Ben Kelly. Photo courtesy of Ben Kelly Surfboards.
Ben Kelly. Photo courtesy of Ben Kelly Surfboards.

Santa Cruz surfer killed in shark attack identified as local board shaper

Chas Smith

By

"Safe travels and hopefully you are mowing more foam, and ripping again somewhere better."

It was reported here yesterday that a 26-year-old surfer was killed by a fatal shark attack a mile south of Manresa State Beach, very near Santa Cruz. He was surfing 100 yards from the shore, at about 1:30 in the afternoon, when the attack occurred and was pronounced dead at the scene from a leg injury.

Today, it was revealed that the surfer, Ben Kelly, was a local shaper.

Per his Ben Kelly Surfboards website:

I am a self-taught shaper bringing the core fundamentals of board building into a fresh new mindset and clean modern feel that works for you! I love the process of creating: taking something raw and formless and making it into something both functional and aesthetic. This involves working directly with surfers where they are at in their surfing journey and equipping them to take the next step.

Disbelief and sadness are being expressed on his Instagram account with fellow shaper at Route One Surfboards writing:

you were doing it brotha!!!! Your quick rise and hard work was inspirational and it is really hard to think that the central coast is all of a sudden going to have to move on without you. So much love to you and your family. Safe travels and hopefully you are mowing more foam, and ripping again somewhere better.

Capitola and surrounding beaches remain closed.

Clifton Jnr, top, DR, bottom left and tit-swinging Chas, right.

Listen, CJ Hobgood talks “wild meth sex shacks” and more on Dirty Water: “The only way that I can understand being free is to totally expose everything about me!”

Derek Rielly

By

Our most exciting three-way yet…

A caveat on today’s podcast; it starts…slow.

It might confuse the listener when the appearance of the members of this audio-only three-way are discussed: Chas’ naked tits, 2001 world champ asterix Clifton Hobgood’s tonsils and so on.

But it gets better.

Clifton Jnr was the subject, along with his baby twin Damien, of the recent documentary And Two If By Sea. It was this film that resuscitated my interest in a man I first met a dozen-and-a-bit years ago at a homestay in Teahupoo called Papa Teva. 

I was struck, then, by the depth of his character and good humour despite my relentless barrage of theologically immature attacks.

“This journey into character and emotional transparency does mark a shift in surf film-making,” wrote Longtom in a review of And Two If By Sea, here, adding, “I like this new wave of revealing, authentic type of film, much, much more.”

Clifton is in classic form in this conversation, I think, talking about the meth dealer who lives three doors down from him in Orlando, the infidelity that stomped his first marriage and why he refuses to hide behind a public mask.

“The only way I can understand being free is to totally expose everything about me,” he says. “I want to be free in this world. That’s what fights off the depression, feeling super lonely, feeling what every human feels. I gotta face the unknown.”

(Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, Overcast, Pocket Cast, Castro, Castbox, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Deezer and Listen Notes)

Surfer killed in shark attack near Santa Cruz, less than one hundred yards from beach, likely Great White: “There has been an exponential increase in shark births over the last ten years”

Derek Rielly

By

The man, who was twenty-six, was surfing a mile south of the Manresa State Beach carpark at Sand Dollar Beach, and was pronounced dead on the scene.

Pretty Manresa State Beach, in Monterey Bay, was the sight of a fatal shark attack on a surfer a little after one thirty today, real close to the shore, less than a hundred yards or so.

The man, who was twenty-six, was surfing, a mile south of the Manresa State Beach carpark at Sand Dollar Beach, and was pronounced dead on the scene.

The joint has been crawling with Great Whites recently according to locals who’ve lit up the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page.

I took a helicopter ride a couple of months ago and I saw so many sharks off of the beaches between Marina and Moss Landing. just swimming in the waves near the Shoreline. I would never for the life of me go swimming or surfing in that little stretch of beach

There were pics a couple of days ago with at least 5 great whites in the area, warm waters and not many people to disrupt them.

