I showed up at Huntington Beach on Saturday morning to gentle offshores and pumping lined-up swell. It was double overhead on sets. Unfortunately, I had read surfline’s forecast that predicted 2-4 ft. surf so I had my fish and was a bit undergunned. The swell ended up lasting from Thursday to Tuesday, lighting up SoCal with a mix of Northwest and Southwest Swells. Here’s what it looked like from above (from Surfline):
The Southern California Surf Forecast blog posted some great shots by Toby of an Orange County beach break, here’s one from their post. The second shot is of Malibu from Surfline’s photo feature on the same swell.
OK, granted this actually happened in January of 2008, it’s still worth posting. A couple of bodyboarders decided to charge huge storm waves in Cornwall, England. Originally posted in the Daily Mail UK, the newspaper claims the waves are 50 ft. The whitewash might be 50 ft, but the waves look more like 12. Still pretty heavy for the UK. This guy either charged hard or got caught in the worst rip current of his life.
Here’s an insane slideshow of photos from the competition and the final of the Boost Mobile Pro at Trestles. Photos were taken by San Diego photographer, Nathan Petty. Check them out. Click the link to the full screen slideshow. (Photo credit Nathan Petty: NathanPetty.com)
The finals for the Boost Mobile Pro were held today at Lowers, Trestles - San Clemente, CA. The week has been perfect for the contest with a un size 4-6 ft. South running all week. The conditions were a little more inconsistent today, but still plenty of overhead waves. Slater was down early in the 40 minute heat (lengthened because of inconsistent conditions) with Taj Burrow scoring early with a 9.6 and a 9.1. In fact, it looked like Kelly wasn’t going to be able to pull anything off with his early waves not scoring above an 8. Then the Slater magic happened. He scored a 9.7 with about 20 minutes remaining in the heat and then finished with a 9.2 in the last seconds. Taj sat dejected in the line-up as Kelly finished the wave right in front of the judges tower and walked onto the rocks to screams of the crowd.
Kelly hasn’t wavered from first place from when he took it with the first contest of the year at Snapper. He’s been unstoppable, winning 5 of the first 7 events! Brazil is up next, I don’t think anyone can catch him. Check the ASP World Tour rankings here.
The photos are all from today final heat between Kelly and Taj. With about 10 minutes remaining Kelly looking a bit desperate pulled into a smaller wave and tried to boost a big air immediately and flailed. Rare to see the champ flub it so badly. Check out the full frame slideshow here.
An amateur photographer, Kem McNair, caught a photo of a Blacktip “Spinner” Shark catching some air sharing a wave with a surfer.
Kem McNair, who had finished surfing at New Smyrna Beach, Florida, before taking three images of the shark, shot in under a second, said: “I saw something in the background and I thought, ‘What was that?’. I looked back at the display on my camera and there it was — a spinner shark.”
Blacktip sharks, known as spinners because of their habit of leaping out of the water, are common in the shallow coastal waters and estuaries of Florida. The majority of shark bites in the state are blamed on the species and New Smyrna beach is notorious for attacks, this year the toll has already reached twelve.
“We see them all the time,” says McNair of the 6ft specimen he captured on film, ” if you ride a wave and the water is clear you may see two or three sharks in the length of one ride…”
Interestingly enough, New Smyrna Beach is ranked as one of the worst in the world for shark attacks. And it’s those Spinner sharks that are most likely to come in for a taste…
Here’s a link to McNair’s site with the three photo sequence of the shark jumping.
If you’re a surf media junkie like myself and your monthly surf video purchase and four surf magazine subscriptions just don’t seem to be enough, Fuel TV has some great surf content. A friend suggested to me last year, and I was blown away by the quality and how much surf related content they have. They’ve got two weekly shows dedicated to surf content: Fins and On Surfari. Fins does a great job with profiles on surfers, photographers, film makers, etc. On Surfari is a travel show by a San Diego-based surf couple, Shannon and Shane McIntyre, who travel the world in search of surf and cultural experiences. Here’s an interview they did with TransWorldSurf Magazine. [Video Clips from Fins and On Surfari after the jump]
Surf and art never seem to far apart. The beauty of surfing translates well to the artistic experience. Here’s a link to Ed Fladung’s blog Quality Peoples with links to art and surf and Ed’s random musing. “On a perpetual Mexican surfari,” something we’re all wishing for.
The trials for the WCT’s third stop at Teahupoo got under way over the weekend. They had to halt the trials because a huge west swell. So Jamie O’Brien, Garrett McNamara, Dylan Longbottom, and a few dozen others traded their paddle boards for tow boards and pulled into some monster barrels. Here’s a link to photographer, Tim McKenna’s photo site (link). Teahupoo never ceases to amaze.
Surfline posted their portfolio series featuring Chris Burkard, a young and upcoming surf photographer from Pismo Beach California. Surf photography has progressed a lot in the past 30 years, meet one of the photographers pushing the limits and art of surf photography now. While much of his shots and portfolio focus on California, it’s understandable because he’s only 21 and has only been shooting for 3 years! Hard to believe with his images.
