Writer Chasen Marshall, the former editor of Longboard Magazine, dropped by the Astrodeck headquarters in San Clemente, California to check in on the “First Family of Surfing” for the OC Weekly and here’s a little of what he had to say about their time with the Fletchers.
Nearly 20 years after its anointment as such in an Esquire cover feature, the First Family of Surfing remains original. It has grown and diversified, but at its core, the Fletchers are still a surfing family: Grandpa Walter was a big-wave pioneer; Herbie, now 58, is a surf legend and still surfs Lowers; and his sons are surfing innovators. They’ll talk about the past—tell you where they’ve been, about the drugs they’ve taken, describe the mistakes they’ve made, all without a hint of reverence or regret.
If you’ve been wondering what Herbie, Dibi, Christian, Nathan, and Greyson have been up to lately, click the link for the rest of the story.
Without going into any cranky rantings about how bullshit anything over a 4.0 grade point average is (because we all know honors classes are easier for all kinds of reasons), we do think it’s cool that surfers who get good grades are recognized by the National Scholastic Surfing Association.
So, for 2011 here are the best GPA in the line-up:
Congrats to all three. It’s great to see surfers being congratulated for doing something with their minds for a change. For all the rest of the NSSA surfers who completed the last school year at or above a 3.5 GPA follow the jump. [click to continue…]
While being trapped on a rocky outcropping listening to Eddie Vedder solo on a ukelele may be as close to hell as we could get on this earth, you may feel differently about the earnest, sincere, serious, surfing musician.
If you, like NPR’s Ann Powers, believe that Vedder’s new album Ukulele Songs is “a statement of truth.” And that by choosing the “ukulele’s intimacy, Vedder sounds like someone getting out of his own way and discovering what really matters within his art,” then holy shit, have we got a contest for you.
French high fashion mall clothierVolcom is giving away tickets to Eddie Vedder’s sold out Ukulele Songs tour. Simply enter all your critical personal data on this page (volcom.com/eddy) and in return Volcom may give you a ticket to see Eddie Vedder live. Get crackin’ the tour beings June 21, 2011 in New York City.
O’Neill regrets to announce the cancellation of the O’Neill CWC Canada for 2011. Extensive consultation and discussion with key event stakeholders, along with a short period to properly prepare for the event, has led to this decision. During preliminary planning it became clear a shorter than usual planning window jeopardized the success of a 2011 CWC in Nova Scotia.
For now it appears there will be no Cold Water Classic Canada. For more of the backstory click here and here.
It was difficult to know if Quiksilver’s new NFL collab is completely sincere or not. At first we sensed some sort of irony, but then we saw the gridiron overlaid on Pipeline and realized that we are just confused. Jocks, of course, won’t know the difference.
Ekstrom developed the first asymmetrical tail design in 1965, based on the idea that the board should better match the surfers own nonlinear stance. In 1988 Ekstrom and Windansea surfer Tom Lochtefeld began working on a stationary wave later dubbed the FlowRider, which made its public debut in a Texas waterpark in the summer of 1991. Ekstrom’s design influence can be found restaurants, military training helmets, Reebok shoes, and beyond. Ekstrom’s asymmetrical surfboard is enjoying a major resurgence with La Jolla surfer Richard Kenvin and the Hydrodynamica crew helping Ekstrom with R&D in and around San Diego environs.
In the competition shapers will be asked to shape anything they want as long as it is asymmetrical. Follow the jump for the rest of the details. [click to continue…]
A ten-foot by ten-foot mosaic of the Virgin of Guadalupe riding a surfboard next to the words “Save The Ocean” which mysteriously appeared under a train bridge in Encinitas, California around Easter 2011 has caused the city all kinds of grief and brought it worldwide attention from the art world. Firstly, the mosaic was drawing huge crowds to an already busy section of Encinitas Blvd, secondly, the city didn’t know if the artwork should be removed as grafitti or treasured as the folk art that it obviously is. Now, the artist who created it has finally come forward, according to a story in the North County Times.
Longtime Leucadia resident Mark Patterson, 58, notified the city through an attorney late Wednesday afternoon that he had created the piece, which appeared on a railroad bridge support along Encinitas Boulevard in late April. . . After his attorney contacted City Hall, Patterson told the North County Times in a telephone interview that he never expected his 10-by-10-foot mosaic would attract national and even international media attention. . . “I’m not used to this kind of attention,” the former software company employee said.
Now the the City of Encinitas knows whose responsible it still doesn’t solve what they’re going to do with it. Of course, the logical thing would be to just leave it, but as we’ve learned with skateboarding over the years, city governments rarely do the logical thing.
The official autopsy report from Tarrant County Chief Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani, MD lists a second cause of death as “acute mixed drug ingestion.” Drugs listed include Alprazolam, methadone, cocaine, and “a trace amount of methamphetamine.”
The family’s medical expert, however, disagrees that these drugs were an official cause of death for Irons.
Dr. Di Maio questioned Dr. Peerwani’s decision to list the finding “Acute Mixed Drug Ingestion” under “Cause of Death” because he believes “it was not the cause of death and did not contribute to the death. The Manner of Death is in fact labeled Natural.” Dr. Di Maio goes on to say that the drugs cited, Alprazolam (Xanax) and methadone (an analgesic drug commonly used in the treatment of chronic pain), are in “therapeutic levels” and notes that benzoylecgonine is an “inactive metabolite,” which Gary H. Wimbish Ph.D., DABFT, a forensic toxicologist consulted by the family, has explained is a breakdown product of cocaine. . . . Dr. Peerwani’s report also cites the presence of a trace amount of methamphetamine. Lyndie insists Andy was not a methamphetamine user, so it is likely the substance was present in the cocaine he ingested. But again, Dr. Di Maio believes that none of these drugs was the cause of, or contributed to, Andy’s death.
The event, set to take place at Sydney’s iconic Manly Beach 11 – 19 February 2012 is a global, multifaceted youth and sporting event that will showcase the best in surfing, skate, music, fashion and art with an expected spectator audience of 125,000. . . The Australian Open of Surfing is an extension of the world’s largest action sports festival, the US Open of Surfing. The annual event held at Huntington Beach, California, celebrates inclusion and creativity while inspiring the next generation of athletes and artists.
Guess all we need now is a Nike French Open, and a Nike UK Open and we’ll have the Nike Grand Slam of Surfing. Seems Nike just can’t get enough of boardsports these days. Nike. Nike. Nike. Follow the jump for the official word from the ASP. [click to continue…]
Vans has apparently added Australian surfer Wade Goodall to their surf team.
“Wade represents a new generation of futuristic surfers that are multi-talented, in and out of the water,” said Vans Surf Marketing Manager Scott Sisamis. “At 24, he has already started to make a significant mark on the global surf scene and we are super psyched to have him join our crew.”
Goodall joins a stacked team which include Nathan Fletcher, Joel Tudor, Pat, Dane and Tanner Gudauskas, Alex Knost, John Florence, Andrew Doheny and Dylan Graves. Follow the jump for the official word. [click to continue…]
Writer Chasen Marshall, the former editor of Longboard Magazine, dropped by the Astrodeck headquarters in San Clemente, California to check in on the “First Family of Surfing” for the OC Weekly and here’s a little of what he had to say about their time with the Fletchers.
