“We could never pay back Kelly Slater for what he did for Channel Islands. That’s the truth of it. What does he want? The whole company?”

As you’ll remember in SITDX, Britt Merrick spoke to the fracture left by Kelly’s departure from CI – something that registered, at least to him, as something of a betrayal, and perhaps one he felt more acutely than his father ever did.

Kelly, when given the space to explain himself, offered a different version of events. He’d spoken to Al, there was a blessing, and, by his account, even affection on the way out, and an “I love you” to seal it.

Britt claims it wasn’t Kelly leaving that broke his heart, that part he understood, but rather the Firewire business approach, the offshore model, and the way it has diminished domestic board building, eroding the respect that once sat alongside it.

Britt, in his typical calm and considered tone that softens the edges of everything he says, phones in from Torquay to join Dooma and Dane at the desk. They move through Medina ordering CIs, his rivalry with DH, his belief that Ethan Ewing is the best surfer in the world, first memories of Dane, and, of course, the question of the age: whether or not Kelly knew.

Enjoy the episode.