Folks the cement ship is a spawning ground for great whites. There has been an exponential increase in shark births over the last ten years. They have always been around just lots more of them now. A girl lost her leg standing in 3’ of water about thirty years ago. They are cranky and aggressive at mating time in the spring. There is also an exponential increase in water sports like kayaks, SUP etc with many more people in the water now. Best to stay out of the water. Life is a numbers game and gambling with sharks is a losing bet.

Four weeks ago, a SUP pilot, not Erik Logan, was hit by a White in nearby Capitola.

All beaches were closed from Capitola to Sunny Cove through April 1.

More as it comes.

The Goyim strike back! Little Jewish boy Eithan in mock crucifixion by Ventura Christians. | Photo: Ch11tv

Goyim Dane Reynolds profiles Israeli Olympian and Venturan Super Jew Ethian Osbourne: “You have no values. With you it’s all nihilism, cynicism, sarcasm, and orgasm!”

Derek Rielly

By

Too young to drink, old enough to defend brave desert nation from being driven into the sea…

Oh let’s not mess around with introductions, read all about Reynolds’ reboot of Marine Layer here, and swing straight into the second episode, a profile on Israeli Olympian Eithan Osbourne.

Too young to drink but not too old to defend his brave little country from its Arab enemies.

Eithan’s mammy is a “French-speaking Jewish humanitarian” with a Motorhead sticker on the back of her Volvo stationwagon.

Eclectic.

“What is the measure of success for a surf career?” writes Dane. “Trophies? Titles? Covers? Not any more… Youtube subscribers? Money made? I’m forever grateful for guys like Taylor Steele and Kai Neville who gave my generation a platform to do tricks to music. And thankful for surf magazines that organized trips and employed surf photographers who took pictures of us which got printed in said magazines thus validating sponsorships. That system has collapsed, and it aint comin back. If Chapter 11 TV has any small part in guiding the next generation of surfers and keeping it fun while providing a platform the way magazines and video makers did for us, then for me that’s a success.”

Watch: French surfer punches attacking Great White Shark twice in the face at Bells Beach thereby shattering national stereotype!

Chas Smith

By

Victory at any cost!

The French are mostly known for five things: Givenchy, Chanel, Hermès, Saint Laurent and surrendering when faced with both overwhelming and underwhelming odds. Oh, we all know, save the Battle of Waterloo, World War I, World War II, Vietnam etc., that the “surrendering” bit is a disgusting slur.

A nasty stereotype.

But for the ultra-xeno Francophobes still out there, though, the bravest man you ever did see paddled out, yesterday morning, to cold Bells Beach there on Australia’s south-eastern tip and punched an attacking Great White shark in the face.

Twice.

An epic tale best told through The Sydney Morning Herald and let’s go there post haste.

A French surfer has fended off a shark near Bells Beach on Victoria’s Surf Coast, and escaped with just a few stitches.

Dylan Nacass, 23, was paddling at Southside beach on Friday when the shark came up behind him and latched onto his leg.

He managed to punch the shark twice in the face and was helped to shore by another surfer, Torquay man Matt Sedunary.

Mr Nacass escaped with lacerations to his leg, which required stitches, but is keen to get back out in the water.

“I really want to go back soon,” he told Nine. “Just when my leg, it’s OK. I’m going to go back to surf soon, I’m OK.”

“Just my leg?”

If we could clone young Dylan Nacass and send those carbon copies back in time they’d be speaking French in London, Berlin and much better French in Saigon.

None of that ugly Yankee inflection.

The entire drama was caught on film by another local, Graham Blade, who had posted up on the bluff and didn’t for one second pull focus from a potentially grisly scene.

Steely resolve.

Afterward, Sedunary said, “When you’re out in the water, you know sharks are out there. I’m pretty keen to get out there this afternoon. Get back out on the horse, as they say.”

À votre santé all around.

May the Kronenbourg 1664 flow like champagne tonight in Torquay, Sydney, Cardiff-by-the-Sea and anywhere the Legionnaire x ANZAC sprit reigns supreme.

Photo: Steve Sherman/@tsherms
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