DOWN THE LINE Surf Talk Radio

March 25, 2012, San Diego, Ca. — – Down the Line – Surf Talk Radio with Bassy n Baldy.
Contact us @surfboardexpo @jeffbaldy surftalksandiego@Gmail.com call the show 858.570.1360

Pro surfer Page Hareb in boxing match shows tons of MOXY! She will fight again. (see Top 5 Stories)

Show Notes:
Segment 1 sponsor brought to you by Quiksilver Waterman Collection and their brand ambassadors on twitter Mark Healey @healeysurf , Shayne McIntyre @ShayneMcIntyre , Jamie Mitchell, Peter Mel @peter_mel, Mel Pu’u: Robby Naish; Quiksilver Waterman Collection is presenting next years’ Surfing Heritage Vintage Surf Auction presented by Quiksilver Waterman Collection which takes place June 1, 2013 in the brand new state-of-the-art building at the OC Fairgrounds called The HANGAR.

Surf Report with Adam Wright from SolSpot.com – all eyes on  Southern Hemi swell developing now — the HYPE officially begins now –  that should produce some very solid Central American surf sizes. So NicaraguaSurfReports.com or Costa Rica or wherever your heart desires to take you, warm water, head high ++ swell on the way for the end of the month. Should produce some shoulder to head high waves in San Diego and a little bigger in the Trestles area.

When is our water going to warm up?
Email #1: Hey Guys, I’m Sizzlesmo. (our Fantasy Surfer clubhouse  -Down The Line Surf Talk Radio – winner from the Quiksilver Snapper event #1) Thanks for the shout out on March 11th Podcast, too funny.  I played it for all my friends, they pissed themselves. A signed bar of wax, epic.   My mailing address is below.

Gloucester, MA 01930 Love the show guys, thanks for doing what you do

-Chad  PS attaching a pic of my home break during a Nor Easter this past winter (felt it was necessary since you now know I’m from the Northeast J)

Sizzlesmo: Chad’s home-break in Massachusetts

Email 2:  You guys were kind of on a professional surfer / contest binge so it was great to hear about other aspects of our culture.  Doug Walker’s  “Lost and Found” story has so many fascinating dimensions to it.  You guys did an amazing job guiding us through.

This year is the second that the WSA is including a Challenged Athlete division in every one of their contests, including the West Coast Championships at Lower Trestles.

Email #3: Hey, you guys covered the year anniversary of the Fukushima meltdown but didn’t segway into the San O closure.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/02/san-onofre-nuclear-plant-closed-after-radiation-leak/

Trestles glows in the dark! Regards, Francisco Cuerva

______________

NEED YOUR HELP: Wounded Warrior West Swim and Surf Donation Drive — Please if you can donate $10 $20 $30 or $3000 ! I’m trying to get them 10 new softboards up at the Hope and Care Center on Camp Pendleton. These warriors come home – still active duty with prosthetics and the hard surfboards get dinged up; plus the wax get stuck in the prosthetic. So softboards are the answer. Help out if you can please!!!!

___________

I no like. Not so nice. Kazakhstan is furious over the playing of the spoof national anthem from the comedy Borat during a real-life international sporting event, calling it “a scandal” and demanded an investigation. Maria Dmitrienko of Kazakhstan won a gold medal at the Arab Shooting Championships in Kuwait on Thursday, but during the award ceremony the spoof anthem from the 2006 movie starring Sacha Baron Cohen was played instead of the real anthem. Tournament organizers are believed to have downloaded the wrong version from the Internet.

A Day with Dan Merkel 3.8.12 from Corduroy Films on Vimeo.

Watch this cool clip from Doug Walker’s LOST AND FOUND Collection.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Segment 2
Nicaragua Trip – My boards didn’t make it until the final day I was there. I rented boards the whole time.

Accommodations: Super nice accommodations from Nicaragua Surf Report .com. I stayed in a 1 bedroom deluxe condo with all the amenities for $115/night. Included bikes with surf racks, pool, internet ($5/day). Cook my own food. I spent $70 on food for the week. I watched movies, and I did some work too.

