DEEP Surf Magazine—bv7, Issue 4_July/August 2012 by DEEP Surf Magazine

Adventure Issue

Travel Nicaragua DEEPZINE.COM

What's Your Bluebird? July/August 2012 • Volume 7 / No. 4

Tooling in Tonga FREE

BEYOND REASON I DON’T REALLY KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, BUT WHEN I CAME UP, I WAS NAKED | BRUCE IRONS

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This stretch of Central California is miles away from any services, and the sandbars are shifting daily. The wave you surfed one morning could be non-existent the next. Having to hike miles upon miles each time to even check the surf makes scoring all the sweeter. CHRIS BURKARD

COVER SHOT With towering mountains and the dramatic sun seeping color in from behind the clouds, Dane Gudauskas does his best to stand out amidst the untamed Arctic coastline. CHRIS BURKARD

YOURS URFMAG EL DIRECTOR:

Andres Nuño EDITOR:

Chuck Graham GRAPHIC DESIGN:

Dan "Duderino" Levin PHOTO CORRECTION:

David Levine SALES:

info@deepzine.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:

Craig Comen Derek Dodds Dave Friesen Chuck Graham Dan Hamlin Michael Kew Nicole de Leon

L. Paul Mann Katie McLean Kara Petersen David Pu’u Ryan A. Smith Shawn Tracht CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS:

Ira Amerson Azhiaziam Andy Bowlin Marisa Breyer Steve Brown Chris Burkard Bob Dickey Glenn Dubock Chuck Graham Lori Graham Michael Kew Jason Lesh Brent Lieberman L. Paul Mann

David Pu’u Redtail Media Cam Schiff Tim Schmidt Ryan A. Smith Josh Sparrow Scott Toepfer Bill Tover Shawn Tracht Bill Watts ASP / Poullenotlo ASP / Kirstin SUPPORTING STAFF:

Lea Boyd Peter Dugré Erin Lennon Joe Rice (Intern) Kristyn Whittenton

DEEP Surf Magazine Twitter@DEEPSurfMag

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

PUBLISHER:

Michael VanStry, President ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER:

Gary L. Dobbins

General Inquiries & Submissions: info@deepzine.com Owned and Operated by RMG Ventures, LLC Carpinteria, CA 93013 Tel: 805.684.4428 WWW.DEEPZINE.COM

28 Letter from the Editor News

Tidelines Ladies Room Northern Exposure

MICHAEL KEW

DAVID PU’U CHRIS BURKARD

Comen Sense REDTAIL MEDIA

Board Trachting Dissecting Sea Caves Komunity Project View from the Hill Surf Shop Down Low Product Reviews DEEP Convergence Music & Entertainment Green Room Final Frames

FEATURES 28 TOOLING IN TONGA

Story by Michael Kew. Photos by Kew and Billy Watts They knew they were going to score. As far as they knew, the wave was unnamed and unsurfed. "Both surfers leave their shirts and sandals with me and crab down the bluff. I’m going to video them. The sun is dropping—we’ve got time for tubes, Tonga unfettered." Michael Kew and a crew take on Tonga.

32 BLUEBIRDS

Story and Photos by David Pu’u Bluebirds are moments in time when the magical intersects with the mortal, where one’s grasp of one’s ability is redefined. A bluebird moment is about learning, preparation, trial and conquest. David Pu’u takes you through an account of one his bluebird moments.

36 HELL’S GATE

Story by Dan Hamlin. Photos by Chris Burkard Nicaragua is by no means a secret spot anymore. It’s been on the mainstream surf radar for years now, but for good reason. Nicaragua is blessed with the proper combination of elements that make for a great surf destination. But Dan Hamlin’s trip showed another side. La Chureca, literally located in Managua’s landfill, is known as “The Dump.” Hundreds of Nicaraguans sift through the trash every day in order to find enough resources to simply live for another 24 hours.

CRAFT BEER Story by Ryan A. Smith. Over the past few years, many micro breweries and craft beer creators (not to mention the festivals celebrating the fruits of these laborers) have found homes and established dedicated followings in the 805 counties. Not surprisingly, local surfers are at the forefront of this frothing movement, and they weren’t shy about sharing the similarities they see between the two cultures. 10

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR REMEMBERING PAT FLECKY

Pat Flecky was a great man. I remember the time he made my first longboard. It was a couple weeks before my eighth birthday. I had always body boarded, but I really wanted a longboard. My dad came into my room and asked me, “If you wanted a longboard, what would it look like? Can you draw it?” So I got colored pencils, sketch paper, and a regular pencil. I drew what I wanted and gave it to my dad. On my birthday my brother randomly came in the living room with his banjo. He said it needed to be tuned. My dad said he needed a screwdriver to tune it, so I ran into the garage, not even noticing my surprise to the right of me. When I said I couldn’t find a screwdriver, my parents and brother came in. My dad said, “Look over there.” So I turned to my right and saw it, a brand new hand-shaped longboard, exactly like I wanted it. (It was) white with a big blue stripe down the middle, with random colored stripes in the middle of the stripe. I was so excited I burst into tears and jumped into my dad’s arms. It was AWESOME! Pat Flecky had created it for me. I will miss him. Major McConal, 9 / Grover Beach DEEP Surf Magazine welcomes your letters. Send your Letters to the Editor to andres@deepzine.com.

DREAM CREAM TOPCOAT FORMULATIONS

GOLD LABEL A radical increase to normal levels of softness and stickiness. (60°F/16°C & below)

SILVER LABEL A major increase to normal levels of softness and stickiness. (44°F to 72F°/ 7°C to 22°C)

BRONZE LABEL A moderate increase to normal levels of softness and stickiness. (56°F to 84F°/ 13°C to 29°C)

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

July/August 2012 Volume 7, Issue 4

We were primed for a channel crossing from Carrington Point on Santa Rosa Island to the west end of Santa Cruz. It was an hour after sun up, comfortable, glassy. It looked good to kayak across the Santa Cruz Channel. Craig Fernandez and I had just finished circumnavigating Santa Rosa, and we were continuing east to Painted Cave. We left Carrington with somewhere between 8- to10miles of paddling in front of us. My compass was out, so I kept the gritty finger of Skunk Point on my right and kept the daunting face of West Point off my bow. But once we were clear of Skunk Point, a dense fog bank blew in from the Santa Barbara Channel. Before we knew it we had only 50 feet or so of visibility. I yelled to Fernandez to close the gap between our boats to only two paddle lengths. I zeroed in on my compass, and we picked up our pace. I tried fending off worst-case scenarios in my head, a boat running us down or missing the island, veering off into the abyss.

As it turned out, we didn’t see the island until we were about a mile off the west end of Santa Cruz. Needless to say I was relieved to see western gulls soaring above the cliffs and hear the surf crack against wave-battered cliffs. Some would surmise that adventure doesn’t happen until something goes askew, problem solving on the fly. I’d agree with that, but I think putting yourself in the unknown could be enough to garner a smidge of adventure. It depends on your make-up, and where you’re willing to put yourself. Another year to cram as much of that word as I can in a constant race against time. I hope you’ll enjoy our annual Adventure Issue, punching in and punching out. Enjoy.

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Columnist

JOSH SPARROW

Chris is 26-years-old and lives in the small town of Pismo Beach. He is a freelance photographer for various publications and a staff photographer for Surfer Magazine and Surfline.com. “I aim to document the lifestyle of the sport more than the action, also focusing on the pulled back perspective to give the viewer a feeling like they are in the moment. Unique lighting and silhouettes are my specialty. My goal is to capture my subject in the photo so that they aren’t dated by logos or any certain era. I like my images to remain timeless and hopefully be appreciated by someone at any age.”

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Designer / Assemblage Sculptor

Ryan A.Smith is the head custodian at SLIDE Magazine, which keeps him incredibly busy and ensures he always misses his deadlines for DEEP Surf Magazine. In his free time, Smith enjoys skulling heavy IPAs, laughing at hipsters with friends, exporting gopher corpses from his garden, denouncing the mainstream surf industry, and writing children's books.

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Like most surfers, Dan Hamlin loves to travel in search of waves. In recent years he’s also discovered his love for writing. A Central Coast native, he resides along the same stretch of coast that he grew up on. Besides surfing, traveling, and writing, he enjoys anything to do with nature. Hamlin’s writing has been published throughout the world, and as a surfer he has appeared in national and international publications including Surfer, The Surfer's Journal, and The Surfer's Path.

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DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

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NEWS

In The Hunt

Wine, Waves and Beyond

ASP

BY DAVE FRIESEN

UPDATE

s if there was any doubt. Eleven-time Kelly taming world champ Kelly Slater bounced Cloudbreak once again. back from a lacerated foot sustained © ASP/ KIRSTIN  in Indonesia and dominated the field at the Volcom Fiji Pro last June. Slater had to pull out of the previous event in Brazil at the Billabong Rio Pro last May due to his injured foot, but didn’t display any lingering effects and appeared to be in top form in pumping 6-foot Cloudbreak. Slater dispatched young Brazilian goofyfoot Gabriel Medina in the final, sealing the deal early with a 8.33 and a 9.83, thus putting the pressure on the upstart from the get go.

Sage snapping her way to an =3rd at the Swatch Girls Pro France. © ASP / POULLENOTLO

The victory was Slater’s 49th on the World Tour and has him in striking distance of an unprecedented 12th world title. He’s approximately 1,000 points behind current number one Mick Fanning. In the women’s corner Santa Barbara local Lakey Peterson is within reach of re-qualifying for the women’s WCT, but she will need to do better than what she’s done of late unless she tries to qualify through the women’s remaining 6-Star events. That’s the strategy of Ventura local Sage Erickson, who has struggled in her first year on the WCT. Currently sitting in 14th on the ratings, Erickson has been chasing the 6-Star events from the beginning and is in good position to re-qualify for the WCT. She recently garnered a solid =3rd at the Swatch Girl’s Pro France at Hossegor. If she can maintain a level of consistency, she’ll find herself on the women’s elite tour again.

RESULTS

he Boardroom International Surfboard Show will take place October 6 through 7 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The Boardroom will honor legendary surfer Mark Richards (MR) during the “Icons of Foam Tribute” presented by US Blanks. Richards firmly stamped his mark on surfing history by winning the ASP world title four times. He is one of only two world champions to shape and compete on his own handcrafted surfboards. (Peter Townend is the second.) Richards will be at The Boardroom to watch six shapers grind out a classic MR twin fin from the free ride era. Shapers will include Ricky Carroll, Wayne Rich, Pat Rawson, Reno Abellira, 15-year-old Taz Yassine and John Pyzel. The Boardroom will feature top surfboard shapers, manufacturers and designers, foam, fins, wetsuits and more. The Boardroom events and exhibits include live shaping, laminating, music, food, beer, board

9:10 1:39

3.61 1.95

10:00 2:34

3.83 1.92

TUE 03

10:46 3:27

4.02 1.87

WED 04

11:30 4:20

JULY 2012 Tide Chart Ventura, CA

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

4.18 1.86

THU 05

12:14 5:14

4.31 1.89

FRI 06

6:23 6:10

-0.89 1.96

SAT 07

7:03 1:45

-0.38 4.52

Hard body contest. BOB DICKEY

Grand Masters: JP Mclelland / Masters: Charlie Howland / Men’s Open: Joe Rickenbaugh / Juniors: Trae Candy Gremmies: Nick Worrell / Women: Miranda Joseph / Adaptive Surf: Nathan Smids / Wine/Beer: Josh Beckett / SUP: Dana McGreggor

Relay For Life Paddle Out

demos, performance art, surf movies, a longboard skate zone, a vintage board swap, and much more. “It’s a great time to take a consumer surfboard show to the next level,” said Scott Bass, executive director of The Boardroom. “As the creator and producer of eight consumer surf shows, my mind is always churning with new ideas. The Boardroom promises to be a place for surfboard and surf culture connoisseurs.” A Best of Show concept area will allow shapers to create, enter, and display boards in five categories—Best Sustainable Surfboard, Best Concept Surfboard, Best Wooden Surfboard, Best Longboard, and Best High Performance Shortboard. A Vintage Surfboard Swap will be held on October 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with the Longboard Collectors Club displaying their unique pre-1980 vintage collectable surfboards. For more information visit www.theboardroomshow.com.

