Prepping For The World Bodysurfing Championships: New Zealand Handboarder Mike Baker

Hi, my name is Mike Baker. I live in Nelson, at the top of the South Island in New Zealand Aotearoa. Nelson (with a little bias) is probably the prettiest city of its size, in the country.

Coming originally from the UK and Europe to me, Nelson is a small town - population:
46, 437, but it enjoys city status because it has a cathedral. The city hosts a vast range of serious outdoor activities - it is widely regarded as one of the finest kite-surfing destinations in the southern hemisphere; the Western Ranges across the bay houses the Nettlebed cave system, the most extensive navigable system in the southern hemisphere.

The coast has great sea kayaking as well as surf, world-class mountain biking; a ski field an hour and a half away; top trout fly-fishing and three National Parks on the doorstep. Nelson is nestled among and below a range of mountains on the edge of the great Southern Alps, facing North.

This means that we are in the rain shadow of the prevailing SW winds - those Roaring Fourties that you hear so much about, which send up those deep, long frequency swells which you enjoy in Southern California. From that direction bad weather gets dumped on the Western side of the ranges, most of it never reaching Nelson at all, with the result that the weather here is pretty perfect all year round.

We surfers wait patiently for the lows and depressions which approach from the North - weather systems which come into the Tasman Sea above us. This gives us great, long distance ground swells which provide our best conditions for surf and in January through to April we get Tropical Cyclones, which come down the East coast of Australia to us - a real bonus! We also have access, three hours away, to great waves down both the East and West coasts of the South Island. 

What is The Bodysurfing Scene Like In Nelson?

I am it. Lol, seriously ... that`s me. I am the only serious bodysurfer/handboarder in the South Island that I know of. I have been working hard to enthuse local friends of mine who are into ocean swimming and some boardriders as well, with growing results. Unlike California and Hawaii, Australia and France, New Zealand does not have a strong bodysurfing culture, even in the North Island.

You may get the odd person throwing themselves into waves recreationally up north, but the only other bodysurfer I know who is committed, like I am - who lives and breathes bodysurfing and is fiending into getting out there all year round - surfing reefs, points, rivermouths and beachbreaks, is another Slyde Ambassador based in Mt Maunganui in Tauranga. They may have insight into other locals up there but I never hear of any. So bodysurfing in New Zealand, especially down here in the Roaring Fourties, demands major commitment, single-minded fortitude and above all ... major STOKE!!!

In the winter, as in right now, I wear a top of the range 3/4 steamer, dry gloves from the UK with woollen gloves inside, fin socks, a helmet and a heated rash vest with temp settings - the most important being HOT! This gives me between 3 and 4 hours in the surf mid-winter, but without the heated rashy it would be 1 hour tops. 

What is Your Favorite local break?

Schnappers Point, lies just beneath my house. I built it here 20 years ago so I could sit up in bed and check the peak. Its a solid boulder reef which gets nice and hollow at low tide and holds a wave as big as it gets, which is about 10 foot, with 100 meter rides. Another top wave is just around the headland, Hororangi- a hollow left-hander breaking, again, over a boulder bottom.

How did you 1st get into handboarding?  

What advice would you give to someone who's never handboarded before?

How does it feel to have so many people support your trip to the World Bodysurfing Championship in California?

I have been an Ambassador for Slyde Handboards for the past year so already have some connections to California, but never expected to be able to meet the Slyde Crew in person. When Vince Askey of the Del Mar Bodysurfing Club contacted me and invited me to bodysurf in their team at this year`s World Bodysurfing ChampionshipsI was speechless - a first for me.

I could not afford the air fares nor accommodation but I put it out on Facebook that I had been invited and was then stunned by the level of support from my partner, my son who is a bodysurfer and body-boarder, my family and all my friends, all over the world who were determined to see me get over to California. A best mate offered to pay for my return ticket as long as I paid him back, so I set up a Givealittle page and all my friends donated into that.

Catch Mike Baker Live in Oceanside California at the World Bodysurfing Championships August 22nd & 23rd 2015!