News broke last week that a missing Taiwanese fishing boat suspected of illegal fishing practices ran aground on the reef at the World-class wave, Padang Padang in Bali, Indonesia. The captain and crew fled in the night and boat the sat on the reef, and sat. The swell was completely flat for a few days, an ideal time to extract this boat from the reef and avert a potential disaster. Well, the opportunity to remove the boat came and went. Local officials made little effort to extract the boat. They actually tried to use a couple of Balinese fishing boat to pull it off the reef at high tide. Well, turns out they arrived late and if anyone has been to Bali, you would know that it would take about 100 Balinese fishing boats to pull that thing off the reef. As of the most recent swell, the boat was pounded onto the inner reef, puncturing her hull and spilling oil and fuel on the reef and across the line-up. See images and story below (from Surfline.com).
Everyone’s looking for the new Costa Rica to find their patch of beach to build a bungalow and their perfect wave out front. First there was Costa Rica, now Panama and Nicaragua. Scott Balogh of Red Frog Bungalows writes on Bocas Del Toro, the stunning, uncrowded islands on the Caribbean side of Panama with epic surf and beautiful turqoise barrel. The crowds haven’t yet arrived and land is still available. It’s close to the U.S., cheap, and is going off when the rest of the tropics are flat (December to March, June to July).
I’m not sure I would substitute Israel for your next surf trip to Central America, but Israel does get consistent waves. From December to March, exposed beaches get hit with regular storms blowing off the surprisingly long fetch of the Mediterranean. Epic uncrowded waves? Unlikely. Fun surf in remarkable and unique surroundings? Absolutely. Lori from the Surfing Village shares info on surfing in the Holy Land, in particular surfing in Haifa, the stunning city in the North of Israel with Israel’s best waves.
Surfers have a history of challenging mother nature and her fiercest side. Its enabled surfing to progress from its roots of surfing Waikiki to charging 80 ft waves at Jaws. So some of us won’t be surprised by the images of Hawaiian surfer, C J Kanuha, paddling up to the point where spewing molten lava meets the sea on the Big Island of Hawaii. The Volcano, Kilauea, meaning ‘much spreading’, has been continually erupting in Hawaii since 1983, but more molten rock than usual is flowing from an outbreak that started last November. The lava eventually reaches the ocean on the east side of the big island and flows into the sea boiling the surrounding water.
CJ paddled up to the area where the lava was flowing into the sea and got within 20 ft of the molten lava. At that point, the water, close to boiling, began melting the wax on his board and burning his feet. CJ calmly paddled his board back out and away from the lava. Only a surfer knows the feeling…
Nice work CJ, wouldn’t a canoe have worked also?
Check out the article at the Daily Mail for spectacular photos of the lava.
$5/gallon gas has everyone bummed especially surfers. The AP published an article talking about how the price of gas and oil is having an effect on surfers and the industry. In truth, how many of us live walking or biking distance from our local break. More often most of us pack up a car or truck every week or so and motor off to the best wave within driving distance. Driving distance to surfers is a liberal term, but now that a tankful is between $75-100 we might start to see fewer trips to the distant breaks. Rising gas prices are also likely to cut into liberal expenditures, like surfboards. The surfboard industry grew rapidly in 2002-2007, but they’re likely to be hit by the recession that the rest of the country has been feeling. The resin used to gas surfboards is made from oil, so shapers’ costs are rising while consumer spending is dropping. Interestingly, the AP article reported that Surftech reported a 15% increase in sales while most other surfboard shapers and manufacturers reported flat or declining sales. I wonder if it because surfers want whatever board their going to buy to be durable so they won’t have to buy another soon. Surfline.com, in the meantime, has seen an increase in views of their webcams and on their subscription services. How is gas and the economy effecting your surf habits?
This video isn’t surf related but is one of the coolest travel videos I’ve seen. Here’s an HD version (incredible if you have the bandwidth). Check out the Driftnik Blog for more info on Matt and his travels.
Austin Saunders with Austin Custom Surfboards, Virginia Beach, VA recently collaborated with a customer to shape a board and send that board to be surfed around the world by a variety of surfers. According to their site about the Stoke Transmission Device (as the board is named), the board is to be passed on from surfer to surfer. Surfer’s with the board should surf it, sign the board bag, and send it on to the next surfer. They can send in photos and their story to be added to the blog. So far from their map, it looks the board has made in up the coast from Virginia and was recently reported to be in Kennebunk, Maine. Reports are that’s its headed to the West Coast and then New Zealand. Although that begs the question of how exactly the board is passed on (the blog suggests its random) if they already know the next two places it’s headed. So far, it’s suffered only one ding. Stoke Transmission Device - coming to a line-up near you.
Kelly Slater at Rifles. Rifles is hands down one of the best waves in the world. It’s sister wave Kandui’s (or Nokan as in “no-can”) as a reputation as one of the fastest, heaviest, longest left barrels in the world. Though often considered not makable. There are two land camps in the Ments (although I’ve read about construction of a third at Lance’s). Kandui Resort and WavePark Mentawai. Here are a couple of clips of what you wake up to at Kandui Resort from the Donkey Patrol surf blog. These guys will be waking up to these waves in a couple of weeks.
Destination: Florianopolis, Brazil Time of Year: March - September Breaks: Campeche, Praia Joaquina, Praia Mole, Barra da Logoa, Praia Riozinho Level: All levels Cost: Inexpensive - Moderate
Intro: Ah Brazil, a country with seemingly more similarities to the U.S than differences and home to surf culture second only to the United States. The beach is a way of life in Brazil, and they’re blessed with thousands of beautiful miles of it. They’re also blessed with thousands of other things.
Florianopolis is a peninsula in the Southern Brazil with excellent exposure to Southern Swell and dozens of beaconing beach breaks (42 beaches in all). The beaches of Florianopolis are some of most beautiful in Brazil. Brazilians have a reputation for being aggressive in the water but with miles and miles of beach breaks, you’ll see their welcoming and friendly side. And with dozens of clubs, you see the other side of Brazilian beach culture.
Through the summer months, you won’t need anything more than a shortie and trunks will be fine for most of the time. After March though the water and air cools off and you’ll want a 3/2 fullsuit. Surf is small for the summer months, but picks up after March. Though it rarely gets big, standard short board will suffice for most days.
I must have read my first article of the promised Ron Jon Surf Park probably in 2003 in Surfer Magazine. They touted the park as right around the corner and the first of many to come. First Orlando, then every other city in the country. We’d be surfing at night, getting a guaranteed 12 waves an hour, and picking between long rolling point waves and getting shacked in a pool. Ron Jon where have been?!
The Surfpark in Orlando touted new technology that would produce a more powerful, longer, and consistent wave that could be altered to different shapes including the elusive tube. There wasn’t a dissenting voice among the surfing public. But since then, we haven’t heard anything. I did some digging on the Surf Park website and found a recent change of plans and another vague time-line.
In February they announced redesigns that include a two phase development. First would come a smaller wave pool with rides of 30-40 yards and then a second larger wave pool with larger waves and longer rides (6-8 foot waves and 60-80 yard long rides). They don’t give specific dates.
In the meantime, a guy named Steve Jones is promising a wave park in London by 2011. So Ron Jon, give us some dates! We’re dreaming of chlorine barrels.