SUN 08

7:44 2:33

0.21 4.6

MON 09

8:25 3:23

0.81 4.68

TUE10

9:09 4:14

Amateur Photo Contest

1.38 4.78

WED 11

9:59 5:04

1.88 4.91

THU 12

6:40 5:53

2.9 5.07

FRI 13

7:59 6:37

3.07 5.26

SAT 14

8:51 7:17

3.26 5.47

WSURF.COM TIDE CHART

SUN 15

9:28 1:34

elay for Life of Carpinteria will host the first ever Paddle Out for Hope on Saturday, July 7 in Carpinteria. The main event is a 24-hour walking relay, but organizers have added a brand new element, the paddle out, to draw other participants. “I believed that by incorporating a paddle out into Relay For Life, we may open the door to so many who may not normally want to or not understand how to participate in Relay For Life,” said Beth Cox, Relay for Life Carpinteria event chair. “When someone passes in our community of Carpinteria we turn to our incredible body of water for a solemnity, spirituality, and a sense of healing.” The event will take place at Linden Beach with registration starting at 9:30 a.m. on the beach and the paddle out beginning at 10:30 a.m. you can preregisterd by emailing carppaddleout@gmail.com. The paddle out has no cost, but donations will be accepted for Relay for Life. All participants must sign a waiver. Waivers are available at Rincon Designs, 659 Linden Ave. in Carpinteria, or at www.relayforlife.org/carpinteria. A rally will take place at the Lucky Llama, 5100 Carpinteria Ave. in Carpinteria, on Saturday, June 30. Entertainment will include the Skamakazies and an auction.

The Boardroom International Surfboard Show

MON 02

TIM SCHMIDT

f you haven’t already heard about Wine, Waves and Beyond in San Luis Obispo, it is a classic four-day event that includes surf movies, a longboard contest and wine events that celebrate the best of the county. Proceeds support the Association of Amputee Surfers (Ampsurf), a non-profit organization started by surfer Dana Cummins, an amputee and veteran himself. Ampsurf supports those who have served our country and are coming home looking for a way to feel whole again. This year’s event started with two surf movies, “Leave a Message,” an all women’s surf film, and Keith Malloy’s “Come Hell or High Water” were shown at the Fremont Theatre. Malloy was in attendance. The second event was held at the Cliffs Resort in Shell Beach on June 1. The “Barrel to Barrel,” as it was called, had live music, a silent auction and over 35 visiting wineries and breweries. The third event was the Firestone Brew Masters on June 2. Five chefs from around the county created five different courses, each paired with a different Firestone brew. The last event, on June 3, was the longboard surf contest. Notable surfers who participated were San Diego’s Jesse Timm, Santa Barbara’s Trae Candy and women’s surfing legend Margo Oberg. Sunny skies, 3- to 4-foot surf, and glassy conditions prevailed for most of the day. The right and left peaks provided some long rides and great surfing. The surf contest provided an exciting and friendly atmosphere, especially for the amputee surfers. The events showed the true meaning of our sport and will continue to give those who served our country the stoke they needed to move forward in their lives.

BY CHUCK GRAHAM

SUN 01

Charlie Howland, men's open champion.

MON 16

3.43 2.54

9:59 2:14

3.57 2.46

TUE 17

10:26 2:52

3.7 2.35

WED 18

10:54 3:29

3.84 2.23

THU 19

11:22 4:08

3.99 2.12

FRI 20

11:51 4:50

4.16 2.03

SAT 21

5:51 5:37

-0.42 1.95

he Thank You Ocean Campaign and the California Coastal Commission will host the 14th Annual Ocean and Coastal Amateur Photography Contest. Entrants are encouraged to submit photos of the following subjects: the scenic coast and Pacific Ocean off California, people and the California coast, and California ocean and coastal wildlife. Plants and animals photographed should be native species in their natural setting. Photographs must be taken from a public place and should be in color. To avoid disturbance, photos of marine mammals must be taken from 50 yards away or more. Categories include, “Viewers’ Choice,” and “Judges’ Choice.”Winners will be selected for first, second, and third place. Interested amateur photographers— those who earn less than 50 percent of their income from photography—can upload their JEFF PFOST images to www.mycoastalphoto.com. All entries must be submitted online by July 13.

SUN 22

6:23 6:30

-0.12 1.87

WETSAND SURF SHOP

MON 23

6:56 1.35

0.29 4.76

TUE 24

7:32 2:19

0.77 4.98

WED 25

THU 26

8:14 3:11

9:05 4:09

1.28 5.22

1.76 5.48

FRI 27

10:13 5:12

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.

2.13 5.78

SAT 28

7:20 6:13

3.2 6.11

SUN 29

MON 30

8:20 7:10

9:05 1:41

3.5 6.42

3.81 2.06

JULY 2012 Tide Chart Ventura, CA www.DEEPZINE.com

TIDELINES

Head Case STORY AND PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEW

t’s near dusk, hot and windless, and I’ve just surfed an excellent but hazardous reef in front of a small thatched hut. Two hours earlier, by boat, I was deposited here by my host from the neighboring atoll, and he’s due back at dark. After stepping onto the beach, there’s a man waving his arms for me to go over to the hut; I walk over to say hello and perhaps chew a little betel nut before my host returns. “You look good fo’ eat.” The man smiles creepily, exposing red teeth. He says his name is Kito. He’s a dead-ringer for comedian Dave Chappelle, with a lower, huskier voice. We’re sitting on the cool sand beneath some palm trees in front of his hut, a few yards away from a disturbing (to me, anyway) pile of human skulls. You see, Kito’s father loved people — enough to kill and eat them. He was a classic Malaita Province cannibal, and those skulls were his prized possessions. “Me fadda kill wid big knife.” Kito swipes a index finger across his neck. “He cut here. He headhunta. He want you head, so he kill you. Den he eat.” Apparently, if Kito’s dad was alive, he would have killed me instantly. All flesh would have been scraped from my head, and my skull would have been set at his little shrine for worship, clustered with

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DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

SURF SHOP

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Keeping your head up. the island chief’s personal collection. Back in the day, the acquisition of human heads afforded islanders considerable prestige, and in gaining the victims’ souls, the physical and spiritual welfare of the hunters’ tribe was guaranteed — to possess a skull collection was to enhance one’s place in the spirit world. For centuries, the Solomon Islands were considered to be the most dangerous place on Earth. Malaria, saltwater crocodiles, cannibalism, and fearsome nude headhunters were enough to deter most travelers. Head-hunting was indeed heady: big wooden canoes carrying 40 men were dispatched, and, upon return, brandishing fresh, blood-dripping heads, the hunters were received ceremonially, the heads revered. The way Kito looks at me with his blazingly bloodshot eyes leads me to think that perhaps his dad’s cannibalistic genes have been passed down. Or maybe he’s just very stoned off betel nut. He has a sharp machete, which he uses to hack open a coconut. He does this with force and precision, almost angrily, like he’s releasing pent-up energy. His face hardens, his brow tightens, and the veins in his neck start to swell. “Me fadda cut here, like dis”—whack—“gettin’ himself bloody. Man taste good.” Man taste good. Okay. Interesting! He hands the coconut to me. “Fo’ you, Meestah Michael.” “Thanks.” I take a drink from the coconut but can’t really enjoy it as Kito reaches over and slowly runs his dirty finger over my Adam’s apple. “He cut here, Meestah Michael. You know? Fo’ da head. He no eat head, but you body good food. Leg ‘specially.” His other hand clutches the machete, its long wet blade glistening with coconut juice. “Really?” I ask sarcastically. Clearly this guy is out of his mind. “Yeah, I guess that’s the best place to cut a guy’s head off. Say, you got any betel nut?” “He put you head ova dere, with da skulls. Den he take you body and cut it in pieces. Den he cook you ova dere.” He points at his firepit. “Me neva cook a man dere.” “Oh, that’s awesome. No need to do that, eh? Haha, I mean, nobody eats people anymore, right?” “Yiss. I know dem. But dey not do much now. Dey go to jail if man get killed in da village. Or maybe not, if no one know about da kill. No one know if I kill.” I chuckle. It’s getting dark. Kito’s mouth hangs open and he drools slightly. He still grips the big knife. He looks hungry and daring and suspicious and wild. He’s the only person who lives on this islet, and suddenly it occurs to me that it’s just a bit weird the lone resident has a pile of human skulls in his front yard. Is that really Daddy’s collection? “No one know if I kill,” Kito repeats softly. Four seconds later, my host’s skiff skims around the islet’s corner and veers up onto the sand in front of Kito’s hut. “Great! Well, hopefully that all works out for you, Kito.” He smiles sheepishly, waves at my host, then whips out a cell phone as we motor away.

“Like surfing...surfboard design is both an art form and a science. I strive to create new and exciting wave riding experiences with the ultimate pursuit in mind: to design and engineer ‘pure performance’ surfboards.” -Daniel Thomson

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A Women's Perspective BY NICOLE DE LEON / PHOTOS BY DAVID PU'U “An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered.” - Gilbert K. Chesterton

e live in a country of convenience. Most everything we need is at our fingertips, from big box stores, to drive-through restaurants and online shopping. But have such conveniences restricted our daily experiences and deprived us of life adventures, however small? As the women I spoke to demonstrate, widening our inner geography and sense of adventure doesn’t necessarily mean taking a pre-planned vacation. So how does a person cultivate that sense of adventure in an often planned-out scheduled life? An adventure can mean escaping the daily grind to trudge through a rainforest muddy and mosquito bitten or it can mean simply viewing every experience with childlike curiosity. I am blessed to know many strong and adventurous women who have woven their lives around this attitude. Whether it is traveling the world solo by sailboat, relocating to Central America, globetrotting for a living, spiritually traveling and inspiring others, or traveling to far off lands to study the global effects of pollution, these women are dedicated mermaids. Let’s face it—the words “surfer” and “adventure” are essentially synonymous. Pro-surfer and owner of Suave Dulce Women’s Surf and Yoga Retreats in Nicaragua, Holly Beck believes, “An adventure only begins when something goes wrong— otherwise it’s just a trip. In that

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FREE INSTALLATION ! Aubrey tucking into a green one. sense an adventure can happen in your backyard, at your local beach, or halfway across the world.” Rochelle King, local surfer, personal trainer and new mom echoes that sentiment. "Being a mom is a huge adventure. But again, as long as I work with the day instead of fight with the day, each one is filled with small adventures for my daughter and I to enjoy.” How often have we heard ourselves say, “Is it Friday yet?”, as we live purely for our weekends and hard earned getaways? Maybe it’s the tiny nuances of the everyday “grind” that can be turned into an adventure if we can shift into the right mindset. Former world champion surfer and mother of two, Kim Mearig has definitely had her share of adventures in life. This still-avid surfer believes that “life itself is the adventure” and that raising a family is quite an adventure in and of itself. Her friend and local ripper Heather Tiddens, who also still manages plenty of water time, believes that an adventure is “being curious about what’s happening, which means a deliberate redirecting of my attitude and attention to the newness of what’s happening now.” We have all traveled next to someone who chooses to complain about what they feel they don’t have rather than enjoying the present moment. Brooke Johnson, local surfer and shaper furthers this. “There are types of people, I believe, that are incapable of having adventures. Negative perspective and frame of mind will do it. Comedian Louis C.K. jokes that people in airplanes should be screaming, ‘Oh my God, I am flying!’ while reveling in the miracle of human flight, rather than complaining about the airplane’s WiFi not working. In an era with information and conveniences at our fingertips, it is that much more of a challenge to let go of control and open one’s self up to the little adventures. Like Aubrey Falk puts it, “Life becomes a constant adventure when you embrace the great mystery of it all and let go of trying to control it.” Whatever the word “adventure” means to the individual, it is something that resonates deep in the belly of most surfers and often signifies the pinnacle of their experience. Leading a life of adventure

Former ASP women's world champ Kim Mearig. means having the courage to take not only physical risks but also having the courage to change one's habitual mindset. According to local artist and surfer Megan Frontino, “The anxiety of beginning a new adventure gives way to creative thinking and a shift in attitude when push comes to shove.”We all hold that innate wonderment and creativity within, its just a matter of testing our limits, turning off our cell phones and jumping into the unknown. Andre Gide said it well: “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”

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love road trips north. There is something about surfing “up north” that just seems to feel a bit more adventurous. The population thins out, the land gets less developed, and the ocean seems to be a bit wilder. A while back I had to be in Santa Cruz for a personal matter and decided to turn it into a solo road trip in hopes of finding some decent, uncrowded waves. The weather was stormy, with rain and wind predicted for the entire length of my trip. As you can imagine, I was a bit disheartened by the forecast. But I wasn’t going to let it dampen my resolve of finding waves. It was midweek when there was a break in the weather. The wind calmed, the rain stopped and the swell still had a bit of life left in it. I decided to check a spot that I’d had some luck at in years past during somewhat stormy conditions. It breaks

