Finn McGill Sunset
This is the sixteen-year-old surfer Finn McGill in waves described as "up to twenty feet." | Photo: WSL

“Twenty-foot Waves” for Vans World Cup!

Derek Rielly

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Waves soar to unimaginable heights at Sunset Beach!

Wave height is a helluva thing to call. One man’s four foot is another man’s six. Three in England is flat in Hawaii. And ten-foot Cloudbreak on Surfline is a world away from the four-foot the weary traveller finds when his boat drops anchor in the channel.

Remember the Eddie in February? Was it twenty-five or forty feet?

So you don’t want to to be too hard on a press release that calls six-to-eight Sunset Beach “20 feet” but ain’t it a little gassy to write:

The best heat of the Vans World Cup thus far took place today in Round Two and saw the finest 20-and-under surfers tame wave face heights of up to 20 feet at Sunset Beach.

Let’s agree that the waves were good, yeah, very good. Tahiti’s O’Neill Massin described it thus: “The conditions are very good. Couple barrels, offshore wind, some good size, perfect!” And tomoz is looking like another day of groomed eight-foot north-west lines. And round three is when the studs line up for a swing: Slater (a Triple Crown lunge), John John, Gabriel Medina.

But…twenty feet?

Watch the little clip below of the twenty-foot heat. How big you going to call?

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Norwell9
The gorgeous, the funny Norwell9 aka David Cwikowski writes: "Just like the country song says, 'My camera broke down, care broke down, computer down...' After trying to nurse this season, tonight the axel on my old car snapped. That and with my camera down and costly repairs I am forced to make the decision to shut down the volunteer work that I have been doing in the Ventura area for the past three-and-half years. I will organize all current footage, make the remainder instas, and then make a final Insta Movie #2. And be gone.'

Just in: Surf Movie Titan Quits!

Rory Parker

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Watch his last-ever surf movie cut right here… 

Ventura’s Norwell9 aka David Cwikowski is on the short list of heads whose stuff I’ll check based solely on his name. I don’t need to be told it’s good, just assume it will be and go from there.

I don’t really do instagram though, so I appreciate when he drops the long form vids comprised of all his short form stuff. They almost remind me of Voluptuous. Huge cast, decent music. Perfect to run in the background while your mind is on other stuff. Like drinking or reading or drinking and crying while reading.

At forty five minutes it’s fairly long. Maybe too long for a single serving. Cue it up and watch in drips and drabs. Or, as I’ve mentioned, crack a bottle of booze, suck it down ’til you get sad, then give it a gaze to break the sadness up.

Or just watch it sober and reflect on how much time the guy spends standing on the beach watching other people have fun. Filmers are weird. Just a weird as photogs. Semi-creepy voyeurs hiding from the world behind a lens. God bless ’em for the work they do, but it is a tad odd, yeah?

Cue it up and watch in drips and drabs. Or, as I’ve mentioned, crack a bottle of booze, suck it down ’til you get sad, then give it a gaze to break the sadness up.

Unfortunately, it looks like this will be the last we hear from dear Norwell9 for the foreseeable future.

Just like the country song says, “My camera broke down, care broke down, computer down…” After trying to nurse this season, tonight the axel on my old car snapped.  That and with my camera down and costly repairs I am forced to make the decision to shut down the volunteer work that I have been doing in the Ventura area for the past 31/2 years. I will organize all current footage, make the remainder instas, and then make a final Insta Movie #2.  Then celebrate all that we have accomplished with one final party and be gone. 

Ain’t life cruel?

Here’s hoping he gets his shit redialed and comes storming back onto the scene post-haste.

 

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Which is the Monopoly Man and which is Rip Curl's Neil Ridgway? We may never know...
Which is the Monopoly Man and which is Rip Curl's Neil Ridgway? We may never know...

$$$$: Australia’s Silicon Valley of Surf!

Chas Smith

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There's still a place to get filthy rich in the surf industry!

Have you dreamed of getting rich in the surf industry only to be told that the money has dried up? Gone away? Never to return? Well then you, honey bear, haven’t been to Torquay! Apparently, and according to Forbes, the little Victorian hamlet is Australia’s Silicon Valley of Surf!

Venture capital!

Teslas!

Valleywag!

Maurice Cole!

Should we read about the very rich company Rip Curl?

From the rooftop of Rip Curl’s headquarters in Torquay on Australia’s southern coast, Steve Kay squints into the scorching Victoria sun, surveying his surfing empire. Down below are signs for various Australian brands: Quiksilver, Reef, Strapper, Gboards, plus dozens more surf-related shops in the bustling Surf City Plaza. Rip Curl began in the 1960s, helping to spark the rise of Aussie surfing at nearby Bells Beach and launching a wave of entrepreneurial energy, turning this town into the Silicon Valley of surfing startups.

