prove it either!
Ripping Brendo.
Beautiful surfing.... So much style and power. One of my favourites up there with Curren, Parko and AI...
Glad his surfing being recognised again with Pulse etc. Seeing him surf live back in 90's was next level and he was always cool in water.
Was lucky enough to surf both ASU and Bawa pre quake, such epic memories ..
Thanks for clip!
Dog island
Amazing surfing. Terrible filming. Those close in shots are weird. Gives you no context on the whole wave.
Great viewing
He Absolutely rips on the bigger board too .. image him on a board today .. great clip and tune.. watched it 3 times now
Go to his Insta. I reckon his style is better now due to much better board types.
Wow, I remember that image from about 25 years ago. It was on my mate's bedroom wall and is etched in my brain forever. What a great shot.
From memory it was from an issue of ASL under a heading something like, "magic, madness, Nias, and Margo".
Iconic image Udo. Just incredible.
Ripping, how's that power!
Wow. That was sick.
He tore Winki apart in Wanderjahr. Best surfing I've ever seen at Winki, looks like he's playing with it and at size too.
Watch this movie, soo sick, especially the Winki section
Was just thinking same! Couldn't think of the movie title. You just revealed! Talk about rail surfing at Winki!! Anywhere, and humble too!
Awesome documentary!
Margo on those Maurice Cole surfboards was a special union that’s for sure.
Agree Optimist so good. Such great effortless power surfing!!
Margo on an 8'2 MC:
Unbelievable.
Thanks for sharing that I.B
It's almost laughable how he can throw an 8'2" around like a 6'2".
What a board, what a surfer.
JJF is probably the only guy nowadays that could surf like Margo in his prime in those waves on a 6'2.
Margo was a bigger bulkier guy than JJF,so an 8,2 would probably be too much foam to throw around like that for him,but i reckon on say a 7'2 to 7'6,he'd reach a new level never yet seen at a place like Sunset at that size.
But the pros these days are allergic to big boards unless they're paddling XXL waves it seems.
I was glassing Margo's boards when he started surfing MC's boards....They were great boards but he took them next level in performance....Taj ripped the bags as well when he joined the team also......Two of the best on the planet....
Margo was and is the best - so sick
Totally. Power surfing at it's finest and such a down to earth guy .
Had the pleasure of surfing with Margo in FIJI around 2000 . His backhand upside down snaps are burnt into my memory . Unbelievable power surfing from an incredible time in surfing history IMO.
Thanks for the memories lads !
great viewing. As was one March morning back in 98, Sunshine Beach. I went down for the pre-dawn check, and it was pumping, probably as big and as good as it gets there. No-one else around as usual at that time/spot, and I was enjoying just watching it knowing I wouldnt be taking it on. Then a set and here's some bloke already out there absolutely ripping it apart like I'd never seen that done at Sunshine. The style was unmistakable - Margo! PSC Peter..., your description of 'backhand upside down snaps' is perfect, and that performance is also burnt into my memory. I used to rave about it to anyone who'd listen
Most likely Timmy Mitchell...lives at Marcus, surfed Sunshine since year dot and surfs and looks like Margo
Tim looks like Margo?…he’d get a laugh out of that…ha….rips too though….nice bloke as well.
Taylor Knox the other surfer that compares with Margo power, style and flow.
Power yes.
Style and flow nah not quite.
IMO.
Better competition surfer though hands down :).
Agree! And I still think, IMO, Margo has power!!
Fuk just a perfect match ..MC BOARDS love to be surfed powerfully at speed on rail in overhead waves ...Occy ripped on them to but Margo just magic ..
Great footage!
Had to watch it three times!
Pumped for the early.
That was bloody brilliant to watch. Loved Russell Coights introduction too.
The thing that really took me back, despite having surfed Padang with him, was the good old thumbs-up in the boat. No over-cooked shakas bullshit. 10 points.
Kind of shows how pro surfing has changed from focusing on surfing the wave to focusing on doing technical tricks
What... no racing down the line missing all the "Hittable" lips to do a Toledo style bullshit spinny thing....How refreshing!!
To be fair to Toledo,if there's decent wall and face in front of him,he lays down some of the best turns on tour if that's what's called for.
It's Medina and Ferreira i reckon that forgo a good turn or carve to trim and pump for a big boost further down the line that's just about guaranteed every wave they catch at many events.
If Toledo had a heavy hollow reef break game,he'd be by some margin the best Brazzo surfer,and would probably be the one with 3 world titles,not Gabby,by now..
Would be awesome to resee some more such VHS delights from a similar era. I reckon some Luke Egan is certainly worth some revisiting even maybe some Pat O'Connell, Kalani Robb etc.
As good as it gets
Margo, Maurice Cole and Midnight Oil! The holy trinity!
What a treat this video was.
Is that Russel Coight doing the introduction?
Surfed Asu (before the lift) at about the same size, on my 6'9" MC Reverse V, just absolutely perfect. Now to surf a little like Margo - just 10% of his power and I'd be happy :)
Fav surfer
Don't think the vids still working.
But this surfing easily stacks up against the vids shared of A.I recently.
I still give Margo the edge over A.I and Parko on the face of the wave.
That power is subliminal and his stance, completely inimitable.
In my eyes sits comfortably at the very top of Australia's best surfers ever, as well as the worlds.
I'm guessing most post 2000s surfers have likely never heard of him. That's a blight on the surf industry as a whole.
One of the absolute greats...just didn't do the comps so apparently it doesn't count.
here's the link to the vid for anyone that missed it.
Here's another great clip (sorry if already posted).
In my humble opinion, Occy has the best backhand ever of the goofies, and Margo has the best backhand ever of the naturals. (i would highly recommend going to the 4min mark and putting it in slowmo). As good as backhand surfing gets.
the real lost tapes are the ones his Golden Retriever ate when my Missus returned them under the front gate…I still feel bad about it :(
HAHA! Ahhh shit Simmo77!!
they even had a special message from Jack McCoy written on the sleeve…damn. Thought I’d buried that memory :)
ahhhhhh bugger! Oh well, just adds to the Margo mystique!