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dense forests, most sessions up north must first be along a cliff-lined shore, and from atop the earned by a long hike to the beach. CHRIS BURKARD cliffs it looked quite fun. I scrambled to get in my wetsuit fearing the winds would shift and I’d be left with a stormy mess of an ocean once again. As I was about to paddle out, the wind shifted horribly, from hitting my back to hitting my face. The cross-onshore storm wind had arrived to turn the fun-looking waves into a jumbled mess. I had this feeling that I should just head back to my car and call it a day, but I ignored my instinct and paddled out anyway. It was a horrible session, an exercise in futility. After about 45 minutes of frustration, I had finally admitted defeat. The tide was filling in, which meant when I got to shore I’d have to walk right next to the cliff, as the water’s edge was now at the base of the cliffs. It was either that or make a fairly long paddle to a safer spot to come in. “No biggie,” I thought to myself, “I’ll just walk next to the cliff.” As I walked along the base of the cliffs with my head down thinking about what a horrible session I’d just had, I noticed the water at my feet receding quite rapidly. It caught my attention so I looked up and out to the ocean. I suddenly realized in that single moment a number of things. For starters I shouldn’t have had my head down; I also realized that a set had broken out back and subsequently sent a wall of white water toward the cliff. The next thing I realized was that I happened to be standing directly in front of a cave in the cliff’s side. With no time to get out of the way of the impending wall of water heading at me, I was about to be in a very bad situation. I remember sitting in the back of the cave with my head throbbing as the rocky cavity filled up with water. The wall of water had thrust me to the back of the cave. The only thing I had time to do before the impact was to cry out, “God, help me!”The next thing I remember after slamming my head against the back of the cave was looking out through a 12-inch gap of air between the ceiling and the water’s surface. As panic started to grip me, I felt myself being rushed toward the opening of the cave with the retreat of the tidal surge. Acting purely on instinct I swam as fast as I could with the current, and just as fast as I had been swept into the cave I was swept out of the cave. I got on my board and gathered my bearings. No major bodily damage except a big bump on my forehead from where I’d head-butted the back of the cave, and an extremely bruised ego. I looked around to see if there happened to be anyone on the cliff that had just seen my circus act; thankfully there were no witnesses. Though I reckon if things had gotten worse I would have wanted someone there to rescue me in spite of my embarrassment. I didn’t surf again on the trip, nor did I mention the incident to anyone for quite a while, the humble pie taking some time to digest. But it’s definitely an adventure I won’t soon forget, even if I’d like to.

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orget adventure. There is really no Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark. Everything has been overdone and everyone is the similar. What makes us adventurous is our perception, attitude, what we strive for in life whether it’s each relation, each act of communication, each movement or action. I may sound straight out of a book on Buddhist teachings, but in fact to be here at all is an adventure. Being a surfer just makes our human existence that much more unique. Is it adventure? I dare say no again. We love to be unique, we love to break the mold and be outside of the box, but in essence we are all sort of trapped a little in this day and age. How many times have you wanted to go surfing in the last year and you could not pull it off? You had class, you had to work, or you had to pick up the kids from school. Some form of societal commitment had you not doing what you really wanted. Sure it is good to be responsible and committed, but there is definitely the time for “Plan B,” as one of my friends calls it. I remember with fondness the day I walked out of a pizza place job to go to a surf contest six hours away. By god, I wanted to see those pros surf and I would rearrange my life to do so. At that time I was acting on maybe what we want to call it the spirit of adventure or perhaps just knowing what it was that I wanted and what path I was going to take. Pretty much all the roads have been paved, every fin configuration tried, every beard worn. Now we just need to be true to ourselves without hurting anyone around us, and break out of our shells of existence. Is it up to the Malloys to do it for us, or can we too carve out a niche for ourselves, be it contests, travel, industry or soul? This is what I mean by inventure! Reinventing ourselves to be who we truly are. We can do this around our work, recreation, family, and all facets of life. Change your stance, your style, your quiver, your ride, your habitation, your name, whatever! Someone please write DEEP to tell them what you have done, so I can hear about it (info@ deepzine.com). Shout it to the world and let all the ones who need to do the same hear your exuberant screams. Enough now. Time to get the kids and the dog to sleep, put my iPhone away, and get ready for another day of paying bills, routine and Plan A.

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Like any twin fin, this board was meant to be ridden with a real smooth rail-to-rail flow. Twin fins don’t like pumping and grinding through flat sections, rather, the twinny is all about surfing in and around the curl with a smooth glide. Now add the new material, agave, to the mix, and what you have is the next level of refreshing design. The agave made this board a little heavier than a Polyurethane (PU) board of this size; nevertheless, a twin fin is many times glassed heavier than a trifin board and is meant for completely different lines than a tri-fin. I rode this board in multiple conditions from three-foot to two-foot overhead. I also rode it in everything from glassy to windy conditions, and in that, a little extra weight really complemented the twin fin’s drivey flowing design in a multitude of situations. As for the feel of the agave, it was definitely different than a PU board in that a PU board pierces the water with a little more spring down the line, like a body board on rail. Conversely, this board rode higher on the water down the line, but dug much deeper in full throttle turns, throwing rooster tails off the back half of the board that accentuated the increased speed that an agave surfboard is capable of producing. This speed was a plus when heading towards the lip. Having a wide board over the front foot gave me extreme drive, and correspondingly, the pulled-in, round tail gave the board performance and sticky hold in the pocket for powerful turns and hacks. This board was a real treat to ride because it breached the everyday, gave me a new challenge, and gave me a good feeling being a part of the new greener world. It was a board that intrigued me because of its dense, yet light-enough core. The lifeline of this board seems, at least in my time riding it, to be definitely worth the increased investment, and there is proof of the agave’s ability to surf with an eye on the past with it’s twin fin roots, as well as with a perception of modern day performance surfing. Purchasing an agave from Jackson is not a risk, in my experiences thus far, but rather an investment in a shaper and materials that are built from the first-hand experience in what it takes to push the limits and be eco-friendly.

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This board is the result my own vision for the ultimate organic high performance surfboard. It’s a 100 percent agave core laminated with hemp cloth and green epoxy and finished with recycled redwood fins. A friend we call Patksi turned me on to the agave after I had seen boards Gary Linden made with agave. He collected and milled these pieces together and gave them to me to make our first board. I laminated it with 100 percent hemp cloth like I have been doing for over six years now and used entropy epoxy. The redwood fins I have been hand-making from wood we gather from ranches and what not. The overall finished product is one of the most organic boards you can make with the technology we have available right now. The agave core gives the board a natural flex, and the hemp also has organic integrity as well as being one of the planet’s most important natural resources. Used together and coupled with redwood fins, you are supporting the environment by using and promoting it. The board rides with the memory of the agave blowing in the desert winds, the hemp growing tall and strong in the fields, and the redwood creaking 300 feet above the moist forest soil. These boards are much more expensive because of the time and labor of harvesting agave and building the blanks, but the ride is sensational and the durability is insane. The shape of this board I call the Gemini Twin. The round tail and a little hip near the fins makes this board extremely flowy. Add to that the low entry rocker, and what you have is an extremely fast board that also holds really well in steep parts of the wave. I have been addicted to this board since building it and have been loving it in small waves, mushy beach breaks, and points, like El Cap this winter, which helped me really get to feel the smoothness of rail transitions.

Surfer’s Take:

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Gone Spelunking peregrine falcons and owls. So if you see pelagic birds roosting inside or better yet flying inside with a beak full of fish take a rain check on that particular sea cave, and paddle on to another grotto. The same goes for seals and sea lions. Although they’re warm-blooded like us and insulated with heaps of blubber and dense fur, sea caves offer haul out sites for pinnipeds to rest and warm up before reentering the water.

Gear up > A wetsuit will not only keep you warm, but also protect you from contact with sharp rocks. For those with tender feet, paddling shoes protect against sharp, slippery rocks and especially sea urchin spines. Most importantly, don’t forget your helmet. You don’t want to head butt a sea cave without your noggin secured. Even a seabird can dislodge a rock inside a cave. The rock inside caves never gets a chance to dry out, remaining moist and brittle, thus easily breaking away. Some caves possess multiple chambers, so as you become engulfed in darkness flip on your headlamp or cave light. The deeper a cave, the darker it will get. Have your towline ready just in case your paddling buddy gets ejected inside a frothy, wave-riddled grotto.

Log in > There are lots of websites devoted to current weather and swell conditions. Do your homework and do yourself a favor by getting the low down before you spend time in the belly of a sea cave. Access inside certain sea caves is dependent on high and low tides, so keep a tide book handy. www.iwindsurf.com • www.weather.gov • www.surfline.com

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addling inside a dark, dank sea cave is experiencing the forces of nature Patience is a virtue > There’s no rush. Simply sit outside the entrance of a sea cave and study the sea conditions. How long has it been between sets and what’s the interval between waves? You can still constantly at work. They’re the result of volcanic upheaval, evolving time the sets on your watch. Observe the velocity and direction of the wind. What’s the tide doing? It throughout millennia with the rising and lowering of sea levels against wave- will affect which caverns are accessible. Even a boat wake can cause waves to break inside a cave and battered, honeycombed cliffs. create a calamity. Although the toothy grottos represent aquatic playgrounds for kayakers, Know the lay of the land > You’ll want to take note of the physical features of each craggy there are certain precautions to heed before entering. Pigeon guillemots looking for fresh fish.

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grotto. Submerged rocks and the lower walls of a sea cave laced in barnacles can act like a cheese grater. Mussels or sea urchins can cause doom if you come unglued from your kayak. If entering a through cave you’ll want to watch for waves wrapping around and colliding inside. If there’s a low ceiling and the tidal surge or swell is pushing upward, you’ll need to time your entry and exit. If you feel yourself lifted by swell or surge toward the ceiling, don’t lean forward. You might be compressed into the ceiling causing a potential neck injury. Instead lean back as far as you can in your kayak and press off the ceiling. When in doubt you can always roll out of your kayak. If the entrance or exit to a cave is narrow, make your approach and then ship your paddle alongside the hull of your kayak.

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Caving in > Where to go for the grottos.

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T R AV E L TO N G A

3:04 p.m. > Remote cove on a remote island

Bushwhacking through tall weeds and sticky spider webs makes us dirty and sweaty. Two spiders hide in Ryan Burch’s hair. Daniel Jones inhales a wisp of silk. Our clothing has unwittingly transported many small arachnids from their fragile airborne homes to the beach, though this isn’t really a beach. It’s a notch of ragged volcanic rock, sharp as broken glass, dug into the low bluff that we’re standing on. “Check that one!” Burch says, pointing at the hollow, bluey-green left 300 yards offshore. The wave spits. “What?” Jones too is enthused. We are going to score. As far as we know, this wave is unnamed and unsurfed. Both surfers leave their shirts and sandals with me and crab down the bluff. I’m going to video them. The sun is dropping—we’ve got time for tubes. Peeling around an elbow of coral, the waves are slightly overhead, fast and clean, with humpback whales cruising beyond, spouting water as they surface to exhale. Tonga is a breeding ground for these massive cetaceans, which migrate from Antarctica each June, reversing in November, 12,000 kilometers round-trip. A major tourist draw, Tongan whale-watching is superb, especially in Vava’u. To cap the scene, Patrick Millin and lensman Billy Watts migrate to the lineup in the aluminum skiff. Sateki, its burly driver, is not drunk—but today is Friday and tomorrow will likely be painful for him. It’s a sensitive portrait of a deep Polynesian ilk poisoned by the ills of the West. Pre-contact, his creed was avidly cannibalistic, sexually gleeful, unstained by Spam or Marlboro or Diet Coke. Tongans have always had kava, but kava is not and will never match Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey. Tongans have and will always have sun and surf on their side.

B Y M I C H A E L K E W

5:18 p.m. > Small grassy yard behind a palm-thatch hut Paul Theroux, “The Happy Isles of Oceania,” page 294: “I could just imagine a sick Tongan’s sense of doom when he or she looked out the hut window and saw the family pig being fattened.” Rigor mortis doesn’t make you pretty, but it’s tough to look good when a big metal pole has been Ryan Burch and Daniel Jones, jungle fever. KEW

Daniel Jones. BILL WATTS Traditional Polynesian way of cooking pigs. KEW

Crew. WATTS

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Ryan Burch, hole in one. WATTS

shoved into your ass, through your body, and out your mouth. You’re being roasted clockwise over a pit of coals. You’ve been eviscerated. Your eyeballs have evaporated. Your legs and skinny tail are stiff. Your long tongue is sticking out. You actually appear to be laughing. You’ve got a gaping red hole in your belly, where your organs once were, now being wolfed by a big brown dog in a corner of the yard. Your neck features another red hole with boiling blood bubbling from it, trickling around your shiny, pink corpse. “And then what kind of meat do you get off of it?” Burch asks the man turning the pig. “Ham?” “Yeah, ham,” the man says. “Is it nice ham?” “It’s like pulled pork,”Watts says. “But I can honestly say I’ve never had a pig like this.” A fat woman in a bright orange dress sits on dirt near the pig. She’s using aluminum foil to wrap onions and pieces of taro and breadfruit to be set in the umu (“earth oven”) to be cooked by hot rocks. Tonight we will feast Tongan style to celebrate the first birthday of the daughter of the guy who’s cooking the pig. His wife is the one doing the umu stuff. Neither has a problem with roasting the family pet. “Many more where this came from,” the man says. “Not sure if I got a pig on a spit when I turned 1 year old,” Daniel Jones says. But it’s possible since he’s Hawaiian and they do this sort of thing there and throughout Polynesia. I guessed that umu was a far healthier and wholesome alternative to the usual modern Polynesian diet of Pacific Brand corned beef and other imported junk.

