Green Issue
Gaviota Coast APRIL 2013
Zack Gingg Photo Essay CENTRAL CALIFORNIA SURFING MAGAZINE
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EL DIRECTOR: Andres Nuño EDITOR: Chuck Graham GRAPHIC DESIGN: Dan Levin PHOTO CORRECTION: David Levine ADVERTISING: info@deepzine.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Craig Comen Derek Dodds Glenn Dubock Peter Dugré Chuck Graham Dan Hamlin Chris Keet Michael Kew Nicole de Leon Sheila V. Madrak
L. Paul Mann Kara Petersen D.E. Putnam David Pu’u Ryan A. Smith Shawn Tracht Mike Vavak CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Kenny Backer Andy Bowlin Chris Burkard Radhika Chalasani Seth de Roulet Derek Dodds Glenn Dubock Chuck Graham Brent Hilleman Kristen Hilleman Michael Kew Jeff Lane Brent Lieberman Living Coast Discovery Center
Anthony Lombardi Matt Lusk
L. Paul Mann Jim Martin NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center Marine Turtle Research Program
David Pu’u Brian Salce Jon Shafer Mark Shargel Ryan A. Smith Bill Tover Shawn Tracht Florian Zibel
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March/April 2013 > Volume 8 > No. 2 Central California Surfing Magazine
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DEEP SURF MAGAZINE April 2013
COVER SHOT: It's very rare for conditions to come together in flawless fashion. Here Tanner Gudauskas finds himself in the midst of a perfect Central California day.
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14 Rincon Classic 16 News 18 Northern Exposure 20 Comen Sense 22 Shaper's Bay 34 Eithan Osborne Aerial Assault 36 Board Trachting 38 40 NEW Center Stage Ladies Room 42 What's Your Komunity Project 50 Shark Population on the Rise 52 Surf Shop Down Low 54 The Evolution of Tarik Khashogg 62 Tidelines 64 View from the Hill 66 Green Room 68 Product Reviews 70 Music & Entertainment 72 Final Frames 74/76 Letter from the Editor
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PHOTO: DAVID PU’U ANTHONY LOMBARDI MATT LUSK ZACK GINGG
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56 FEATURES 24
GAVIOTA COAST Story and Photos by David Pu'u Undeveloped coastal property has become as rare as an empty wave at Rincon. The Gaviota Coast, with its miles of open space, is like a whole swell without a surfer in sight. David Pu’u takes us to this unique expanse of coastline, giving us a glimpse through the eyes of the Chumash and showing us where the land now lies in the crosshairs of developers.
30 40 YEARS OF THE MARINE MAMMAL PROTECTION ACT Story by D.E. Putnam / Photos by Anthony Lombardi, Chuck Graham, and David Pu'u Forty years after the Marine Mammal Act provided the first wide angle approach to the protection of oceanic creatures, D.E. Putnam takes a look at the tangled tale of saving the sea otter. The unhealed scars of fur trading and the political muscle of the shellfish industry have landed the charismatic marine mammal in a century-long battle to repopulate the California coast. Putnam brings us up to date on the otter’s fight.
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44 TRAVEL OUTERBANKS / TIES THAT BOND
Story by Dan Hamlin / Photos by Matt Lusk On a post-Sandy trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Dan Hamlin re-discovers that even wave-greedy surfers are compassionate at their core. Hamlin’s return to a region pummeled by Mother Nature serves as an important reminder: “people come first, not waves.”
56 ZACK GINGG PHOTO ESSAY
Story by Chuck Graham Bold textures and big contrasts, these are the constants in 21-year-old Zack Gingg’s diverse portfolio of images. The young photographer from Cayucos shoots with talent that far surpasses his years. He often has his Canon cameras trained on the water, and the results are impressive.
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DEEP SURF MAGAZINE April 2013
Introducing Shaper's Bay. A section highlighting the diversity of board building by local shapers in the tri-county region.
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SELF PORTRAIT
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
hat does it mean to be Green? Ultimately it should be about using common sense. That’s what this whole environmental crusade is all about, isn’t it? It’s simple stuff really, but from where I’m sitting I see that people generally don’t give a hoot. As someone who writes about and photographs some of our last wild places, of which some are local and others far flung, I hope people will find an appreciation for them like I do. But when I return to these places and find them continually trashed by the careless and selfish, well, I can’t say what I want to say in this letter. I could go on about the negative, but there’s a lot of good going on, too. In DEEP’s annual Green Issue, you’ll find the fight is still going strong to save the Gaviota Coast. Frequent contributor David Pu’u reflects on the idyllic, last of its kind coastline. Development on this stretch of coastline shouldn’t be considered. It just shows you that people haven’t learned from past developments and the scars they possess—more development, more people, less natural resources, and more impact. Enough said. Last November the Marine Mammal Protection Act turned 40. How fortunate we are to live in a region that has some of the highest concentrations of whales, dolphins and other seafaring critters in the world. It’s awful to imagine the state of our ocean without the act in place. Dustin Putnam gives us the lowdown following four decades of protection. See how green you can be.
Enjoy.
Chuck Graham
WHO’S ON BOARD? Matt Lusk
Photographer I realized my passion for photography on a solo-backpacking trip through Indonesia and Australia in 2006 and never looked back. I’m very fortunate to call the Outer Banks of North Carolina home and consider it my favorite place on earth to photograph surf. My images reflect not just the waves, but the lifestyle that makes North Carolina’s coastline an international epicenter and East Coast surfing mecca.
Anthony Lombardi Photographer
Anthony lives in Carpinteria, Calif. and works on the waters of the Santa Barbara Channel. He has taken his passion for the water into his daily life as a captain for Island Packers, where he has the opportunity to work surrounded by the beauty of the Channel Islands. He spends his time on and in the water shooting images of the unique wildlife that this area has to offer in our own backyard. His many images of wildlife and surf can be seen at www.liquidpix.com.
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DEEP SURF MAGAZINE April 2013
Kenny Backer Photographer
805 local photographer specializing in weddings, portraits, and special events for the last four years. Photographing the ocean and wildlife is his lifelong love. Backer was voted Favorite Photographer in the Ventura County Star, and is the official photographer for New West Symphony, Crowning Glory Beauty Pageant, Latino Business Expo. and others.
D.E. Putnam
Writer
Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Calif., Dustin grew up splitting his spare time between the beach and mountains, where he developed an affinity for life in the great outdoors. He is a graduate of the University of California and currently lives in Ventura with his wife and three children.
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NEWS
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RINCON CLASSIC
FRI 01
SAT 02
11:29 3.92 5:21 1.05
6:38 0.62 12:33 3.32
SUN 03
7:58 2:08
0.67 2.86
MON 04
9:34 4:16
MARCH 2013 Tide Chart Ventura, CA
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o run or not to run, that was the question! Well folks, thanks to the generous support of the California State Parks we were granted a two-week extension to the 2013 Quiksilver Rincon Classic presented by Channel Islands Surfboards waiting period through March 9 and 10. It has been an interesting winter without many large swells, and the pulses we have been getting have landed mid-week for two months straight. That put the Rincon Classic in a holding pattern, until March 2 and 3, when there were contestable conditions. You may or may not have heard, but our own Daisy Love Merrick passed away on February 16, 2013 and is now in heaven without pain. To honor the spirit, life, and passing of Daisy we are dedicating the 2013 30th annual Rincon Classic in her name. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Merrick family. Check out the May/June issue of DEEP Surf Magazine and our website, www.deepzine.com for Rincon Classic results. –Chris Keet, Contest Director
DEEP SURF MAGAZINE April 2013
0.52 2.85
TUE 05
WED 06
THU 07
10:59 0.14 5:44 3.21
12:02 -0.28 6:35 3.66
12:50 -0.6 7:13 4.09
FRI 08
6:35 1:32
5.6 -0.77
SAT 09
7:24 2:09
5.72 -0.78
SUN 10
9:08 3:43
5.68 -0.63
MON 11
9:50 4:14
5.47 -0.34
TUE 12
WED 13
THU 14
FRI 15
10:30 5.11 4:45 0.04
11:09 4.65 5:14 0.49
11:50 4.13 5:41 0.98
6:37 6:08
WSURF.COM TIDE CHART
0.45 1.47
N AN LM AU L. P BY CE EN QU SE
Will he retire, or go for championship #12 in 2013?
SAT 16
7:28 1:30
0.73 3.07
SUN 17
8:34 2:56
0.98 2.68
MON 18
10:06 1.09 5:38 2.66
TUE 19
WED 20
11:37 0.95 7:05 2.96
12:39 0.69 7:33 3.26
THU 21
6:01 1:21
4.16 0.43
FRI 22
6:54 1:54
4.43 0.24
WETSAND SURF SHOP
SAT 23
7:37 2:22
4.68 0.08
SUN 24
8:16 2:49
4.87 0.02
MON 25
8:53 3:16
4.97 0.03
TUE 26
WED 27
THU 28
9:32 3:45
10:12 4.81 4:14 0.36
10:55 4.53 4:45 0.66
4.95 0.14
446 E MAIN STREET VENTURA Not to be used for navigation. Do not rely on data for decisions that can result in harm to anyone or anything.
FRI 29
11:43 4.14 5:19 1.05
SAT 30
6:29 5:58
-0.38 1.49
MARCH 2013 Tide Chart Ventura, CA www.DEEPZINE.com
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NEWS
PHOTO: BRENT & KRISTIN HILLEMAN
Surf Industry’s Best Recognized at SIMA Image Awards CI crew stoked on their threepeat.
O
n February 8, 2013, 80 nominees representing the best of the surf industry from 2012 were honored at the 10th annual Surf Industry Manufacturers Association (SIMA) Image Awards ceremony. More than 800 attendees from surf companies and specialty retail shops packed The Grove in Anaheim, Calif., to celebrate the outstanding innovations and contributions made by the SIMA Image Awards nominees. “The Image Awards is arguably one of SIMA’s most important initiatives,” said Doug Palladini, SIMA President and Vans’Vice President of Marketing. “Innovation and excellence help keep the surf industry vibrant, and to recognize those achievements in our products, businesses, and our employees—the creative minds that keep our products and brands original—is very important. We’re proud to see the SIMA Image Awards program continue to grow in prominence with more and more entries each year. It’s really a competitive program. All of the nominees honored here tonight should be very proud of their accomplishments in advancing our industry.” As the only awards program of its kind, the goal of the SIMA Image Awards is to identify the surf industry’s most influential companies and recognize them for their efforts to advance and grow the industry during the past year.
2012 SIMA Image Award Winners OVERALL AWARDS
Breakout Brand of the Year: Brixton Breakout Retailer of the Year: Surf Ride, San Diego
MEN’S AWARDS
Men’s Apparel Brand of the Year: RVCA Men’s Boardshort of the Year: Phantom Fuse by Hurley Men’s Marketing Campaign of the Year: “60 Years of Innovation” by O’Neill Men’s Retailer of the Year: Hansen’s, Encinitas
Women’s Swim Brand of the Year: L*Space by Monica Wise Women’s Retailer of the Year: Jack’s Surfboards, Huntington Beach
PRODUCT AWARDS
Accessory Product of the Year: Supertide Watch by Nixon Environmental Product of the Year: Recycler Boardshort Series by Billabong Footwear Product of the Year: Van Doren Series by Vans Hardgoods Accessory Product of the Year: WOMEN’S AWARDS Drylock Boot by Xcel Women’s Apparel Brand of the Year: Quiksilver for girls Surfboard of the Year: Women’s Marketing Campaign of the Year: Neckbeard Squash by Channel Islands “Let the Sea Set You Free” by Roxy Wetsuit of the Year: FLASHBOMB by Rip Curl
Award-Winning Conservationist to Speak at Channel Islands Park Foundation Fundraiser
N
ot many people can say they are both a world-renowned marine conservationist and journalist, well, maybe except for Petra Deimer. In March, the award-winning marine mammal conservationist, adviser to the International Whaling Commission, and President of the Society for the Conservation of Marine Mammals will lecture at the Channel Islands Park Foundation’s first large-scale fundraiser, “A Whale’s Tale: The Case for Conservation.” Deimer has devoted her adult life to animal advocacy and has worked over 25 years as a marine mammal conservationist and advocate. During the event, Deimer will address her personal experiences and how conservation efforts can make a difference for whale populations while providing sustainable economies for human communities. “The focus of the evening is an opportunity to learn more about whales and whale conservation through the story and experience of an internationally renowned conservationist and journalist, Petra
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Deimer,” said Clay Downing, a volunteer for the Channel Islands Park Foundation. “We are still a small, but growing organization, and appreciate help in reaching new people who may in turn be interested in getting things done at Channel Islands National Park.” This event is the perfect venue for both ocean lovers and whale advocates, and supports an organization that works hard to protect the Channel Islands and Central Coast. Since 2005, the Channel Islands Park Foundation has committed itself to funding restoration and education efforts that protect the islands’ natural and cultural resources. The event will be co-hosted by CSU Channel Islands Department of Environmental Science and Resource Management and is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, March 12, from 7 to 9 p.m., at CSU Channel Islands in Camarillo, Calif. Proceeds will benefit the Channel Islands Park Foundation. For more information visit www.ciparkfoundation.org or contact Lenore Carleton at info@ciparkfoundation.org.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Summer Recap Winners BY SHAWN TRACHT
Taylor Bruynzeel Shawn Tracht: What about Summer Recap made you stoked? Taylor Bruynzeel: Who doesn’t want cool surf stuff and a chance to showcase your love for your sport?! I love surfing and want to be a standout in the industry I love. ST: Tell us about yourself. TB: If I have my wetsuit, a Proctor surfboard under my arm, and an ocean nearby, I’m set. I’m a 15-year-old sophomore in high school and stoked on life. There’s nothing better than the season of summer where you get to surf every day for hours on end … wait, I take that back. I surf year round. Two numbers for you, 4/3. I live to give God the glory and find joy every day that I paddle out. After all it is His playground we are playing on. ST: Explain your love for surfing. TB: My love for surfing started with my love of being at the beach at a young age. Realizing that you can do more than just play and/or body surf in the waves, I wanted to try surfing. Getting up on a board and surfing at about 4 years old was great. I was gliding over the water as the wave was taking me, and my rad stinkbug stance, to shore. I just loved the feeling and wanted more. As the years went on, being in the water hours at a time and wiping out numerous times I realized, hey, waves do not hurt, this is fun, and the bigger the better. And then why not try new surf breaks, board types, and tricks. Observing these new things you learn a lot. What I have learned is that surfing is ageless and timeless. The longer you have been surfing the more grace and style you will have. Sixty-year-olds are out there ripping on their logs with finesse. View Bruynzeel’s website at www.taybronzeseal.surfing.fm.
