Gum for My Boat – Surf in Bangladesh??
May 28th, 2010 by sancho in the Uncategorized category
This movie got handed my way and I thought it was pretty classic. I wouldn’t call it a surf movie per se, but it definitely highlights the benefits of a surf club in a place like Bangladesh.
One of the characters in this documentary from Jedidiah is pretty core if you ask me. This local Bangladeshi guy named Jafar manages to haggle a board off an Aussie traveler and then he teaches himself how to surf.
So for 10 years Jafar surfs by himself as the lone surfer in Bangladesh with little idea about the sport or the industry. It was not until he saw a surf movie that he figured out how to ride the thing correctly and even still he had no concept of wax or a leash. But when he later meets an American photographer, he realizes he’s been missing many core essential and is thrilled to learn from this foreigner.
The movie gets its name from an email Jafar sends to one of the film’s cast members asking for “Gum” or wax for his “Boat” or board…. kinda shows you how alien surfing is in the Bangladeshi culture.
Anyways this guy is a savage and is changing lives with the surf club and “Surfing the Nations”. Gum for my Boat highlights the intrinsic value of surfing in developing nations, and how it deters misguided youths from a life of street crime.
The Man, The Myth, the Legend
anyways check out the movie.. Jafar is surprisingly good for a Bangladeshi surfer and it looks like there can be some fun little sessions to be had in that part of the Indian ocean.. This movie gets a thumbs up from us.. if not for its message, just for the story of Jafar..
read more about it here at
http://www.gumformyboat.com/