End of the yellow dirt road. KEW

But dog is modern fare, too. All meat is fair game—Tongans have been eating Fido for millenia. Back in the day, dog was a delicacy, far tastier than pork, and both species were raised domestically. To sweeten their flesh, dogs were fed only vegetables and, in 1774, when Captain James Cook landed in Tonga, he likened the meat to English lamb. But ol’ Jimmy was weird since his colleagues thought that barbecuing household pets was terrible. I glance across the yard to the dog chewing pig intestines. “Are you guys going to eat that mutt?” I ask the pig-roasting man. “Yeah. But not tonight.” With his teeth, he removes the cap from a green bottle of beer. Back home I was told that, since Tonga is home to thousands of Mormons, drinking was bad. But this man was Mormon and visibly buzzed whilst swilling from his bottle of Mata Maka, the weak so-called “Tongan” lager that’s only available in Tonga but is actually brewed in and imported from New Zealand, 2,000 kilometers away. “This beer sucks,”Watts says to me. He’s just finished his second; I’m on my fifth of the afternoon. Watts and I are the drinkers of this trip. Burch and Jones rarely booze. Millin has been voluntarily dry for six months. Mata Maka is also the name of a low hill on Nomuka Island in Tonga’s Ha’apai Group, clamped between Vava’u and Tongatapu, an archipelago my guidebook described as being a “sleepy, seductive place.” Nobody really surfs Ha’apai, but I know of at least one excellent left. Nomuka and its surrounding reefs might have good waves, too. So might nearby Mango, Kelefesia, and Tonumeia, green stars on

Daniel Jones and the wave of the trip. WATTS

a galaxy of blue. There are dozens more—Ha’apai has many secrets. A boat is required. Viewed from space, the group looks like two big atolls with no western sides, which would be clean and offshore most of the year. Yet another cruelty for surfers since east swells are painfully rare. Our boat is small, so we won’t visit Ha’apai this week. Starting with Ha’apai, Captain Cook spent three months in Tonga. He commanded the HMS Resolution while his colleague manned the HMS Discovery. When the two ships landed on the isle of Lifuka, a lively food festival was underway. Cook and his men were so gaily greeted that he dubbed Tonga “the Friendly Islands,” a motto still used by the Tonga Visitors Bureau. Cook didn’t know the warm welcome was actually bullshit and that Lifuka’s opportunistic chiefs planned to kill and eat him and all his men, then loot the two ships. But the nobles couldn’t agree on a plan, so they shined the whole thing. I’m drunk by nightfall. Finally, with equally drunk Tongans, we eat the pig. The white meat is leatherlike, unchewable. Under my chair, I feed most of mine to the big, gut-eating dog. He’s happy. He’s not on the menu—yet.

Ryan Burch, asymmetrical boogie. WATTS

The Tongan fringe. KEW

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

An umu, which means “earth oven.” KEW Daniel Jones. KEW

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STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVID PU’U

Third Reef at 20 feet (old Hawaiian scale), North Shore Oahu. Garrett MacNamara, world tow champion, at Jaws. Eclipsing many of the entries in the Billabong XXL. Mavericks Challenge 2010 a day which Jeff Clark told me was one for the books. As clean as it gets, as big as it is possible to ride,and an archetype of what every surfer who waits for that perfect big day looks for.

Bluebirds are moments in time when the magical intersects with the mortal, where one’s grasp of one’s ability is redefined. A bluebird moment is about learning, preparation, trial and conquest. I’ve had a few in my life. Here’s an account of one. I began my pilgrimages to the North Shore of Oahu late in my surfing life. As a young pro, it was basically part of the ritual of being a surfer, about testing your ability. School wasn’t my calling. I seemed to thrive in sport and life. I have always sought out and planned for those moments, and hopefully, they would be bluebirds of happiness, because no matter what the outcome, my perception, in hindsight, is one of never having failed. I only learned. Big wave riding is an avocation peculiar to a select few people. I am not, nor have I ever been a big wave rider. My cousin Mel Pu’u is though, as are friends Jeff Clark and Garrett MacNamara. In a conversation with Mel, he told me that I should join a club that the Makaha boys created. I think he called it the Screaming 20’s Club. One had to ride a wave of 20 feet Hawaiian scale (approximately 30 plus feet) or more through the bowl at Makaha. When I asked him how many members the club had, he said 12. I laughed. “Oh I get it. Lucky 13! Mel are you nuts? Is that fun to you?” His eyes lit up, and he smiled. “Yah, it’s a lot of fun. You should do it!” I declined. “Mel, that’s not my idea of a good time.” I’ve been alone with Clark out at Mavericks. Looking through my lens, I’d see Clark smiling happily to himself, MacNamara too. Duke Kahanamoku spoke of bluebirds, big waves cracking across offshore reefs of the South Shore of Oahu, rare events that would occur maybe once a decade. He was ready for those. His experiences became the stuff of surfing lore. As my surfing life evolved, I rang Mark Foo, and arranged for a place to stay on the North Shore. Foo had a big house at Waimea, and an adjacent property where he housed traveling surfers. This particular

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

season, he placed us in the “Old Log Cabin” house, named after the break. It was a great venue to experience the North Shore. On small days I would swim in front of the house to Sunset Beach and jog back in the deep sand. Early one morning, the rattle of the windows woke me. I peered outside and saw empty waves unloading on the reef at Log Cabins. Second reef was beginning to cap. I got up and had a little coffee. My wife, Ronnie, came out into the living room still sleepy. She and I traveled together whenever we could. She was a freelance photographer at the time with Surfer Magazine. She wandered off about her morning routine, and I grabbed my 6’8” pintail. As I made my way outside, the ocean still had a slight bump on it. Big, thick barrels thundered over the notoriously craggy reef of Log Cabins. Shaun Tomson warned me about the bottom, the lava pinnacles which stretched to within a couple feet of the surface. My swims on flat days confirmed their location. The session proceeded without incident and I got a half dozen pretty radical barrels. The swell continued rising, and occasionally the third reef began to cap. As the sun began to break and the third reef capped, I found myself sprinting for position having out paddled the small pack that had collected in the lineup. Then I saw it, a bluebird. The wave reared up in front of me as we converged. At the last possible moment I spun and paddled into the wave. I could hear the boys screaming on the inside, “Go!” Driving off the bottom, I back-doored a 10-foot barrel. I remember my focus, the sound, and saw everything in slow motion. Spit out onto the relative calm of the shoulder, my knees literally folded under me, rolling onto the deck of my 6’8” and into the water. The boys were laughing. “Man that was heavy.” I could see Ronnie set up on the Log Cabin porch. She’d been shooting. I got a couple more

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waves, and came in as the swell grew bigger and shifted to the outside reefs. I had something to eat and watched the surf. Both Ronnie and I noticed that every once in a while a big peak would heave offshore and spin empty and perfect through the outside. In my mind I was done. I’d experienced one of those defining waves that morning. But there it was outside, the bluebird. I had never seen one like that before. Eventually, Ronnie asked if I was going to go out? I actually snapped at her. “What, are you crazy? I’d die out there.” She was silent. We had been together for almost 14 years at that point. She knew me well. An hour later she asked me again. I said nothing, but I was timing the sets. Fifteen minutes later I got my 7’8”, and walked down to Ke-Iki and paddled out. I knew the sets were few and far between, running out of deep water and moving fast. I needed to take one on the head in order to figure out where the lineup was. Then I’d follow the whitewater triangle to its pinnacle, sit outside and maintain my position in the lineup. And right on time a massive three-wave set of bluebirds, moving majestically, exploded about 75 yards outside of me. Rag-dolled by the first wave, I had trouble reaching the surface. Eventually I grabbed a breath or two of salt spray-filled air, paddled a few strokes and was sucked underwater by the roiling turbulence. I tried to relax, clinging tightly to my 7’8”. As I ran out of air, the surface cleared and I popped up in thick, sudsy foam and caught a deep breath. I then paddled out, marked a couple lineup points on the distant hills, held my position and waited. Forty minutes later I caught another wave. My actual recollection of the ride is somewhat hazy, but I remember riding it close to where I rode that barrel earlier that day. Then I did something that even today I still find rather peculiar. I

paddled back out. You see, I had a rule where I needed to ride three waves when challenged. If I didn’t how could I really gauge my ability? I needed convincing, so three waves would do it. I remember the third quite clearly. I rode it all the way into the inside and let the maelstrom blast me onto the beach. Years later I ran into a couple friends of mine who were lifeguarding that day. They told me they were highly entertained by my antics, but they had no plans to rescue me if I needed it. And that is the crux of this story. You only get a few real chances in life to make an exponential leap. Think of a man as a house. You begin with a good foundation and work your way up from there. Later that day, up at Foo’s house we were talking about his incremental transition from touring pro to big wave rider. He asked if I had surfed that day. I told him I had just come in from surfing the outside reef off Log Cabin. He sort of smiled. “Dave, we don’t surf out there.”‘Why not?’ I asked. “It’s too dangerous,” he said. “Man, stupid Californians.” Foo and I had been friends for years. I trusted him a lot more than I trusted myself in big wave assessment. But I knew where he was headed. I knew he was looking for his own bluebird, and I knew that what I told him had set his wheels in motion. Years later, I was shaping late one night in Santa Barbara. My phone rang. I think it was Kristjan Higdon, who told me first. “David, Mark is dead. He drowned at Mavericks today.” Today, in a culture which elevates weakness, amorality, situational ethics, and things like political careers over the more pure and vital aspects of real courage and leadership, some may want to seek out and prepare for those bluebird moments. We all leave this world at some point. It’s best to do it bravely with a firm grasp of who and what we are, having compassion for our fellow man.

Duke Paoa Kahanamoku. Olympic Champion, ambassador, sheriff, rescuer, waterman, Hawaiian, and surfer.

Keiki Beach, North Shore, Oahu from Pipeline. A Bluebird day and where it all sort of began, at Waikiki. “The Gathering Place.”

Jeff Clark, Cortes Bank.

Rusty Keaulana Makaha.

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

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T R AV E L N I C A R A G U A

Hell’ s

Gate BY DAN HAMLIN / PHOTOS BY CHRIS B URK ARD

The barrels on this trip were not just found in the water. Bonfire barrels began breaking as the light faded from the ocean.

As a storm started to build and trash began to swirl in the wind, this young boy seemed adapted to the harsh living conditions that surrounded him.

These perfect little barrels kept sweeping into this beach break. I was able to get far enough down the beach to have a perfect view into the barrel with the green mountains looming in the background.

“MY SPANISH ISN’T GREAT,

but I think he said he wants to throw a rock at my head,” I told Kim Diggs. She just laughed. Adolescent machismo at it’s finest in Central America.The local kid had paddled for a chest high wave and ended up going over the falls. When he surfaced to the laughs of his friends he had to find someone to blame, and as I was the nearest gringo I was instantly his scapegoat. No matter, a few “lo siento’s” on my part and all was well in the lineup again. I figured it was better to apologize for something I didn’t do than to end up with “un roca en mi cabesa.” Diggs and I had talked about taking a trip to Nicaragua together for a few months, and it finally came together when Chris Burkard jumped on board. Nicaragua is by no means a secret spot anymore. It’s been on the mainstream surf radar for years now, but for good reason. Nicaragua is blessed with the proper combination of elements that make for a great surf destination. By chance my longtime friend Brad Corrigan was going to be in Nicaragua at the same time as us and as it would turn out, this simple

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

coincidence would turn our very typical surf trip into anything but. What most people don’t realize is that there is another Nicaragua that isn’t nearly as ideal as the offshore beach breaks that dot its coastline. For surfers, Nicaragua can seem almost heavenly, with the southern region of the country having a prevailing offshore trade wind. But just outside the capital of Managua, bordering the same lake that helps to create the offshore wind on the coastline, a whole community lives in a rather hellish reality. La Chureca is the township that is literally located in Managua’s landfill. “The Dump” is filled with hundreds of Nicaraguans who sift through the trash every day in order to find enough resources to simply live for another 24 hours. Poverty of this severity will make even the most hardened, selfish individual out there feel a sense of empathy for those unfortunate enough to be born in La Chureca. Anyone who has spent time in the third-world has likely seen some form of this kind of poverty.

