It didn’t take long at the Rip Curl Pro Search SF before the men in the gray suits made their appearence. With five minutes to go In Round 1 Heat 4, Dusty Payne (who was being handily beaten by Jordy Smith) paddled in after seeing something in the water.
“I was just sitting there waiting for a wave,” Payne said. “And I’ve seen dolphins before. It wasn’t a dolphin. . . It was the biggest fin I’ve ever seen in my life coming straight at me. The waves are terrible and I’m not going to stay out there and get bit by a shark.”
Can’t say we blame him at all. Especially after what happened in Monterey on Saturday.
Jamie O’Brien may be in a little trouble after his apparently misguided attempt to raise awareness for a herpes-type virus” called fibropapilloma that affects sea turtles with this Brent Bielmann photo, according to a Fred Pawle story in The Australian.
A report on the Khon 2 news website in Hawaii quotes Pat Opay, of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s Endangered Species Branch, saying the turtle in the photo may be a green sea turtle. The fine for approaching this endangered breed is up to $13,200.
The Rip Curl Pro Search SF is underway live at Ocean Beach. In solid surf. Plans today including running through Round 1 and possibly getting into Round 2.
“We’ve got some swell on offer out at Ocean Beach this morning and are going to capitalize on the clean conditions to commence Round 1,” Richie Porta, ASP International Head Judge said. “We’re looking to finish Round 1 today and will keep Round 2 on standby.”
We don’t normally follow the ASP Prime events, but seeing as everyone was in town for the Rip Curl Pro Search SF it seems like the O’Neill Cold Water Classic California got pretty heated. Miguel Pupo, 19, took out Tiago Pires after Tiago shut down Jordy Smith in semi final 2.
“I feel unbelievable right now,” Pupo said. “I was feeling comfortable out there and I was just trying to surf my best and I won. I’ve been surfing a beach break my whole life and I’m used to these waves. I was really lucky that we moved to here (Waddell Creek). It could have been a different story if we ran at The Lane.”
Eric Tarantino, 27, is lucky to be alive after getting his by a shark while surfing at Marina State Beach near Monterey, California at about 7 AM on Saturday, October 29, 2011, according to a story in the Monterey County Herald.
Tarantino. . . was bitten along the right side of his body by a shark that took a 19-inch chunk from his red surfboard. He had wounds on his neck, shoulder, wrist and forearm, witnesses said. . . Dana M. Jones, Monterey Sector superintendent for the California Department of Parks and Recreation, said his injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.
San Jose surgeons operated on Tarantino for two hours Saturday to repair injuries to the muscles in his neck. . . Dr. Michael Gynn said he was lucky, because the shark missed all major vessels. Gynn said Tarantino is expected to make a full recover, adding he was awake and alert by Saturday night.
Thanks to the quick work of Tarantino’s friend Brandon McKibben and people on the beach Tarantino made it out of this one alive.
“I’m excited to be competing in the Search for the second year in a row,” said Perillo, “especially since this year it’s in California—my home state—which makes me even more excited to surf my hardest and try to take down a few of the world’s best surfers.”
Brady even gets to face Kelly Slater in Round 1.
The waiting period for the Rip Curl Pro Search begins Tuesday, November 1, 2011. Which reminds us, the paddle outs are going to be half the show. Follow the jump for the official word from Rip Curl. [click to continue…]
Kelly Slater appeared on the somnambulant CBS Sunday Morning news show on October 23, 2011. The six minute clip has all the now-cliche comparisons to Tiger Wood and Michael Jordan.
“He’s won so many times not even he can believe it,” the host says. And Slater replies: “It’s almost like it happened to someone else. I sort of hear it and it’s baffling to me.”
The interesting part is the piece is a sneak peek into the Kelly Slater Wave Company where Kelly is lending his name to another quixotic search for the perfect fake wave. Watch the clip to see.
Bobby Gumm, 41, was surfing with friends at Newport, Oregon’s South Beach on Thursday morning , October 20, 2011, when the water beneath them began churning, according to a story on KHON2.com.
The group was out for about an hour when Ron Clifford says he saw the water boil beneath them. . . “I saw the water churning up like there was a bunch of piranhas,” said Clifford. “All of a sudden I saw a dorsal fin that was at least two foot in length high and as I saw it the frenzy and stuff I saw the shark actually lift my friend up with the board and everything, it looked like an old geyser or something just lifted him out of the water about 10 feet.”
Gumm, who lost 23 inches of his surfboard to the shark, reportedly made it back to shore uninjured. “”He’s a great short boarder and he said he didn’t want to surf again and he was very blessed that he could see his kids now,” said Clifford.” We can understand why.
The surfboard, made of white fiberglass and sporting a blue wave design covered with sponsor stickers throughout, is currently on view in the museum’s first-floor Artifact Walls. It has a rubber pad at the back of the board for traction and three removable fins along the bottom. . . “Over the past 20 years, his approach to surfing as a professional and dedicated philanthropist has changed how people surf and view the sport,” said Jane Rogers, curator, at the museum.
That means in a way both Al Merrick and Jake Burton are in that museum as well. It’s a Smithsonian trifecta.
It didn’t take long at the Rip Curl Pro Search SF before the men in the gray suits made their appearence. With five minutes to go In Round 1 Heat 4, Dusty Payne (who was being handily beaten by Jordy Smith) paddled in after seeing something in the water.
