“Is Chris Binns locked in a mega-prison?”
A whereabout investigation is currently
underway for the Australian surf journalist Chris Binns
after he published a disturbing story claiming the Surf City El
Salvador Pro to be “must-watch” and the World Surf League
Championship Tour’s “hottest new surf stop.”
Surf fans tuned in, today, to the Surf City El Salvador Pro and
were left with haunting depression as the “world’s best surfers”
were forced to struggle in brown wind-blown slop over greasy
rocks.
And yet, Binns had just boldly
claimed:
El Salvador is a Central American country that’s been
changed by the sport of surfing, with tourists from around the
world flocking to experience its waves. While La Libertad is one of
many global locales that argue over the ‘Surf City’ moniker, the
fact the WSL Championship Tour heads there every year is a strong
endorsement of its claim.
He went on to write:
Did you know that El Salvador is the only Central American
country without a Caribbean coastline? You do now! The Salvadorans
have never let that fact bother them in the least and why would
they, their 300km Pacific coast is teeming with world class waves.
Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, is a big believer in using
tourism to turn around the fortunes of his once-troubled nation and
that means he’ll do whatever it takes to attract surfers, who he
sees as a crucial component of the country’s tourism
makeup.
Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, is also a big believer in
jail. What proceeded, from Binns, was a Stockholm Syndrome bit of
nonsense including:
El Salvador has long been on the adventurous surfer’s bucket
list and while the challenges to overcome were many, the Salvadoran
Holy Grail lay in the mythical, rifling tubes of Punta
Roca.
And…
The Surf City El Salvador Pro has only run three times, yet
in that short time its easy to see what a bellwether event it has
been for the world title showdown.
Also…
El Salvador also demands that surfers allow themselves to
relax a little, to conserve their energy in the brutal sun and hot
water. The ice baths in the Red Bull Athlete Zone cool the body,
but also allow the mind to calm, while chaos runs free in the
backstreets of town.
Surf fans who accidentally tuned in to the worst day of
professional surfing history since the Abu Dhabi Pro left
scratching heads and wondering if Binns had been incarcerated in
one of the nation’s famous
mega-prisons and forced to write his way out.
Busily calling embassies etc.
Your feelings?
More as the story develops.