In writing this article I’ve been faced with an inner dilemma. I could go into detail about what I saw in the dump, detailing the awfulness of these people’s living situation; or I could not mention it and instead talk about how beautiful the coastline is and how good the waves get. Somehow neither of these sits well with me. My objective isn’t to make the reader feel guilty for the life they lead, nor is my objective to paint a picture of an idyll that has nothing to do with the reality that is Nicaragua. So instead I’m choosing to focus on a small group of surfers, musicians, and artists who by chance stumbled into the community of La Chureca and ever since have done their best to provide hope and positive change to the people of this community. Brad Corrigan, one-third of the famed band Dispatch, originally visited La Chureca in 2005 when he was in Managua to play a benefit concert to help an orphanage. While talking with his taxi driver

he mentioned his reason for being in Managua. His taxi driver, Bismark, asked Corrigan if he wanted to see some kids who were in dire need of help. Corrigan had no idea what he was about to experience, as Bismark showed him La Chureca for the first time. In the years following he has made countless trips to La Chureca, doing everything from bringing supplies, to painting murals, to even holding concerts inside the dump in order to allow the community to forget (at least for a day) that they live in a landfill. After his first visit to La Chureca, Corrigan started “Love, Light, and Melody” (www.lovelightandmelody.org), a non-profit dedicated to battling the effects of the extreme poverty. As a result of his love for surfing, many of Corrigan’s buddies happen to be pro-surfers. Over the years he has convinced a number of them to join him on visits to La Chureca. Guys like Jesse Hines, Matt Beacham, Noah Snyder, and Will Tant, among others, have all joined him in his efforts at The Dump. He is www.DEEPZINE.com

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Keith laying down his patented gouge.

I wish I could tell you that I did something great to help change the lives of those at La Chureca, but I can’t. I was there for a day and on a plane home the next. Some might say my visit to The Dump was pointless, a wasted day of meeting folks I may never see again. But I would argue against that. Though I may not have ended poverty or government corruption, etc, my visit awakened empathy for a people who have long been disregarded by their society. It reminded me that empathy trumps apathy every time, that even surfers can affect change, and more than anything, that no one is trash. To learn more about La Chureca visit www.lovelightandmelody.org. To follow Dispatch visit www.dispatchmusic.com The sunsets in Nicaragua produced amazing colors. With sunsets like this and good waves it was common to be on the beach into the night.

Dan Malloy leans into a huge cut back in between the beach trees of Nicaragua.

Despite growing up in the “city dump” the children were full of smiles even as the storm began pouring on all of us.

This tide pool turned out to be one of the most entertaining spots on this trip. Gordon embracing his inner kid as he takes flight off the rocks.

constantly trying to raise awareness and provide an outlet for others to get involved. Due to the obvious dangers that exist wherever there is extreme poverty, LL&M provides a safer avenue for people to join in the fight. If it weren’t for Corrigan I never would have heard of La Chureca nor taken the time to visit there. The entrance to La Chureca is called Hell’s Gate, and I can’t think of a more fitting name. But in the midst of this hell, not all hope is lost. Corrigan and the folks at LL&M are committed to a simple concept. “When you walk with someone you’re saying to them, ‘I am with you.’We can walk in hell and not have fear,” said Corrigan. Spending time with Corrigan as he guided us through the dump, I watched as kids, parents and grandparents all came out to greet him as one of their own. It was a stark reminder of how simply identifying with someone else’s plight can provide a deep sense of companionship that helps to forge a bond of hope. Through Corrigan and the folks who have joined him in the work at La Chureca, the community is learning that it is okay to hope, it is okay to dream beyond the boundaries of the trash. And perhaps that is one of the greatest things that someone can gift another, a sense of hope.

Not many people can pull of a turn with this much power, let alone on a fish. Malloy laying into this one with style and power.

Tucking into cover Malloy finds some shade from the suns heat.

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

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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.

More Than A Surf Shop Established in 1975 Located on the beach in Cayucos

Good Clean Fun, What else Matters?

Operation Surf BY DAN HAMLIN / PHOTOS BY IRA AMERSON

an Curaza wears many hats, from pro surfer to business owner, surf instructor to philanthropist. Most know Curaza for his surfing prowess in waves of consequence, but less well known are his efforts to help our country’s wounded soldiers through his non-profit organization called Amazing Surf Adventures and their program Operation Surf. Operation Surf is a recreational and rehabilitative surfing clinic for wounded, active duty service men and women who are recovering at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. Operation Surf came into existence as a result of one wounded soldier’s desire to learn to surf. Corporal Derek McGuiness was being treated at the Brooke Army Medical Center when he met Janis

Roznowski of Operation Comfort, another organization dedicated to helping our wounded soldiers heal. Corporal McGuiness had lost his leg in the war, so Roznowski told him that if he could find an adaptive surf instructor to teach him how to surf, that she would make all the necessary arrangements in order to make his desire a reality. The Corporal went online and found Pismo Beach’s Rodney Roller, a national amputee surfing champion who at the time was working for the Van Curaza Surf School. Roller and Curaza jumped at the chance to help our country’s wounded warriors, and as a result of this first meeting, Operation Surf eventually developed. Curaza and Operation Surf continue to work with Roznowski by hosting camps for our country’s active duty wounded soldiers from the Brooke Army Medical Center. They have developed an adaptive

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

Photo: Jon Shafer

Jaun Alejandro Amaris of the Army waited three years to come, and he had a blast.

surfing program that allows the soldiers to experience the joy of surfing in a safe and constructive environment. Curaza and the Operation Surf team start by having a comprehensive instruction time on land that goes over topics such as ocean safety and equipment use. They then go over their adaptive techniques that will cater to each individual’s disability. In the water, the program maintains a oneto-one ratio between professional adaptive instructor and participant. In addition, each professional instructor has two assistants in the surf zone to assist in instruction and safety. The Operation Surf program is a government recognized program, though it is not funded by the government. This means that in order for the program to exist, all the necessary funds must be donated or raised through charitable events, such as the Chuck Perriguey Memorial Golf Tournament that Curaza and the Operation Surf team put on every year. But in talking with Curaza, I can tell that despite the difficulties in raising support for the program, he would be doing this no matter what the cost. In our conversation about Operation Surf, he mentioned that one year Roznowski almost called it off due to circumstances. When Curaza heard she was planning on doing this, he stepped in and sent word to Roznowski that he’d do whatever it would take to make Operation Surf happen. “I told her,” said Van, “whatever works for you, whenever works for you. It’s about the soldiers and providing this service for them.” That’s the beauty and essence of Operation Surf; it’s about the soldiers. I had the privilege of witnessing the program in action. You’d be hard pressed to find something as humbling and inspirational as seeing these soldiers get out in the lineup and surf. Kenny Kalish of the Marines. The soldiers who come to Operation Surf are being treated for various kinds of trauma including spinal chord injuries, traumatic brain injury, burns, and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), but none of them let any of their setbacks slow them down. The smiles you see on their faces while riding their first waves are good reminders of why surfing is so special. And the gratitude that they showed the volunteers for helping them is humbling. These soldiers had life-altering wounds in defense of our freedom; it seems like the least we can do is help them recover. It’s the type of cause anyone can get behind regardless of their political views, and it’s the type of cause that makes you proud to be an American and proud to be a surfer. To get information or to help the cause visit: www.amazingsurfadventures.org or www.operationsurf.com

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VIEW FROM THE HILL

Iron and Resin INTERVIEW BY RYAN A. SMITH

et in the heart of Ventura, Iron and Resin aims to build a community of surfers, motorcyclists, and artisans unique to our region and based on the wondrous natural gifts in the 805. On the heels of releasing the brand’s first apparel line as well as hosting its inaugural Hooligan Derby race, now on the cusp of opening the flagship store on Main Street, the crew sat with me at their art studio space to talk of what was, what is, and what will be.

DEEP: What sparked the combination of bikes and boards? Jackson Chandler: They are really two similar passions, riding a motorcycle and surfing. They’re one in the same because of the freedom and the wind in your face, very singular acts. You’re focused solely on that one time. When you’re surfing and you paddle for that wave and stand up, you become one with that wave. Same with the bike: When you’re on the road or the trail, that trail and bike become one unit, one with the wind and the freedom that they create. We use the term “freedom riders,” because we feel it is very much like riding freedom, just very freeing experiences. DEEP: Tell us about the beginning of Iron and Resin? Thom Hill: We have a private label apparel business called Coastal Classics, and we do an art-driven line produced for surf shops all over the country. We’ve basically been branding for 17 years. Locally, we do everything from Yater to White Owl to Ventura Surf Shop to the Beach House private label stuff. Coastal Classics keeps our grassroots end to the business because the surf shops are the one place you can still buy something you can’t get from a mall or Macy’s or wherever. It’s a fun business, but we really wanted to do something that’s more in tune with our backgrounds. Iron and Resin is really based on our backgrounds and things that we’re into. DEEP: Where did it come from? TH: I had the idea for Iron and Resin floating around in my head for a few years, and Jackson was really a catalyst once he came onboard. He brought a lot of creative vision to the brand. We’ve more or less tag-teamed it. Jackson does a lot of the product design and development, and we work together on the branding, the marketing. DEEP: Where does the style stem from? TH: It’s 100 percent from Jackson and I, from our collective consciousness, whether it’s music or bikes or surfing or anything. The ‘60s and ‘70s, especially the ‘70s, for me, heavily influences my tastes today. JC: Yep, I agree. It comes from the smallest places; it comes from the biggest places. Music or sometimes my son will say something that’ll trigger it. I know surfing and motorcycling were both born a lot earlier, but I think surfing’s heyday was that ‘60s to ‘70s period, same thing with motorcycle culture from that ‘50s to ‘60s to ‘70s era. When people customized their own motorcycles and surfboards in their garage. We call it the Southern California Garage Culture. Where I came from, we’d ride out of my garage

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

Jackson, one with his bike and the trail. SCOTT TOEPFER

Iron and Resin team rider Mike McQuillen enjoys solitude between sets at Surfer’s Point. TOEPFER

Thom Hill (left) and Jackson Chandler, the pair behind Iron and Resin. RYAN A. SMITH

what exists in Ventura cannot be found anywhere else in Southern California anymore. JC: The building’s been there since the early ‘20s. TH: It’s probably the only building on Main Street that has an outdoor area in back, about 2,000-square-feet of space we’re converting into a community hang-out spot—a big, sunny, warm deck. On weekends, we’ll have coffee service from Palermo’s, and the farmer’s market will be happening. It should be a great place to meet up for a ride or post-surf, whatever.

into the hills and come back into the garage to tweak the bikes and repair them. And my dad was shaping surfboards in the garage, right next to the motorcycles. The garage became the place where we came from. DEEP: Why post up in Ventura? TH: As far as the lifestyle goes, we’re still in Southern California and can enjoy the climate and the surf, but there’s so much more accessible to us here. We have the track at the fairgrounds, and we’re tying what we do with that. Like this past weekend, we reached out to some business competitors and other people in the industry, and all of them came up and rode with us.

DEEP: What’s going to be inside? TH: Obviously, we’ll have our own brand in there, but it’s really going to be a lifestyle-driven store, a very eclectic mix of some heritage American brands and newer brands. Most everything in the store will be made in the USA, a lot of it’s handcrafted and fits with our vibe. Denims made here in California, just a mixture of surf and moto. You can come in and buy a pair of Red Wing boots or a pair of Rainbow sandals. DEEP: Is everything Iron & Resin does handmade, built one unit at a time? TH: Yeah, that’s a good assessment. Everything we do is handmade or hand-touched in some way. All of our manufacturing is done here in Southern California, with a few exceptions. Tees are being knit, cut, sewn, everything in LA, then printed here in Ventura. It’s sort of a rejection from the mass-produced world; we’re trying to create things that are done in a limited-edition way, more of a reflection of the one-off culture that surfing and motorcycles represent.

DEEP: What was that event? TH: Last weekend we had the Hooligan Derby, which is part of an ongoing race series that the Ventura Raceway puts on. This year they had five motorcycle nights scheduled, but the first one was rained out. We ran the second one this past Saturday. We had a great turnout, 23 or 24 entrants in the Hooligan Class, where they usually run seven or eight riders. And there will be a few more races this season, one Labor Day weekend and another in November or late October.

