by The Editors on August 25, 2008
Another New Smyrna Beach surfer has been nipped by a shark.
The 20-year-old surfer was towing his surfboard about 3 p.m. when the shark bit his left foot, Petersohn said. . . . He suffered four lacerations to his foot and instep and was treated on the scene just south of the 27th Street beach approach. Friends later took him to Bert Fish Medical Center in New Smyrna Beach, Petersohn said.
Sounds like toes in the nose. (Sadly, we’re running out of sharky, small wave jokes.)
[Link: News Journal Online]
by The Editors on August 25, 2008
Lifeguards at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area have closed Northern California’s Stinson Beach to swimmer and surfers “after a great white shark was spotted on Sunday night, according to park officials.”
The shark, which was eight to 10 feet long, was seen about 7 p.m. about 125 yards from shore. . . .“It was by a former lifeguard and fisherman, he knows what he saw, that is why we are confident it was a great white shark,” said John Ralph, the lifeguard supervisor at Stinson, which is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Don’t know if it’s ever that great an idea to surf at Stinson Beach.
[Link: Press Democrat]
by The Editors on August 25, 2008
South Carolina surfer Craig Massey, 20, (pictured above) was stabbed to death on July 2, 2008 in the home of Charles Richard Dobson, Jr.,19. Dobson who is charged with murder and two counts of assault and battery with intent to kill claims he acted in self defense.
“These people broke into my house and assaulted me,” Dobson told Charleston County Magistrate Mary Holmes at his bond hearing Thursday night. . . His attorney, Margie Pizarro, later said that Dobson was at home with his younger brother and another person when several people entered the home. She said they were not guests and were not invited into the residence.
Many people can’t figure out how it could have happened:
“Everyone was completely shocked by what happened,” Nancy Hussey, director of the Eastern Surfing Association, said. “Craig was so friendly and well-mannered. He was a very sweet guy.”
The only connection appears to be a 19-year-old girl named Mary Whilden Hills who both Massey and Dobson reportedly dated. (Hills was wounded in the incident”)
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for September 2, 2008.
[Links: Charleston.net via Thedigitel]
by The Editors on August 22, 2008
The LA Times has finally dropped in on the story that has had surfers around the world getting more and more pissed off each day: the outrageous fees airlines are charging to fly with a surfboard.
Surfers note that most airlines don’t charge for golf bags, while surfers are paying as much as $300 a board for international flights. That’s nearly as much as a new board can cost. Avid surfers take as many as four boards in a bag, which can mean a $1,200 bill, or $2,400 for a round trip. . . . The charges have gotten so gnarly that some professional surfers are calling for a boycott of airlines that have high fees and are putting out their own personal lists of surfer-friendly carriers that wave riders should patronize. One of the hottest surfing websites is now also a guide to airline fees.
We agree and have decided that from now on when we travel to Hawaii we’re going to just buy boards off the rack when we get there and sell the off when we leave. Sadly, that doesn’t work in many places with great waves.
[Link: LA Times]
by The Editors on August 22, 2008
Jamie Meiselman, the founder and CEO of Surfparks, LLC has been planning to build the world’s best artificial wave park for nearly a decade. But now his best hope for realizing that dream, the Ron Jon Surfpark at the Festival Bay Mall in Orlando, Florida, has run up on a dry reef according to a story in the Orlando Sentinel.
Thanks to repeated delays (the project was announced four years ago) “the Cocoa-based Ron Jon Surf Shop has pulled its name from the project.”
“We had some flaws in the technology and invested quite a bit of money in fixing that,” said Jamie Meiselman, founder and chief executive officer of the company behind the project, which calls itself Surfparks LLC. “The good news is we were able to solve the problems; the bad news is it came at a cost.”
According to the story, the $9 million that Surfparks, LLC raised to build the project has already spent on “unexpected research and development.” Wow. That’s a lot of research.
[Link: Orlando Sentinel]
by The Editors on August 21, 2008
In Billabong’s financial report today they announced the following: net profit of AUS$176.4 million, up from AUS$167.3 million a year ago.
Mr O’Neill said Billabong’s second half was a “highlight” as sales revenue in North America grew by 18.6 per cent, earnings in Europe rose by 20.8 per cent and Australasia recorded 19.8 per cent growth, in constant currency terms. . . . The Billabong CEO remained confident about fiscal 2009 and said good growth was evident in early forward orders in the US and Europe amid more moderate Australasian growth.
But the really big news was that Billabong announced that they were paying $99.9 million dollars for DaKine Hawaii.
Mr O’Neill said: “DaKine has built a strong sales base in North America and a growing sales base in several international territories, making it a powerful addition to the group.” . . . DaKine is expected to contribute approximately 4 per cent of group sales in fiscal 2009 and be earnings per share positive in year one.
Billabong really is dakine now, gobble, gobble, gobble. Kind of makes us wish we had something to sell them.
[Link: The Australian]
by The Editors on August 21, 2008
Radiator, and Australian wetsuit company, was trying to come up with some way to show that their wetsuits are like wearing nothing at all.
Anyone who enjoys the water has dreamed of something which would be better than a wetsuit. Something which would be super warm and comfortable and yet still so light that it would be totally unrestrictive – well it’s here and it’s called RADIATOR
So. . . well. . . their agency (because who else?) apparently came up with these.
[Links: Sex Happy via Fleshbot]
by The Editors on August 20, 2008
Jeffery A. Berg, the chairman and lead investor in Surfline/Wavetrak Inc., lead director of Swell.com, and founder and owner of Airborne Media LLC (publishers of FOAM magazine, Girls Learn To Ride, etc. . . . ) has just been named to the board of a Carlsbad, California-based interactive entertainment company NTN Buzztime.
Between 1995 and 2000, Mr. Berg was Chairman of AccentHealth. He led its financing and strategic development from its pilot phase to a network now providing segmented, patient education-oriented TV programming to over 10,000 medical waiting rooms. AccentHealth programming reaches 11.7 million consumers every month. . . . Mr. Berg has over 20 years’ experience as a professional investor, having founded Matador Capital Management in 1993, and before that working for 9 years at Raymond James Financial as an institutional securities analyst. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Florida and certification as a Chartered Financial Analyst.
For someone so involed in action sports online, we hardly knew Mr. Berg.
[Link: eMedia World]
by The Editors on August 19, 2008
Australian surfer Matt Branson is one of the only mainstream pro surfers to tell the world that he is gay. And Stab Magazine helped him do that with Fred Pawle’s story The King of Queens. The story is being retold in the Sydney Morning Herald’s All Men Are Liars column.
Though Branson’s orientation was no secret amongst those in the know, this was the first time a former or current pro-surfer has gone on the record admitting they were gay and in the wider surfing community it was still met with shock and awe that “Branno” would be the one.
We missed it the first time, and it’s a good read.
[Link: Sydney Morning Herald]
by The Editors on August 19, 2008
Shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton, 18, has designed jewelry for Claire’s, perfume for her own line, and now she’s designed a new flip-flop for Ocean Minded called “the Meilani,” which is Hawai’ian for “heavenly flower” according to a story in the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
Hamilton said her shoe is made for “people who are really happy and like to (be) a positive influence on everyone and enjoy life and a healthy lifestyle.” . . . She said she is encouraged by the green-living movement and wants her flip-flops to serve as a subtle reminder to respect the environment and keep the oceans clean.
The flips are made of sustainable materials and come in six colors. Cool.
[Link: Long Beach Press-Telegram]
