Yo surf rats.
Long time no post.
Hope everyone out there has found a few.
The coast has been offering up waves here and there it seems.
nooks, crannies and brief windless moments.
The torch is coming to SF on Wed.
There will be protests in SF tomorrow (4.8.08) and wed (4.9.08).
China invaded Tibet in 1949 and has occupied it ever since.
The political and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, the Dalai Lama
has lived in exile in Northern India since that day.
The Chinese have perpetrated a long, slow, insidious genocide against the Tibetan people.
Making it illegal to speak Tibetan.
Relocating thousands of Han Chinese into Tibet to change the demographics.
Curtailing freedom to worship.
The recent protests in Tibet bring to light the Tibetans continued struggle for autonomy and freedom.
The Chinese have succeeded to some degree in spreading negative propaganda within China
against the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan monks.
Yesterday the torch was carried through Paris and large protests were heard around the world.
Yesterday protesters in San Francisco hung a large protest banner from the Golden Gate Bridge.
Wednesday the torch comes to San Francisco. The only stop in North America.
Peaceful, highly visible protest will send at least some message to the world and hopefully
the Chinese government that their stance in Tibet is wrong.
Not to mention their support of the brutal regimes in Burma and Sudan.
article from san jose mercury news:
The torch relay will follow a six-mile route, beginning at 1 p.m. at McCovey Cove at AT&T Park,
following the Embarcadero, past Fisherman’s Wharf, and ending at Justin Herman Plaza.
Visit the official torch relay Web site, http://torchrelay.beijing2008.cn/en/
Tibetans and their supporters will hold a rally Tuesday at the United Nations Plaza,
at Market Street and Hyde Street near the Civic Center BART, to protest the Olympic
torch relay and China’s recent crackdown on protesting Tibetans in Lhasa.
Actor Richard Gere and Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu
will be at guest speakers at the rally, which begins at 6 p.m.
There are planned Tibetan protests on the day of the torch relay,
but details have not been released. Visit sfteamtibet.org for more information.
Sunny, windy weekend.
Found a few waves amidst the chop.
My girl is currently at the VA hospital near Land’s End.
Went there last night for dinner.
Met some of her Korean War patients.
Guy’s are on death’s door.
My girl was explaining to me how one of them has some knot in his
digestive track that food can’t pass.
Every few days he has some tube put up his ass and gas pumped to dislodge the knot.
geeez.
———————————–
Surf4Ever posted this on the surfermag bb:
To anyone complaining about crowds, poor conditions, or donkeys..
What if someday you might not be able to surf..
I’ve Had Multiple Sclerosis for the last 9 years and one day I might not be able to surf…
When i was 23 I had my first symptoms, I tried to hide them..
Now i don’t and want to tell people that life can change in a instance…
Be happy with what u have…
I know others on here had some tough times too.. Life is short enjoy it…
now for some video of me,(most of u guys seen it)all shot by my wife except the 1st clip..
radial spokes bend toward shore.
Somewhere on this earth… another day… another time…
catching waves.
threading a few needles.
Watching dude catch mack-daddy humunga.
Go man.
Paddling back out after a ride.
Pretty far inside.
Huge set stacking out the back.
Oh shit.
Big momma wave plows through everybody on the outside.
But it’s chugging toward me.
Spin and go on the inside ledge.
Drop down the face… barely hold on.
Acceleration in the moment nowness.
The thing is arcing overhead a bit as i hold on.
It’s sucking off the bottom and running.
Jam for a few seconds and then it’s going to close.
Kick out the back.
Surfing hell yeah.
Another wave rolls in from the outer ocean.
I’m pole position so turn and dig in.
I think i’m too deep but get over the ledge and to my feet.
Elevator drop and i see it’s going to section on me.
Hold on through the whitewater try to make it around the section.
No dice get creamed.
Come up see some guy get a money wave.
Medium sizer makes it through the crowd to me.
Spin and go.. easy take off.
The wave shapes up nicely..
quarter-pipe-like lip tapering down the line.
A few bottom-turn/top-turn combos.. the surfy dance.
do a little mini weak-ass-but-fun floater thing at the end.
A mound comes in.
Round, smooth and succulent.
You’re in position.
Spin and start paddling.
Slot yourself as deep as you can without being too deep.
Wave gulps-up on the reef.
You work your way over the ledge.
Glance down the wave and pick your immediate line.