A 1969 BSA Thunderbolt. TOEPFER

JC: Back to the Ventura thing, about why it’s a good place. I think the surf industry has been saturated by these Orange County markets, and they get tons of focus and attention. But we have world-class surf in Ventura as well as world-class surfers, Dane Reynolds being one of them. There’re quite a few guys here that surf very, very well. Part of it all is the openness. Not only do we have the surf, but we have access to amazing riding in canyons and beautiful scenery, where you can get out on a bike and feel connected with the road, get away from civilization with the snap of a finger. I have friends from down south that we took for a ride here, and they couldn’t believe they’d ridden 10 minutes outside Ventura and were in this beautiful wilderness; they felt like they were in this whole other world.

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DEEP: Tell us about the new store? TH: With Iron and Resin being from Ventura, we’re heavily vested in supporting Ventura, and this town is the perfect home for this brand. Ventura’s still a pretty blue-collar, working-class town, and a lot of

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SURF SHOP DOWN LOW

~ Seek Ye Treasure at ~

Custom Shapes by Legendary Shapers

Morro Rock Surf Shop

Ventura Harbor Village’s Pirate Days

STORY BY SHAWN TRACHT / PHOTOS BY AZHIAZIAM

Malcolm Campbell Wayne Rich

ell versed in wearing many hats, Mike Jones’ life has been nothing less than an arduous journey towards high-level goals. So when Jones set out to build a successful clothing company, Azhiaziam, and eventually his own surf shop, Morro Rock Surf Shop, he needed a strong, successful mind in place for the long journey. The shop starts and stems from Azhiaziam clothing (pronounced “As high as I am”). It was originally started out of Jones’ bedroom in Los Osos and sold out of his van. When Jones started getting too many people showing up at his house at random hours, he decided he needed an actual location and found a small 500-square-foot spot on Los Osos Valley Road, right outside of San Luis Obispo. As soon as he began moving in, people started coming in and buying the gear. After a few years there, Jones felt the need for a bigger spot, and so he moved to Foothill Square in SLO. That did well for a few years, then he ended up in a couple different warehouse style shops in Morro Bay before landing in his current prime location right on the waterfront in the Embarcadero in Morro Bay.

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Shop owner Mike Jones with Azhiaziam Japanese jet ski team riders.

What makes Azhiaziam and the Morro Rock Surf Shop unique is the name. People can’t pronounce Azhiaziam at first, but when they finally get it, Jones said, “it gives people a good feeling, kind of a positive affirmation.” Jones has a psychology degree from Cal Poly, and he really feels that people like the brand because it just makes them feel good. “It stems from the whole ‘air’ movement that started in the ‘90s, and we were trying to go as high as we could,” added Jones. Jones has also filmed the recent “Code Red” swell in Tahiti (DVD is available at shop), surfed on tour, is a lead singer in the popular band Bootsie Merango and is a Gulf War veteran who served four years in the U.S. Navy. He’s a great guy with a cool brand. Stop and see Jones on your next stroll through Morro Bay.

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atagonia’s new R1 wetsuit is designed for warmer water. It is perfect for Southern California and Patagonia designed the core of the suit with insulation, while the arms and legs are un-insulated for better paddling flexibility. “With the R1 you have a much thinner wetsuit, but it is still really warm,” said Chris Malloy, Patagonia surf ambassador, “The suit is super flexible, and it is perfect for spots in California, Hawaii and Australia where you are not dealing with frigid conditions.” It is handmade with 2mm limestone-based neoprene and is lined with recycled polyester and spandex—the highest recycled content of any wetsuit on the market. The recycled polyester is also a clean, low-energy intensive fiber to use and make, and this particular wetsuit fabric does not exist anywhere else on the market and was developed specifically for this suit, according to Patagonia. The R1 is available for men in back-zip short-sleeved, long-sleeved full and has spring options. For women it is available in back-zip long-sleeved full and spring options as well.

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Patagonia’s New Warm Water R1 Wetsuit

For the individual who loves traveling in search of ideal conditions and unforgettable situations. Who is free in spirit, passionate to the core and creative in the way they live their lives.

2 CENTRAL COAST LOCATIONS

Montecito: 1187 Coast Village Rd. #3C, 969-1277 Carpinteria: 5003 Carpinteria Ave. , 684-8288 FREE CARPINTERIA DELIVERY

www.pablosurf .com

Jeff Belzer - Surf Instructor/Surfer

HAPPY HOUR! Tues.-Fri. 3-6pm Mexican Cuisine Delicious Burgers • Crisp Salads Vegetarian Menu

Wavetribe

Something for everyone! We can make it Spicy too!

Happy Hour as $6 Fresh Margarit

SHOP HAPPYENDINGZ.COM

Mini Simmons Hemp Boardbag

37.95

hy does cork make a great pad? It’s light and soft, no hard ridges on your pad to cut your knees. Cork does not absorb water, it repels it—that means your surfboard tail remains light and agile for those sick turns. According to their website, “when compressed... Available at Shell Beach Surf Shop, Homegrown Surf Shop (Ventura) and www.wavetribe.com.

“We Make Being a Landlord or Investor Easy” Professional. Easily Accessible.

Trails Surf Seat (SUP) $

229

(805) 628-0909 • www.805Leasing.com DRE# 01234873

onvenient, compact, and it has a cooler, Guai-Lo Industries’Trails Surf Seat (TSS) is a must-have for transporting your SUP or kayak to the shore. Sturdy construction, an insulated pouch for wax, wetsuit and accessory pouches, an insulated cooler, paddle holder, and easily adjustable shoulder and hip straps make transporting all you gear efficient and comfortable. Converts into the perfect beach chair and folds flat for easy storage.

Y O U R SS U R F M A G

Guai-Lo’s TSS is available in three sizes: Shortboard ($179), longboard ($189) and the SUP version shown.

DEEP Surf Magazine

Available at www.guai-lo.com

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

805.684.9352

892 Linden Ave. • Downtown Carpinteria

79.95

hown is the Mini Simmons Hemp Board bag. It's made of quality hemp and fits your 5’10” (comes in brown or black). Wave Tribe is the trend in creating eco-friendly products. Also comes in sizes from 5’10” to 10’.

Eco Cork Deck Pad

Fresh & Healthy

Twitter@DEEPSurfMag

DEEPZ INE.COM

Surfboards made in the USA Available at Surf Country • 109 S. Fairview, Goleta DougRothSurfboards@cox.net or call (805) 683-4450 www.DEEPZINE.com

DD EE EE PP SS UU RR FF M M AA GG FF II RR SS TT FF RR II DD AA YY EE VV EE NN TT

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE and the City of Carpinteria hooked up for DEEP Convergence on Friday, June 1. During the First Friday Event—an event held the first Friday of every month in the Downtown area of Carpinteria—DEEP posted up at the Carpinteria Valley Arts Center at 855 Linden Ave. With beer from Island Brewing Company and Figueroa Mountain Brewery flowing, and insane music being pumped out by local Carpinteria band Zoila, the night was a great success. All of the proceeds from the beer sales were given to the Carpinteria Valley Arts Council, a non-profit organization that promotes and supports the arts in Carpinteria, DEEP's hometown.

LOCATION!!! 1307-C North H St.

Locally owned for 20 yrs. the latest in Beach & Street Fashion

over 40 skate, surf & lifestyle brands on stock!

full service surf & skate shop

Brothers Jason and Sean Lesh also put together some flicks to add to the night’s entertainment.

only authorized dealer in town

New Hours: M-F 10-8p, Sat. 10-7p, Sun. 11-5p

Thanks to all who showed up. To have DEEP attend your event, email andres@deepzine.com.

Lompoc • 805.736.1730 surfconnection.net Zoila sunset.

Katie Sheppard.

SURF

c bethany fankhauser photography

Susee Smith Young and Papa G.

Zoila making it happen.

Primos.

Gregg Carty, Erik Bush, & Taylor Rice.

Lorbo.

Family time.

Acai Frooty.

Haley Thomas and Sarah Henry.

Henry’s.

Team Third World Surf Co.

Reed doing his thing.

Jason Kline, Nick Henry, Shaun Crowley and Clint Olsen.

Jason Lesh, holding it down.

Vega’s.

Andres, Jimmy Nesta and Lindsey McManus.

Hanging out.

Zoila.

Scene.

Olivia Davi and BB Alexander.

Bill Tover.

Alex from Figueroa Mountain Brewery.

Josh Louda.

Acai Frooty crew.

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

SHOP

2485 EAST MAIN STREET, VENTURA 805.642.7873 (SURF)

Red solo cup.

Mr. Simon.

culture

NEW

your one stop

Sample of acai were also being handed out by Acai Frooty, and Epmov (Earth People Movement) clothing was on hand spreading the news about its projects around the globe.

The Olsen’s.

art

coming soon... PHOTOS BY JASON LESH / EPMOV

E C N E G R E V CON

surf

Handstand. www.DEEPZINE.com

SUDS&SURF A Deep Investigation

PASSION

FOR QUALITY BEER.

B Y R YA N A . S M I T H 2 3

Come Enjoy a Beer at our Tap Room in Buellton

Over the past few years, many microbreweries and craft beer creators (not to mention the festivals celebrating the fruits of these laborers) have found homes and established dedicated followings in the 805 counties. Not surprisingly, local surfers are at the forefront of this frothing movement, and they weren’t shy about sharing the similarities they see between the two cultures.

1. Firestone shining through. REDTAIL MEDIA 2. Shaun Crowley of Island Brewing Co. BILL TOVER 3. Somewhere on the Central Coast. DUBOCK.COM 4. Chris Miller of Fig Mountain. SUBMITTED

Or at One of Many Fine Establishments Along the Central Coast

COUDRAY, Head Brewer ENTURA ANACAPA BREWING CO. VJASON What’s in your quiver? A 7’9” Matt Moore fun-shape, 7’7” George Greenough gun, 6’1” Roberts Squish, and a 9’0 foamtop my girlfriend uses. What’s in your fridge? Almost exclusively craft beer. I bring my own stuff home, but I also love trying what everyone else in the craft beer world is doing. No specific brand or style, but pale ales and IPAs are always solid. Are there similarities between brewing craft beers and making surfboards, the act of surfing, or surf culture? Absolutely. Brewing craft beer is a very artistic process. As small brewers, we are often using antiquated or funky old equipment in a traditional method. We are they guys standing over the kettle, stirring in ingredients and checking temperatures. Bigger breweries can afford shiny new automated equipment and, as a result, become much more concerned about efficiency and the dollars and cents of their manufacturing process. This is important for us, too, but at a certain point, the art of brewing is lost. It’s like comparing a master surfboard shaper working out of tiny shop, grinding down one blank at a time, to the big overseas shops where lasers are cutting blanks down and hundreds of identical boards are turned out.

Friend of Figueroa Mountain Brewery Chris Malloy in Indo.

DEVON HOWARD

Conveniently

Located off the 101

, Manager LUIS OBISPO CENTRAL COAST BREWING JIMS A NAARON What’s in your quiver? A 6’10” Channel Islands K Thruster, 7’2” Michel Junod, 6’10” Shane Stoneman, 6’10” Patagonia, and a 10’2” longboard. Compare three of your beers with a different surfboard design. Our Topless Blonde Cream Ale is like a longboard, a good starter board and starter beer, not too hoppy. Easy for anyone to enjoy. Our

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

45 Industrial Way Buellton (805) 694-2252

www.ﬁgmtnbrew.com www.DEEPZINE.com

SUDS&SURF Golden Glow Pale is like your best all-’rounder, good anytime, anywhere. Our 14th Anniversary Barley Wine would be like your best big-wave gun, not something you’re going to want to ride/drink Central Coast Brewing going off. COURTESY CCB every day. But, if it’s the right day/ right mood, you’re going to go “Oh, that’s the ticket. Oh, yeah!” Compare three of your beers with a different surf break in the 805. Our Catch 23 Rye IPA reminds me of surfing The Rock at Morro Bay—it’s big and dark, and sometimes the hops and the rye hit you just right and it’s the best beer ever, just like The Rock can be perfect on a big day. Or sometimes it’s just too much for your mood and the hops are too much, just like when The Rock picks up a bit more swell and you go, “Oh, shit, I better get out of here before it gets too big!” Our Topless series (Topless Blond, Topless Red, and Topless Brew-Nette) reminds me of surfing Pismo Beach—easy-drinking beers for mellow days and mellow waves. Our Lucky Day IPA reminds me of surfing Shell Beach when it’s going off. It’s your Lucky Day!

