On the front of TSJ 30.2, Sam Hawk locks an edge in the midmorning light and embodies the whole big thing at Off The Wall, 1975. On the back, Jordy Talbot (@jordy_talbot) reacts to sheer natural force by taking it one at a time at South Africa’s Sunset Reef. 

Between bookends, we give full study to the spot-history of the aforementioned “other Sunset,” and likewise open the gate on the risk versus reward of surf tripping to a Mexican prison island. Find high-art lessons in an excerpt from celebrated author Paul Theroux’s new surf-centric novel and a page-by-page education in photographer Slim Aarons’ ocean-peripheral work. And for those seeking to get deeply embedded, the issue tracks the arc of its cover subject from Huntington surf rat to Pipeline groundbreaker in the 1970s, and offers a portrait of contemporary happenings from across the globe in a visual roundup selected from the game’s best shooters. 

Pick up your copy for all that and lots more. 

Front cover photograph by Steve Wilkings. Back cover photograph by Alan Van Gysen (@alanvangysen)