Waves: The swell never really materialized. I got there and it was 2-3′; then it dropped, then the swell did arrive for one day but it wasn’t big enough to dampen the crowd. A little wally, there were corners, and the wind was quartering from the southeast too much. And the wind was STRONG, MUY FUERTE… Which caused upwelling so the water dipped to 65 degrees. Swell died in one day. Surf wise… I didn’t time it right.

Punta Colorados – Steep hollow fast beach break with corners. Better when it’s big cause it thins out the crowd. Kooky crowd.

Panga Drops – Tricky reef spot that has rippable cutback sections. Rights and lefts.

Other – This local guy took me to a spot with a  rivermouth and a left point. That was fun. My best session, no crowds, way more adventureous.

Golf course is great. Super nice 18 holes.

_______________________________________________________

Top 5 stories

#1 Mike Prickett – friend of everybody and award winning water cinematographer – suffers paralysis after saving the life of another diver.

FROM ESPN: Cinematographer Mike Prickett still sits in a hyperbaric chamber, suffering from a paralyzing case of decompression sickness. But after spending more than six hours a day in “the pot,” as Indies Trader captain Martin Daly refers to it on Prickett’s Facebook wall, things seem to be improving.

“He has regained some sensation and minor movement in his legs. Definitely not in his feet yet, but he’s got the spirit of a giant, so if anyone’s going to recover from this, you can bet Mike will,” reports Jodi Wilmott, who released the first official statement about Prickett on Mar. 20 and has been in contact with him since.

Coming to the aid of a diver in distress while on a commercial shoot in Tahiti, in an act that can only be described as utterly and purely heroic, Prickett dove 220 feet down to retrieve the diver, and then gave him the remains of his air supply as they made their way back to the surface. He subsequently got “the bends” and was paralyzed from the chest down.

News about Prickett spread like wildfire throughout the various social media channels, and the outpouring of support has been enormous. At one time or another it’s safe to say that every notable in professional surfing has passed before his well trained lens. Among a multitude of other projects, Prickett was the director of photography for the Emmy-nominated 2007 ESPN release “Down the Barrel.”

“We have a benefit at Surfer, The Bar next Wednesday, Mar. 28, 6:00pm to late,” added Wilmott. “Live music, auction, a good North Shore get-together for the surf community to hopefully help cover some of Mike’s medical expenses.”

For more you can find Surfer, The Bar on Facebook or go to PrickettFilms.com.

#2 SURFERS Heroes in Florida shark attack
Letter to the Editor – paraphrased: “My daughter was tugged twice off of her board by the shark, these two men surfing nearby immediately came to our aid — performing the true act of heroism.

Being in water over our heads with a clearly agitated animal, we could not simply run to the shore. These surf angels put their own comfort and well-being aside and paddled straight out to flank us with their boards, creating a flotilla of four. They spoke with calm reassurance and assisted my injured daughter from my surfboard onto hers for the paddle back to shore.
Yes, it was horrifying. But God must have been working in the hearts of the two men who shielded us from further harm, leaving our daughter with a lasting positive vision of their calm faces, words of constant encouragement, swift purposeful actions, and absolutely no contempt for the shark behaving normally in its environment.

The wonderful sport of surfing carries its risks, rewards, and some amazing heroes. We thank our heroes.”

#3 Paige Hareb will box on for her surfing career.
The World-Tour surfer and Fight for Life cult hero has confirmed she will follow in Sonny Bill Williams’ footsteps and juggle two sports, with a career on the waves and in the ring to help fund her bid to become the first Kiwi to win the world women’s surfing crown.

Hareb says she would fight professionally at least once this year, most likely on the Fight for Life bill in December. But she is not ruling out more bouts in 2012 and next year. Dean Lonergan and Duco Events wanted her back as a key drawcard after her sensational showing last year – when she went toe-to-toe with snowboarding champ and TV star Hayley Holt.