ISLAND BREWING COMPANY

SHAUN CROWLEY, Brewer CARPINTERIA

What’s in your quiver? A little bit of everything: 5’10” CI Pod, 6’1” CI Retro Singlefin, 6’1” personallyshaped thruster, 6’2” MM, 6’3” MM, 6’4” CI “Five/IV”, 6’8” CI K Board, 7’2” Dewey Weber 1970s singlefin, 9’4” CI, 9’6” MM, and a 10’6” SUP. Are there similarities between brewing craft beers and making surfboards, the act of surfing, or surf culture? One key similarity is the passion to the craft involved in both trades. You are not going to get filthy rich by being a brewer or shaper, but you do it for the love of the end result. Furthermore, I

MILLER, Sales Manager OLVANG FIGUEROA MOUNTAIN BREWERY SCHRIS

born out of necessity for a different interpretation of the old as well as a natural need to experiment and deviate from the norm. In many ways, shapers and brewers have always been in this same boat. The best shapers today are taking a respectful look at the past and then applying what they learned from the old masters to new materials in very creative and technical ways. Can you imagine what surfing would be like if Simon Anderson never took a chance with the thruster? Comparably, what if Ken Grossman never dreamt up Sierra Nevada Pale Ale? The implications are the same. The act of surfing is all about flow and personal interpretation of a wave. Surfing a wave captures just about every aspect of enjoying a good beer. There’s the choice to take that wave, an initial rush at the beginning of the ride, a bunch of balancing in the middle, and hopefully a clean finish. The end should leave you wanting another sip, I mean another wave!

What’s in your quiver? Mix of short, fun, and long. Russell Hoyte (favorites), Channel Islands, Steve Boysen, Xanadu. Are there similarities between brewing craft beers and making surfboards, the act of surfing, or surf culture? For me, surfing is more about quality and enjoyment than quantity and crowds. I would rather walk or hike, find some nice Chris Miller with his children . little peak, and enjoy the nature or the COURTESY FIGUEROA MOUNTAIN BREWERY. company of other like-minded surfers. I think one can draw parallels to craft beer, in that it’s meant to be savored and enjoyed, not rushed and pounded. It’s also certainly an act of art. There are good beers and bad beers, and the same applies to boards. I’d equate it to the shaper that pours his soul into every board versus a mass-produced, machinemade board. Beers are the same. We make our beers for quality and taste first and foremost, not for shear profit. It takes much more time and, therefore, money to brew our beer versus a mass-produced beer.

Compare three of your beers with a different surfboard design. AW: Our new 805 would definitely be a fun-shape, an entry-level craft beer that is smooth and easydrinking. Union Jack would be a standard shortboard with just a bit more volume. This well-balanced beer is what I usually drink, and the board is what I usually ride. Finally, Double Jack would have to be a step-up. This aggressive beer is a little bit bigger, but not too much. THOMPSON, Founder/Brewmaster SANTA BARBARA TELEGRAPH BREWING COMPANY BRIAN What’s in your quiver? I have a 9’6” 2x1 from Progressive/Dave Johnson. Are there similarities between brewing craft beers and making surfboards, the act of surfing, or surf culture? Surfing is all about being in the moment but always reaching and searching for the perfect wave, the perfect ride, the perfect session. It’s also all about personal expression, personal creativity, trying to do Telergraph Brewing Co. founder and something different or better than the last time brewmaster, you paddled out. Beer making also takes great Brian Thompson. concentration and creativity. And, as a brewer, STEVE BROWN you’re always looking to make that perfect batch of beer, the one batch out of hundreds or thousands that just has a little something extra that makes it the most memorable.

Compare three of your beers with a different surf break in the 805. Hoppy Poppy is like Naples, flowery, peaceful, and something you could spend a whole day doing. Hurricane Deck is like River Mouth, aggressive, bold, powerful, and could kick the shit out of you if you’re not careful. Stagecoach Stout is like “The unnamed place that you walk to in the dark,” eerie, intimidating, yet always keeps you coming back for more. WICKSTROM, Creative Director CROOKS, Quality Control Manager FIRESTONE WALKER BREWING CO. JIMANDREW

BU E L LTO N What’s in your quiver? AW: Channel Islands 6’4” MBM, 6’3” M4, 5’10” Neck Beard, 5’10” and Skinny Fish. JC: Shane Stoneman and I have been working on the ideal Central California quiver for years now. My current quiver: 5’10” StoneFeesh II, 6’0” StoneFeesh I, 6’2” square-tail, 6’7” Carpet Glider, 6’10” Step-Up, 7’4” Mexi-Gun, and 9’0” large wave Lumber. Island Brewing Company has become a Carpinteria landmark. BILL TOVER / COURTESY ISLAND BREWING CO.

see similarities in the way brewing beer and surfing can both be seen as individual forms of expression. There is no right or wrong way to ride a wave as long as you are having fun! Similarly, there is no right or wrong way to brew a beer, just as long as it ends up tasting good! Surf and craft brewing are also both somewhat offbeat subcultures and seem to celebrate the individuality of those involved. Compare three of your beers with a different surfboard design. Our Blonde Ale could be compared to a fun-shape, easy for all to use and enjoy. For those not familiar with craft beer, it is an easy introduction, while the craft beer drinker will appreciate the delicate balance of malt, hops, and yeast. Our Starry Night Stout could be compared to an old, balsa wood longboard, it’s heavy and thick. Our barrel-aged beers could be compared to some of the experimental surfboard designs developed over the years, like the Simmons hull, Bonzer, and even the thruster. Much like how each of these board designs started out as experimental designs before gaining mass acceptance, our barrel-aging program is a continually evolving experiment into how different spirit barrels, wood types, and aging times create new and accepted beer flavors.

Compare three of your beers with a different surf break in the 805. Rhinoceros Rye Wine is like Rincon, limited availability, but when you get one, it can be perfect. California Ale is like Devereux, because it’s versatile and always a good choice. Reserve Wheat Ale is like Hammond’s, because it isn’t for everyone but, once you’re a fan, you can’t get enough of it.

, Owner TURA VENTURA SURF BREWERY VBILLE NRIEGLER

Are there similarities between brewing craft beers and making surfboards, the act of surfing, or surf culture? JC: The birth of craft beer and surfboard-making are synonymous with each other. Most early craft beers started off in some inspired brewer’s garage as a homebrew project. Craft brew was

Crooks cutting back.

What’s in your quiver? 9’6”Wayne Rich, 8’0” CI Wavehog tri-fin. Are there similarities between brewing craft beers and making surfboards, the act of surfing, or surf culture? Quality and passion in producing both. Compare three of your beers with a different surf break in the 805. We purposely name some of our beers after Ventura County surf breaks: Mondo’s Cream Ale is an easy-drinking,

Jim Crooks and shaper Shane Stoneman. CAM SCHIFF

Ventura Surf Brewery stays true to their roots. RYAN A. SMITH

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

www.DEEPZINE.com

SUDS&SURF

ON TAP!

Blackbird Porter Island Blonde Island Pale Ale Jubilee Ale Night Sail Black Ale Paradise Pale Ale Tropical Lager

UPCOMING BEER FESTIVALS THE BREASTFEST BEER FESTIVAL

Weiss

San Francisco (Fort Mason Center) – July 14, 2002 Raises money for Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic Price: $45 in advance, $55 at door www.thebreastfest.org

NEW! Bourbon Barrel IPA

Coming Soon! Barrel Aged Sour Cherry

CALIFORNIA BEER FESTIVAL Santa Cruz (Aptos Village Park) – July 28, 2012 Ventura (Mission Park) – September 15-16, 2012 Marin County (Stafford Lake) – September 22, 2012 Claremont / San Dimas (Bonelli Park)– October 6, 2012 Price: $45 Ventura 2-day pass $90 (beer festival and BBQ blues festival) www.californiabeerfestival.com Another Central California morning begins as an a-frame peels just in front of a couple out for their morning shoreline walk. CHRIS BURKARD

ENJOY THE BEER, FUN & SUN

What is something most people do not know about your brewery? We heavily support Ventura County Surfrider Foundation by donating 1 percent of revenue, not profits. This has been very challenging as we struggle with profitability in our first year.

Gold Medal Starry Night Stout Foreign-style Stout Category

Open 2pm Weekdays, 11am Weekends • LINDEN AVE at RR Tracks • 745-8272

ANACAPA BREWING CO.

ENJOY THE BEER, FUN & SUN

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

mellow beer, like the waves at Mondo’s. County Line Rye Pale is a more aggressive beer, like the waves can be at County Line. We named our dark porter after Oil Piers, a break that no longer exists (just south of Mussel Shoals).

Elings Park – October 20, 2012 Price: $45 before October 10, $55 after Designated Drivers enter for $10 FREE LOCAL RIDE from Bill’s Bus www.sbbeerfestival.com

Sample platter at Anacapa Brewing Co.

The inside of Ventura Surf Brewery pays homage to local surfing. RYAN A. SMITH

SANTA BARBARA BEER FESTIVAL

Ventura’s ONLY Restaurant & Brewery Come in and Enjoy one of our Mouth Watering, Handcrafted Beers on Tap Delicious Menu & Warm Friendly Meeting Place

www.anacapabrewing.com Open Daily, 11:30 am • 805-643-2337 Downtown Ventura • 472 E. Main Street

www.DEEPZINE.com

MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT

Outside Lands

Rocking The Greens

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

113 Harbor Way, Suite 190 • (805) 962-8404 x115 • www.sbmm.org July 7, Noon - 3 pm Kardboard Kayak Races West Beach in front of Sambo’s

BY L. PAUL MANN

Central Coast Celebrates New Concert Venue in Nipomo STORY AND PHOTOS BY L. PAUL MANN he first Festival Blacklake brought a diverse lineup of East Los Angeles roots rockers to the Blacklake Golf Resort in Nipomo. The first concert ever held at the natural amphitheater venue took place on a beautiful afternoon on May 6. Amidst a patch of old oak trees perched on a rolling green hillside right on the golf course, a steady sea breeze kept the air cool while the hot afternoon sun warmed the ground between the towering trees. The spot was reminiscent of the old glory days of the Santa Barbara Bowl, before the corporate takeover and technical transformation to a modern day concert venue. An ethnically and generationally diverse crowd was on hand for the Cinco De Mayo celebration at Blacklake. The crowd, chatted, feasted, drank and danced in a pre-summer celebration of life, just like the headline act Los Lobos envisioned it. The show began with an opening set by Latin hybrid band Mariachi El Bronx. Born from the roots of the original Los Angeles hardcore punk band, The Bronx, the new group has evolved into a fusion of different types of Mariachi music such as Norteño and Corridos with a hint of punk and other more modern rock sounds. The band consists of the five musically schizophrenic core members of The Bronx, plus three more members playing various horn and stringed instruments. The ethnically diverse group of musicians, all clad in traditional Mariachi outfits, play music close to the roots of the traditional Mariachi sound. As the hot afternoon sun began to wane, the alcohol infused crowd began to fidget excitedly in anticipation of the next act, the legendary punk band X. One of the key players in the early California punk movement, the group had already achieved commercial success by 1980. X quickly established itself, along with a few other bands, as the new face of a distinctly Los Angeles punk scene. X has survived as one of the very few groups from that era to continue to play viable music on a regular basis. Its punk sound, unique vocals, and poetic songwriting have influenced countless musicians in the last 30-plus years. Widely known for its seductive live performances, the band did not disappoint. Exploding out of the gate, X kept up a rapid fire pace, playing their short punk anthems like bullets in a Gatling gun. In just over an hour they managed to squeeze much of their most popular songs from their extensive catalog of albums into an intense set. The set list included a heavy dose of songs from X’s classic first two albums. It was no accident that you could hear the ghost of Jim Morrison and The Doors in the unique vocal exchanges between Exene Cervenka and bassist John Doe. In fact, the band’s first album, “Los Angeles,” released in 1980, was produced by Ray Manzarek, keyboardist for The Doors. The original lineup still features the astounding psycho-billy guitar work of Billy Zoom. With his trademark grin like a Cheshire cat, he posed stoically throughout the show like the eye in a punk hurricane that swirls around him. Meanwhile DJ Bonebrake lays down a thunderous

Santa Barbara Maritime Museum $25(members), $30(non-members)

July 19, 7 pm “Birth of a Museum: SBMM Celebrates 12 Years” Panel Discussion Free(members), $5(non-members)

July 26, 5:30 pm: Art Exhibit Opening Reception (FREE)

Mariachi El Bronx.

