What's that mean? Surf Ranch is defs coming to Austin.
Three years ago, almost to the day, the Seattle-based surf historian Matt Warshaw saw the Slater pool reveal and announced that “Wavegarden just went Betamax.”
Warshaw added, “Wavegarden execs are standing on office building ledges, crying, looking down at the sidewalk!”
His prophecy may’ve just been proved correct.
As revealed earlier today, newly formed Delaware company Tumbleweed Opco, which is owned by Kelly Slater Wave Co, which is owned by the WSL, had bought NLand Surf Park from Coors brewery heir Doug Coors.
Coors, you’ll remember, some with glee I’d imagine, spent what he calls “boatloads” building the first commercial wave pool in the US (forget Arizona’s Big Surf) only to see it superseded, first by Kelly’s Surf Ranch, then by American Wave Machines in nearby Waco and then Wavegarden itself, with its Cove re-boot.
The WSL has now told BeachGrit that ol Doug Coors will be taking all his dang Wavegarden equipment and “technology” with him, although it’s unclear what the Denver-based engineer is going to do with the wave-creating equivalent of a dozen containers filled with slightly used VCR players and laser discs.
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wow that’s harsh..
Could this be the first sign of the coming rich-people-bailing-on-surfing Apocalypse?
So, you’re saying there’s hope?
Technology and assets based investments versus the rag trade , i would be putting my green backs into the former.
WSL actually talked to you guys?
I think the real reason traces back to me going there and peeing in the pool both sessions. That urine uptick turned people away, killed the momentum, and ultimately led to the demise of the Coors pool.
Slaps this wavepool on the lip. This bad boy gets over 330,000 gallons per wave.
“yes hello doug speaking”
“yeah gday mate, i just saw your ad on gumtree for an old wavegarden”
“yes thats correct im selling a wave garden”
“yeah right can ya tell me what model she is, is it a 2015 or 2018 model, cause i have mates with 2015’s and they have had nothing but trouble with em , and do yous have any of them old mick fanny soft boards? you know them ones with two bottle openers on em? their sick, so ol mate how low will you go on the price?
” its a quality 2015 model with only 22000 waves on the clock, if you’ve ridden a wavegarden you will know the quality, the lowest ill go is $65k and if you want ill throw in 50 used mick fanny soft boards if you pay the freight
” hang on mate ill have to ask the mrs first,,, shazza , shazza, would you kids turn that shit down im trying to talk to your bloddy mother, shazza, can i buy a wavegarden, there’s one of gumtree for $65k and just think how good that will go in the back yard with those herbs you planted last weekend”
” dazza what are you thinking? we dont need a wavegarden in the backyard , the kids have a waveranch at school, and who uses wave gardens anymore, is it one of those pieces of shit 2015 models my cousins bought and couldnt get their money back on? how much does he want for it again?
” 65k darl, but its been looked after and i get 50 used mick fanny boards, yous know the ones with the two bottle openers on em, please can we get it babe, please”
“65k are you kidding? tell that bloke he’s dreaming, seriously hes better off dropping it at vinnies”
“yeah sorry old mate the mrs wont let me buy it , but let me know if yous cant get rid of it before you chuck it out, see ya”
The ( sand ) Castle waiting for the next tide ?
He should fill the pool with his shit beer before leaving, and session that, just because he can.
anyone who worked in broadcast from the 80’s to early 2000s used and some still used sp beta to archive and play thru
I wasted a year of my life in a course learning (amongst other things) to cut on Avid machines using Beta. Just a year or two before the digital revolution.
Do you remember any noteworthy arguments with co-employees/ boss?
I’m seeing Avid Beta than average chance this could provide us key information into the inner workings of E-Lo and his quest to bring shine to this dull penny we call surfing.
your around my vintage channel, i learnt doing seven months of punching in timecodes, logging footage for the old man, just after id learnt avid , steve jobs did about the only decent thing he did and brought out final cut pro1 software you could log footage at home on one of those rainbow coloured g3’s,thus opening the flood gates to everyone with a HI8 camera to become budding walter murch’s in their own eyes , simultaneously giving birth to a craze of cat videos and a small company called youtube , good on ya jobbsy ya yuppie cunt
Fuck – log n capture. 1:1 in real time ! Uurrrgghh
Thank fuk those days are long gone …
…surfboard instead of SUP
This has all the makings of a patented 10 part BeachGrit series. I call next!
Elo is going to feel discarded.
Only 10? I think you guys can dig a little deeper.
Maybe he can sell it to Webber?
Maybe the old foil can stay at the park and form part of the wavepool-themed children’s playground, alongside zombies whose brains have been eaten by fresh-water amoeba etc.
I heard somewhere Greg Webber is working on a wave pool idea he has. Way better than everyone elses, he firmly believes. Cant wait to see it…
Oh you mean here? https://beachgrit.com/2017/…
And here? https://beachgrit.com/2017/…
This one? https://beachgrit.com/2017/…
Or was it this? https://beachgrit.com/2017/…
Could’ve been here too. https://beachgrit.com/2018/…
I feel a need for a weekly Webber fix.
Wake me up when the sax-metal gimp band is installed.
I feel theres been more than one occassion?
I think we’re in need of some deep investigative journalism into the Webber pool. Perhaps some undercover/hidden camera style stuff. Can’t tell if old mate is taking the piss and has boozed everyone’s cash away or is an absolute genius and about to blow everyone out of the water…
It’s a huge metal bowl smashing into the water. With cool four-way steam jets.
What’s not to love?
(Lack of gimp leather sax-metal band on bowl)
Thinking of Surf Lakes surely? All I’ve ever seen of Webber’s is a bunch of far-fetched artist impressions
Ah fuck I dunno, they’re all the same aren’t they?
(Awaits onslaught)