“I need to find other ways to fund my travel around the world, for the Dream Tour, and this is a way for me to do it,” says Hareb, who last year lost her sponsor Billabong. “Dean’s obviously keen to have me back and if I can help get some more funds and exposure, I’ll do it.”

Who pro surfers would you like to see in the boxing ring? How about Kelly Slater vs. Jamie O’Brien. They’ve been having a twitter war. Jamie O’Brien vs anybody.

#3 The Groundswell Society’s “Sharing the Stoke” event makes a return to Rincon Point –yesterday . This event supports at-risk youth programs and scholarships. Using a team surfing format developed especially for the Invitational, each team has the opportunity to ride the waves of Rincon for an hour with no other teams in the water. From surf schools, surfing organizations, clubs, companies, and surf shops throughout California teams are invited based on their public benefit efforts to “share the stoke of surfing” during the prior year.

#4 The Del Mar Surfboard Expo (formerly known as Sacred Craft)  has a date Oct 6 & 7.

#5 GMAC CAMP CHIMES in on SURFERS VILLAGE claiming 90 footer.:
While I believe that the surfing community has ‘down-sized’ wave heights for far too long ( I also believe this wave to be bigger than 90 feet), I find it curious that their “camp” would spin this a few weeks away from the XXL voting. It se……ems a little desperate. If I was advising the GMAC ‘camp’ I’d stress confidence in their 90-foot claim, rather than seeking validation, a validation they already have assuming they can produce Mr Collins’ email.

For the record we called and texted Garrett to come on the show months ago. He is one of the best radio guests I’ve ever had the pleasure of interviewing. I hope to get him on soon.

Some of you may recall the Stab and Dodge video I made years ago.

Well, it seems that I may have actually provided to our culture in a meaningful way. Check this out:

Stab and Dodge Paddle Cover

November 20, 2011 –  surfing, surfing news, surfing industry, surf – Live every sunday on XTRASPORTS 1360AM IN SAN DIEGO ; internet Xtrasports1360.com ; or iTunes podcast download keyword search “down the line surf”

GMAC’s World Record Proclamation w/ XXL Director Bill Sharp

GMAC’S wave could be 90 feet. It could be 100 feet. I hope it measures 99 feet. I don’t care. I’m not questioning the size. What I’m questioning is the process.
Which organization or authority validates such a claim? Is it the Guinness people? Or XXL? YouTube? Is it George Downing or George Will? Perhaps Jane Kachmer?
This week we talk with Bill Sharp, Director of Billabong’s XXL Global Big Waves Awards Director. There’s been much internet chatter about Garrett McNamara’s huge wave and self-proclaimed world record.

Here are some other “Worlds Biggest Wave” – there’s more than one! Who knew?

Top 5 Stories:
1) Aussie News article:  http://www.swellnet.com.au/news/2651-kelly-slater-almost-sunk-in-wave-pool-wrangle
2) Please support your favorite flag:  http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/patriotism-flagging-at-surf-contests/story-e6frg7mf-1226197716298
3) Hawaiian Happenings: Rumor floating on Twitter from Shea Lopez that ASP will do away with the mid-year reshuffle of pro surfers; Flat on the North  Shore so far…REEF HAWAIIAN PRO AT Haleiwa – no waves showing up at Haleiwa. They need west swell. Minor norths rolling in.
4) ASP drops Rip Curl Pro Search from 2012 ASP World Tour schedule
5)

ERMA EBERLY
We are raising money to pay for Tom Eberly’s wife’s cancer operation.
Erma Eberly Dangla is the mother of three daughters, Rebeca (23), Erin (17) and Tara (15), and is the force behind Tom Eberly’s Nicasurf International Surf Tours. La jefa. We are raising money to pay for Erma’s cancer operation to save her. Please Help us by donating anything you can spare through our paypal account – sean@sanjuansurf.com – all will help and will go straight to the cause. She needs to have an operation now and we are a little bit short, so please help!
Website     http://www.nicasurfinternational.com/

I never mention charities on the air unless I have given and I have given generously. I want you too as well, but only within your means.

