INTRODUCING MISS PAM

While much of this issue is dedicated to the sheer epicness that Miss Pam brought to this nation of surfers it is with the utmost respect and sadness that we must also acknowledge the sheer devastation which she thrust down on the people of Vanuatu and other affected Pacific nations, therefore with all sincerity we dedicate this issue to those that suffered a loss and hardship at the hands of Pam.

Miss Pam was born on the 10th of March and within a few days had become the love of a kiwi surfer’s life. I'm not too sure why a tropical cyclone stirs up the emotions of individuals more so than other wave forming weather systems, southern lows pass on by without a blink of an eye. Swells from the back of high pressure squash zones produce days on end of swell, yet they never grab the attention that troppies do. Perhaps by naming these weather systems they immediately become personal to us, where we feel a sense of ownership and are infected by the anxiety of what may be gifted. Or perhaps we link each cyclone formed into our conscious memory of what came before, those epic waves, those places that never broke before or since, and our selfish hunger longs for just one more taste in this lifetime, after all these events only do come by in a surfers lifetime several times. And let's say you were tied up, made the wrong call or hadn't even begun surfing the last time it happened. Then all of a sudden being on this surge of excitement is pretty damn important. I had only just begun surfing back in the days of Cyclone Bola our most famous of Cyclones ( for many wrong reasons) yet stories of places that broke and the heroic waves ridden were talked about for years, I wanted some of that action in my future years as a surfer! I didn't have to wait long until my Cyclone chasing virginity was taken my Ofa in 1991 and then stolen again by Betsy in 1992. I scored a spot I had spent hundreds of hours at during storms, riding onshore puss, yet under Ofa and Betsy's influence it was as close to Indo as I’ve ever seen in NZ. So I will say it brought a glow to my heart when I saw during Pam's love, that spot once again showed its potential (although a lot more crowded than the three guys I got to share it with in 92). After that Gavin was the next visitor with mind-blowing surf in 1997 and still till this day, goes unrivalled as the "swell of swells", and the "King of Cyclones". Many years then went by with many missions chasing storms and other semi cyclones that didn't offer much at all, those that had scored very unique places still lived in hope that one more time in their lifetime they would get "just one more glimpse". In 2004 along came Ivy a cyclone so intense that it delivered far too much swell washing out most of the coastline, as ironic as that could be. Still several waves that most never knew existed or had ever seen before were all time, could this be the allure of a Cyclone swell? Plus the fact that Cyclones occur during the summer months and bring warm water down from the tropics; a far more appealing ideal knowing you may be chasing perfect once in a lifetime waves wearing nothing more than board shorts as opposed to squeezing into your 3/4 steamer, booties, hood and gloves when those sub Antarctic swells begin to move. Anyhow back on track, the next decent surf producing cyclone didn't appear for another seven years after Ivy and came with a double punch less than a month apart in the form of Wilma and Atu. Wilma was simply a tight spiraling storm on top of the country that when it moved further south and turned offshore offered up some magical waves for merely four hours. Then came Atu, sitting perfectly positioned in the upper Pacific pulsing, making swells direct into the northern facing coastlines. Atu was glorious and provided waves that will be talked about for many moons. He showed his best colours yet still fell slightly short of dethroning Gavin. Then she came, walking smack bang into our slow summer paced lives! Straight into our living room through the doors of social and mainstream media. Here she was, Pam, the sexiest of all Cyclones! And we all felt entitled to a piece, perhaps those before simply didn't pull at ones inner emotions with names like Ofa, Betsy and Atu, and Pam was just the woman we had all been looking to flirt with. After all if Pam was a women she was close to perfect, she would have worn high heels and a black leather mini skirt to the supermarket, she'd have shown up at ya Friday arvo work drinks with the boys, with an extra couple of dozen and pizzas for all and said, "Hey honey don't worry about our movie night this weekend go fishing with ya mates instead, I'll see you Sunday night and I'll be up and waiting," that's how perfect Pam was! Well to me anyway! If your version of a perfect woman is a little different then just scan back and replace my words with yours (then don't let the wife (or husband) see! I'm shit out of luck as mine is published but I'll take one for you, my team, in the name of entertainment). Anyway like all beautiful, perfect women there are those that get pretty pissed at their simple presence and the party poppers at the Civil Defence and Councils nationwide were tainting her name with words like 'Disaster' and 'Destructive', hell she even forced the legendary Eagles Band to sing 'Take it easy' a few hours earlier that intended. Pam was going for it! Straight for the jugular of Gavin, "Hell have no fury like a women scorned" and Pam was done with men receiving all the praise in this world, she wanted to be remembered, and by Monday morning the 16th of March NZ Surfers got their first glimpses of Pam's baking and it tasted good. May all cyclones from now on be given sexy names of the opposite sex! For a peak at Pam’s beauties check out page 28.

I'm sure I speak on behalf on those that rode you! We loved you Pam. Yours in Cyclone chasing, Cory Scott and the Team at NZ Surfing Magazine.

“IF PAM WAS A WOMEN SHE WAS CLOSE TO PERFECT, SHE WOULD HAVE WORN HIGH HEELS AND A BLACK LEATHER MINI SKIRT TO THE SUPERMARKET, SHE’D HAVE SHOWN UP AT YA FRIDAY ARVO WORK DRINKS WITH THE BOYS, WITH AN EXTRA COUPLE OF DOZEN AND PIZZAS FOR ALL AND SAID, “HEY HONEY DON’T WORRY ABOUT OUR MOVIE NIGHT THIS WEEKEND GO FISHING WITH YA MATES INSTEAD, I’LL SEE YOU SUNDAY NIGHT AND I’LL BE UP AND WAITING,” THAT’S HOW PERFECT PAM WAS!”