by The Editors on October 28, 2010
On Tuesday night (October 26, 2010) a group of surfers in the lineup at San Clemente, California’s Riviera Beach saw a small great white shark jump out of the water just outside the line up, according to a story in the Orange County Register.
About half of the 10 or so surfers in the lineup left the water, said Dave Schulte, a veteran surfer and former pro surf-contest judge who had just finished surfing at Riviera Beach when the shark, maybe 6 feet long, was sighted at about 6 p.m. Tuesday. . . Schulte was heading for his car when a young surfer came up to say a shark had just breeched. Schulte said he watched the water for 15 minutes “and all of a sudden it jumped again. We’re talking maybe 75 yards off the beach.”
We liked it better when the great whites stayed way, way off shore and kept their heads down.
[Link: Orange County Register]
by The Editors on October 28, 2010
According to a report released by the Magazine Publishers of America magazine advertising pages during the third quarter (July to September 2010) were up 3.6 percent over the same period last year. The biggest gains were in the retail category where pages were up 7.2 percent and revenue was up 13.1 percent.
As we do most quarters we’ve checked in with the only action sports magazines followed in the Publisher Information Bureau (Bonnier Corporation’s Transworld Media) and see that things are mostly looking up. In fact Q3 looked great for all the titles aside from Skateboarding and Wakeboarding:
2010 2009 % Change
TRANSWORLD SNOWBOARDING 221.34 173.67 27.45
TRANSWORLD MOTOCROSS 256.26 220.08 16.44
TRANSWORLD SURF 278.42 244.34 13.95
RIDE BMX 152.59 148.36 2.85
TRANSWORLD SKATEBOARDING 296.04 337.05 -12.17
WAKEBOARDING 93.67 116.83 -19.82
Maybe those iPad magazine apps were just digital overkill. To see how the rest of the magazine world stacked up click here.
[Link: Magazine Publisher of America]
by The Editors on October 28, 2010
Billabong is rallying most their brands in support of their 10th annual retro-surfing contest at Dana Point, California’s Salt Creek (how did Nixon get out of this one?) held October 30 – 31, 2010.
Cosmic Creek features a surfing contest with all manner of strange categories including Space Cadets, Groove Masters, Rocket Men, and Rolling Stones and a Saturday night performance by Billabong’s spooky troubador Donavon Frankensteiner at Laguna’s hip club Seven Degrees. They’re encouraging everyone to dress appropriately for the night-before-Halloween bash.
Oh, wait. Our mistake. It’s actually Donavon Frankenreiter who will be performing. Sorry for the confusion.
For more information click the link directly below this or follow the jump to view Donavon’s latest music video Glow made up entirely of still photos shot by master lensman Brian Bielmann.
[Link: Cosmic Creek]
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by The Editors on October 28, 2010
If surfing ever makes it in the Olympics it will look a lot like the Billabong ISA World Surfing Games held in Punta Hermosa, Peru. The games ended yesterday, October 27, 2010, with the host country Peru taking gold followed by Australia, South Africa, and Brazil.
It was a fairytale ending to an event steeped in a mix of camaraderie and cutthroat competition as Team Peru gave every ounce of effort to take the overall gold medal today from Team Australia in solid 5-foot Senoritas lefts at Punta Hermosa, near Lima, Peru. It was the first time that the Peruvians have won an overall ISA Title since Felipe Pomar’s individual win in the 1965 World Championships more than four decades ago when the Titles were only individual, not national teams.
For the rest of the official story follow the jump.
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by The Editors on October 27, 2010
Gold Coast surfer Robert Marino (pictured right) describes how he survived the burning wreck of the MV Midas after the tsunami rammed another surf charter boat into it by wriggling out a port hole, according to a story in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Mr Marino had squirmed his way through a tiny porthole, barely large enough for a man’s head to peek through, but surely not wide enough to accommodate Mr Marino’s wide frame. . . ”I had opened it first, but realised there was no way to get through it, so I went through the door,” Mr Finucan said. ”How he did it, I don’t know.”
Definitely a miracle. Hopefully, we’ll hear about more miracles from the Mentawis in the next few days.
[Link: Sydney Morning Herald]
by The Editors on October 27, 2010
With over 150 people dead and hundreds more missing after a tsunami caused by a 7.7 earthquake surged through the Mentawai Islands, Matt George and Last Mile Operations are again among the first (along with Surfaid International) to offer aid, according to a story in the Christian Science Monitor.
