The VAL apocalypse comes to Santa Cruz!
The name Jeff Clark rings some bells, don’t it. He was the first person to surf Half-Moon Bay, or Mavericks as it would later be known, and not just ride it, but keep it secret it and ride it solo for fifteen years.
(It wasn’t until a story in Surfer magazine in 1992 called Cold Sweat, which was written by BeachGrit habitué and pest Ben Marcus, that American surfers knew what monster lurked in their backyard.)
In this short clip, which you can examine below, we see Jeff Clark on his SUP foil at Cowell’s, a popular beginner’s wave in Santa Cruz.
Clark catches up to and attempts to pat Skyler the Surfing Dog before an almost catastrophe.
Skyler Valentine Henard you might’ve heard of too, she’s a world champion (everyone’s a world champion in 2019!), and her pilot and surf-buddy is the nineties pro Homer Henard.
Guerin Myall aka @myallsnaps, a noted filmer of surf, skate and punk rock since 1986, shot this fabulous little moment.
What happened, here, says Myall, was that Jeff was a hundred or so yards up the beach and therefore invisible to Homer and his dog (an eight-year-old Australian red heeler, if you’re wondering). He caught up to pat the dog, but the docking sequence was made incomplete by a beginner on the inside.
This was a close call but Jeff made a skilled bail. He saw the guy at the last minute, knew he had to bail out to the left and push his foil vehicle to the right. When you watch in slow motion, you can see that jeff landed on the guy on the board.
“A lot of people were commenting that the dog dropped in. Bullshit, I got the video footage,” says Myall.
The man who nearly loses scalp to SUP foil?
“Jeff was aware of him. That’s a beginner’s spot, the people don’t know what the hell to do, how to get out of the way. That guy didn’t know what direction to go. A lot of them just sit there and turn into speed bumps. This was a close call but Jeff made a skilled bail. He saw the guy at the last minute, knew he had to bail out to the left and push his foil vehicle to the right. When you watch in slow motion, you can see that jeff landed on the guy on the board.”
Despite Clark’s tremendous avoidance skills, there’s heat on foils in Santa Cruz at the moment.
“I mean, shit, the foils can go anywhere they want. They’re meant to ride ripples and ocean swells,” says Myall. “You don’t need to be around other people surfing. A couple of ’em rip through the lineup like they’re having their own video game.”
Derek…can you post vid of the last wave you surfed?
Chas…can you post vid of the last wave you surfed (or are you just sticking with nose coffee and surfing the web these days)?
Inquiring eyes want to watch…
nah, he meant you’re boring.
Does no one find the irony in that Clark named his secret big wave spot Mavericks… after his Dog. ha.
Lay down your burdens, it’ll be okay, this is a
n unsafe space.Ben Marcus, do you really feel bad for Kevin Spacey? You’re more fucked up than I thought.
It was an underage boy that Spacey got aggressive with you stupid fuck.
“Clark catches up to and attempts to pass Skyler the Surfing Dog”
So now you’re making excuses for dropping in?
Clark shouldn’t have been there, that’s a given. But don’t let your hate of anything not poly and under 5’11” blind you to basic drop ins.
Etiquette is etiquette or else you’re just like Trumpers excusing anything for “your guy.”
PS, I like the dog guy’s game, just know that he had a clear hand in this. If he’d not have gone, Clark would have cleared that speed bump.
But who gives a fuck, it’s Beachgrit. Not like a real publication.
Oh, but thanks for naming Clark. Everyone’s danced around that for weeks now. He was totally out of line, no matter the craft and he should have known better.
Someone is going to die at Cowells because of one of those things.
It’s the circle of life for Jeff Clark: born…….Kook….solo maverick soul surfer…divorced failed contest promoter …decapitator of beginners and surf dogs…mega Kook
So what are you hiding Mr. Ben?
Oh you’re probably right, Ben.
Tattoos – yes.
Hipster – flirted with.
Millennial – no.
And a snide, smartass tone is the only way to get anywhere these days.
You could say it’s the new pathos and parody.
I like your stories, Ben.
You must be an excellent grandad.
Yeah interesting.
Scott Bass told the story of how he got hired by Surfer on a podcast recently. Seems like it was really rigorous back then.
I think I’d watch that, Ben.
And I think it’s adorable that you write little plays then accost real actors with them!
Would Jimmy Slade get a cameo?
I would, just not dressed like that.
No Pintos in Oz as a kid . We had Falcons and the Cortina and Escorts ( but not the kind you don’t take home to mama ) . Will look out for headlines like Pinto catches Fire ( when he comes back in a Phoenix moment )
Kid from school got an Escort panelvan as a first car. His Dad told him check the oil and fill it up if it was a bit low. Kid saw it was at the bottom of the dipstick, so filled it. To the cap. Thing blew smoke for quite a while.
This is a singular defining comment.
Give me the elevator pitch for your screenplay…
Unusual Suspect starring Ben Marcus as Verbal Cunt and Agent Coolathany’all-an.
(Every time Verbal Cunt comments with his unusual, suspect usually, story segue, I think to myself Ben is Verbal Cunt)
https://youtu.be/keth0g3CMK4
I think you add value. Ay Dave?
Poochie!