Help Matt Warshaw get the Encyclopedia of Surfing on line by donating to the KickStarter Cause. Link below:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1391193483/encyclopedia-of-surfing?ref=live

surf news, surf industry, surfing insight

Oct 23, 2011 –

Bruce Irons talks about the massive beast at Teahupoo that took his board shorts. Bruce is getting better.

Surf News – Top 5 Stories of the Week Oct 23rd
:
#1 Kelly Slater’s Board in Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

KellySlater, 39, has helped progress surfing and represented the sport in a positive manner, and this week it was announced that the Floridian has donated one of his boards to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
“Over the past 20 years, his approach to surfing as a professional and dedicated philanthropist has changed how people surf and view the sport,” said Jane Rogers, curator at the museum, which collects and preserves items of American heritage to portray the American experience.The board is on display in the museum’s first-floor Artifact Walls exhibit.

Is there a better representation of and / or for surfing? Tom Blake paddleboard? A Simmons post WWII tech inspired foam n fiberglass?

#2 Slater wrap up 11th title @ Rip Curl Search – San Fran – they used Travelocity to SEARCH for this one.
From TransworldSURF:

“If this was any other event on the ASP schedule (Kelly’s won them all) it’d be hard to envision an early exit—but in San Francisco, at Ocean Beach, and without the use of Jet Ski assistance of any sort, the playing field may be leveled to the point that an early Slater loss is not entirely out of the question. Long shot, yes, but still possible. Man versus (hopefully) large Ocean Beach peaks might just make things interesting.”

#3 GW Shark hunt in West Oz as 3rd diver is taken out by 10′ great white; they are protected, but Oz govt issuing killing orders for what they feel is a rogue GWS that is responsible. a culling of GWS is not out of the picture.

Another surfer in NWest hit by massive GW Shark with photos of his …LOST Surfboard showing a gargantuan bite / Jaws mark.

#4 Twitter News/Faves: @Danes_neckbeard, @WhoisJOB, @Daynolds, some real ego clashing going on. During their best moments they are funny, insightful, stinging, at there worst they are haters, ignorant or trying to hard. Sort of like us on DTL radio? Internet everyone is a comedian or a hater or a know it all… or should I say “NOW” it all. So instantaneous, this web thingy.

#5 ISA World Masters Finals day in El Salvador with Sarlo O50, Curren, Hogan O45 in the Grand Finals. Does anyone care?

Top Five Stories, April 3rd, 2011: courtesy of Matthew Marbach – Matthew tirelessly writes these show summary and we appreciate his efforts here. Misspellings… forgive us! (thanks Matthew!)

1) Kelly Slater can rip on anything.  Somewhere, nestled amongst the vast expanse of photos on Facebook, you can find videographic evidence that Kelly Slater rips, and can rip on anything.  The footage shows Kelly arriving at a perfect Southern Australian beach break, where he quickly commences to snap his board in the heavy surf.   One of the Gudauskas brothers (who have been aptly formed into one entity known as ‘the Gudauskas’) gives Kelly his  Mini-Sim, a 5’6” squaretail with two hideous looking sidefins, almost resembling a boogie board, except for the hardness and density of the foam, and Kelly proceeds to shred the break to bits.   Apparently functionality means little to the most decorated surfer in history, “He paddled out on a completely different shape and controls it perfectly. There’s not one displaced rail, he’s holding the line on that back fin of this big squaretail thing – and those fins don’t look like they help the board go faster…”

2) “Ultimate Boarder Surfing”.  The second stage of the Ultimate Boarder Surfing Competition takes place at Seaside Reef, April 6-9.  The competition features a mesh of the three major boarding sports, snow, surf, and skate.  Participants in the contest will compete in three different events, beginning with the snowboard competition, which has already taken place in Mammoth, then moving onto the surfing portion, and finishing with the skateboarding competition.  The winner will have to perform well in all three arenas in order to take home a victory.  The contest also features team events, in which different members of a given team are chosen to compete in their specific field of expertise.