Torquay certainly isn’t a town full of beach bums, at least not anymore. Michael Di Sciascio, chief executive of surfboard and accessory maker Strapper Surf, remembers arriving as a teenage dropout and hearing landlords say: “I don’t rent to surfing scum.” Today the surf business is booming along the coast around Torquay. “There’s a strong entrepreneurial culture here,” he says. “Surfing is competitive, also supportive.” We chuckle over an earlier call. When FORBES ASIA checked in by phone, he postponed our meeting, the first time I’ve had a CEO reschedule an interview “because I hear the surf is really good.”

Ummmm what are you waiting for! Book your ticket to Melbourne then drive straight south! Don’t pause in Geelong even though you’ll be tempted by that city’s charm and wonderful footy club.

Drive on and on and soon you’ll reach a gleaming village where Rip Curl’s marketing guru Neil Ridgway walks the streets with pockets so filled with Australian dollars that little North Korean boys scoot along behind him picking up the bills that fall on the sidewalks, paved with surf wax, and send them home to their families, who out of gratitude, create beautiful Rip Curl garments!

Move now!

Surf riches are yours!

Read the rest of the story here if you need more convincing.

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sunrise shack
Sunrise Shack features a minimal menu. Coffee, tea, papaya bowls. I'm not a huge fan of the last. Papayas are kind of gross. But I fucking love coffee. Suck down far too much each morning. Expensive local-grown jitters before I can face the world. | Photo: WSL

Get high with: Koa Smith + Koa Rothman!

Rory Parker

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The new owners of a cute little coffee shop called the Sunrise Shack at Sunset!

Koa Smith, his brothers and Koa Rothman have opened a cute little coffee shack on Oahu’s North Shore. Called the Sunrise Shack it’s located right across from Sunset.

If you’re in town for the Triple Crown you might want to swing by. Not many spots nearby to grab a snack or early morning cup of joe. Kammie’s is long dead. You’ve got Ted’s down the road, which is amazing, but is always jam-packed and it’s too hard to resist grabbing a crab and bacon sandwich with a slice of haupia pie on the side. Tasty in your belly, terrible for an afternoon session.

Sunrise Shack features a minimal menu. Coffee, tea, papaya bowls. I’m not a huge fan of the last. Papayas are kind of gross. But I fucking love coffee. Suck down far too much each morning. Expensive local-grown jitters before I can face the world.

They’re selling Bulletproof coffee, something I’d never heard of before today. It’s coffee with butter in it! What will they think of next?

Prices are a bit high, but that’s to be expected in Hawaii. Nothing comes cheap here.

It’s been a long time dream of mine to run something similar. A little joint on the side of the road, stocked with tasty local goodies. Set outrageous prices, offer kama’aina discounts.

Coffee for locals- $2

Haole surcharge- $10

I’d be surly and rude, operate under a policy of “the customer can go fuck himself.” I’d let regulars cut the line, kick people out for the most minor transgressions.

With the right marketing, who knows? Maybe I could sell that as part of the appeal. Like one of those “insult restaurants.”

It’s a terrible business model, I know, so it’ll have to sit on the back burner until I’ve lucked into a ton of money and can afford to piss it away on what amounts to a very expensive prank.

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Luanda Bay fort
The Lunada Bay fort is no more. Ain't it delicious? It was a cool looking little patio. Well made. Comfortable. A real boon to the local community. But they lost it. Because they're a group of insular rich assholes who couldn't learn to share. | Photo: LA Times

Just in: Lunada Bay Fruits Go Wild!

Rory Parker

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Infamous fort destroyed. Now locals fight back! Slashing and burning!

The Lunada Bay fort is no more. Ain’t it delicious?

It was a cool looking little patio. Well made. Comfortable. A real boon to the local community.

But they lost it.

Because they’re a group of insular rich assholes who couldn’t learn to share. Too bad too.  They probably could’ve held onto the thing if they’d taken actual steps to open up the area. It’s not the only spot on the California coast where the locals have a DIY chill spot. But it’s the one that got targeted. Out of spite, mainly.

Its destruction was a foregone conclusion from the moment the California Coastal Commission stepped in. The local community eventually agreed it had to go, though I suspect it was only to show some compliance. Make it easier to drag their feet when it comes time to improve the path or install signage.

But some of them are still up to their naughty little antics. Someone decided to play the vandal, do some damage to the equipment being used to raze the structure.

According to police, vandals Tuesday night scratched the paint of several trucks in a staging area, slashed fabric containers used to carry debris and set fire to equipment stored at the structure, including an air compressor used to power jackhammers.

The trucks and equipment were being used by Ampco Contracting Inc., a demolition company that received a $61,000 contract from Palos Verdes Estates to raze the shelter located on Rocky Point adjacent to one of the best big wave spots in California.

City officials have condemned the incident, and police are investigating. No arrests have been made so far, authorities said.

A pretty fruitless endeavor.  Didn’t put a stop to the demolition. Didn’t even slow it down.

The question remains, will the local police put actual effort into chasing down the suspects? Slap ’em in cuffs, hammer them with charges.

Or will they continue their decades long of turning a blind eye, pretend there’s nothing wrong?

My money’s on the latter.

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Jon Pyzel and Matt Biolos by @theneedforshutterspeed/Step Bros
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