surftherenow.com

Beautiful video of locals surfers in Bangladesh.

“Here are a few images from a recent trip Kahana Kalama and Surfing the Nations went on to Bangladesh. It is a glimpse into a documentary that Russell Brownley is working on about a surf club in Bangladesh. Many of the children are street kids or come from very poor families. Some don’t even know how to swim, but their love for surfing brings them together and into a way of life they never even knew existed. An ocean that was once deemed off limits due to fear and a very conservative Islamic culture, is now becoming source of fun, escape and even a chance for a way to make a living.”

The Bangladesh Surf Club from Jedidiah Clothing on Vimeo.

The Most Compelling Reason for a Baja Trip

Photo: Mike Marincovich (Surfline)

The glory for surfer and their love affair for Baja ended abruptly in the fall of 2007 with repeated violent car jackings and a startling increase in violence and killings in Tijuana by drug gangs. The two were not unrelated. Baja fell off the map for most of us and most likely the magical beach breaks and points of Baja were left empty through 2008. Surfline discusses whether it’s safe to return. The short of it: not really. It’s still risky, but can be done when done right. Surfline article quoted below:

“Dedina cautions, however, that this doesn’t mean that surfers should not still be vigilant. Dedina also warns that just because Mexican police seem to be helping in the border corridor now, that doesn’t mean surfers should ignore the long history of corruption tied to police in the region. “Most police officers are not our friends,” Dedina said. “Just this past weekend, a WiLDCOAST staffer asked a Tijuana police officer for directions to the border, and he was extorted to pay $80 for parking ‘illegally.’ And longtime residents of northern Baja still advise on avoiding highway travel after dark.”

Polischuk seconds Dedina’s advice about staying off the roads after sunset, and is also still wary of the police. “Despite the current control of the Tijunana-Ensenada toll road corridor, you must still use common sense,” Polischuk said. “If the police puts his lights on, you drive to the nearest public area, Pemex station or small store. The police are aware of this practice and expect it. The car should be clearly marked.”…

Despite the progress in safety measures along the toll-road corridor, Baja is still growing increasingly more dangerous for surfers. Not because they are targets – they’re not – but because of the narco-criminal culture that infests Tijuana and Northern Baja. The Mexican government and Calderon administration have had virtually no effect on stemming the violence associated with the drug war. If, because surfers haven’t read or heard reports of attacks they begin to think the violence and instability in the region has been remedied, and return to Baja thinking it is the Baja of old, they run the risk of getting caught in the crossfire…

“Mexico is on the edge of the abyss — it could become a narco-state in the coming decade,” McCaffrey wrote. “The Mexican State is engaged in an increasingly violent, internal struggle against heavily armed narco-criminal cartels that have intimidated the public, corrupted much of law enforcement, and created an environment of impunity to the law.” He went on to opine, “Mexico is not confronting dangerous criminality — it is fighting for survival against narco-terrorism.” …

The message here isn’t don’t go, but rather, be smart when you go. “For an average surfer the sight and sounds of Baja may be a bit different,” Polischuk said. “You may hear some sirens; get passed by a speeding caravan on their way to mop up the latest violent mess. But remember, unless you have a coke addiction or are a gunrunner, surfers are not part of this violent cocktail of greed, power and money.”

According to Polischuk, that’s fine by him. The pros outweigh the cons in his book. “On most days I can surf alone or with a few people,” he said. “The experience of scoring empty point breaks and reefs, even on a weekend, is because most Americans are scared and staying at home.”

A mass of plastic in the Pacific, increasing tenfold each decade since 1945, is now the size of Texas and killing everything in its wake. Currently, there is six times more plastic than plankton floating in the middle of the Pacific. (Link to Article) The plastic is poisoning our fish and sealife and killing the Oceans. The plastic passes along toxins to humans through fish we eat.

– Each day, North Americans throw away more than 385,000 cellphones and 143,000 computers— electronic waste is now the fastest-growing stream of garbage. Lead and mercury are seeping from this waste into ground water. Some of the e-waste, however, is winding up in the sea.

– Each hour, North Americans consume and discard about 2.75 million plastic water and soda bottles; that’s 24 billion a year.

– Globally, 100 million tonnes of plastic are generated each year and at least 10 per cent of that is finding its way into the sea.

– Worldwide, each year 113 billion kilograms of small plastic pellets called nurdles–the feedstock for all disposable plastics– are shipped and billions are spilled during transfer in and out of railroad cars. Those spilled nurdles are ending up in gutters and drains and eventually carried into the ocean. Nurdles resemble fish eggs or roe. Tuna and salmon feed on them indiscriminately. Around 2.5 billion humans eat fish regularly. Plastic and other man-made toxins are polluting the global food chain and it’s rising at an unprecedented rate.