3) A special tour featuring the surf movie Melali:the Drifter Sessions, with musical guests Rob Machado and John Swift, will kick off Tuesday night April 5th , at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, Ca, followed by dates in Santa Ana, San Francisco, New York, DC, Virginia, Carolina and Florida. The schedule is for the upcoming month, with the last public date being May 8th.  Melali is a pure surfing movie; a sort of branch off of Machado’s hit The Drifter, featuring all the extra footage that wasn’t used in the original film – the entire score will be performed live by Machado, Swift, and company.  Support the guys and watch some great surfing.

4) Meteorologists are calling for a very active 2011 hurricane season in the Atlantic.  Predictions state that we could see fifteen named tropical storms, eight of which reach hurricane force, and three of which will obtain enough force to cause heavy damages were they to make landfall.  This could bode well for the Quiksilver New York, which will be held during the hurricane season and has direct access to the swell produced in the mid-Atlantic.

5) The Billabong XXL ride of the year award will be given out to one of five videos submitted of big wave riding.  The winner of the award receives $50,000 as well as a Toyota Tacoma.  The first video features Michael Brennan at Shipstern’s Bluff being towed into a twenty foot barrel, negotiating the notorious bubble that forms as it closes out, air-dropping fifteen back onto the face while still in the tube, and fighting off a front-rail pearl to emerge victorious.  This wave is mean, nasty, and highly critical.

The second video shows Danilo Couto paddling into Jaws on his backside.  Just as he transitions to his feet at the peak of the wave, you can see the his board flutter with the wind as it goes airborne – he maintains his composure, resetting his fins into the face and beginning his decent down the liquid avalanche.  The inside section of the wave also proves to be critical forcing him to reset his rail twice as he narrowly escapes the spitting barrel by choosing his high line precisely.  Of course, Jaws is known to be one of the biggest waves on the planet and you can see it’s full potential in this clip; it seems to dwarf the Shipstern’s wave in size, although the wave itself may not be considered as critical.  The most compelling difference in the video is the fact that Couto paddles in to this monstrer – making it first XXL submission from Jaws to feature a paddler.

The third video comes from Mark Healey surfing Phantoms, an outer reef on the North Shore.  The video was shot shortly after the cutoff date for the previous Billabong XXL award.  The wave that is surfed is huge, no doubt, but because of the way it was filmed and lit, it will have a difficult time contending for the XXL award.  You can barely make out a silhouetted figure as he drops into a huge set wave, and after ten seconds of dark, grainy film, you assume Healey made the wave as you see the tiny figure pulling out the back.

The next submission comes from Mullaghmore Head in Ireland.  Benjamin Sanchis of France is towed in deep on this Teahupoo type left located on the island’s west coast.    The dark, cloudy beach and slight wind-chop create hazardous conditions for Sanchez as he drops into a thick barrel, sticks the tube, and pulls out like a stoked grom.  It isn’t groundbreaking footage, except that it was filmed in Ireland, but the wave itself and the way it is surfed resembles so many old Teahupoo submissions that the chances of it receiving the award are slim to none.  This is Billabong throwing a bone to Ireland and Sanchis for the incredible wave they have discovered and surfed, but unfortunately it is not in a class that will win the award.

The final video is at Cloudbreak, featuring David Scard, and has enough production quality to stand next to the Shipsterns wave.  It is a paddle-in wave filmed from up close, features a great set of dynamic colors and images, and is the longest wave submitted.  Cloudbreak is known as a highly critical wave, and Scard surfs it expertly, staying high after the drop-in to get into upper barrel, driving the rail hard, and relaxing a bit as the barrel burps open and reveals its twenty foot cavern.  You can hear the hoots from the water well before Scard has even exited the barrel, and by the time he is released, the entire scene on the Fijian reef is estatic with congratulations.