Quickly get to your feet and drop down the face.
Fade off the bottom a bit.
The wave has a steep, tapering wall and you’re balanced nicely.
Crouched low make a hard bottom turn.
Look up into the top of the wave… right where the whitewater begins.
A couple feet over head.
Thigh-quivering backhand power-gouge up into the top of the wave.
Fhwooooom!
Exhalation.
Feel your fins release for a second over the lip and then lock back in.
Drop back down the face.
Work down the line for some more speed.
Pouncy and looking for the wave to give you something.
The wave backs off a bit so power into a long, slow roundhouse.
Rebound off the white-water.
Kick out.
Paddle back out through the glassiness.
Watch your friend take off on a deep one and get shacked.
Then he gets eaten and munched as you’re hooting into the hole.
Resplendent California morning sun beams.
Waves crack along unridden.
Into the nothingness.
Does the wave break if nobody is there to see it?
Yes.
Bright, crisp, sunny morning.
Flags taught in a seaward direction.
Humans go about their business.
Some of them thrilled about a new baby.
Some hoping desperately not to be pregnant.
Some can’t get pregnant.
Some can’t get laid.
Some can’t get an erection.
I skate down for a surf check.
Frumpy like it’s been the last few mornings.
Maybe a little smoother.
Maybe a bit smaller.
A few dudes out getting some drops.
10 minutes later i’m headed over the dunes in my wetter.
Some 50 yr. old throwback space-hippy homeless guy
is on the beach standing in his sandy sleeping bag.
His eyes light up when he sees me and he exclaims that he’s “goin’ in with me!”
I tell him it’s too cold but he jogs after me for a bit.
I run a block south to counter the current and he doesn’t follow.
Paddle out and do about 4 million freezing-ass cold duckdives.
8 trillion rows of frigid white-water argh!
Finally make it out past the last row of death close-outs.
One other guy out give him a nod.
Catch a few drops but the waves are warbly and lumpy not really running.
Current pulling north at mach 4.
Beautiful morning… pause for a moment of appreciation.
Soon I’m at the Beach Chalet with only 4 rides under my belt.
Paddle in… can’t catch a last right.. get pounded by the shore-pound.
Walk home.
Surrrrf.
Sunny day windy in the city.
Shitty local surf.
Drive for a while.
Round some corners and the swell starts to show fangs.
Still pretty windy.
Check one spot and almost pull the trigger… but decide to keep going.
Pull into a generally family-oriented, lower-key spot.
Wind is howling and only windsurfers are out.
Group of dudes are BBQ’ing near the horseshoe pits and they yell at us.
“Beat it you fucking kooks!!”
I didn’t really think they were talking to us at first but my friend
assured me they were.
We get back in the car and as we’re driving out one of the dudes
aggressively approaches our car and yells,
“San Jose is THAT way!!!”
“Get out of here you fucking KOOK!!!”
Huge large, beer-swilling friends all chuckle behind him.
Like some scene from the movie Point Break only these guys are serious.
There were a few strange aspects to the situation:
- Not many people (probably not these dudes) live immediately at this break.
- The waves were complete shit with NOBODY surfing
- This spot is normally family-style, not localized.
- We actually were leaving when they told us to leave.
- I’ve never even BEEN to San Jose! ha!
anyway.. Feeling like the kooks we actually are… my friend and i limped to the next spot
with our wounded pride. Those guys are awesome and we suck!
A few more spot checks we were looking at relatively glassy, somewhat-empty
inconsistent point break niceness.
We suited up and found some walls and good times.
Later we surfed the most popular break in NorCal and it was rad.
There were about 4000 people out there.
Ruffo was out and killing it.
This kneeboarder nabbed the biggest chocolate barrel i’ve ever seen and got
mega crunched.
I actually scored a few waves at the Slot and was psyched on a few kookish turns.
shred.
(Slater says he’s probably not going to compete at Bells Beach!?)
I picked up some skateboarding sliding gloves at Purple Skunk on Geary.
Took them out tonight and discovered some new lines on the skate.
Toe-side mini slides..
More comfort on the heel-side slide as i can get low and use my hands to check the ground.
Two Jersey boys that grew up together on LBI.
Fishing, Crabbing, Pizzas, Funnel Cake, Skimboarding, Surfing.
Ghost-town winters in Beach Haven.
