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Jaimal Yogis, NorCal local, award-winning writer, and part time Buddhist, writes simply and eloquently about his own discovery of surfing in a remarkable account that mixes surfing and snips of Buddhism. Saltwater Buddha resonates with every surfer with stories echoing surfing’s journey of discovery. As surfers, we all know that the sport is much more than the act of standing on a fiberglass boarding and gliding across waves; but it is a struggle to explain that without sounding like the media charicature of surfers. “Bro, it’s all about the wave…”

Jaimal’s spiritual search parallels his discovery of surfing in high school. He did what many of us wished we had, bought a one way ticket to Hawaii at the height of his youth and surfing exuberance. Surfing takes Jaimal through Hawaii, San Francisco, and New York. Jaimal writes simply yet powerfully about the sport and weaves stories of Buddhism. I finished the book in a night and look forward to reading more from Jaimal. Saltwater Buddha puts Jaimal firmly in the class of other great writing by writers such as Duane Duarte (Caught Inside) and William Finnegan (Playing Doc’s Games). Even more Saltwater Buddha is a an excellent narative that transcends surfing.

I turned my board, pointed it toward the rocks and began pumping my hands through the water. The thing began to lift, kept lifting. Up, up, up. I was looking down the line of a horizontal tornado and my board picked up speed. I didn’t hesitate. My body somehow knew.

Then… speed. Unbelievable speed. Not walking on water. Running. Gliding. Flying. No separate self. No Jaimal riding. No wave about to crush me. No thought. Just the sound of thunder behind me. Just a blue wall transforming. Just–I saw the rocks coming.

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On April 21, Tyler Bradt kayaked over 186-foot-high Palouse Falls, breaking the waterfall world record of 127 feet. Tyler is a complete psycho.

Link to Video on SportsIllustrated.com

Incredible HD footage of Dylan Longbottom getting shacked in the South Pacific (P-Pass most likely).

Most Popular Posts:

Clark Little’s Stunning Images of Waves

Diver Fights and Kills 12 ft. Tiger Shark (Photos)

Richard Branson Kitingsurfing with Naked Model

Your Risk of Dying of a Shark Attack

I’ve written about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the Pacific where plastic outnumbers plankton! Here’s an excellent graphic showing the size and how it was created and how it’s sustained. If you’re looking for a good reason to cut down on plastic consumption, here’s an excellent one. Link to larger graphic on Flickr. Share this!

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

It’s good to be a billionaire. At least Sir Richard does it right. He owns his own private Caribbean Island, Necker, kitesurfs, and generally lives well, very well. Occasionally, kitesurfing with a naked model on his back. Well done, Sir Richard.

Richard Branson kitesurfing with a very naked Denni Parkinson on his back

Most Popular Posts:

Incredible HD Footage of Surfer in the Barrel

Clark Little’s Stunning Images of Waves

Diver Fights and Kills 12 ft. Tiger Shark (Photos)

Your Risk of Dying of a Shark Attack

Diver Craig Clasen grapples with a 12ft tiger shark to protect a friend

Craig Clasen was hunting yellow fin tuna with fellow fisherman Cameron Kirkconnell, photographer D.J Struntz (DJ Strunz’s portfolio) and film maker Ryan McInnis in the Gulf of Mexico when a 12 ft. Tiger Shark aggressively approached and circled Ryan McInnis in deep waters south of the Mississippi River’s mouth. Regarded by many as two of the world’s best free diving spearfishermen, Craig and Cameron have come into contact with thousands of sharks.

Craig Clasen immediately swam to his friend with his spear gun.

‘I positioned myself between Ryan and the shark and I tried to watch it for a second, hoping it would pass us by,’ explained 32-year-old Mr Clasen.

‘I noticed that the shark was getting tighter and tighter and just kept trying to get a back angle on us and behaving in an aggressive manner.

‘The shark made a roll and looked like it was going to charge us so I just went ahead and took the conservative route and put a shaft through its gills.

‘Cameron and I have been around sharks for years and we all have a lot of experience with them but this encounter had a different feel to it.