Mike Horton ST: What about Summer Recap made you stoked? Mike Horton: Exposure is everything in the surf industry. It’s hard to make a name for yourself. I want to be an ambassador for surfing through my photographs, writing, and experiences, someone that people look to for inspiration. I think Summer Recap’s format is very user-friendly, it only takes a few minutes to setup a site, and it works
ILLUSTRATION: LAURA WIT TISH
T
he goal of the Summer Recap surf and skate website design contest was to promote surfers and skaters and help bring them more exposure and possibly start a career. Summer Recap was designed around software that allowed anyone to create a great presence on the web by easily building his or her own site. Tools like GoPro, have made it easy to create your own professional quality content, and the developers at Summer Recap thought it was important to take the next step to let everyone showcase their content in a professional way. Ryan Tucker, director of the contest said, “The contest went really well. There were a ton of great surf and skate websites (created) and that made it hard to choose a winner. The contestants we talked to were excited about sharing all the content they had spent the summer making. We are planning on turning the contest into an annual event, maybe even expanding the categories.” I interviewed the surf category winners; here is what they had to say.
Dear DEEP Surf Magazine, Dear DEEP Surf Magazine, Thank you so much for let Just a note to say, ting readers send a self adthank you for sending one dressed envelope to get som e of your awesome mags up free stickers. I love sti ckers here in Ore gon! It was a and DEEP ones for free are pleasant surprise to receiv even better! I lived in Mor e ro something in the mail and Bay last year and really miss take a little break from reading DEEP and finding the work. Thank for being so magazine all over the Cen rad! Keep it classy! tral Coast. Sincerely a stoked grad Of course I miss surfing stu den t, and California too, but I’m back in school for my Phd Emily Boelsems / Eugene, . OR in animal science at Virigi na P.S . Tha nks for the stickers! Tech. Hopefully I can ret urn when I’m done with school . I’ll be over in the Virgin ia Beach area this summer to do some research so hopefully Send your letters to: some of the surf shops wil l an dres@deepzine.com carry it. I know I can read it online along with (www.deepzine.com), but I pre- your fer hard copies. Thanks aga in. address & phone. Laura Wittish / Blacksbur g, VA
DEEP Surf Magazine loves feedback!
Our two letter writer s will ge "The Fear Project" by t a copy of Jaimal Yogis.
great with mobile technology. I created my personal website, www.thedriftingwinemaker.com, three years ago and I feel like I’m still constantly working to perfect it. ST: Tell us about your self. MH: I am a young surfer, winemaker, traveler, and person who is generally happy about life and where it takes me. I feel blessed to travel the world surfing great waves, making delicious wine, experiencing new cultures, and meeting amazing people. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of doing those four things. ST: Explain your love for surfing. MH: The connection between surfer and ocean is so transcendental it’s difficult to describe. Surfers will quickly admit that the ocean constantly challenges them. That’s what makes surfing so unique, the ocean is such a variable playing field; no two breaks, or even sessions, are the same. I’m obsessed with surfing because I’m just at peace in the water and always have a smile on my face when I’m on a surfboard. I’m that guy that’s laughing and chatting with everyone in the lineup. Ask anyone I know, I’m always in a good mood after a surf regardless of whether the waves were any good! Visit Horton’s website at www.winemaker.surfing.fm www.DEEPZINE.com
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NORTHERN EXPOSURE
Jonah Pierce getting some air time on the Central Coast.
Youthful Ambition STORY BY DAN HAMLIN / PHOTOS BY LIEBERMAN
M
ost people have heard the statement, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” The statement carries a lot of truth. Whether it’s environmental issues like taking care of our oceans or societal issues like treating others the way we want to be treated, change rarely comes with a quick fix. We generally have to learn or unlearn something in order to have a lasting effect. Which is why it’s so important that we take care that our youth are learning good habits because they are the ones who will be here long after we’ve caught our last wave. Jonah Pierce is a talented up-and-coming surfer from Pismo Beach, Calif. Young kids face a lot of hazards these days, but Pierce has been doing a good job thus far negotiating pitfalls such as drugs, alcohol, and the party lifestyle that have plagued many teenagers aspiring for success in surfing. Over the years I’ve seen some of Pismo’s most talented surfers get detoured, some to the point of no return, as a result of partaking in drugs and everything that goes along with that lifestyle. Many come from shattered homes and don’t know how to navigate the temptations presented them in life. So it’s extremely refreshing to see a kid like Pierce doing his
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DEEP SURF MAGAZINE April 2013
best to succeed the right way, with hard work and a positive attitude. Growing up surfing the mushy closeouts of the Pismo Pier is definitely not the ideal way to hone one’s surfing skills, some might even say it’s a hindrance to progressing. But I’ve come to find it’s in life’s hurdles that character is built, and Jonah is building character as we speak; he has been since he started surfing. “I started surfing at 9,” says Pierce, “but I really didn’t get into it until I was 10. My dad got me into surfing by pushing me into waves all the time and telling me surf stories from when he was younger and stuff like that.” Like a lot of talented 15-year-old surfers, Pierece has his sights set on the big leagues of surfing. “My long-term goal for the future is to win a world title and be able to make a living from surfing; my short-term goal is to win the USA championships.” Aspirations like these don’t generally happen without a good support group, and with sponsorships from Quiksilver, DVS, Oakley, Wahl Surfboards, Esteem Surf Shop, Big Ideas, and On A Mission, Pierce seems to have a good start. Although Pierce's goals include a spot on the World Tour someday, he also recognizes that contests aren’t everything. “I get inspired by Dane
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Reynolds’ surfing because he shows that you don’t have to win every contest or title to be the best surfer in the world.” Pierce is a bright individual with a strong work ethic. He knows what it will take to make a living from surfing and is willing to go for it. In talking with him about his surfing, he mentions areas he needs to improve on such as his technique, and how his boards work, things you would expect a seasoned veteran to talk about, not a 15-year-old. He also realizes it will mean getting comfortable in bigger waves, which is why he is making his first visit to the North Shore of Oahu this winter. Surfing with Pierce, it’s obvious to me that regardless of the sponsors, contests, and everything else that goes along with pursuing a professional surfing career, he still surfs simply because he enjoys it, which, frankly, is the way it should be. It’s the reason we all started surfing and the reason it’s so important for us to take care of our environment and teach those following behind us to do the same—so the generations after us can continue to enjoy the playground we have been fortunate enough to enjoy for so long.
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COMEN SENSE PHOTO: CHUCK GRAHAM
Growing Older, Getting Greener BY CRAIG COMEN
A
s I struggle weekly to catch a few waves it becomes more and more evident to me that with my aging I’m also becoming greener. This is not only good news for all the other wave-hungry surfers out there but for the planet as well. What it translates to is loads of coal, a downward spike on my carbon footprint, and a reduction in consumption. A middle-aged surfer can slow down for a number of reasons: work, family, health or just a lack of interest. For me it comes down to family obligations, although my hunger for rideable waves is as much now as it was when I was in my prime. At least I can sleep at night with the belief that my lack of surf time will lessen my impact on our precious resources. For one, I will spend less time driving back and forth in search of the best conditions and right sandbar. I will not require a quiver of boards for flat, small, mushy, big, and beyond. I will not use jet fuel to get me to each hemisphere that is pumping, and I will not need a new wetsuit every six months. Less deck grip, less wax, and fewer board bags; the list goes on. Now one thing to ask is whether the aging surf community is as populous as the new surf community? Are the ones slowing down helping to lessen an impact, only to have it dashed away by the new trends like SUP, family surfing, and surfing at age 5?
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The author growing older but wiser.
Like most things, 99.9 percent of everything is hype, but let’s hope that this one small thought of mine is somewhat original and indeed making me feel a little more secure about my atrophying muscles, whitening hair, and drooping skin. Can I get a little pep in my stride knowing that my lack of surf today is just making it that much better for a surfer of tomorrow? Will my non-purchase decisions leave a board on the rack for some lucky 20-year-old? All I can say is that with each day my kids get older I am one more day closer to the time when I will reap the rewards of surf stoke again, and at that time hopefully I will not only be a little older and slower, but a little wiser too. However we choose to look at it, it is what it is, aging and greening. I can replace my surf enthusiasm with other things that may benefit living creatures or just get into something like motorcycles so I keep my impact at full speed. Is it debate, debacle, decrepitude, or just denial? Maybe it’s honesty. This is where I am at, and I hope for the rest of you that it inspires getting out there and doing what you want while at the same time keeping in mind what effect you are having on those and the earth around you. Carry on.
STO RY A ND PHOTO S BY DAV I D P U’U
ndulge in a fantasy for a few moments and take yourself back in time. Imagine a series of coastal enclaves and a culture consisting of related families. You know how families are; blood is thicker than water. So in your dream state, you are a young Indian, a “native,” or as the United States government now calls them, an indigenous people-person. Your culture lives close to nature. Old people are revered, but old means anyone above 30. Nature is good, but she is also harsh. Your days are spent in and around the sea, from which much of your tribal culture and sustenance arises. One day a large wooden boat arrives, bigger than any canoe. On it all are all manner of men arrayed in strange skins and speaking in a language you have never heard. You are there for the first contact with Western European culture and the Catholic Church by the original inhabitants of a vibrant portion of the southern coastal portion of the continental northern hemisphere, which today is known as the Gaviota Coast. In the span of a lifetime, you experience a new religion, your people are driven from their native villages, and the land is not yours to thrive upon. You are hunted, driven into enclaves presided over by somber men and women who worship a God whose limbs are affixed to wood.
Highway marker for Gaviota.
The view from the Tajiguas area.