Crazy summers working at the pizza joint and scamming tourist chicks.
Doug’s Uncle got them surfing at a young age with hand-me-down 70s boards.
Soon they were both hooked.
Surfing daily in the warm summer water.
Little waist-high dumpers perfect for their pre-teen size.
By the time they turned 17 they ruled that town… or at least thought they did.
Their friend worked at a grocery store and could sneak beers out the back.
Steve’s dad had a 30ft fishing boat docked on the bay that the boys would party on.
This summer between junior and senior years they met some hot hot girls from philly.
The girls were down the shore with their families for 3 weeks.
They had one week left.
After playing drinking games for a few hours the two couples retired to separate areas of the boat.
The girls smells like fruit and their hair was hard with gel.
That same winter (senior year) the waves turned on in LBI.
A few days actually looked like those photos in the surf shop, under the glass on the counter.
Doug and Steve had been surfing the last 3 or 4 winters.
Fully geared with the 6/5/4, lobster-claw gloves, 7-mil booties and vaseline for the face.
Doug’s uncle called them on Tuesday night and said they wouldn’t be going to school tomorrow.
The bouy’s were way up… and the boys should prepare themselves.
Doug and Steve stayed up half the night watching ….Lost Across America and getting pumped.
Doug’s Uncle pulled up in his truck at dawn and they piled in.
They drove around the island checking conditions and the boys got more and more
anxious/excited with each spot check.
They’d never witnessed the Jers like this.
Huge, offshore-smoothed, double-overhead, A-frame mega barrels.
Gaping and cracking not too far from shore.
They finally found a sandbar with a semi-consistent right peeling off.
Doug’s uncle cranked the heat and they worked into the wetsuits right in the truck.
Doug’s uncle had that grisled, old-school fisherman/surfer style that probably hadn’t changed
much in 20 years.
The boys followed him out and watched him stroke into the first wave on his 7′8″ single-fin gun.
This guy grew up on LBI and had fished and surfed it’s shores for nearly 35 years.
His face looked it… all leathery and tan.
He’d drunk away most of his income and didn’t have a family of his own.
He liked surfing with his nephew and friend.
He casually got to his feet and then rode down the line at a blistering clip with his old-dude,
feet-close-together, back-too-fucked-to-crouch-that-well stance.
He paddled back out with a giant shit-eating-grin on his face.
The boys were nervous.
Waves were bombing all around and the drops looked insane.
These were the biggest waves they’d ever surfed.
Finally a solid medium-sizer came to Steve and he turned his 6′5″ rounded tail and took-off
under the lip. He just-about pulled it off but didn’t make it.
He sailed over the falls and then got sucked up and back around by the wave… finally
getting pounded into the surprisingly shallow sandbar.
He panicked for a second and didn’t know which way was up.
He finally popped above the surface only to see his friend Doug stroke into a massive Jersey peak.
Doug shakily got to his feet and took off down the line just as Steve got pounded by Doug’s wave..
80 minutes later all three had gotten their fill of glory rides and death wipe outs.
Steve had redeemed himself with the best barrel of the day… a smaller wave that gulped-up
on the bar and just spun along perfectly.
After the sesh they went to the local Hoagie spot, then followed it up with a soft-pretzel and milkshake. sooo hungry.
Big wins for Dane Reynolds and Jordy Smith.
Pancho lost.
Ben Bourgeois won.
Damo Hobgood is out.
AI killed it.
There was a rumor going around that AI spent time in rehab down in So Cal for a
few weeks prior to Snapper. No idea if that’s true. kinda doubt it.
Some local rideables this morning.
Kinda crowded but a lot of people just sitting.. not going.
Some walls on offer as the fog rolled in.
Some wild and wooly waves this weekend.
Crazy stormy wind gusts.
A few people finding rideables.
A little tucked away cove a few hours north.
Enjoying it’s dog-has-it’s-day.
Muddy slippery path.
Hawks soaring.
Dripping moss-covered pine trees.
A normally tranquil cove converted to a fun little wave zone.
A right breaking over shallow rocks.
lip-cracking back slapping.
Girlfriend shivering on the rocky beach.
Dutifully taking a few photos.
Surf for a few hours and then drive to a nearby town for fresh oysters and beer.
Back to the house fireplace crackling.
Rain spitting on skylights.
Cozy-up under the blankets.
Fall asleep with dreams of sets stacked to the horizon.
