I actually dreamed about meeting Kelly Slater. You see and hear so much about him as he has lasted through generations of surfing eras and continued to rule the roost.
I know he's only another human, but he is special.To me, to achieve what he has achieved both mentally and physically in a sport like surfing has always shrouded his personality with mystery (for me anyway)
It was so random to surf with him on an uncrowded wave where he just pops up and is polite enough to say hello. The waves were 4ft and terrible but he was keen to surf Lennox it as he had never surfed there before. The sweep was so strong , Seb and I opted to catch waves and run back round to the point, where Kelly would just stay there paddling against the rip. He said to Seb 'we could do with some jet ski assistance hey'
When we got out, I had to ask for a picture because this was a once in a lifetime situation. He was on his own at the car park and said he had had a long day (he had been non stop paddling for about two hours) but he still had time for Zarina, Seb and myself..
It was good to shake his hand and have that awkward silence of not knowing exactly what to say when you meet your hero. We all got to say hi and he took our star struck personas in his stride.
To him, it was just a rubbish surf in average waves but to us, he made our trip.
An exceptional athlete with a clear vision and spiritually grounded.
Cheers Kelly Slater
Sam, Seb and Zee.