We’ve been fans of Felt Bicycles for a short time and of cruisers in general forever, so this new collab with Hurley looks pretty good for a Nike bikie.
Hurley’s world-class design team partnered with Felt Bicycles to create a limited-edition cruiser capturing the essence of Hurley surf style and culture. Hurley’s most recognized and sought-after “Puerto Rico” plaid, popularized on surf trunks worn by the likes of pro surfer Rob Machado, has inspired the new Hurley “PR” cruiser.
Meghan Dambacher and Lisa Carpenter of Solana Beach, California wanted to start a business in the surf industry. First they started a website that helped surfers buy, sell, and trade surfboards called Rerip.com: reduce, reuse, reride. But they wanted to do more. Now they have according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The pair partnered with a Los Angeles-based think tank to find a use for unwanted, often toxic, surfboards. Though the research is in the early phases, they have discovered that the boards can be recycled and used to create nonstructural concrete. They’ve been given the green light to use their “Surfcrete” in lightweight capacities, and are starting by using it in landscaping projects. . . . Dambacher and Carpenter have made deals with the city of San Diego to place surfboard recycling bins at city landfills, and the Patagonia Waterman Store in Cardiff by the Sea has agreed to keep a surfboard recycling bin on the premises as well. Other dropoff sites are forthcoming.
See, green marketing really works. Not well enough for Meghan and Lisa to quit their day jobs, but well enough to get a story in the newspaper.
In the grand tradition of morally-ambiguous, surf-lust inspired schemes, I’m launching this site: PostSurf – A place for myself and other Surf Culture iconoclasts to mull over the act, after the act is finished. . . . This site is based on a blind faith that there are many other surfers out there who are dissatisfied with the current state of the surf media. . . . I’m trying to make things better (or much, much worse depending upon your perspective).
Good, honest, insightful, funny writing about surfing is always in short supply and chances are that Postsurf.com will occasionally contain some. That’s why we’ve added the site to our Surf Links and our RSS feeds. Check it out.
Glen Lockery was surfing with friends last Wednesday at Shelly Beach Australia when he got slammed by a shark according to The Daily Telegraph.
Mr Lockery was waiting for a wave, watching his mates paddle in, when he was attacked. . . . “I was sitting out the back on my own and just got hit from below,” he said yesterday. It was a massive impact that flipped his surfboard up to hit him in the face. Mr Lockery caught a glimpse of the shark’s girth – about twice as wide as his surfboard. “People have told me that when it comes from the deep it is either a great white or a tiger. It lifted the board and broke the nose,” he said.
And he escaped with only a broken nose on his surfboard.
Mick Fanning, the 2007 ASP world champion hit the cricket pitch yesterday with former Midnight Oil singer Peter Garrett and other Australian celebrities for a match to raise money for the victims of Australia’s deadly brushfires, according to News.com.au.
While it was played in good humour, the reason why they were there could not be missed. “The generosity from Australians following this terrible event has been incredible,” Garrett said. “A total vindication of that deep spirit of commitment and mateship that we have. The fact we can be on the SCG, on a Sunday afternoon, with a game of cricket, with captains of the calibre of Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor … we live in a harsh land, but we have generous hearts.”
More than 20,000 people showed up for a game we still don’t understand. Reading about cricket reminded us how most people must feel reading about snowboarding, surfing, and skating. It’s like those cricket plays have their own language. . .
Last month Rabbit Bartholomew announced that he was retiring from his position as president of the Association of Surfing Professionals. Today, the Sydney Morning Hearld looks back at the huge effect Rabbit’s “best surfers in the best waves” philosophy had on the ASP Tour and on surfing in general.
Problem being, a lot of the best waves are kilometres offshore. Tough, said Bartholomew. If that’s where conditions peaked, that’s where the contests would be held. . . . The result became the high-voltage tour now traversing the globe: Fiji, Tahiti, the US, Europe, a mystery location every year. Slater ended his retirement. It shouldn’t be forgotten that without Bartholomew’s brainchild, Slater would have been lost to the sport for good.
A Fly In The Champagne’s producer/ interviewer/ narrator Selema Masekela (and special guest) discussing Kelly Slater, Andy Irons, the rivalry, the film, and the surf trip that made it all happen.
Check out the images from Billabong’s Design For Humanity runway show/party in Sydney, Australia on February 18, 2009. Looks like the high fashion nobs were turned up a little on this one.
The Kelly Slater vs. Andy Irons documentary A Fly In The Champagne premiered tonight (February 19, 2009) at the Legendary La Paloma Theater in Encinitas, California during two packed-house showings.
Through back and forth interviews with Andy and Kelly, the film breaks down the story behind what many consider the greatest rivalry in modern surfing. In a story in the Sydney Morning Herald former ASP President Rabbit Bartholomew spoke of the rivalry and its effect on the entire tour: “Kelly came back but AI was killing it,” Bartholomew says. “The next three years, they just went hammer and tong. They took it to a whole other level and the rest of the tour went with them.”
Kelly wouldn’t disagree. “People don’t get pushed by nothing,” Slater says in the opening moments of the film. “Competitively in sports you get to see what people are made of when they really get pushed with their back to the wall.”
Hearing about what both surfers went through to put the other up against the wall and seeing how much they both hate losing had the audience laughing out loud. Even when Andy and Kelly went on the “bury the hatchet” surf trip together (which is the focus of the movie) they still ended up jocking each other for waves. But at least they were reportedly talking and hanging out together (not that we saw much of that in the film), and that was a big step forward in their relationship.
One thing we couldn’t help feeling bummed about as the movie ended was how much we’re going to miss Andy Irons on the WCT tour this year. Not that we have anything against Taj, Mick, Jordy, or Bede. We just enjoy the drama and emotion that Andy brings to surfing and selfishly hope that this year off will bring him back to the tour better than ever.