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The history of this place is one of displacement, and it wants to repeat. It is just the way that things work. In order to acquire control of a land, one must remove the entity that occupies it. Western civilization’s push out from Europe, also known as imperialism, came with it the concept of civilizing the land. But it is based on displacement and acquisition by a new user. The Gaviota Coast was a far western boundary in this centuries old process, being a prime, Mediterranean climated large segment of the western coastline. Gaviota means seagull in Spanish. The Spanish took this land by removing the inhabitants. Today the Gaviota coast is defined loosely as ranging from Coal Oil Point at the southern tip, all the way on up to Point Sal, in north Santa Barbara County. The watersheds for this coast extend deep into the coastal mountain ranges and up past the Santa Ynez Valley, which serve to feed the vibrant marine ecosystem that lies between the coast and the Santa Barbara Channel Islands. At this point, it remains largely undeveloped, as definitions of development go. But there are a lot of people who are just spread out a bit. About 12 years back, I took a flight with local surveyor Dan Jahns and photographed the entire Gaviota Coast up to Point
Conception for a project of his. I was shocked at the number of ranches and homes, especially north of Gaviota on the Hollister Ranch property. Looking from the waterline, you would never know many of these places existed. And to this day, that is how the coastline pretty much appears. It looks similar to how it seemed when I first laid eyes on it in 1967—for the most part. In establishing a baseline understanding of the place, however, one must look at Gaviota from a historic and economic perspective, as well as grasping what caused the native Chumash to thrive there. Here is a very abbreviated run through. As Spain ceded much of its land via the land grant process to Mexican settlers, the coast eventually became a series of large ranchos, the greatest of — continued
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A large swell (I think it was 20-feet on the Conception buoy) rolls in on a glassy afternoon. Too big for most of the breaks on the coast, and a little bumpy due to the close proximity of the storm, which generated the swell, the glassy conditions made it inviting.
which was Rancho Dos Pueblos. When the U.S. acquired Alta California as a territory and eventually made it a state, most of these ranchos were subdivided. The federal government kept some, the state got some and surprisingly, because of federal private property laws, the original ranches stayed in private ownership and the owners became citizens. It was at this point, interestingly enough, that some of the lower caste Mexicans began to be assimilated into the remaining Chumash population, which had dwindled, via alien introduced disease and the effects of missionization, from approximately 310,000 to around 100,000 people. It was also at approximately this time that the observation was made that the existing ecosystem had shifted enough that the land would no longer support a large independent
indigenous population. The rural environment one sees today is largely due to private ranch ownership of the Gaviota Coast, the State Parks program and open state acquired coast, left unfettered, along with the largish Vandenberg Air Force Base which lies basically from north of Point Conception to Lompoc. There is also the large segment of land owned today by the railroad. Over generations, the place has seen massive oil and gas development, which currently is on the decline. At one point, the pressure from offshore oil reserves forced up pitch from fissures in the sea floor, coating that coast in tar. The Chumash would caulk their canoes with it. Today most of the oil piers and rigs are gone and the coast is decidedly less covered in tar and oil residue after decades of pumping down the reserves. In the 1940’s and ’50’s the youngish sport of surfing found its way onto the Gaviota — continued
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A pitching sandstone slab.
The coastal ridgeline of the Gaviota Coast on a summer evening, shot from East Camino Cielo.
Mary Osborne on an offshore evening, near Point Conception.
Towards the head of one of the long coastal canyons which are weather and water channels.
The view right after you pass through the gated entrance, leaving the Hollister Ranch.
Coast within the explorations of surfers and fishermen from San Diego and Northern California. The area became known as the land of the right hand point break, whose kelp forested waters and long reach gave rise to easy to ride waves, suitable to the more cumbersome surfboards of that era, and provided a rich ocean harvest of a wide variety of sea life for the growing towns situated along the California coastline. People thought it was just the fishing and dive industry being spawned, but really, the surfers sort of settled into place, in very similar fashion to the original Chumash occupants. The reasons for that are very similar. Where the rivers and streams enter the coastline there were typically villages, and coincidentally, often the point or reef breaks surfers sought, and you may have guessed it, the richest fishing and dive areas. oday, many groups lay claim to the Gaviota coastline. The current situation is easily compared to that of the native peoples and conquistadores. The land is occupied. The waters are under new federal regulation which serves to remove individual users from fishing and diving it. Gaviota is being eyed by many. One can envision its future given that long history of displacement. History tends to repeat itself. There is a fact which one cannot refute, however. It is that large concentrations of people in our contemporary culture are sources of large problems for ecosystems and any existing ranch- private- tribal cultures. So each one is a threat to what we see before us when we stand on a mountain peak at the western end of Goleta, looking at the eastern edge of what was the Royal Rancho, Dos Pueblos, and watching the sun melt beneath the Western Gate. They all want it for themselves. I call this the Chumash quandary. A true native point of view is one of stewardship, which is a partnership with land, sea and air. Stewardship is difficult to acheive with federal law, developers or the self-centered nature of an environmental NGO. Recently, I got to take a Chumash friend of mine onto Rancho Dos Pueblos, and he met two members of the Schulte family, Henry and Paul. In the process he wound up asking if it would be okay if a few of the people came on to the ranch to gather acorns. It did not surprise me that the Schultes said yes. They as conservators and stewards and have always been that way. Those two reasons are why I am not without hope for this place. There has to be some respect, or it will go as other places have, into the dark canyon of human greed. I see progress as potentially something good, if it can be based on collaboration. This is the only means of staunching the more base aspects of our civilization. The Chumash still belong here, for that reason.
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Cojo Point. The tank is now gone. The area is the stuff of surf legend. John Milius actually shot the surf themed feature film “Big Wednesday,” around this area.
Low tide species check. On this stretch of coast lies an incredibly diverse and vibrant, marine ecosystem.
Pacific common dolphins ply the waters of the channel between the islands and the coast, sometimes in such massive pods that they resemble a swarm of ocean locusts.
Morning at Lorraines. I never knew why we called this place by a woman’s name. A friend of mine who surfed around here went by that. It looks pretty much like it did when I first saw the place in 1967.
40 YEARS OF THE MARINE MAMMAL PROTECTION ACT:
B Y D. E . P U T N A M he 40th anniversary of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was celebrated in 2012. A milestone in environmental stewardship, the law set forth a new vision for wildlife conservation by taking a comprehensive approach to the protection of marine mammals. Life on earth is bound together in complex associations or ecosystems, which include the physical environment. It’s a web of life. Pull one thread of the web and everything moves. The MMPA took the intricacies and interconnected relations of the natural world into account in a way that previous conservation efforts had not. WHEN WE TRY TO PICK OUT “It was the first environmental law that we have that actually took into consideration whole ecosystems, whole ANYTHING BY ITSELF, WE FIND environments, verses a single species,” said Mike Weimer of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The passing of the Marine Mammal Protection Act on October 21, 1972 marked the first time in world history that IT HITCHED TO EVERYTHING a government made the preservation of ecosystems as important as the protection of individual animals. “The primary ELSE IN THE UNIVERSE. objective of (marine mammal) management,” reads the law, “should be to maintain the health and stability of the –JOHN MUIR (1911) marine ecosystem.”While mammals are protected from physical harm, the overarching goal is the health of ocean life. The desire, as the law states, is to assure marine mammals remain “a significant functioning element in the ecosystem.” If they become insignificant, token features due to depleted populations, then the ecosystem suffers in numerous ways because of the interdependence of its organisms. Their absence would amount to the loss of a key thread, a possible undoing of the oceanic web of life. Fur traders hunted sea otters to the brink of extinction by the 20th century. “Otters are very scarce,” notes a San Francisco Call newspaper story from 1897. “I think the sea
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”
PHOTO: ANTHONY LOMBARDI
SEEING THE FOREST FOR THE TREES
A good look at a kelp forest.
PHOTO: MARK SHARGEL
Southern sea otter wrapped in kelp.
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PHOTO: DAVID PU’U
otter is being killed off,” says Capt. Nielsen in the story, who helmed the fur hunting ship Rattler, “and if something is not done the animal will become extinct.” Protection was granted in the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911, an international treaty between the United States, Japan, Russia and Great Britain. tters had been abundant along the California coast, with an historic estimated population of 16,000, but after decades of limitless hunting, there remained a just a remnant population around Point Sur and Bixby Creek in Monterey County. Rough estimates in 1914 range from less than 50 otters to around 100. Following the passage of the treaty, the otter population rebounded, but it has remained a miniscule fraction of its former size ever since. Currently the southern sea otter population numbers less than 3,000. In 1977, the southern sea otter was listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act and designated as “depleted” under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. In 1987, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began a translocation program and relocated 140 otters from Monterey Bay to San Nicolas Island. The management policy was initiated to foster the species’ recovery by establishing a community in remote waters where the animals would be safe from potential catastrophic events like oil spills that could wipe out the entire population. A compromise was reached with the shellfish fishing industry to create a “no-otter zone,” whereby otters found in coastal waters south of Point Conception would be relocated to San Nicolas Island. Being that otters are voracious eaters of shellfish, the concern Sunset glow on a canopy of kelp.
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Will southern sea otters reestablish old territories?
PHOTO: CHUCK GRAHAM
Dolphins are a good indicator species of the ocean environment.
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PHOTO: DAVID PU’U
was that their population expansion would negatively impact the livelihood of fisherman. The translocation program lasted a handful of years before the futility of relocation efforts became evident and it was abandoned. Some relocated otters died, while others swam back to forbidden waters. “The last time the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service moved any otters out of the management zone was in 1993,” says Lilian Carswell, the Southern Sea Otter Recovery Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In December of 2012 the Service officially declared the termination of the no-otter zone, which ended the exemption from the Marine Mammal Protection Act for otters south of Point Conception. The policy change restored their fully protected status under the law no matter where they swim, but it did not usher in any sudden sweeping changes. The announcement was essentially a formal recognition of what had already been longstanding policy. “There is not much of a change between today and before the termination of the translocation program,” admitted Carswell. When otters disappeared from the California coast, one result was an overabundance of sea urchins. Urchins feed on kelp and otters eat urchins. Without otters to keep the urchin population in check, the spiny algae eaters devour vast quantities of kelp. The kelp forests of Southern California have thinned for various reasons through the decades, but hordes of urchins further stripped reefs bare, putting even greater pressure on the already declining giant brown algae. Kelp provides crucial habitat and food for over 800 organisms and supports about one quarter of native marine life in local waters. Such life ranges from tiny sea snails to large game fish like white seabass. The chain reaction set in motion by the loss of sea otters had far reaching consequences. Their absence impacted hundreds of species that are dependent on kelp and the thick submarine forests it creates. The return of otters would help rejuvenate the kelp forest community. “In general, we would definitely expect sea otters to have a positive effect on the marine ecosystem,” said Carswell, “and almost certainly increase the amount of kelp by preying on sea urchins.” Otters offer an example of what it means to be a significant functioning element in the ecosystem, as the Marine Mammal Protection Act calls for. Otters have been seen as far south as San Diego in recent years, and a raft of about 30 appeared off Coal Oil Point in Goleta in 2008, but their presence in the once forbidden waters has been fleeting. Looking forward, however, scientists believe they will return permanently to their native range south of Point Conception. “There is a general expectation,” said Carswell, “that in the long term otters will recolonize areas of Southern California. The bigger question is how long that will take.” Otters are no longer limited by the defunct translocation program, but there remains a number of natural and human factors preventing or slowing their range expansion. Pollution and pathogens from human sources found in runoff flowing into the sea sickens and kills otters. One of the greatest dangers in recent years is white sharks, which have killed otters in record numbers. “There is a lot of shark bite mortality from Cayucos to Point Conception,” said Carswell. “That’s a new hot spot. And for range expansion to occur into Southern California we need high densities of otters in that area to push otters south.” They continue to face an uncertain future, but scientists believe otters will expand their range south of Point Conception, if only slowly, and that they will find abundant food there. Future generations of Californians may indeed one day come to see the southern sea otter flourishing once more all along the coast.
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SHAPER'S BAY
Channel Islands Surfboards
Shaped by Al Merrick New Flyer In 1999, Al Merrick designed the Flyer, revolutionizing high performance surfing in small waves. For 2013 Channel Islands has modernized the Flyer into a shorter and wider package. This new plan-shape allows for the same volume in a shorter rail line. We kept the forgiving 2-stage rocker and added spiral vee starting in front of the fins to allow for rail-to-rail quickness. The signature Merrick hip provides a pivot point for tight arcs. Designed for knee waist to head high and excels in tight or tricky conditions.
Fletcher Chouinard Designs / Patagonia
Shaped by Fletcher Chouinard FCD Kite Board All custom sizes, made to order – for kite surfing. Available through FCD and select Patagonia stores this spring. www.fcdsurfboards.com www.patagonia.com 805.641.9428
Available at www.cisurfboards.com
Hoyte Surfboards
J7 Surfboards
Shaped by Russell Hoyte
Shaped by Jason Feist
Daily Dose 5'5" x 20 3/4" x 2 5/8"
Mad Max 6’1” x 18 1/2” x 2 5/16” Volume: 26.9 liters Shaped for waist to overhead surf
Special Features: Quad Setup, Resin swirl/airbrushed, Displacement Hull Bottom with accelerated concave out the swallow tail. Spans the spectrum from knee high slop to overhead surf. Available at Homegrown Surf Shop (Ventura) Wavefront Surf Shop (Ventura), Shell Beach Surf Shop, and Tropical Blends(Hawaii). www.hoytesurfboards.com 805.485.0700
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DEEP SURF MAGAZINE April 2013
The Mad Max is made for precise and in the pocket surfing. Design features include a moderate entry and accelerated exit rocker, combined with a single to double concave. The Mad Max is the epitome of a high performance shape. Available at J7 Surfboards (Santa Barbara) www.j7surfdesigns.com 805.290.4129
JVP Surboards
Shaped by John Perry Egg 4 Young 5'0"- 6'10" This traditional "Egg" has been "tweeked"!!! The Mini-Egg skates instantly due to a concave bottom. The release is in chamfered rails in the upper third, and the accelerated pulled in round-pin generates alot of drive. Throw in the Quad/ Tri/ and a single box possibilities and you have an Egg on steroids. I enshrined this one in 100% Carbon-Fiber with epoxy coating, light and strong. Although regular fiber glass is optional. Sky is the limit on the performance levels and wave handling characteristics with all these fin options.