– Each year, a million sea birds and 100,000 sharks, turtles, dolphins and whales die from eating plastic.

Oceanographers and conservation biologists believe the only way to contend with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is to slow the amount of plastic flowing from the land to the sea.

Buy six organic cotton shopping bags. Use them instead of supermarket plastic bags. Make it a habit to return those bags to the trunk of your car after unpacking groceries.

Reuse your plastic water bottles. If you can refill one bottle for a day then why not attempt it for a week.

See Other Amazing Posts:

The Most Amazing Photos You’ll Ever See of Waves

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

1000 Lb Stingray and a Fish with a Transparent Head

Incredible HD Footage of Surfer in the Barrel

Photo Credit: Andrew Buckley

Hellmen, Ross Clarke-Jones and Tom Carroll, take on insane waves in storm conditions at Shipsterns Bluff, Tasmania. Check the fullframe slideshow at Surfermag.com along with a full sequence of what has to be the wipe-out of the year (Ross Clarke-Jones). Shot of sequence below:

In a move that screams “We really don’t give a flying &*$% about surfers,” United Airlines recently raised their fees to $175 per surfboard per way. Brendon Thomas of Surfer Magazine writes a letter to United after having to pay $700 for board fees on a roundtrip flight to Hawaii. Last year airlines raised carry on fees across the board, but United’s surfboard fee seems to target surfers specifically. Write United Customer Relations expressing your dissatisfaction on their fees (it’s a web form).

To put it in perspective, you can fly with golf clubs that weigh up to 50 lbs in place on a checked bag (no fee), but flying with a 6 lb surfboard costs $175.

While one particular airline jacking fees on surfboards is not particularly troubling, but when it starts a trend it becomes a serious barrier for surf travel. Let airlines know now that unfair surfboard fees are prohibitive.

United Customer Support Contact Page

Surf Photographer – Tim McKenna – narrates a selection of photos of Teahupoo courtesy of Surfer Magazine. Tim has shot Teahupoo for close to a decade and has some incredible images.

Photo Credit: Marco Garcia

The New York Times profiles Kala Alexander, Pipeline local and founder of the Wolfpack, as he explains why the Wolfpack got started and how it regulates and protects the Pipeline line-up. Kala cuts a larger than life figure as a pipeline local, community volunteer, actor, surfer, and businessman, but with a violent past. He spent time in prison for assault charges on Kauai. Regulating the line-up at Pipeline has meant physical intimidation and occasional violence to those who don’t follow the rules. Da Hui and the Wolfpack emphasize respect for the locals and order in the line-up; they enforce the code through violence and/or threats of violence. Kala was also profiled recently by Outside Magazine and has his own website. Unfortunately, there’s no blog on his site; it would be interesting to hear Kala’s thoughts and responses to readers. Youtube interview with Kala at the bottom.

From the NYT article:

“The code is to respect other people,” Alexander, 39, said. “People come over here and don’t respect other people. You’re going to run into problems if you do that.”

That is what happened to Chris Ward, a 30-year-old professional from San Clemente, Calif., and runner-up to Kelly Slater last month at the Pipeline Masters. In November, Australian publications reported that Ward cut off a local surfer while riding a wave at Pipeline. He was banished to the beach, where a Wolfpak member smacked him in the head. Without providing details, Ward confirmed that the incident happened.

“It was crowded when I came here,” Alexander said about Pipeline. “A lot of people in the water, not much respect. Where I grew up on Kauai, you respect everybody in the water, especially your elders. Don’t step out of line. We just brought that mentality over here.”

Photos via Surf Nation Blog. Ryan Hipwood at Shipsterns Bluff, Tasmania getting shacked. The photos are entries into the Oakley Surfing Life Big Wave Awards. Photo credit: Rodd Owen.

A high pressure sitting over California and a big West-Northwest Swell driving toward California could set up ideal conditions for the Mavericks contest this Friday. The Swell is expected to be in the 15-20 ft. range, which is on the smaller side for Mavericks, but ideal conditions with warm weather and off-shores could have the contest going for Friday. Forecast courtesy of Stormsurf.com. Check the Mavericks Surf Contest home page for updates.

Great photo of the paddle out at Snapper Rocks, Gold Coast, Australia. The photo is by Narelle Autio, who resides in Sydney. Here’s a link to gallery.