A 27-year-old surfer in New South Wales, Australia had finished surfing at The Farm, and was up in the car park when he was bitten on the right leg by a red-bellied black snake, according to a story in the Illawarra Mercury.
A witness said the man’s surfboard was on the ground and, when he went to pick it up, the snake emerged from beneath it and bit him. . . . Ambulance officers applied a tourniquet to the man’s leg and took him to Wollongong Hospital.
Sharks and snakes? Damn, Australian surfers will put up with almost anything.
The film stars the break known as Nelscott Reef. Reaching faces of fifty feet, this Oregon wave rivals notorious surf spots like Hawaii’s Jaws and Mavericks in Northern California. But Nelscott’s powerful conditions come only a few times a year, lying undiscovered until Lincoln City transplant John Forse attempted to surf it. . . .The film was co-written and produced by Billy Miller, produced and filmed by Sarah Henderson and features the surf photography of Richard Hallman. Executive Producers are John Forse, Adam Wagner and Jim Kusz, with music by Northwest-based indie musicians and an original score by John Askew.
If you’re anywhere near Portland tonight, be sure to check this film out. Tickets are $5 at the door.
Some reality TV guy (Jon Gosselin?) went surfing this weekend in Hawaii, according to US Magazine. We’re thinking this one photo will do more to clear the lineups than any threat of killer Great Whites . . . on the other hand he looks like great chum.
The weirdest surf media story we missed this week (and we’re putting this up more for ourselves since it’s already been up everywhere else) is from South Africa. According to IOL.com, a 12-year-old girl who was featured in Zigzag surf magazine in a “provacative pose” with the words “all-natural Eastern Cape honey” as a caption was awarded R10,000 (about $1,315.10) in damages by a South African court.
Judge Dennis Davis found it was “properly proved” that the publication was negligent in using the “pin-up” picture without the girl’s knowledge or her and her parents’ consent. . . . This finding was “fortified” by Section 28 of the constitution which found that the child’s best interests were always paramount. He also found the appropriation of her image for the publication’s commercial advantage infringed her dignity and privacy.
When we think about how many anonymous hot girl photos have run in surf magazines over the years, this could get pretty costly, let alone frightening for photographers in general. Zigzag magazine’s editor Will Bendix had to say: “Even though Zag has not been ordered to make any kind of public apology, we really do regret any distress it may have caused the girl, and wish her well for the future.” Click here for ZigZag’s side of the story.
We’ve never really been all that interested in what Bruce Irons thinks about golf. But we’re not Golf Digest. They were so interested they did a Q&A with the Pipeline charger. What surprised us most is that Bruce enjoys golf’s headgames:
It’s the whole mental aspect. You have to hold your composure. I also like the etiquette. When you’re playing the game right, and doing those things, it shows the character of a guy. You have to have patience; you can’t lose it. You have to swallow your last bad shot. It’s really mind over matter. It’s amazing what a little white ball, that doesn’t move, can do to a big, grown-up man.
Funny that someone who can stay composed pulling into crushing inside Waimea closeouts would have trouble on the golf course.
Melissa Hardcastle, 27, was surfing out in front of the Jupiter Reef Club in Jupiter, Florida on Friday, November 13, 2009 when she felt something chomp down on her foot, according to a story on wptv.com.
Her mother says she never saw the shark but knew what it was immediately. . . “She’s got some marks. She’s lucky to have her foot, but she’s good, very good,” says Hardcastle. . . Melissa never saw the shark, only felt it. Her mother says she grabbed the board and rode the waves to shore.
Hardcastle spent the night at Jupiter Medical Center and will be having surgery this morning. Spooky. . .
We’ve occasionally followed the story of surfing physicist Garrett Lisi and the unification theory he calls The Theory of Everything. Some say it is genius, others claim that it is purely junk science from a surfer who is good at math. We have no idea. . . but it looks pretty cool. Doesn’t it?
An unnamed 18-year-old surfer was hit by a 4-foot shark while surfing near News Journal this afternoon according to a story in the News Journal.
The 18-year-old man, who was not identified by the Volusia County Beach Patrol, suffered only minor injuries, including a bump on the shin where the shark hit him and lacerations to the back of the calf and the front of the shin.
He was one of 300 surfers in the water. This is the eighth shark attack of the year.
The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing will this year award a prize purse of $1 million. But don’t get too excited. It’s not a winner take all. It’s just the total prize money of the six contests (three mens, three womens) all added up, according to a story in the Honolulu Advertiser.
The men’s Triple Crown will feature events at Hale’iwa Ali’i Beach, Sunset Beach and the Banzai Pipeline. The women’s Triple Crown will feature events at Hale’iwa Ali’i Beach, Sunset Beach and Honolua Bay, Maui. . . The six contests will award a total of $875,000 in prize money.
But then Vans threw in another $175,000 to knock it right over the top. Triple Crown organizer Randy Rarick is apparently amazed:
“It really is amazing, considering we don’t have a gate for paid attendance to help bring in money,” Rarick said. “It’s one of the better shows on earth and people get to watch for free. That’s why it’s nice to see the surfers get rewarded like this.”
Maybe someday the winner of Pipeline will take home a cool million all by themselves. We can hope. Stay tuned to Triplecrownofsurfing.com for all the action. It all starts tomorrow with the Reef Hawaiian Pro 2009 from Haleiwa.
San Diego’s Clairemont High School class of 1979, the students immortalized by writer Cameron Crowe in his book (and movie) Fast Times At Ridgemont High, had its 30 year reunion this weekend and San Diego Union-Tribune writer Helen Gao says the class didn’t turn out all that bad.
At its 30-year-reunion celebrations this weekend, the crowd is filled with firefighters, teachers,professors, businessmen, engineers, mechanics and many others who are gainfully employed and contributing to society. . . “I am actually depressed no one is smoking a joint right now,” quipped Mike Ghareeb of Ramona as he surveyed a roomful of his former classmates at the Skybox bar in Clairemont, where they also gathered Friday night.
It’s nice to know that the kids responsible for the world’s most iconic surf archtype are alright. Original copies of Crowe’s book are now selling for upwards of $100 and yet we still rarely feel tardy.
A 27-year-old surfer in New South Wales, Australia had finished surfing at The Farm, and was up in the car park when he was bitten on the right leg by a red-bellied black snake, according to a story in the Illawarra Mercury.