NOW Available for FREE on the iPad App Store Read online at www.deepzine.com
www.jvpsurfboards.com 805.637.5100
Matt Moore Surboards
Shaped by Matt Moore ’74 Roundpin Wing 6’4” x 19” x 2 5/8” The ’74 Roundpin Wing is great for head-high to overhead and bigger. Best on point breaks and barrels. The roundtail with concave wings is an early ‘70s refined single fin. The wings create extra grab and extra directional holding power for barrel riding. Available at Rincon Designs (Carpinteria) www.rincondesigns.net 805.684.2413
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EITHAN OSBORNE
STORY AND PHOTOS BY GLENN DUBOCK Fins free surfing is just the norm for young Ethan. Holding his edge through a foam bash.
very once in a while, I get a call from David Letinsky asking me to shoot some surf photos of one of the kids he is coaching. Letinsky has a keen eye for the unpolished gems that frequent the waves in our area. He has the uncanny ability to help turn a young grom into a well-rounded performer, ready to expand beyond the local waters and grow to become all he or she can be, both in and out of the ocean—enter Eithan Osborne. The location for this photo session, unlike previous shoots, was indoors, nowhere near the roar of the surf. Gregg Curtis of Airealistic Circus and Flying School helps train 12-year-old grom Osborne in acrobatics. “We have this little strap in board for the trampoline,” says Osborne. “I practice jumping high and compress when I land; I bend my knees so I don’t hurt myself. This translates to surfing: if I do an air and land in the flats, I bend my knees so I don’t fly off my board or worse.” I watch and photograph in utter amazement as Osborne defies gravity, and under the watchful eye of his coaches and family, he busts some moves that translate into an aerial assault type of surfing. And this is only the beginning of his dry land training. The next stop is the dojo of Tai Kwon Do Master Huynh. Eithan’s mother, Karine, says, “As he becomes a competitor and athlete, Tai Kwon Do (and especially the philosophy that goes with it), has taught him courage, strength, speed, and the physical aspects of endurance. But most of all, it has helped him with his mental game and motivation to be a better competitor.” Eithan has studied martial arts since he was 6-years-old. He echoes his mother’s view of what the sport brings to his life and to his surfing: “In Tai Kwon Do you learn that when you are tired
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Working on his strength, speed and endurance.
Refining his aerial attack with Airealist Circus and Flying School.
Getting to know his craft a little better with his shaper, Robert Weiner of Roberts Surfboards.
It will be interesting to see how far Ethan will go.
or hurt, you can keep going, keep pushing through. It teaches you perseverance. The kicking and twisting helps your body do turns, and helps you learn how to move your shoulders. It teaches me some things about life, but I don’t know how to say it.” He doesn’t need the words for it: Eithan lives it, breathes it, and walks his own path through life; he enjoys all that has been set before him. You will not find a more centered, respectful kid in the waves or on the beach. When asked to list his favorite local surf spots, Eithan quickly rattles off three breaks of great diversity. “I really like Emma Wood, C-Street, and the wedge peak at South Jetty because they all have different waves. I really like surfing with my friends the Pierpont guys and the Coffin brothers because they are all that much better than me and I can try what they are trying. The local guys help me out, but I am still the crazy little kid out there.” Eithan shows me his latest board from his longtime shaper Robert Weiner of Roberts Surfboards, and it just about slips out of my hands like a tiny butter knife. The darn thing is only 4’10” long, 2 inches thick and 16 inches wide. I ride a skateboard that is much longer and heavier than that! It’s called “The Beaver.”When I ask why, Eithan starts to laugh hysterically while saying, “It’s called ‘The Beaver’ because I have very big teeth! Robert is a super cool dude. He works with a lot of groms to get just the right board for the right waves. It gets into waves easy, paddles fast, and holds a rail on a bottom turn and releases off the top. I just know my board works super good.” As good as he is getting, Eithan knows he has a long way to go and needs to grow in order to get the power base that his mentors like Adam Virs, Dane Reynolds, and the Coffin brothers have. “They surf with me and I watch them do the big power hacks and huge airs, and I just try to do
what they are doing. Conner surfs super low and explosive, and I like that so I try to do that too. I love to watch him and Dane do those crazy turns. Parker is just super funny and surfs super radical; he does big blow tails, too. I even got to trade boards out in the water one day with Dane. He rode my 4’6” board but jumped off when he thought it was going to break in half!” Eithan is working hard for his sponsors, who include Billabong, Sex Wax, Roberts Surfboards, Spy Optics, Scosche, Olas Restaurant, Ventura Surf Shop, and Pro Lite. That work ethic, instilled in him by his parents, family, friends and coaches, will get young Eithan all the altitude and attitude he needs. www.DEEPZINE.com
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BOARD TRACHTING
HOYTE SURFBOARDS
“Twynzer Symster” PHOTO: J.R. LANE
BY SHAWN TRACHT This board was magic for Tracht from wave one. Short and wide, but very progressive.
V
ibrant light and a cool calm stoke ruminated through the halls of Russell Hoyte’s shaping factory. From the glassing shop to the shaping bay, to the color room and sanding area, it was obvious that 33 years of shaping and over a decade working with the best surfboard manufacturers in the world had prepared Hoyte to unveil his own label for the surf world ... and we are the lucky ones for it! In his most recent years, after spending over a decade perfecting his craft as a shaper for Channel Islands under the tutelage of Al Merrick (you may have heard of him), as well as spending two years as the North American Shaper for JS, Hoyte has honed his craft to one of perfectly foiled lines with not a smidgen of foam out of place with each finished board. Furthermore, when you work with Hoyte, your surfing is going to get better, period, whether you’re a longboarder, a shortboarder, or like me, the Surf Wanderer, a weird boarder. Moreover, you will also gain a friend, as the qualms and too-cool attitude that sometimes surround this rad-dude sport have been left out of Hoyte’s vocabulary and demeanor. I came to Hoyte for one board, The Twynzer Symster, yet I now understand that I’ve gained a shaper who cares about me and my surfing, which is why I’ll be a customer for life ... and I bet you will too!
Shaper’s Take The Twynzer Symster comes out of several years of development. The base root of this board comes from the Mini-Simmons and a Twin Fin. The original Twinzer was developed in the late ’70s in large part by a man named Will Jobson. A handful of pros in that time found the Twinzer to be a functional design due to its characteristics of both speed and versatility. In the last three years, I have been
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working on developing the Twynzer (a new take on the Twinzer) to new heights and developments. Among my favorite attributes of my Symster Twynzer is the flat out speed you achieve from the moment of take-off (like a twin fin), yet with its ability to achieve drive, power, and vertical surfing. The Twynzer Symster set up has four fins, yet is not considered a quad fin. The twynzer is different from a quad in that the back fins are very big, and the front fins are small additives. So this board is considered more of a twinny than a quad, yet with way more hold than a twin fin or quad. The Twinzer fin set up was created to make radical turns in critical sections without spinning out. The Twynzer Symster as a whole gives the surfer the ability to ride small, gutless surf with fluidity as well as waves that are well overhead. I personally love using the bamboo fins on this model for their strength, flex and ultimate lightness. In my opinion, you can’t get a better fin and fin setup than the bamboo Twinzer. If speed, fun and the desire to take your surfing to new heights is your goal, the Twynzer Symster is right board for you, no matter your age.
Surfer’s Take The Twynzer Symster by Russell Hoyte is an absolute rip-a-dipper! This fishy nugget of a board isn’t for just high-speed small-surf schralping though; it’s a surfboard built to push the limit of your surfing—with a hint of Tabasco. Catches waves like a longboard, carries speed like a Porsche Boxster on a single lane German Autobahn, and then speed slashes open-faced cutbacks like a cheetah changing directions in pursuit of its prey. Drives hard off the bottom of overhead peelers, and launches air off beach break
PHOTO: J.R. LANE
With a pulled in tail, a fluted rail, and a twinzer fin set up, this 5’5” held strong on deep bottom turns.
PHOTO: TRACHT
Hoyte and one of his favorite fin designs, the Twinzer.
PHOTO: BRIAN SALCE
Tracht flaring on Hoyte’s creation.
Russell Hoyte is a master of any shape and color design you can dream up. Twynzer Symster = speed, and speed = performance.
end sections. Either way you look at it, this board is built with speed and drive in mind, yet in a small frame made to surf hard and rip! What most impressed me about the Twinzer was its ability to hold such a small board in such steep sections on bigger days. The board was magical on small days, which I envisioned it would be, having extra width and thickness to catch waves and create drive in bad surf. Yet the board in the big stuff was mind boggling both for myself and my friends who rode it. The rails on the board have a lot to do with this. With down rails, which bite hard and plane through the water like on a train on a track, the board set its rail line in whatever critical sections you ended up in. Add to that that Hoyte used this down rail with one of the most interesting back halves of a board I’ve ever ridden. Hoyte added a fluted rail and wing! A fluted rail is, basically, a deck side channel or cutout that takes out volume and allows for sinking the tail and back half of the board and helping the board hold during longer rail turns and in steep bowly wave faces. This helps the board cut into the wave face and glide lighting fast and smooth, like a knife through butter. All in all, this board was high performance for me in many types of surf. Specifically, its ability to be so small and pick up and carry speed on its own makes it a surfboard that is appropriate for any surfer who is looking to surf a little or a lot more progressively yet can’t afford to give up paddle power and, in fact, could use some help paddling faster. The main thing to understand is that volume makes a board paddle and surf fast, not just the length. Whether you’re 14 years old or 60, if you work with Hoyte to design a Twynzer Symster, I can guarantee that you’ll be filling up the Surfwanderer.com email inbox with letters of stoke! Hoyte Surboards are available at Homegrown Surf Shop in Ventura, 2485 E. Main St.
PHOTO: TRACHT
PHOTO: BRIAN SALCE
HOYTE SURFBOARDS Shaper: Russell Hoyte Board Shape/Design: Twynzer Symster How to order: Order 4-6” inches shorter than your normal shortboard. Hoyte will do the rest from there. Fins: Twinzer Board’s specialty: Speed slashes in the pocket. Makes every section. Great in small waves and unbelievably rippable in shoulder-high to double-overhead surf. This Board is perfect for: Age is not a factor here, surfing style is. If you want to surf faster and add performance to your style but are longing for a board that makes you go fast no matter who you are or how you surf, then this is it! Surfboard tester, Shawn Tracht’s normal shortboard: 5’10” x 18” x 2” Tracht ordered this board: 5’5” x 20 ¼” x 2 3/8” Shaper’s contact info: Phone: (805) 455-8435 • Website: hoytesurfboards.com Email: shaper@hoytesurfboards.com • Surfer’s Blog: surfwanderer.com
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PHOTO: KENNY BACKER
center
stage
Just another top turn for Dane.
LADIES ROOM
Sustainable Surfers STORY BY NICOLE DE LEON / PHOTOS BY CHRIS BURKARD Crystal Thornburg once again makes her way to the nose as she trades waves with Belinda Baggs.
I
t is easy to associate the “fools” who harm the natural world that Muir is referring to as the humans who blatantly leave their empty six-pack of Coors in the middle of the beach or land developers who carve holes in greenery. But have we thought of the more subtle culprits? Most of us in California are well versed in “going Green,” and we do our best to avoid destroying our natural world, but are we doing enough? Most of us can admit to getting our coffee and food to go and then tossing the barely used remnants of plastic and paper into the trash. How about those of us who drive around our carbon-emitting vehicles solo every day for “God has cared for convenience, rather than bringing our friends or these trees, saved them co-workers along for the ride? Personally, I can confess to having forgotten from drought, disease, my Kleen Kanteen when I swing by the coffee avalanches, and a shop, spacing on bringing my re-usable shopping thousand tempests and bags from home and driving solo to check the surf. floods. But he cannot save There is a big gap between cause and effect, so it is them from fools.” in the modern conveniences where the truth of our impact on the environment can be buried. – John Muir Surfers who live in this modern society are blessed to have an intimate relationship with the ocean environment; most of us are even able to detect a subtle shift in the weather based on a certain breeze or smell of salt in the air.
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But are we taking every step to protect the canvas that we paint our daily lives on? We could be the most well-meaning, considerate people, who just don’t realize that our personal impact is affective and can instill change in the world. Sometimes it just takes a gentle reminder. I’ve put together a few positive suggestions that can remind us to be pro-active for the environmental on a daily basis, in case we are not already. Tranquility between waves.
