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ompiled by the Save Our Seas Foundation this year’s bumper Wavescapes Festival included an auction of a surfboard carved out of ice that helped raise R170 000 for the ocean charity. Big wave surfer and media guru - Conn Bertish, shaped the board out of solid ice as a “simple metaphor for global warming”, as a tribute to the climate change summit in Copenhagen.
The ice board, which would be a worthless puddle of water within 12 hours, was auctioned by comedian Mark Sampson for R20 500 at Depasco Café. Two of the 11 boards at the auction, one by Bitter Comix legend Konradski and one by dark prince of pop (art) Brett Murray, went for a record R24 000 each, possibly the most spent on a surfboard in South Africa. Patrons, luminaries, artists and surfers dug deep for the charity event, proceeds of which go the NSRI, Shark Spotters and Save Our Seas Foundation.
Wavescapes co-director Chris Mason said, “It's gratifying to realise how seriously surfers take their role of being on the front line of ocean conservation, and ready to put their money where their mouths are”.
From poetic eulogies about waves and heroes of surfing sub-culture to the darker side of surfing, the festival featured a broad mix of films with 16 screened at three locations focussing on climate change and the critical need to save our oceans from the devastating effects of global warming. |
