What does this have to do with surfing you may ask. Bare with me for a second. People in the Netherlands love ice skating. They proved that once more with a dominant display at the Winter Olympics. The Dutch love is so much that it’s even enough for fake news about the Dutch always skating to work. But for me the real story about the Dutch passion for ice lies within this remarkable video about an ice skating surfer on a winter day in Holland.

Ice Skating Surfer

After seeing this video on a local media outlet I contacted the creator of the video. Sven Mooij of Tafelzout Videoproducties (Table Salt Video Productions) explains:

I was skating a long way from home because it was there that the ice was thick enough. This is where I saw Rink (red. Nieuwenhuis) for the first time. I talked to him and asked if I could make a video about him. He said yes, and we returned the next day.

What I love most about Rink windsurfing on ice skates is what he says about the strange looks he gets. Some even get mad at him, but he doesn’t care. It gives him a thrill and he just does it. This relates so much to surfing waves as well don’t you think?

The best surfer

A famous saying in surfing is: “The best surfer, is the one having the most fun”. Well Rink sure looks like he’s having fun, and he doesn’t care what others think about it. I think we all know a couple of Rinks in the lineup. The surf where nobody else surfs, have their own style, and are just a little bit different from the herd. One thing they all share though is the STOKE and you’ve got to love them for it. Every now and then I need a video like this to remind me to not take surfing too seriously and just go with what feels right.