by The Editors on March 19, 2009
A guy surfing at a beach on the New South Wales far south coast didn’t get munched by a shark today, but his surfboard did.
Andrew Edmunds from the Far South Coast Surf Life Saving branch says the size or species of shark is not known. . . “The male surfer didn’t sustain any injuries in the incident, but his board was damaged by the attack, by the shark,” he said. . . “The type of shark is unknown.”
A little bite of foam seems to keep them from coming back.
[Link: ABC.net.au]
by The Editors on March 19, 2009
A new surfboard created by a renewable products cooperative called Eden Projects in the UK is made with 50 percent renewable materials (including some wood from a fallen Balsa tree), according to a story in the Telegraph.co.uk.
Describing the creation as “revolutionary”, Eden’s retail director, Mark Beeley, said: “At last we are able to offer surfers the chance to own one of the most sustainable surfboards in the world, available right here in the UK.” . . . Mr Beeley said 15 per cent – 20 per cent of the foam core was made from plant-derived material and a resin was developed from linseed oil to coat the board.
[Link: Telegraph.co.uk]
by The Editors on March 19, 2009
Thanks to Lewis Samuels and Surfline for perfectly capturing the jockification of surfing in a snide way. It may take for hell and a day to load each page, but for those who want to know what one surf writer thinks about each of the guys on the ASP WCT there’s no better place than The Surfline’s 2009 ASP World Tour Pow3r Rank1ngs Presented by Rip Curl. Here’s what he said about 17th place Kelly Slater:
It’s obvious to everyone that by losing to Julian, Slater has erased two decades of competitive dominance. We can now safely equate Kelly to Cheyne Horan, who finished runner-up four times riding unconventional equipment. Yes, Kelly won the Billabong Pipe Masters riding similarly unconventional equipment, and there were those nine titles… but that was then, this is now. The once infallible Slater, who has never lost a heat in his life, dug his rail twice in chest-high windchop and failed to catch an imaginary second scoring set wave that never came through. So clearly, he’s no longer the best surfer in the world.
Smell that? That’s sarcasm. . . though we can’t say we disagree with the “unconventional equipment” comments.
[Link: Surfline.com]
by The Editors on March 18, 2009
A Del Mar, California surfer out for dawn patrol this morning noticed six bulging burlap sacks along the railroad tracks near the end of 11th street in Del Mar, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
As he continued to walk toward the water, he came across two men lugging a seventh sack and he asked what they were doing, Reynolds said. . . .The men said something in Spanish, dropped what they were carrying and ran. The surfer called deputies, who later found an eighth sack closer to the water, Reynolds said. The sacks were filled with 80 plastic-wrapped bundles of marijuana, Reynolds said.
This is the second time this year that a surfer has discovered weed in Del Mar and reported it. Wonder how many loads have gone unreported?
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on March 17, 2009
We’ve said it over and over: when content becomes free all content becomes advertising. That’s probably why Manulele Inc’s Mike Latronic is expanding their media business to include a PR arm.
Manulele Inc., producers of Freesurf Magazine, Billabong Surf TV, and Board Stories TV, is proud to announce the expansion of its media department to include a public-relations component geared to providing the action-sports industry with the freshest and most cohesive video, photo, and written content available.
Why write editorial that is indirectly sponsored by advertising when you can just write advertising copy directly. What a great way to explain what is already happening at most surf magazines anyway.
[Link: Hawaii Reporter]
by The Editors on March 17, 2009
Rusty Preisendorfer’s son Clint was drafted by the New York Yankee’s organization to play in the minor leagues according to a post on the Rusty.com blog. Apparently, Clint is a rocket-hot pitcher who is already off a spring training. What does this new contract mean for Clint’s other activities? It means he has to quit almost all of them.
My contract does not let me do anything! No skateboarding, no snowboarding, no wakeboarding, but I did have them make an exception for surfing. However, my contract stipulates that there is a limit- I am not allowed to surf anything over ten feet! I pretty much told them that surfing is a part of my life and if I can’t have it I don’t know if I can play baseball.
Well, at least he’s keeping his priorities straight.
[Link: Rusty.com via The Hobgoods]
by The Editors on March 17, 2009
The LA Times may joke that the beaches of southern California might be a great place for AIG executives to take part in a “long-distance swimming race with no lifelines” but to those who surf everyday the recent shark sightings are not all that funny.
- A surfer over the weekend reportedly was rushed by a large shark off Carlsbad, which is about seven miles north of Solana Beach. This has not been confirmed.
- A beachcomber off Bolsa Chica State Beach on Monday discovered a headless sea lion with other wounds. Perhaps this serves as evidence that adult great whites, which generally prey on much larger elephant seals off Northern California, are utilizing an increasingly dense sea lion population off Southern California.
- The remains of a seal or sea lion washed up on a beach in Carlsbad on Sunday.
- A swimmer and stand-up paddleboard surfer in the Pacific Palisedes area on Saturday reported sighting estimated seven- and eight-foot sharks, 15 minutes apart around 8 a.m. The swimmer said there were two sharks, and that one of them leaped, or breached.
- Three people atop Balboa Pier in Newport Beach on Saturday reported sighting an estimated eight-foot shark, which also breached.
We’re not looking forward to seeing any, thank you.
[Link: LA Times]
by The Editors on March 16, 2009
Mini and sleek aluminum trailer maker Airstream have teamed up with with furniture brand Republic of Fritz Hansen to create the ultimate surf travel collab.
The concept will make its debut at the Interni Design Energies exhibition in the courtyards of Università degli Studi di Milano during the upcoming Salone del Mobile show held in Milan. I know it’s a mouthful, but stay with me. . . . Republic of Fritz Hansen is a Copenhagen-based firm specializing in functional, minimalist design. . . . Using the outdoor lifestyle aspects of surf culture, the firm has created a fresh new look for the Clubman and Airstream caravan.
Looks cool, but we wouldn’t want to drive it to Costa Rica.
[Link: The Motor Report]
by The Editors on March 16, 2009
Even though the surf is good we’ve never really found much reason to surf San Diego County’s Imperial Beach, but those who plow those polluted waters may be a little safer thanks to Wild Coast’s free hepatitis A vaccines, according to a story on KPBS.org.
He says anyone who surfs or goes in the ocean in IB regularly should get the shots twice a year. That’s because the polluted Tijuana River empties out just south of the beach. McCue says at first his group tried to discourage people from going in the water when pollution levels were high. But he says that wasn’t very effective. . . “We found it’s a much better strategy to tell people what health services are offered to them. If they do report ocean illness where can they go to get services. So, the Imperial Beach Health Center offers either free or heavily discounted treatment and vaccinations for people who report getting sick from the water here,” he says.
No, thanks. We’ll just surf elsewhere.
[Link: KPBS.org]
by The Editors on March 16, 2009
The search for missing Kauai surfer Aaron Lamson, 34, of Moloa’a has been called off after crews spent two unsuccessful days looking for the man, according to a story in the The Garden Island.
The missing man. . . who lost his surfboard at around 1:41 Friday afternoon at a spot called “Crack 14” and has not been seen since then. “Anyone with new information about the missing surfer is urged to call us,” said Kaua‘i Fire Chief Robert Westerman. . . . “We are prepared to immediately switch from passive to active mode and resume the search.”
Our thoughts are with Aaron’s friends and family.
[Link: The Garden Island]
