At 72, Tom has been the "elder statesman" on our Tavi Tube Tour trip, and while that doesn't qualify him as the "oldest" bodyboarder we've had the pleasure of riding with, he is eerily calm and capable in surf that would scare most riders half his age, and all of this from a guy who has taken up the sport seriously only in recent years.  Jay gets to know Tom and what makes him tick.  

Long-time California bodyboarder Dave Long has been there since the beginning!  Since the 80s, Dave's name has been a fixture in the competition scene in the Golden State and he's seen the best come and go, and is an encyclopedia of knowledge for bodyboarding on the West Coast.  Jay picked Dave's brain in March of 2025 during the Tavi Tube Tour trip in Fiji and got the lo down on Dave's past, present and future.  

Joao Veiga has been bodyboarding all over Portugal for decades and currently works as a coach at Linha de Onda Surf School and is a coach and guide with Bodyboard Holidays for their Portugal and Central America trips. 

Jay finds out why such an accomplished rider gets so much joy from bringing new riders into the sport, and how his varied interests took him on a path to higher education in the fields of law and naturopathy.  

Jay sits down with Vicki, Rob Barber, Rusty Morrison and Joao Veiga to share injury stories.  They recount their worst injuries and the worst they've witnessed. 

Jay breaks his collarbone:
https://youtu.be/Wl9A-hLBn-8?feature=shared

Interview with Rusty Morrison:
https://youtu.be/ejerwTZ4DAA?feature=shared

Bodyboard-holidays.com
@bodyboardholidays

Insta:
@jayreale
@vickireale
@rust_in_peace_
@robbarber007
@joao83veiga
@ebodyboarding
@tribeboards

Jay's family talks about their travels and some of the trials and tribulations of traveling as a surfing family. 

Daughter Saige:
*Insta:
@saigereale
@saigesgoodeats
*TikTok:
@saigealicious

Son Kieran:
*Insta:
@kieranreale
*TikTok:
@kieranisreale

Vicki:
*Insta:
@vickireale
*TikTok:
@vickiisreale

Jay: 
*Insta:
@jayreale

See our travel videos:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsNzOBhEhm84z5gBjs6X-goaCGHteSXHL&feature=shared

Travel with us!
https://www.ebodyboarding.com/pages/bodyboarding-travel

One of our sport's most iconic figures during the Golden Age of the sport, O'ahu's Danny Kim singlehandedly carried the torch for the very niche discipline of standup bodyboarding.  

Danny's incredible talents standing up on his finless craft not only blew minds, but took him to top finishes on the US Pro Tour, and garnered plentiful magazine coverage worldwide.  

We discuss Danny's rise in the sport, and what he's been doing to keep himself busy since ending his pro career.   

Jay catches up with the founder of the Vintage Bodyboard Collectors Facebook Ground Damien Alexander on his recent trip to Australia.  

VBC is credited for spearheading the "Board Again" movement- older riders returning to the sport to recapture the magic of their youth which accelerated dramatically during Covid.  

Damien recounts how it all began around the mid-2000s.

Debbie Colwell is truly one of the originals in the bodyboarding industry getting her start more than 4 decades ago eventually starting the iconic American bodyboard brand Custom X in the late 1980s.  She has worked with the best and seen the sport grow from it's infancy to the huge industry it is today.  

Jay gets into Debbie's story from her start to her retirement and all that she's seen along the way. 

http://www.customx.com

Jay sits down with 2024 IBC Visit Maldives Pro Junior Men's Champ, 16-year-old Aussie Jai Taylor to get to know this young phenom.  Jai is an Aussie Champ and 2024 IBC World Tour Rookie of the Year, and burst on the international scene in August of 2024 by winning in his first-ever go at the IBC World Tour.  

How did he start?  Where is he from?  How did he win?  What are his future plans?  We get all the answers!  

Jay and his friend and Bodyboard Holidays owner Rob Barber discuss the current state of the sport in mid-2024 and how it's changed over the years.  Who's doing it, what happened to print media, and local competition, and what's happening with the IBC World Tour?  

They cover all the important topics.