TIPS FOR A SUSTAINABLE SURFER Carpool: It’s a Southern California phenomenon, but next time you are driving, notice the amount of people that could actually qualify for the carpool lane–very few. Not only will you help the environment, you will also save money if your surfer friend(s) pitch in for the ride! According to Colorado Pollution Prevention, “100 carpooling people can prevent 1,320 pounds of carbon monoxide and 2,376,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere in a single year.” Use re-usable containers: Bring a re-usable container next time you stop for coffee. You will save more than just 10 cents. You will save paper, plastic, and cardboard from going in the dump after one use. You can use these for hot or cold beverages! This means keeping those single use plastic water bottles out of your hot car as well. Not only will this prevent the plastic from leaching into your water, but will also save plastic from going into our oceans. Klean Kanteen makes a 20- ounce wide insulated container that holds enough caffeine for a long day of surfing and keeps it hot. According to sheknows.com, Americans drink over 100 billion cups of coffee every year, and over 16 billion of those coffees are bought in disposable paper cups, adding up to more than 6.5 million trees killed yearly. Pick up trash you see on the beach: Next time we step over the nasty scum-covered plastic while coming in from a surf, let’s take one for the team and toss it in the trash. Join a beach clean up effort in your area. The Ventura County Coastal Cleanup Day is Sept. 21, 2013. Ride your bike: If you aren’t traveling far for surf, riding your bike will keep you in optimal surfing shape, help avoid parking lot crowds, and help reduce all of your carbon emissions. Plus there is so much we miss when we drive swiftly by in our cars. Wetsand Surf Shop in Ventura offers killer surfboard racks for bikes! Join local environmental organizations: Organizations like Surfrider help you educate yourself about local issues. Current issues such as protecting the Gaviota coast from development and creating a reusable bag ordinance in Santa Barbara are being addressed in our local Surfrider chapters as we speak! Avoid plastic: Not only is it healthier to keep our foods out of single use plastic containers, it is imperative that we keep it out of our oceans. Try buying food in bulk and buying fresh produce that doesn’t require packaging. According to 5gyres.org, “We currently recover only 5 percent of the plastics we produce. Roughly 50 percent is buried in landfills, some is remade into durable goods, and much of it remains ‘unaccounted for,’ lost in the environment where it ultimately washes out to sea.” It has been shown that individual effort perpetuates change, whether it is on a local or worldwide scale. In a very real sense, we are the world. www.DEEPZINE.com
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TRAVEL
OBX
S T O R Y B Y D A N H A M L I N / P H O T O S B Y M AT T L U S K
TIES THAT BIND 44
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I think it’s the woods that do it. There is just something about them that makes me feel at ease. Every time I find myself on the Outer Banks of North Carolina I’m reminded of what a special place it is. Some of the people I love and respect most in life call this place home. It’s a bit of a harsh existence, living on the Outer Banks. Floods, winds, snow, ice, heat, bugs, snakes, hurricanes, the list of things residents put up with to live there is long. Existing in the midst of nature’s raw elements is no easy task. I’ve spent a lot of time on the OBX (as it’s referred to) over the years. I’ve contemplated packing up all I own and moving there permanently. It’s definitely no surf paradise, but when the elements come together it’s hard to beat the hollow beach break that the OBX is known for. The unpredictability of the environment will likely keep it from ever becoming an East Coast surf city. Try to spend a whole winter there and you are likely to go into a state of deep depression. Two winters ago water temps dipped into the 30’s while snow made more than a few appearances on the beachside community. Add to that gale force winds, long-term flat spells, and pretty much nothing to do except stay inside and you’re left with a place most surfers would balk at. But like anywhere in the world that has an ocean, if you wait long enough, sooner or later things come together. — continued
This big, empty A-frame was in Hatteras. Lusk shot this from the lighthouse for a different perspective.
Brett Barley at his home break.
The old ranger station at Pea Island between Nags Head and Rodanthe.
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OBX
The East Coast sees more crazy weather events and storms than anywhere Lusk has ever been.
“Most East Coast surfers have to deal with a constant threat of impending destruction.” 46
DEEP SURF MAGAZINE April 2013
“If there is one thing I’ve realized about the East Coast, it’s that you can’t plan on scoring.” I’ve spent weeks there with nothing but knee high slop to surf. Even if there is a giant hurricane out at sea and the weather channel is raving about what a monster it is, it doesn’t necessarily mean waves. One small turn in the path of a hurricane can be the difference between devastation and deliverance; it can mean either getting spit out of barrels or spitting on the ground in frustration. I’ve come to terms with that. You have to if you are to stay sane there. You also have to come to terms with the fact that with each hurricane comes the possibility that your house might get destroyed and your daily life totally altered. Last year it was Irene, this year it was Sandy. Most East Coast surfers have to deal with a constant threat of impending destruction. It is part of life there. This year, as surfers in Florida were reveling in a historic run of waves from Hurricane Sandy, folks up north were having their lives turned upside down. Whole homes were washed away as a result of historic swell, tidal surge, and torrential rain and winds combining forces. In New Jersey and New York it was complete tragedy, while in Florida it was hard to find a surfer who wasn’t at least a little excited about the swell of a lifetime. Once reports of the destruction Sandy caused in the Mid Atlantic started to filter down the coast, most surfers were anything but excited.
Caption caption caption. With air and water temps in the low 40s, this peak was left empty.
Jesse Hines locked in at Rodanthe. A solid
early season northeast swell.
The ocean has claimed a number of houses along the OBX beach in the last couple of years, causing the island to constantly shift and shrink. Mother Nature letting us know she is always the boss. This house is on jinga blocks as owners prepare to elevate it another 5 to10 feet.
Many of those who scored in Florida were sincerely stating they would gladly given up such a swell if it meant the folks up north wouldn’t have had to experience such catastrophe. East Coast surfers are a tight knit community, and no matter what state you reside in, everyone understands that at some point it could be their hometown that gets dealt a severe blow from Mother Nature. So there seems to be an unwritten understanding between surfers regarding the bittersweet nature of hurricane swells. Those who get dealt the destruction from a hurricane don’t seem to begrudge those who get dealt the more desirable side of the same hurricane—waves. But there is also an understanding that people come first, not waves. On my most recent stay on the Outer Banks I was scheduled to arrive shortly after Sandy had made landfall. I called my friend Jesse Hines to see if it would be okay for me to come stay as planned. I offered to help if I could in anyway, but I also told him I understood if there was just too much going on at the moment to make a visit a good idea. He assured me that it would be fine, so I went ahead and flew back as planned. When I arrived, it seemed as though things were pretty much back to normal—well, as normal as can be after a hurricane passes through.
— continued
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TRAVEL
OBX
OBX surfers usually deal with root beer colored water, but the stars aligned for some beautiful emerald green water. This generally happens with south swells that blow the Gulf Stream water closer to the coast and results in a right hand barrelfest.
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Shortly after my arrival, a swell popped up on the charts that looked promising for the Hatteras area. The only problem was that the bridge that connects Hatteras Island to the main part of the Outer Banks was out due to the storm. But there was a ferry that would allow us to get on and off Hatteras. Jesse informed me of this dilemma. “I’m game to take the ferry if you are,” I said. Not really thinking of the impact my wave hunger might have on the small town community of Hatteras. “Well, I need to call down there first to make sure everything is okay.” Jesse replied. “We don’t want to go down there simply to surf if they are still recovering from Sandy. We want to be respectful of the community first, and help if needed.” It was a sobering reminder of the importance of having my priorities in order. As much as I love surfing, people come first. Which brings me back to those Florida surfers I mentioned earlier who said they’d give up the Sandy swell if it meant the rest of the coast didn’t have to experience the wrath of the storm. Imagine surfers who just experienced the best waves of their lives offering to give them up to help someone else. It’s a testament to the bond that unites us as people. Perhaps it’s this sense of community I feel when I’m in the Outer Banks that makes it such a special place for me. It reminds me that we are all connected, and though our society often tries to promote independence and isolationism, the best that we, as humans, can offer is to help one another.
East Coast dedication. Cold, windy, foam y, and sideshore surf.
The boys waiting on the tide. From left, Brett Barley, Joey Crum, and Fisher Heverly—all Carolinians.
Sterling King waits for a set after the passage of a front and wind switch.
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WHAT’S YOUR KOMUNITY PROJECT This column features a group or individuals that are helping out in their communities and trying to make a change for the good of Mother Earth. It is brought to you by Komunity Project.
L
PHOTO: RADHIKA CHALASANI
BY CHUCK GRAHAM
PHOTO: FLORIAN ZIBEL
Helping Hands
ast October, Mike Wathan, a lead guide for Channel Islands Outfitters, headed east to visit friends and possibly catch a few waves, when suddenly his travels took a stormy turn for the worst—Hurricane Sandy slammed the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeastern U.S. However, Wathan was prepared for what lay ahead. Wathan, a UCSB grad, is a Wilderness First Responder, an Emergency Medical Tech, and also works with Doctors Without Walls. “They are an incredible nonprofit,” says Wathan of Santa Barbara Street Medicine. “They definitely prepared me pretty well to work in some unusual environments.” More importantly, the 28-year-old Wathan has a huge heart. Both his compassion and his medical training served him well while volunteering at a makeshift triage in Red Hook, New York. DEEP: Your trip east started as pleasure and not volunteering? Surfing? Mike Wathan: That’s true. I went out there to see some friends and explore New York and Boston. As the weather started to develop, I was pretty excited and brought my wetsuit out there with the intention of renting a car and borrowing boards from a good friend of mine who grew up surfing over there. As the weather situation changed, it became pretty clear that I would not be surfing. DEEP: Heard you had to literally build your own triage site? MW: I kind of happened upon one and then helped develop it. I was with a team on Staten Island and we got dispatched to Red Hook, Brooklyn where I met a local medical student, Matt Krashaur. He was the first on scene and overseer of a makeshift clinic in a community center. I saw right away that I had a role there, so I started showing up every day and he and I tried to be as consistent as we could with the care we provided. Eventually, we grew the operation and had a
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Wathan dropping in, somewhere in Western Australia. Wathan checking blood pressure on a patient outside one of the buildings in Red Hook.
bunch of doctors from NYU showing up, but initially it was pretty tough to get the help we needed. Matt deserves a lot of recognition for getting the ball rolling. DEEP: What other duties were bestowed upon you? MW: I was in the field checking on current patients and locating new patients. So many people needed help, especially elderly people that couldn’t climb stairs after the elevators went out. We would basically get leads from non-medical volunteers that someone in a given apartment didn’t look good or was asking for help. Other times leads would come from people in the community. Matt would generally be on the phones and in meetings getting us supplies, volunteers, logistics, etc. and I would be out in the field. I would often act as a guide to whatever doctor showed up since I came to know the patients and area relatively well. Eventually, we had some really good doctors showing up consistently. There was lots of stair climbing with headlamps on, and working in the dark in people’s homes. Most of the buildings were totally blacked out for long periods of time. DEEP: Did it feel like total anarchy at times? MW: It depended on the community. Red Hook was the most impressive demonstration of people in a community supporting one another I have ever seen. It was a while before FEMA and Red Cross got in there, and before they did folks really stepped it up to look out for each other. Other places were really bad though. After we got things under control in Red Hook, I went back out to Far Rockaway for a second time to help out with a new clinic. By then, it had been almost two weeks and that situation had not improved much. Easily half the patients we saw had been robbed, and we couldn’t work safely after dark.
Wathan and Dr. Salil Bandahari visiting a patient in Far Rockaway, a hard-hit area. PHOTOS: RADHIKA CHALASANI
A row of Humvees in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The national guard showed up and handed out MREs (Meals Ready to Eat). Some people were physically unable to come down to the park and get them.
DEEP: Paint a picture of some of the heavy situations you endured while assisting? MW: We had a few patients that stayed on our top priority list the entire time. These were basically people who had some pretty serious health issues and had run out of life-sustaining medications. On top of that, they were stuck freezing in their apartments. Most of the local pharmacies were heavily damaged, so getting the medications was a logistical nightmare. For example, we easily had 100 patients who had asthma but couldn’t use their plug-in nebulizers (which is a preventative treatment) because the power was out. Inhalers ran out fast, but they still had to climb up 16 flights of stairs in the cold. So it always felt like we were scrambling to prevent something really heavy from happening. Red Hook is the second largest project housing in the country; it has around 5,000 members. We always had anxiety that we had missed someone. We sent about five or six people away in ambulances. I’m pretty certain that two of them would have died within hours if we had missed the mark. If we didn’t feel qualified or equipped to handle a given situation, we didn’t hesitate to call 911. I remember just some really rough living conditions as well as some very cold nights. I remember taking a 96-year-old woman’s blood pressure and watching our breath hang in the air as we spoke to each other. Her phone didn’t work and she was on the 10th floor of a blacked out building; essentially, she was trapped. DEEP: When you were finished volunteering, what were your thoughts and feelings? MW: I’m still trying to put my finger on that. I think more than anything, I was so impressed by the resilience of Red Hook. I went back to visit some patients a month ago, and was talking to a community organizer, and he told me that crime actually went down in the weeks following Sandy. Our role was so minor compared to what that community did for itself. I’m proud of the level of care we provided as an essentially independent medical group. After we moved on, NYC sent in 40 EMTs to comb through the community and didn’t find a single patient because we had been so
thorough. From a volunteer’s standpoint, I think it’s important to always have your own gear and experience dialed in or else you aren’t much help. My habit of always traveling with a headlamp paid off for sure. Back here in California, I just feel so lucky in general. The other week I was stressing about where to go on a surf trip. I had to check myself and remember how privileged I am. I’m starting nursing school soon, so this was definitely an affirmation that I want to combine my guide work with a medical career. There’s still a lot of work to be done over there ... it’s important to kind of put it out there to tradespeople with free time to help rebuild. The media has pretty much moved on, but the ripple To donate relief funds to Red Hook, go to: www.rhicenter.org effect from this thing www.interoccupy.net/occupysandy/ and the amount of www.wavesforwater.org/project/hurricane-sandy-relief-initiative www.redcross.org/news/article/Red-Cross-Recovery-Efforts-to-Help-Sandy-Survivors construction left is www.newyorkcares.org/volunteer/disaster/ pretty staggering. www.santabarbrastreetmedicine.org
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TH G E N I SHARK K R I H S E R O M NO Apex predator of the deep blue.