Sanctuary: Paintings of the Channel Islands by Lizabeth Madal

drumbeat, which seems to channel the ghost of John Bonham of Led Zeppelin fame. Cervenka and Doe would occasionally pause to throw in a sarcastic comment here and there. Cervenka commented that it was their first time ever on a X. golf course, while Doe chimed in, “and it will probably be our last.” As the sun began to wane and the cool breeze kicked up, headliner Los Lobos took the stage. The band began with a set of Latin songs, playing traditional musical instruments, but ended with full on amplified hard rock. The East Los Angeles group has been creating its own unique brand of American Chicano rock since the 1970’s. It was no accident that they evolved out of the same neighborhood, and at the same time, as the early Los Angeles punk movement. In fact, their first gig was at the legendary Los Angeles punk venue The Olympic Auditorium in 1980, where they opened for Johnny Rotten’s Public Image Ltd. When Los Lobos started in, the crowd responded in a dancing joyful frenzy, which continued for the entire set. The band has altered the lineup as of late, adding new drumming sensation Enrique Gonzalez and moving veteran drummer Louie Perez to guitar Blacklake Golf Course. alongside guitar masters David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas. Other original members included bassist Conrad Lozano and multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Steve Berlin. Berlin nailed the flute solo on a magnificent cover of the Traffic classic “40,000 Headmen.” The band was also joined by percussionist, Oscar Bolanas, for the opening set of traditional songs from “La Pistola y el Corazon,” their 1988 album consisting of Mexican folk music tracks. The band continued with a cross section of material from its vast catalog of music. Versions of guitar classics from Santana and The Allman Brothers could be heard in innovative jams meshed with the group’s own material. By the time the band got to classics like their trippy trance-like version of “Kiko and the Lavender Moon” and their hit remake of “La Bamba,” the exhausted crowd was on the verge of collapsing. However, a spirited guitar-drenched double encore brought everyone back to life until the very last note. The band members stuck around until after sunset signing merchandise for grateful fans who had waited patiently for the chance to meet them. What an awesome inauguration concert for Blacklake Amphitheater.

Pacific Flourish by Michele Janeé

August 16, 2012, 7 pm “Remembering the Battles of Midway & Guadalcanal” with John Blankenship $10(members/veterans)

Fi lms (check website for times) Daily Films Sir Francis Drake Above Santa Barbara Ghosts of the Abyss Sharks on Their Best Behavior Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure Santa Barbara and the Sea

Surf Saturday Films The Big Swell Above Santa Barbara Bustin Down the Door Women and the Waves Innermost Limits of Pure Fun Santa Barbara and the Sea The Craving

$15 (non-members)

O pe n eve r yday e xce pt We dnesday 10 am - 6 pm Aerial view of Outside Lands.

(free ever y 3rd Thu rs day of t he mont h)

ow that California’s most glamorous music festival, Coachella, is in the history books, frenzied concert fans have turned their attention towards the summer’s biggest and best festival in the sunshine state, Outside Lands. Set to take place August 10 through 12 in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, the massive festival boasts some of the biggest touring acts of the summer. In three days it is possible to catch an entire season of concerts. Over 70 bands have already been added to the lineup including hard rockers Metallica and Foo Fighters, classic rockers Neil Young with Crazy Horse and Stevie Wonder, guitar gurus Jack White and Beck, and EDM favorite Skrillex and Justice, just to name a few. Santa Barbara’s own Rebelution will be headlining the reggae portion of one of the most eclectic assemblies of top talent in festival history. A reunited Bloc Party leads a long list of European musicians set to appear, including Sigur Ross from Iceland, and Franz Ferdinand from Scotland. Die Antwood from South Africa and Amadou and Mariam from Mali will bring a wide range of musical styles from the African continent. Indy music fans will have a field day with an army of acts including Fitz and The Tantrums and Portugal The Man. Fans of female crooners will also be satiated with singers as diverse as Regina Spektor, Norah Jones, Sharon Van Etten, and the singer many critics are calling the next Adele, Zola Jesus. There is also a cabaret tent called the Barbary, with all sorts of well-known non-stop comedy and vaudevillian style acts scheduled. Check the website (www.sfoutsidelands.com) for all of the other incredible acts playing. The stellar lineup is just one of the reasons why Outside Lands is the best festival of the summer. The location, amidst the lush green forest of the Golden Gate Park offers plenty of cool, clean space to lounge about far from the crowds if you prefer. The event could also be called a food and wine festival. A wine tent features vino from 25 of the areas best wineries. A vast array of food tents spread throughout the festival grounds also offer affordable samples of some of the most sumptuous offerings of the area’s top restaurants. If you are a surfer you may even want to bring your board, as one of the most consistent surfing beaches in all of California, Ocean Beach, is less than a mile from the festival site. For more information visit www.sfoutsidelands.com

www.DEEPZINE.com

GREEN ROOM

Gary Young, left, with Ceviche Dave Weaver.

Laws, Lawsuits and Wetsuits:

Original Eco Surfboard Shaper:

BY KARA PETERSEN / PHOTOS BY CHUCK GRAHAM

BY DEREK DODDS

Politics in the Pacific Ocean

Gary Young

“B

rah, no surf ‘em, hang ‘em on the wall.”That’s what some people say about wooden surfboards. Gary Young has a different perspective. Young knows more than a few things about eco surfboard technology. He started vacuum bag/epoxy laminating wood veneer into compound curved surfboard skins as early as 1976 and eventually evolved into bamboo construction in the mid 1990’s. Young could quite possibly be the godfather of eco board technology. Born and raised in Southern California, he has shaped boards for some of the greats, from Sunny Garcia to Nat Young. DEEP recently caught up with him to discuss his eco journey that began more than 35 years ago.

Will oil platforms increase in the SB Channel?

avigating the complexities of environmental law on our coast can be as tricky as making your way through a tangled and dense California kelp forest. In March, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper settled a yearlong legal battle with the City of Santa Barbara that will ensure proper maintenance of our sewage system, protecting our oceans from run-off and spills. But the Ban the Bag movement, despite wins in Carpinteria and San Luis Obispo County, is still attempting to make its way through the Santa Barbara legal channels to be writ into law after failing to pass last year. Formed in the aftermath of the 1969 oil spill, the Environmental Defense Center is the only environmental law firm bridging the gap between grassroots efforts and legal action from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Acting as educators and advocates first, the EDC also employees a bevy of legal options from petitions to lawsuits to protect our local environment. Krisiti Birney, Marine Conservation Analyst for the EDC, describes the Santa Barbara Channel as a crucible, with its unique environmental and political issues and its varied user groups. It is one of only approximately 15 locations in the U.S. that are both National Marine Sanctuaries and National Parks. “We haven’t planned as well in the ocean as we have on land. Its like the wild, wild west,” Birney said. There are currently more than 120 different laws that regulate our ocean. In 2010, there was a national shift toward comprehensive strategic planning and a national ocean policy encouraging collaboration among government agencies and user groups. While much of the EDC’s actions are local, the impacts have national and even international implications for government, business and the environment. In 2007, with 6,000-7,000 ships traveling through the channel and five ship strikes in one month alone, the EDC was compelled to act on behalf of the endangered blue whale. As a champion of the blue whale recovery, the EDC uses its influence to advocate for the species. Working along side the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and shipping industry leaders on the Sanctuary Advisory Council’s Whale Working Group, the EDC helps to educate and advise the group as well as the public. While this is a local issue, it is one similar to those faced in many other regions, such as Glacier Bay, Alaska, Hawaii and the East Coast where they have enacted a right whale law. Based on case studies from other regions, a blue whale recovery plan was enacted with a new strategy for dealing with ship strikes. The plan recommends slower ship speeds and a process to alert mariners when there are more than five whales in the channel. When the United States Coast Guard released its Port Access Route Study (PARS), the EDC was glad to see many of the recommendations they were advocating for the blue whale were taken into consideration. The Coast Guard made the north and south bound shipping lanes one mile apart instead

DEEP SURF MAGAZINE July/August 2012

DEEP: Can you tell us a little about the start of your eco journey. Gary Young: I had an epiphany in 1973 during the oil crisis, while sitting in line to buy gas. I thought to myself, if we’re gonna run out of oil soon, maybe we need to start looking at ways to do things that use less resources, can be replenished by nature, and do less harm to the environment.

Humpback tail fluke.

DEEP: It was soon after this that you started to work with wood, and it seems many followed your lead. GY: In 1980 people considered me the wood veneer guy—this was before Surftech had wood veneer boards made in Thailand. It was their first success, still touted on their website. I created bamboo surfboards over 15 years ago. Surftech, Rusty, Naish and Firewire are the “bamboo green guys,” and yet they use bamboo only as a cosmetic surrounded by fiberglass. People still do not get the message that natural fiber composites can be superior in wright, durability, performance and cost to polyester fiberglass surfboards.

of two and recommended that the sanctuary speed limit be reduced to 10 nautical miles. The next step is a federal and international law-making process to make the changes legally binding. Though the EDC is made up mostly of lawyers, the majority of their work does not involve actual lawsuits. According to Birney, the EDC only sues after all other avenues have been exhausted. The goal of their legal recourse is action not money. Such is the case with the No Otter Zone. Over 20 years ago, the National Fish and Wildlife Service devised a plan to create a backup population of sea otters at San Nicolas Island should anything happen to the weak population located in Monterey Bay. To protect the shellfish industry, a “no otter zone” was created between Point Conception and the Mexican border. Any otter who drifted or swam into the no otter zone from San Nicolas Island would be

It blows my mind, most surfers aspire to drive a nice new car, live in a beautiful place, have a hot relationship and yet in one of their most rewarding activities—surfing—they choose to use a fragile plastic polluting piece of s#&% to surf on (and pay extra for airbrush art). DEEP: Are there any performance issues with wooden surfboards? GY: Riders of Wooden Classic Hawaii tell me that the flex of lighter wood boards feels really good; they flex then drive or carry speed out of turns. They also dampen vibration at high speeds and seem to feel better than epoxy surfboards. Another comment I hear is that they float and paddle well. I say, if you can have a wooden surfboard without the weight, you’ve got a better board. DEEP: Thanks for the interview Gary, stoked on what you do. We are thankful for the eco vision that you have held for all these decades and hope that the eco seeds you have spread will one day take root in the consciousness of surfing and board building. (I’d love to hear your comments and feedback. For more information on ecology, surfing, and stoke please email derek@wavetribe.com or look for me on a Mini Simmons around Ventura county beaches.) S U R F R I D E R F O U N D AT I O N S A N TA B A R B A R A C H A P T E R

DEEP: In your opinion, what is a green board? GY: If fiberglass is used, a board is not green. Scrap fiberglass is inert and takes up space in the landfills, and sanding dust is not good for breathing organisms. Using high amounts of resin is not green. Hand laminated fiberglass can use twice the resin as vacuum bagged wood or bamboo. Obviously if a board uses polyester resin, it is not green. (See DEEP article “Being Eco is Completely Up To You” in the March 2012 issue on bio resin for more information.) DEEP: What do you think about polyurethane foam blanks, which are the industry standard? GY: Nasty chemistry, fumes, waste, non-recyclable and lack of durability top the list of negatives for urethane foam blanks. Extruded polystyrene foam has clear advantages, without the water absorption of expanded polystyrene. Durability and repair-ability are important aspects of a green board. The longer a board can be surfed and repaired without losing performance (including adding weight), the more green it is.

A raft of southern sea otters.

DEEP: Why bamboo? GY: It became obvious that you just don’t get any more renewable than bamboo, and it also has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any natural fiber I’ve ever worked with. I really believe bamboo can contribute to a solution for the planet.

caught and relocated. There are many problems with this plan, mainly that sea otters don’t understand the boundaries and borders assigned by man. Eighty percent of the otters relocated to San Nicolas either disappeared or died. The no otter zone is expensive for government officials to enforce, not to mention traumatic for the otter. With a law on the books that wasn’t effective or enforced, the EDC sued the Fish and Wildlife Service. Last fall hearings were held in Morro Bay, Ventura and Santa Barbara. A final decision on the matter is expected in October or September of this year. The issues of whales and sea otters are just two examples of environmental and political complexities in the channel. With the wide range of business, government and public interest and organizations involved, the channel and its goings on are important on the local and national level and require the collaboration of many different entities to ensure the sustainability of business and conservation of the environment.

DEEP: Why aren’t eco surfboards more mainstream? GY: Most people have a distorted view of the economy. People purchase surfboards based on who their surf hero is or which label most impresses them. They are influenced by their peers and advertising and don’t realize that low cost disposable boards are actually more expensive in the long run because they are fragile. Some say, “Brah, no surf ‘em, hang ‘em on the wall.”There is a historical view that wooden boards are heavy (chambered and can absorb water) or fragile (because they are covered with fiberglass).

WORKING WITH YOU FOR 20 YEARS TO PROTECT OUR LOCAL BEACHES AND COASTLINE 19922012 August Chapter Mixer - August 16: Chris Goldblatt of Fish Reef Project • 7:00 pm @ Watershed Resource Center, Arroyo Burro Beach (next to the Boathouse), 2981 Cliﬀ Drive, Santa Barbara 2012 Mixer Schedule-Third Thursday of every other month. April 19, June 21, August 16, October 18. • FREE Chapter t-shirts to anyone who joins or renews membership at the mixers • All ages welcome

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