‘Down in my core I really felt the shark was there to feed. I didn’t want it to come to that.’

Craig spent nearly two hours wrestling with the giant 12ft shark, spearing it seven times and even attempting to drown the beast before eventually finishing it off with a long blade knife.

Craig Clasen uses his knife to kill a 12 ft. Tiger Shark

‘Once I shot it in the gills I felt a moral obligation to finish the job,’ says Craig.

‘I didn’t want it to go on any longer than it had to. I shot the fish like I would do any other fish and worked it up closer and did my best to kill it as humanely as possible.

‘I speared it in the gills which I knew would kill it and from that I tried to put a shaft into its brain as quickly as possible.

‘I shot it six times in the head with a spear and I wasn’t having much luck - it was a slow drawn out process.

‘Sharks are so resilient and so tough from millions of years of evolution they are just survivors.

‘The best way and quickest way to finish the job and kill the shark and recover it was to get a rope around its tail, drag it from the back of the boat and attempt to drown it.

‘In the end we had put a knife its skull once I got lose enough to it and use a long blade knife even after trying to drown it.’

Story at DailyMail.co.uk Transworld Surf

Mavericks may be the only surf break that survives the sea level rise from global warming. Sure there will be new breaks that fill in, but my guess is that landowners won’t cede their land easily to the sea level rise. So we’ll have levees and seawalls all over the coast and basically be left with no beach. (SF Gate)

Scientists worldwide forecast that sea levels will rise for centuries even if greenhouse gas emissions are halted immediately.

The study was conducted by the internationally known Pacific Institute, a nonprofit research group in Oakland, and was paid for by the California Energy Commission, Caltrans and the state Ocean Protection Council.

With California leading the nation in regulating greenhouse gas emissions, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2005 ordered state agencies to form a Climate Action Team to research and plan for global warming. Three dozen studies are expected this year, on air quality and health, frequency of wildfires, the use of energy and fresh water supplies.

“No other state has done this kind of assessment of coastal risk,” said Peter Gleick, president and founder of the Pacific Institute and a leading water expert. The new assessment, he said, puts the state “far ahead in our ability to both identify possible impacts and implement effective policies to prevent them.”

Although large sections of the Pacific Coast are not vulnerable to flooding, sea-level rise is expected to accelerate erosion, resulting in a loss of 41 square miles of the coast and affecting 14,000 people, the study said.

A 19-year-old French surfer was killed by a shark today as he surfed off New Caledonia in the southwest Pacific. The surfer’s arm was torn off and his leg bitten as he tried to board a boat with his friend. The man’s friend managed to get him to shore, but he was dead by the time emergency workers reached him.

The surfer, who was studying in the New Caledonia capital, Noumea, died shortly after being transported to shore. It is not known what type of shark was responsible.

The incident took place in an area popular with surfers and was the first fatal shark attack in the territory since September 2007, when a young nurse was killed.

New Caledonia is an area of islands located in the Melanesia area of southwest Pacific. It catches the same South swells that hit Tahiti and Fiji as they travel up from Australia and New Zealand. Map and guide to breaks on Wavehunters. And more on WannaSurf.

Kelly Slater talks about his Deep Six Shortboard, the 5′6″ Al Merrick that he won the Pipeline Masters this year on in 8-10 ft. Hawaiian Surf. Kelly’s been pushing new boundaries with board design and finding smaller and shorter boards to ride in bigger surf. The video of him at Pipe with this board is worth the watch.

Alaias are ancient wooden surfboards used by Polynesians and Hawaiians when they first started surfing. A few shaper including Thomas Campbell and Tom Wegener have started shaping the boards again and re-introduced them to the surfing community. In the second video clip Tom Wegener talks about how he grows the materials used to shape the board sustainably. It’s incredible to see surfers like Dave Rastovich and Dan Malloy ripping on these boards.

Tom’s Creation Plantation Trailer from Cyrus Sutton on Vimeo.

Worth watching a the video of a talk Tom Wegener gave at Patagonia in Cardiff on shaping and riding Alaias. Video clips of Dave Rastovich absolutely ripping on a 5′5″ alaia.