BY PETER DUGRÉ PHOTOS BY PETER HOWORTH
SB EXPERTS SAY WHITE SHARK POPULATION ON RISE
Surf Beach near Lompoc could stand a name change to Shark Beach. The Vandenberg Airforce Base locale has an inviting name, but two men who paddled out there have been killed by white sharks since 2010. Francisco Solorio died in October 2012, and two years before him, Lucas Ransom’s life was claimed by a white shark at the same surf spot. These lost surfers accentuate a growing concern about an increased presence of white sharks in Central California. Experts recently weighed in on the issue at two presentations in and around Santa Barbara and delivered some alarming data on the surge in shark activity. The spike in evidence of white shark predation was so great in 2012 that the Santa Barbara Marine Mammal Center dubbed it “The Year of the Shark” at its annual community event in December. At a Jan. 11 Shark Colloquium in Carpinteria, Peter Howorth, Director of SBMMC, cited a dramatic shift in the number of pinnipeds—seals and sea lions—that his center has been called to rescue or remove from beaches. Between the years 1976 and 2000, SBMMC rarely received a call to Santa Barbara area beaches on reports of pinnipeds with shark bites. Every few years there’d be one and it was “unusual.”Then starting in 2008 it was a regular occurrence, until the crescendo in 2012 when dozens
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Memorials side by side commemorating the deaths of Luca Ransum and Francisco Solorio at Surf Beach. They were killed two years and a day apart from one another. This harbor seal was killed by a A warning sign at Surf great white shark off Carpinteria Beach clearly indicates the City Beach last September. potential for shark attacks.
of reports of white shark sightings and maimed pinnipeds were reported. At the same event, which was orchestrated by the City of Carpinteria as a public service in light of the emerging risk to ocean users, Shark Research Committee founder Ralph Collier theorized that there are simply more white sharks now than there were in the past century. No white shark count has been conducted, but the mounting numbers of pinnipeds preyed upon cannot be ignored. He and Howorth attribute the hypothesized white shark population increase to a 1994 California law banning the taking of white sharks in state waters. The nearly 20 year span between the ban and evidence of a population rebound surfacing makes sense when taking into account that white sharks reproduce only once every several years, have a gestation period of around 14 months and do not reach an age of reproduction until around 10 years old. “Count on your fingers and toes when they will start making a comeback and you’ll see it’s right about now,” Howorth said. Also, white sharks only prey on pinnipeds when they grow to about 9 or 10 feet in length. The spike in white shark attacks was backed up by eye-opening data. According to Collier, in the Pacific between Canada and Mexico over the years 1900-1999, 108 people were attacked by sharks. Compare that to a much quicker rate between 2000-2012 when 72 attacks on humans were recorded. Of the attacks, 87 percent were by white sharks, and 48 percent were on surfers. At the same presentation, Jeff Harris of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that from 1972 to 2010 there was very little evidence of shark predation on the enormous sea lion population across Santa Barbara Channel at San Miguel Island. In the last two years, however, bitten sea lions skyrocketed. NOAA researchers observed 134 sea lions with bite lesions in 2011 and 373 in 2012. San Miguel has upwards of 32,000 sea lions. Similarly, Howorth reported that during the 1990s four humans were attacked by sharks between San Simeon and the Mexican border. Over the last 13 years, there were 31 attacks, roughly a seven-fold increase. Despite the inherent risk to surfers and recreational ocean users, each of the experts welcomed more white sharks. Ecologically, they are an important member of the food chain. Collier used the current situation in the Chesapeake Bay, where sharks have been depleted by fishing nets, as an example of the chain reaction caused by one predator disappearing from an ecosystem. The once famously abundant shellfish fishery of the Chesapeake has been shut down in recent years due to shellfish depletion. The shellfish have been ravaged by cownose rays, which have experienced a population boom in the absence of sharks. Listing ways to reduce risks, Howorth and Collier recommended not swimming near seals and sea lions, not wearing jewelry or bright contrasting colors in the water, using the ocean in pairs or groups, not using beaches that have had repeated attacks, getting out of the water upon the first evidence of white sharks being present and heeding warning signs posted by officials. “No one has all the answers; make informed decisions,” Howorth said. Adding scale to the risk factor of ocean recreation, Collier said that in 2012, there were 88 shark attacks on humans worldwide. Of those, nine resulted in deaths. Refuting popular myth that there are “rogue sharks,” or white sharks with a taste for people,” Collier said, “There are no rogue sharks; we have not proven (that they exist) scientifically, and I don’t think we ever will.” For the foreseeable future, it appears that surfers in California will have an increased risk of encountering white sharks. Drawing a parallel between ocean recreation and wilderness recreation on land, Collier said, “Every time you go into the ocean, just like when you go to the mountains, you run the chance of running into a predator.”
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SURF SHOP DOWN LOW
Ventura's Wave Front Surf Shop BY SHAWN TRACHT
B
eing in the surf industry will not make you rich … most of the time. So being in the surf industry is about all out passion for the lifestyle and culture that we love. When I met Randy Schaefer of Wave Front Surf Shop in Ventura, I met a man who was nothing less than inspired about our sport. We complained, we sighed, and then we laughed over the many shortcomings of being a surf industry nut. In the end, we both agreed, that no matter what part a surf rat has in the industry, it’s not about the money (though we all do need some), but, rather, it’s about the passion of surf that leads us to stay rooted daily in work, somehow, to the obsession, surfing, that we just can’t quit. As for Wave Front, in 1985 the former transmission business was converted into a windsurf store, which then became a surf shop two years later as windsurfing lost its popularity. Schaefer took over the failing Waveline Surf Shop in 2005 with the goal of having a grass roots type of shop. “I did not
Second Annual
want to see the end of the surf shop at this location, so I came in and gutted the old store to give it a fresh new look. My focus on the shop is to provide all of your basic needs from a pair of shorts to a bitchen new surfboard.” Wave Front sells boards that cannot be found in every surf shop you go to. “Our focus is on long boards and specialty boards such as Mini Simmons, eggs, single fins, and a great selection of mid-length boards. We currently sell boards made by Dennis Ryder, Stewart, Davenport Longboards, Russell Hoyte, Bruce Fowler, Clyde Beatty Jr., and our shop brand Orbicular Surfboards,” added Schaefer. If you haven’t visited Wave Front before, make it part of the plan on your next visit to the Ventura area. Again, where many shops revel in shortboards, Wave Front veers to gear up a niche flavor of everything but. It’s a place a soul rider can pick the perfect sled, as well as bring the youth to help them understand the blending of surfing’s past and future into one current story.
Wave Front Surf Shop
Open Daily, 9 - 5 p.m. 154 East Thompson Boulevard Ventura, CA 93001 • (805) 652-2201 www.wavefrontsurfshop.com Facebook/Wave Front Surf Shop BRANDS CARRIED: Xcel Wetsuits, Largest selection of printed Ventura tees in town, Electric Sunglasses, Hoven Sunglasses, Dragon Sunglasses, Hobie Sunglasses, Rusty clothing, Reef Clothing and Sandals, Locals sandals, Cobian sandals, DaFin, Sector 9, Dennis Ryder Surfboards, Stewart Surfboards, Davenport Surfboards, Hoyte Surfboards, Stoker V-Machine, Clyde Beatty Jr., Orbicular Surfboards
Paddle Out For Hope!!!
Sunday, July 21, 2013 at Linden Beach in Carpinteria
Registration at 7:30 am • Ceremony at 9 am
To Pre-Register email carppaddleout@gmail.com www.relayforlife.org/carpinteriaca • (805) 560-6573
“Let’s use our Coastal Body of Water to Paddle toward a World with More Birthdays and Less Cancer!” PHOTOS BY ALMA & MIKEY BILLGREN
Carpinteria’s 6th annual Relay For Life Sat., July 20, 2013 - Sun., July 21, 2013
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DEEP SURF MAGAZINE April 2013
CUSTOM SHAPE. CUSTOM FINS. CUSTOM GLASSING. PERSONALIZE YOUR BOARD.
Hoyte Surboards by Russell Hoyte
• Custom built shortboards, longboards & SUPs • Specializing in state-of-the-art materials • Outside contract glassing available with climate controlled resin room • 50% DING REPAIR COUPON when bringing in or mentioning this ad 2705 Saddle Ave., Oxnard (805) 485-0700 shaper@hoytesurfboards.com hoytesurfboards.com
PHOTO ESSAY > ZACK GINGG
Moments in Time When I was 14 years old I never would have thought of picking up a camera. Now I can’t do without one. This is a different era though, and everyone seems to
have some sort of image maker on them these days. Central Coast photographer Zack Gingg, 21, told me he’s been searching out the “intimate moments in life that are often overlooked” for seven years. As I scoured over his submission of images, I came away believing what the young man from Cayucos had to say. It takes a long time to develop a vision for one’s photography while amassing a portfolio of images, but Gingg has done just that at an early age. “Sometimes I get inspired by the simplest things, like a pebble on the ground or an old toy,” explained Gingg. “I just think everything has the opportunity to become something great.” Working with a pair of Canon cameras and an arsenal of Canon lenses, Gingg considers everything to be fair game. The ocean and nature along the Central Coast are favorite subjects, but so are people. “Everybody’s face has a great story to tell,” he says. Already with an associates degree in liberal arts, Gingg is working towards a degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing, possibly to market his images. Beyond finishing his education, Gingg has his sights on traveling—camera in hand, of course. “I want people to take notice of the ethereal beauty that is abundant in this world in all situations,” continued Gingg. “Everything is beautiful, but sometimes it takes a different perspective to notice that beauty. My photography gives you a glimpse of this perspective.” To see more of Gingg’s images go to www.facebook.com/shotintheblue or www.shotintheblue.com. —Chuck Graham
Ryan Blackburn throwing caution (and tail) to the wind.
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Aquatic abstractions.
Krogg navigating a bed of seaweed serpents on his peaceful walk home.
Clay Johnson making the most of the Indian summer climate.
— continued
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PHOTO ESSAY > ZACK GINGG
Lucas Handy dancing with a La Jolla reef beneath a sky of fire.
Old man and the sea.
Some say the Central Coast is “the land of closeouts;” a winter guillotine, about to prove a point.
— continued
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True locals always seem to know just where to sit.
Ryan Blackburn getting comfortable at home.
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PHOTO ESSAY > ZACK GINGG
It's always nice spending some time alone. Winter solitude at home. There are certainly worse ways to spend an evening. Timmy Maddelein racing with a gull.
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CLOSED MONDAY’S
1860 Ventura Blvd. • Camarillo CHARLES GRAUKE PHOTOGRAPHY 2013
Dynamic Events. Fascinating People. Captivating Stories.
Ocean Soul
Underwater Photographer
Brian Skerry SUN, Apr 7 / 3 pM UCSB CAMpBELL HALL $20 / $15 UCSB students and youth 18 & under
Books will be available for purchase and signing
Event Sponsors: Luci and Rich Janssen
(805) 893-3535 / www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu
Community Partner:
DROPPING IN ON
The Evolution of Tarik Khashoggi
STORY BY MIKE VAVAK / PHOTOS BY SETH DE ROULET
Shot on what the photographer called one of the heaviest days he has seen in California, Khashoggi was one fo four guys to paddle out.