With the official call: Bassy claims Brennan at Shipsterns and Baldy goes with the pizzazz and style displayed by Scard at Cloudbreak.  Keep an eye out for updates and check out the videos on youtube.

surf industry news.

Christian Fletcher – pulling on a cancer stick.

Before I get to the intriguing shark attack story at Hanalei Bay, let me touch on the Christian Fletcher controversy. Allegedly Christian Fletcher exercised his first amendment rights ala Kanye West in front of the entire surf industry at the Billabong XXL Awards on Friday night at the Grove Theater in Anaheim. Now, I wasn’t there ( I was but I left after the video highlights) but the surfing industry players were, so this is all second hand & third hand info I’m hearing from friends, surf industry people and from the internet/FaceBook/Twitter etc. etc. But the Fletcher clan, Herbie, Nathan, and Christian gave out the award for the XXL Monster Wave of the year. It was won by a German guy Sebastian Steudtner who lives on Maui. Steudtner is a kite surfer/tow surfer. Well apparently Steudtner can’t, according to Christian Fletcher, paddle into waves. Upon opening up the envelop to announce Steudtner the winner, Fletcher said the following (more or less depending on whose version of the incident you believe) “the f-ing German who can’t paddle won… f-ing guy can’t even paddle.” Fletcher then threw the winning envelope on the floor, telling Steudtner he “doesn’t know how to surf or paddle”, plus a few other digs, all while the poor guy had to step up on stage and deal with the train wreck. Again this is second hand, as-told-to me info. Maybe I’m getting this all wrong? Maybe Fletcher didn’t say any of this stuff? The particulars of what exactly was said doesn’t mar the fact that it was not a classy move. It was ugly. It is all on video, and video doesn’t lie.

This wasn’t the “Paddle-in” category. It was the “Monster Wave of the Year” category. This was a Monster Wave (see below) and the ‘f-ing German’ accomplished everything according to the rules. Fletcher was stoic in his moment of classlessness. Steudtner apparently handled it okay, but the audience was in disbelief, from what I’ve been told. More than a few people have expressed utter disgust at the Fletcher remarks and actions. Probably not a good way to extend his legacy. Dennis Rodman was a hell of of a defender and a rebounder, but the masses don’t remember him that way. Looks as if Fletcher may have the same PR peeps. Sort of sad, but only if you care about Christian Fletcher. I don’t know him and have no desire to know him. I have interviewed Herbie and found him to be a very sensitive, thoughtful individual. Oh by the way, most people with half a brain don’t care if other people are so-called ‘good surfers’ or ‘pro surfers’. People are impressed by kindness, consideration and classiness. Maybe Christian Fletcher will apologize. I think that would be a pretty classy move. And for the record, the wave that Steudtner rode was not a ‘paddle-able’ wave. Just saying.

The winner, on a wave much larger than anything either myself or Christian Fletcher has ever ridden. Give him his moment, according to the judges, he deserves it.

Now on to something that is impressive. Check out this great interview with Jim Rawlinson, AKA Shark Rider, by my radio host co-hort Scott Mijares on Hawaiian public access radio. Surf Stories on KKCR. Joining Scott Mijares in the studio was Larry Bertleman, Marine Biologist, Terry Lilly, and Songwriter/ Musician Allan Thomas:

We interview Bill Sharp this morning. Give a listen!

Do yourself a favor, go check out BillabongXXL.com website. Bring along a sandwich and a cold beverage and schedule yourself two hours to digest it all– the waves, not the meal. There is plenty to sink your teeth into.

Do your best to determine the winner of four categories: Ride of the Year, the Best Paddle-in Wave, The Best Tube Ride, and the Biggest Wave. These clips below are just a small smattering of what you’ll see. And with last weeks Mavericks event providing some of the largest and heaviest waves of the year, well, the judges have their hands full.

Is this the year that all four categories are won by the same surfer on the same wave? Could a paddle-in surfer claim Biggest Wave over some of the tow-in stuff at Peahi? Hell yeah!!