The D’Bora surf charter stationed off the southern end of Pagai island, the area closest to the epicenter, has been sending back reports of the damage. Last Mile Operations has used that information to put together buckets complete with fishing hooks, sarongs, blankets, tarps, rope, and small shovels. . . “Anything that can get them under shelter and give them the ability to be clean and give them the opportunity to gather their own food from the jungle and the sea,” says George. . . The response has been rapid, he explains, because those on the ground know what to anticipate from these kinds of disasters. George, who also assisted aid efforts during the 2004 tsunami that devastated the Indian Ocean region, says the surf charter business has a lot of experience working with relief organizations. . . “The surfers here are being called up on the most because we know the islands like the back of our hands; we know the villages, we know the waters, we’re qualified captains and know how to navigate the reefs,” he says.
Click here to make a donation to Last Mile Operations or here to help support Surfaid International.
[Link: Christian Science Monitor]
by The Editors on October 26, 2010
Anastasia Ashley allowed MTV’s Andrew Jenks to follow her around the US Open of Surfing last summer for an episode of World of Jenks. We don’t really understand why Mr. Jenks has a show, but Anastasia rocked it out in this episode. If you don’t want to sit through the entire episode here are a couple of our favorite Ms. Ashley quotes:
- A lot of girls who surf don’t like me. I feel like there is a lot of jealousy.
- I would say I’m not really friends with a lot of the other girls. There is a lot of cattiness that a lot of people don’t see.
- I do whatever the fuck I want. I don’t like labels. I’m just doing what I want to do and you can love it or hate it.
- You want to say something, “Say it to my face.” I’ll go over and say “Say that to my mother-fucking face.”
- A lot of girls at contests are such fake bitches.
- At the end of the day you’re going to have haters if you’re doing something people care about.
- I’m definitely not missing a sensitivity chip
But it’s not all rough and tough. Just watch it. You’ll like her more than you did before. Trust us.
by The Editors on October 26, 2010
New Smyrna Beach, Florida shark bite victim Andrew Heald discusses his September 2, 2010 attack with the the Daytona Beach News-Journal and mentions being surrounded by mullet in mirky water and then he saw a fin poke out of the water.
“I have to get out of here,” Heald said he immediately thought. . . Heald guessed the fin was from a 5- to 6-foot blacktip shark. The blacktip is probably to blame for most reported human attacks in Florida, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but never a fatality. . . The fin disappeared below the surface, and Heald figured it was his chance to try to catch a wave in. Then it hit him, hard. . . “I heard a big splash, and it felt like I was being tackled,” he said.
Heald, unlike California’s Lucas Ransom, survived with a few stitches and is already back in the water.
[Link: Daytona Beach News-Journal]
by The Editors on October 25, 2010
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center may have said there wasn’t much to worry about after a 7.5 quake hit the Mentawai’s earlier today. That didn’t help some Austrailian surfers on a surf to Macaronis when a reported 2 to 3 meter tsunami came rolling through, according to a story in The Australian.
Three boats were anchored nearby last night. Two of the boats were smashed into each other by the tsunami. One, the Midas (pictured above right), was destroyed. All passengers – mostly Australian surfers – are safe and accounted for. . . One of the boats, Freedom III, is on its way to the Macaronis Resort to see what damage was inflicted, and whether the guests had been injured. . . “Freedom III is on its way there now, to do its duty of care,” said World Surfaris manager Shaun Levings. “We’re still waiting on a report.”
Apparently, everyone from both boats in “safe and accounted for” though we’re not sure having to bail off a burning boat into a tsunami following an earthquake is what they bargained for. Especially after a long day at Macaronis.
[Link: The Australian and The Age]
by The Editors on October 25, 2010
A tsunami warning has been issued for Indonesia after a 7.5 earthquake hit tonight at 9:45 PM local time (7:42 AM PST, Oct. 25, 2010) according to MSNBC.
It said the quake, which hit at around 10:42 am ET (9:42 pm local time) was located 149 miles south of Padang. . . A tsunami warning was issued by the Indonesian earthquake monitoring agency.
The quake’s epicenter was reportedly 8.8 miles deep and located near the Mentawi Islands. Apparently, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says the “historical data suggested any wave it created would not be destructive.”
[Link: MSNBC]