G
rowing up in Santa Barbara, Tarik Khashoggi had dreams of becoming a professional surfer like Tom Curren. Constantly pushing his abilities, he bled white, red, and yellow on the stage known as the World Qualifying Series (WQS) and waved the flag for the American Riviera. What Khashoggi didn’t know is that a friendship would take his professional surfing career in a different direction. Khashoggi first paddled out when he was two-and-a-half. Taking the path of many young surfers chasing the dream, he competed in amateur events. With solid results he quickly picked up sponsors and set his sights on the WQS. While traveling the world as a pro surfer, he started experimenting with boards from an up-and-coming Santa Barbara shaper. Little did he know his future relationship with Jason Feist would grow quickly from the shaper’s board rider to his business partner. When the duo opened the first J7 Surfboards concept store in downtown Santa Barbara, they quickly learned the trials and tribulations of retail business. To compete with the retail super stores, they focused on selling soft goods from other brands and temporally lost focus of what the J7 customer wanted. Taking dollars out of third party brands, they invested in increasing surfboard
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inventory and beefing up their own private label soft goods. After bringing the focus back to J7 Surfboards, they started showing profit, and in 2010 were able to move from downtown to Mason Street in Santa Barbara’s “Funk Zone.”The new location proved to be beneficial, and J7 Surfboards was back on track. As J7 Surfboards grew into an army of dedicated surfers, it became clear that Feist would need to spend more time in the shaping bay doing what he was born to do. Khashoggi had to expand his role and oversee all of the backend operations of the business—making sure all of the marketing, advertising, and accounting was accomplished. As with everything Khashoggi does, he rose to the occasion, learned more about business operations and turned J7 Surfboards into a well-oiled machine. While all this work is being done, Khashoggi still finds time to personally test all of the new J7 models in a variety of conditions. Testing boards in waist-high, windblown slop to Queen of the Coast perfection has allowed J7 Surfboards to push the limits of modern surfboard design. Khashoggi is also passing his professional surfing knowledge on to the J7 Surfboards team and
Khashoggi about to get one of the best barrels of his life. All winter we have been cut off from this wave thanks to the freeway widening project. Khashoggi proving why we need the bounce back.
mentoring some of Santa Barbara’s finest up-and-coming groms. It’s clearly paying off, as you can find J7 team riders in many of the contest finals up and down the California Coast. Like Channel Islands Surfboards, Roberts Surfboards, and others before them, J7 Surfboards will be added to the list of legendary surfboard manufacturers. And don’t write off Khashoggi’s professional surfing career just yet. He has committed to surfing in a handful of events for 2013 and sets his sights on big wave paddles and tow-in surfing. Khashoggi also has a two-and-a-half-year-old son at home—the same age he was when he first entered the ocean and caught his first wave. For a young Khashoggi, what started as a day at the beach blossomed into a professional surfing career, a business opportunity, an opportunity to mentor to Santa Barbara youth, and the experience of sharing his passion for the ocean with his son. If you were to ask him how he finds the time to get it all done, he would reply, “I have an awesome wife!” If you get a chance, stop by Santa Barbara’s J7 Surfboards and shake the hand of a man who is living the dream and sharing the stoke. J7 Surfboards is located at 24 E. Mason Street. www.DEEPZINE.com
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TIDELINES
Hair-of-the-Dog STORY AND PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEW
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p lush and unpaved Kruse Ranch Road, I found a dripping stand of rhododendrons in a reserve of sorts, 317 previously logged acres given to the public in 1933 by rancher Edward Kruse, one of Sonoma’s first settlers in the 19th century German Rancho land grant. Today it is a subtle hollow, ferny, leafy, mossy, dimmed with the dirt-scented dampness of redwood forest, soundtracked with birdsong and babbling brook, weightened with the stark solemnity of a wet winter day. Serenity flows loosely from an ecosystem that has been otherwise ruined by commerce—nearly every forested acre here has been cut at least once in the past 150 years. A few miles from where I walked lay Sonoma’s last remaining stand of ancient, extremely valuable trees, nearly 900 acres of old-growth redwoods in the Gualala River watershed. Recently the owner of this was denied in his proposal to log half of those trees on the 65-degree slopes which lead down into Haupt Creek, a key fish-bearing stream, tributary to the Wheatfield Fork of the Gualala River. Now grapes are worth more than wood, visibly obvious in nearby Annapolis, a remote hamlet that was once a boomtown of apple orchards, since converted to vineyards. The redwoods around Annapolis are sought by vintners, not for the trees, but for the land they occupy, which, if the vintners succeed, will be cleared for rows of pinot noir, one of the world’s oldest cultivated grapes, further bolstering Sonoma County’s annual grape revenue, currently a whopping $200 million, 61 percent of the county’s agricultural base. Sonoma’s only truly “coastal” label is that of family-run Annapolis Winery, quaint and organic, situated on a green hilltop a thousand feet above the Pacific. And in Sonoma the color of money is either red or white, because with wine comes money, and with money come tourists and development, which bring more money, shedding the old reliance on trees and fish so that anyone with cash can buy a house here, freed from the city and traffic, toasting their luck with $12 glasses of Sonoma’s finest. Ex-loggers are invisible, living in mildewed trailer parks, surviving with welfare checks, parking rusted pickups aside luxury sedans in front of the Gualala supermarket. Around the rhododendrons I strolled, pondering all of this, breathing deeply, head slowly depressurizing, brow cooled by mist, hands behind my back, eyes up, senses roused by the simple act of walking outdoors. The forest wasn’t ancient or marked for profit, yet among its serene innocence was holistic therapy for an aching head. I went for a beer down at the bar of Timber Cove Inn, a rustic joint on the headland of its
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Silky smooth Sonoma Coast laced in kelp canopy.
namesake cove. I had the room to myself, as it was a rainy winter weekday afternoon. With a pint of Red Seal Ale, I read the Independent Coast Observer, studying the latest victories of the Point Arena High School basketball team. “I played varsity there my senior year,” the bartender said. “We weren’t nearly as good as the team is now.” He was in his mid-30s and looked like a surfer; I asked if this was true. He said he had never tried surfing, that his sun-bleached complexion came from other outdoor pursuits. Last weekend he had hunted blacktail deer in Jackson State Forest; this weekend he planned to shoot wild boars in the wine country; next weekend he planned to fish for black bass in Napa County’s Lake Berryessa. “Damn good for fishing,” he grinned, showing stained teeth. “Good waterskiing out there, too.” “Growing up here, you never tried surfing?” “No interest.” He was still smiling. “Too cold, too sharky. I’ve never even dived for abalone. I think surfers here are crazy. Maybe not in someplace like Hawai’i, but here?”—he gestured out the window—“Man, that ocean is nuts.” I considered his statement while driving back to my campsite at dusk, on an empty road, through drizzle and dense fog, listening to “December” by pianist George Winston, his music matching the somber and soothing forest scenery. At the deserted campground my oak firewood was too wet to burn, so I laid supine on the passenger seat, resting my eyes, dozing, eventually realizing that the hair-of-the-dog ale had worked: my migraine was gone.
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VIEW FROM THE HILL
Keep Your Greenery Green BY RYAN A. SMITH
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his time of year, scoring quality surf sessions can take more than simply finding waves when swells are running and the winds have not battered conditions too harshly. For many of us, avoiding polluted ocean zones contaminated by urban runoff after rain events often trumps even the tastiest looking peelers. I hate being sick, and it’s hard enough these days to stay upright during nasty flu epidemics like the one in early 2013, so I’ll shy away from surfing a day or two after it rains, especially following those first few downpours of the fall and any time more than an inch is recorded locally. The waves might be perfect, but all I have to do is imagine the beach drains shooting all that sewage and street filth right past the high tide line. If you are living as a surfer in a state like California—which houses heavily populated cities near beaches (not to mention vast agriculture tracts and livestock ranches)—you’d have to be a cave dweller not to know the basics of urban runoff dangers. But just in case a quick refresher course is necessary, here is what the Ventura Chapter of Surfrider says on the subject: “Much of the city is covered in non-permeable surfaces, so water from rain, residences, parks,
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Help minimize urban runoff from polluting lineups like this.
car washing, etc., flows directly into the concrete storm drain system. As the water journeys over the urban watershed, oil, pet waste, pesticides, detergents, and other by-products of urban life [are] carried to the ocean without benefit of natural filtration or bacterial breakdown. Water is rapidly delivered to the ocean along with all the pollutants it encountered on its way through the urban watershed. The result is a frightening brew of chemicals, petroleum products, pet sewage, and trash.” Yikes. I know. And while we cannot completely halt the process or even control what corporations, companies, businesses, or even your neighbors are doing (or, more likely, not doing), that is no reason to give up on the issue. Every little bit counts, and those little efforts must start with each one of us. The easiest way to make a difference is to begin making conscientious decisions and take actions at home that can benefit our surfing environments. One worthy action currently gaining momentum is the establishment of what are being dubbed “Ocean Friendly Gardens” outside homes across the state, in hopes of minimizing the residential influence on the confluence problem.
PHOTO: JOSEPH CAMACHO
Creating Ocean Friendly Gardens focuses on the basic tenets of conservation, endemic plant utilization, and rainwater retention. Ideally, conserve the amount of water required to keep your garden happy and healthy. While luscious green lawns are nice to look at against a white picket fence, turf grass is likely the biggest watering glutton, soaking up gallons of your hard-earned dollars every week. Furthermore, decreasing the amount of turf grass around your house will cut down on the amount of fertilizers and chemical pesticides (including herbicides and insecticides) that can filter straight from your yard into our oceans. Instead, try a landscape design consisting of native plants and flowers (preferably with good drought tolerance) or hardy veggies, perhaps including permeable pathways and areas between your plants filled with bark, wood chips, pebbles, mulch, or other groundcover in order to soak up and/or hold as much water as possible. Remember, one of the main goals with Ocean Friendly Gardens is to retain the rain as much as possible, keeping excess water from collecting your garden’s nutrients, fertilizers, and chemicals from running down the street, into gutters, and into the surf zones. Says the Surfrider web site: “Runoff from residential landscapes is harming our oceans and impacting our lives. The sediment in water reduces clarity; nutrients increase algae populations and red tides which kill fish and other wildlife; bacteria closes beaches; debris can choke and suffocate aquatic species; and pesticides picked up off a landscape can poison fish consumed by humans. This is killing the ocean.” The world’s oceans may be too big for any single person to save, but we can all be a part to a larger collective that makes a huge difference just by taking a few positive steps toward saving our environment. Become aware and act responsibly. See www.ventura.surfrider.org for more info.
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Ocean friendly gardens come in all shapes and sizes, but two key ingredients are hardy native flora and permeable ground cover.
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Surf reportS * Swell forecaStS * photoS * VideoS * profileS www.DEEPZINE.com
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GREEN ROOM
Guardians of the Sea BY SHEILA V. MADRAK & DEREK DODDS
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Bonita, a San Diego Bay East Pacific green turtle, is released after a satellite tag is affixed to her carapace. PHOTO: NOAA SOUTHWEST FISHERIES SCIENCE CENTER MARINE TURTLE RESEARCH PROGRAM, NMFS PERMIT #1591
Observations from other power plants across the United States indicate that manatees, rays, fish, alligators, freshwater turtles, and other sea turtle populations demonstrate similar behavior. As our technology advances, many of these power plants will face decommissioning in the not too distant future. For some species, the warm water has allowed expansion into areas outside of their historical geographic ranges. The loss of the warm water, now that they are accustomed to it, could prove distressing to those populations. Understanding how the green turtles in San Diego Bay are affected by the closure of the power plant could aid in the research and management of other populations and species. Surfers connect with sea turtles; that is a fact. It might be our similar historical and cultural ties to Hawaii or it could be our mutually amphibious lifestyles. We are fortunate to share the water with these guardians of the sea. Because of this kinship, it behooves us to be ambassadors for the turtles whose home we share and enjoy. Sheila V. Madrak is a surfer and PhD candidate in the Joint Doctoral Program in Ecology through San Diego State University and the University of California, Davis. Her dissertation research centers on the local movement of east Pacific green sea turtles as related to water temperature in San Diego Bay, San Diego, Calif. Derek Dodds is owner of Wave Tribe and an ecological freedom fighter. Write to derek@wavetribe. com for more info on turtles or inquire about joining the eco movement. PHOTO CREDIT: LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER
he roots of surfing are planted firmly and deeply in Hawaiian culture. As a result, much of the culture and symbolism synonymous with Hawaii resonates with surfers all over the world, a kind of homage to the Polynesian ancestry of our sport. The image of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), or honu, can be found everywhere in surf style and communities. The green sea turtle is the only indigenous reptile to the Hawaiian Islands and is a revered symbol of the ocean interwoven with much of the islands’ folklore. These so-called ancients are considered guardians of children and mariners on beaches and in the coastal waters. It is no wonder that surfers connect with sea turtles. When you see one in the water you should feel blessed. Here in coastal California, we are well aware of the presence of sharks beneath the deep blue waves on which we ride. Occasionally a seal or sea lion may appear and swim curiously about, again reminding us that we are visitors in this sea that is their home. A sunset pod of dolphins can almost always bring a smile to the faces in a lineup. Visits from these species are relatively commonplace, but the rarity of encounters with sea turtles conjures up images and memories of surf trips or vacations to Hawaii. What most Californians don’t know, is that there just might be sea turtles swimming in their own surf breaks, coves, and bays. In San Diego waters, turtles have been present for at least 100 years. This small resident population of east Pacific green turtles quietly lives and forages in San Diego Bay. Their presence can be traced back through fishing and shipping records to at least the mid-to-late 1800s, and the monitoring of this population has been going on since the early 1970s. Outside of San Diego Bay, sea turtles are seen (though not as frequently) along the beach breaks from La Jolla Shores to North County San Diego. Moving farther to the north and into the O.C., green sea turtles are regularly observed in the mouth of the San Gabriel River in Long Beach—a popular local surfing spot. There is an interesting tie that binds these two SoCal populations of green turtles: power plants. Both San Diego Bay and the San Gabriel River have power plants that use (or used) the nearby waters for cooling purposes. During the cooling process, warm water is released back into the environment, creating a sort of jacuzzi effect for the coastal inhabitants. Green turtles in San Diego and Long Beach are routinely observed in the outfall areas of these plants—where the warmed water is released—and researchers from the National Marine Fisheries Service monitor their movement. The turtles presumably use the warm water to maintain body temperature and reduce metabolic costs, especially in the winter months when water temperatures drop. While the plant in Long Beach remains operational, the South Bay Power Plant in San Diego ceased operation on December 31, 2010 leaving us to wonder—what will the turtles do? Local movement of the turtles is tracked by a team of collaborators from the National Marine Fisheries Service, San Diego State University, the United States Navy, and the Port of San Diego. The hope is to understand how the movement of the turtles in San Diego Bay relates to the water temperature and whether their behavior changes because of the power plant closure.
Two juvenile East Pacific green turtles playfully greet visitors at the Living Coast Discovery Center in Chula Vista, Calif.
Ventura
Earth Day Eco Fest
Saturday, April 20, 2013 Promenade Park, Ventura 10am to 5pm • free admission
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I came to John asking for a fun, loose, small wave board. I have a 5’7” model and it’s the funnest small wave board I’ve ever had. Down the line, carving, floating, playing, no limits. A must have for small waves. - Tony DeGroot
DEGROOT ON A THREEDOM / PHOTO JON SHAFER
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PRODUCT REVIEW SURF FLIC
K
BOOKS
Code Red
The Plight of the Torpedo People
Like a monster truck rolling through my cerebral cortex, I sat enthralled, and stupidly scared, as I watched some of the heaviest waves ever ridden at Teahupoo in AzHiAziaM's new "Code Red" surf video by Mike Jones. This video is must see and a repeat watch. Shot during the Billabong Pro Tahiti in some of the biggest surf ever ridden, it’s 40 minutes long, and full HD. - Shawn Tracht
Photographs and text surrounding Come Hell or High Water Introduction by Keith Malloy, foreward by Jeff Johsnon The Plight of the Torpedo People is an amazing collection of bodysurfing photograps, frame grabs and personal essays documenting Keith Malloy’s “Come Hell or High Water” film. This is a must read book!
$19.95 • Available at Morro Rock Surf Shop • (805) 771-0199 • www.azhiaziam.com
$45.00 • Available at www.torpedopeople.com
Making Mavericks
The Memoir of a Surfing Legend By Frosty Hesson with Ian Spiegelman Making Mavericks is the inspiring story of the father-son relationship between Frosty Hesson and a young Jay Moriarty. Hesson, one of the first to conquer Mavericks in Northern California, recognized that Moriarty had a vision and pursued his goal to become a surfing phenom—Moriarty’s life inspired the phrase, “Live like Jay.” Making Mavericks is a celebration of Hesson’s determination to live with joy, purpose, and his desire to help others do the same. Making Mavericks also was the subject of the film “Chasing Mavericks.”
Triptych A New Movie by Michael Kew
Michael Kew’s “Triptych” is epic. A three story compilation from locales around the globe that only the pros visit and we dream of. The waves are world class and dreamy, yet the stories Kew tells through visual montage make the lands seem a little eerie and tough to travel for most, at least anyone who quivers at the thought of traversing through seas where pirates, killer whales and cannibals lurk. Kew definitely understands what’s essential for a surfer buying a surf vid. One scoop of visual ecstasy (good waves), the other a scoop of sublime surf sounds. - Shawn Tracht
$16.95 • Available at www.skyhorsepublishing.com
The Fear Project
$19.99 • Available at peathead.blogspot.com
H A N D PL A
N ES
Enjoy Handplanes
For those old or broken boards in the garage or backyard, new life can be given to them in the form of Enjoy Handplanes. Enjoy Handplanes are made from “old foam, broken boards or ruined blanks … and neoprene from used wetsuits form the handles,” according to their website. Here are three styles that you may want to test out when all you have is a wave that won’t pan out on a board. (GoPro mounts available).
Price: Starting at $149.00 (more with GoPro mounts) Available at WetSand Surf Shop in Ventura (446 E. Main St.) or online at www.enjoyhandplanes.com.
Baby Buddha The Baby Buddha is good for intermediate to advanced body surfers. It’s best in fast and hollow waves and its smaller size (12” x 7”) means a quicker swim and less strain on your arm and shoulder.
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“What Our Most Primal Emotion Taught Me About Survival, Success, Surfing … and Love” By Jaimal Yogis Author, and surfer, Jaimal Yogis sets out to confront fears and to find out whether there may actually be benefits to this often crippling emotional state. Yogis interviewed leading neuroscientists, psychologists, mediation experts and extreme athletes to get their take on how fear affects us and how we can master it. The Fear Project is a provocative, entertaining story that follows Yogis as he navigates his own fears and his personal quest to conquer Mavericks.
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MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT
Surfing Films Play Key Role at SBIFF
in an almost Zen like view of the infamous spot. The film is a legitimate documentation of the history of this surfing spot. Further, the film reveals meticulous interviews with all the principal players and provides a wealth of big wave action culled from an enormous library of historic surfing footage. The two elements work together to paint a complete picture of what has transpired in surfing at the infamous spot over the last two decades. Anyone interested in the art and skill of extreme big wave riding should to see this film.
STORY AND PHOTOS BY L. PAUL MANN
“Storm Surfers”
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he 28th annual SBIFF wrapped up another successful year after 11 exciting days. The festival burst into full throttle with scores of films being shown at theaters throughout the city. The festival also featured the most ambitious year for the “To The Maxxx” series, which features extreme sports action films. Much to the delight of local surfing aficionados, the festival premiered the most surfing movies ever and honored its core commitment to the genre. Additionally, most of the documentaries that premiered at the festival included Q & A sessions with directors and an entourage of filmmakers and legendary surfers.
“Discovering Maverick’s” Veteran local filmmaker Josh Pomer doumented the history of surfing the giant wave spot known as Mavericks, as told by the original surfing pioneers who discovered the spot. “Discovering Mavericks” has a surprisingly tranquil pace, especially Josh Pomer, center, considering the death answers questions. defying surfing footage and intense interviews with those most familiar with the spot. The editing and the music selection for the film are slow-tempered
Speaking of extreme big wave riding, the hands down favorite surfing film of the festival was the Australian film, “Storm Surfers” in 3D. The premiere at the Arlington Theater featured a full red carpet entourage complete with the principal filmmakers and the two legendary surfing stars of the film, Tom Carroll and Ross Clarke-Jones. The film follows the two longtime friends in their fanatical quest to surf the biggest waves on the Australian continent. Much like a reality television show, the film follows the two surfers as they weigh the risks and challenges of surfing new places in extreme conditions. They must weigh such risks against the immense financial burden of each trip and their commitment to their families in the face of their death defying challenges. Over the course of the film, the two daredevils form a bond with a young surf-forecasting meteorologist, Ben Matson. The three surfers huddle over reports from each major winter storm and develop plans to ride some of Ross Clarke-Jones and Tom Carroll. the largest un-surfed waves on the planet. The result puts the two surfing legends in a dramatic series of ever more dangerous surfing sessions. Filmed with a massive array of GoPro and other professional 3D cameras, the film captures an unprecedented view of surfing from all angles. The drama can be seen unfolding in the faces of the surfers from exhilaration to horror, depending upon their predicament. After the film ended, an extended and passionate Q & A took place, and the director relayed that the film had fittingly just won the Australian equivalent of an Academy Award for best documentary film. The film is indeed one of the best surfing films ever made.
Zero to 100 The Lakey Peterson Story STORY AND PHOTO BY L. PAUL MANN
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n ecstatic local audience mobbed the sold-out premiere of Aaron Liebers’ new film, Zero to 100—The Lakey Peterson Story. Almost like a carnival, the outside of the Lobero Theatre was adorned with surfing and environmental booths. Inside, a cross section of local surfing families and surf fanatics filled the theatre for an impromptu concert by some of the young up-and-coming musicians who helped create the film’s soundtrack. A showing of the film followed, with Peterson leading an extended Q & A afterwards.
Aaron Lieberman, Lakey Peterson and Parker Peterson.
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The first half of the film centers on the first 12 years of her life. When Lakey was 5 years old, the Petersons, an established Montecito family, embarked on a year-long, around the world adventure. During a three-month stay in Australia, Lakey first learned to surf. After returning to California, she put surfing aside, and began mastering almost every popular sport through her pre-teen years.
A Rare Opportunity To Own 80 Feet of Oceanfront... Jim O'Mahoney.
“The Signal Hill Speed Run” Meanwhile, “The Signal Hill Speed Run” proved to be an entirely different type of film and made its debut at the Lobero Theater. This cleverly crafted documentary relies on footage from the first downhill speed skate contests that were organized by James O’Mahoney (owner of the Santa Barbara Surf Museum), beginning in 1975. The vintage footage captures the era in classic form, from the skater fashion of the day, to the carefree California lifestyle of the time. Narrated by Ben Harper, the film documents the notorious and treacherous downhill dash for the Guinness World record for speed skating. The film interviews all of the pioneers of the sport and tells the dual story of their athletic daredevil runs combined with their remarkable engineering feats to design their skate vehicles. The contest begins with a few crazy skateboarders trying to best the massive downhill run on the antiquated skateboards of the day. The sport quickly evolves into an American success story with young entrepreneurs Skate car. developing new technology on a shoestring budget to create the fastest skate car. With the frequently disastrous crashes that sent both athletes and spectators to the hospital, the event would probably never exist in today’s litigious society. This film is a classic gem of American ingenuity and '70s surf culture merged into one tightly edited documentary.
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Remembering Mike DeGruy
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Anyone who has ever loved the Ocean must celebrate the passing of Mike DeGruy. The pioneering filmmaker was an integral part of the Santa Barbara Film Festival for many years and hosted the Reel Nature series of documentary films. The festival honored him by showing what he did best with a series of beautifully filmed underwater films that cleverly tell stories of undersea creatures, from the intelligent octopus to the misunderstood shark. Also, the annual field trip to the movies for local school kids continued, but was renamed “Mike’s field trip,” in honor of DeGruy. The natural history filmmaker and cameraman passed away in an Australian helicopter crash last year. This year, SBIFF welcomed nearly 4,000 kids to see “Rise of the Guardians” and held an enthusiastic Q&A with the film’s director, Peter Ramsey.
The second half of the film deals with her teen years; more specifically, she rediscovers surfing, makes a name for herself by becoming the first female surfer to land an aerial maneuver in a NSSA competition, and wins a national title. From here, the film follows Lakey’s first experiences as a professional surfer on the ASP World Tour. With her privileged background and natural athletic abilities, Lakey could have easily become the Paris Hilton of surfing. Instead, the film, edited by her brother Parker, documents the young athlete’s commitment to competition and desire to give back to the people she encounters on her adventures. Many surfers who travel to third world countries often come away with a new appreciation of how most people exist with a far smaller footprint on the planet; therefore, these trips encourage surfers to become more involved in environmental and foreign charity work. Lakey is no exception; even when she travels for surfing, she finds the time to give back. The film highlights one example where Lakey hooks up with the non-profit organization H40 when she surfs the exotic waters off Indonesia for the world tour. Lakey first teamed up with the non-profit after a trip to Rote, Indonesia, where she witnessed the local villagers’ desperate need for safe, clean water. Together with H4O and Water Missions International, Lakey is helping to raise funds and awareness for this project. Lakey's connection with the places she visits makes the fast-paced and tightly edited film all the more fun. As Lakey visits most of the stops on the Women’s ASP World Tour, the film reveals the ups and downs and high stress stakes of competing on the top professional level at such a young age. This beautifully filmed documentary offers up spectacular aerial views as well as great surfing footage in and out of the water. The film covers the triumphs and upsets of a young surfer’s first year on the world tour; furthermore, the film portrays the triumph of the human spirit, and the power of giving back to the world.
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Cold, shark-infested waters defiantly keep the crowd down at this California peak. No lifeguard on duty ... ever. PHOTO: ANDY BOWLIN
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DEEP SURF MAGAZINE April 2013
www.anacapabrewing.com
Waves up to 16 feet sweep Ventura Point. Dozens had to be rescued by lifeguards on jet skis as the massive rip pulled them towards Ventura pier. PHOTO BY L. PAUL MANN
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DEEP SURF MAGAZINE April 2013
Now available FREE at the iPad App Store. Read online at www.deepzine.com.
NOW Available for FREE on the iPad App Store Read online at www.deepzine.com
KILIAN GARLAND
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