Watch: Koa Rothman keeps his word, goes on whatever wave he wants at Pipeline with no hard feelings, bags a “Wave of the Winter” candidate!

Rare and wonderful.

A man who keeps his word is a rare and wonderful thing. An almost forgotten thing in this day and age of flimflam and wish-wash. Of bent spines and reeds in the wind. But you will certainly recall when, at the very beginning of this North Shore season, Koa Rothman, son of Eddie, declared via Instagram:

What’s happening you guys. I have an announcement. This year, this winter here in Hawaii, 2020, 2021, I will be going on whatever wave I want at pipeline. So. That being said, there is only a few people out there that I will not drop in. So. Yeah. No hard feelings. I’m not trying to be a dick. I’m just letting you know now that is what is going to be happening. So have a great day and watch out.

True to his word, young Rothman just bagged an entirely impressive Wave of the Winter candidate right in front of… who?

Who is that?

Clearly not one of the few but also without hard feelings. Derek Rielly regularly speaks to the joys of being dropped in on by professionals. How he can observe their technique from behind. A front row seat to greatness. Whoever was front seat at Koa’s performance is very lucky and also BeachGrit‘s number 1 candidate for Witness of the Winter.

Very cool.


Happy Great White. | Photo: @outcast_sport_fishing

New Year Miracle: Pastor hooks two Great White sharks on the one fishing trip after dreaming of seeing one for fifty years: “This is probably the closest thing to being in heaven without crossing over!”

"Battling the baddest fish on the planet"

It’s churlish, I think, to dismiss the metaphysical outright.

The cosmos never fails to astound.

Ed Young, a pastor, had dreamed of seeing a Great White for fifty years. And, then, on the one fishing trip, Young hooked two eleven-footers off Hilton Island in South Carolina.

“We usually get one chance a day to hook a Great White,” Young’s guide, Chip Michalove told Fitsnews. “Occasionally we get two, sometimes even three. But very rarely do you see another swim up 45 minutes later… I remember our conversation while the fight ensued. With a flat calm sea, the sun setting, we discussed how this is probably the closest thing to being in heaven without crossing over. It’s not very often we see an ocean so flat it blended in with the sky… It helps when you have a pastor to even the odds.”

Chip is licensed to tag Great White sharks in conjunction with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries as they swarm the South Caroline coast from December through March.

Chip estimates a thousand Whites swim down from New England every year.

Both Whites released etc.

Here’s Pastor Young “battling the baddest fish on the planet”.

 


Epic fire sale: World Surf League slashes price on most popular jerseys including Conner O’ Leary, Mick Fanning and the great Matt Wilkinson!

Get four Mick Fannings for the price of one Bronte Macaulay!

Are you a deal hound?

Knowing when and where your favorite brand or store is going to release its merchandise for less than full freight and pouncing once you see that little red line crossing through sucker price?

Or do you just buy whenever the spirit strikes?

Well, either way, our World Surf League is holding an epic fire sale right now on some of its most popular products including:

The Corona Pro Gold Coast Sunrise Tee (once $35 now $10.50).

Conner O’ Leary, Mick Fanning, Zeke Lau, Adriano de Souza and Matt Wilkinson jerseys (once $70 now $21).

Italy, Australia, Brazil, France, French Polynesia (which is technically part of France), USA and South African jerseys (once $25 now $7.50).

Literal steals but how do you think the rest of the World Surf League’s merch program is faring? Do you ever see a Kelly Slater in the wild? What about a vintage Joel Parkinson?

Very slick.

Also, do you think Con O’Leary, Zeke Lau and ADS are sad that they are not technically retired but their jerseys are going for 1/3 of the original price?

It’d be cool to get that Corona Pro Gold Coast Sunrise Tee and tell people that you were there, on Snapper’s sand, for the kickoff of the 2019 World Surf League Championship Tour. Almost as cool as when you wore that Oasis 2019 European tour tee.

Much trickeration.


A still from Great White, a horror thriller released 2021.

Marine biologist sparks uproar amongst colleagues by suggesting problem sharks should be identified via DNA profiling and executed: “That’s not how fishing works!”

Introducing "biteprinting."

Do you recall, last month, when dear Stab magazine tossed its wetsuit advertorials behind a paywall but took time to kick your BeachGrit before locking the door? “For those left it will be a race to the bottom, and speaking from experience, when you’re chasing clicks, you get lost in the outrageous and contagious. Think graphic shark attacks and Ellie-Jean Coffey nudes.”

Well, The New York Times, getting lost with BeachGrit in the outrageous and contagious, just published a fascinating portrait of marine biologist who has an entirely progressive theory on how to deal with “problem sharks.”

Dr. Eric Clua, a professor of marine biology at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris, has taken issue with mass culls after attacks noting that, “They are killing sharks that are guilty of nothing.” The good doctor has found a way to identify sharks that have attacked people, though, through a form of DNA profiling he calls “biteprinting” and believes these incorrigible few can be singled out and executed.

He recently published his findings thereby infuriating his colleagues.

“That’s not how fishing works,” said Catherine Macdonald, a lecturer in marine conservation biology at the University of Miami. “Even when you have a satellite-tagged shark and you know where it is, if you turned up at the site and put a hook in the water, there’s no reason to think you would definitely catch that shark.”

Christopher Pepin-Neff, a public policy lecturer at the University of Sydney who has studied human perceptions of sharks, said the problem, or “rogue shark” theory, is neither cool nor true. “They are basically saying that the shark from ‘Jaws’ is real.”

Blake Chapman, who studied shark neuroscience at the University of Queensland in Australia said removing these guilty sharks “…would be more or less impossible. “I don’t think that the removal of ‘problem individuals’ as a result of this information is a realistic application for the data.”

David Shiffman, a marine conservation biologist and postdoctoral researcher at Arizona State University said, “This idea makes no sense on any level that I’ve been able to find.”

Etc.

Dr. Clua is unperturbed, though, and fighting on for the good people of Réunion Island, setting up his biteprinting operation there to prove that it works.

“I’ll let them bite a pig leg,” he says, “or something else with flesh, muscle and bone.”

Scientific research in the field of Ellie-Jean Coffey nudes is forthcoming.


So beautiful it'll give you emotional dehydration.

Windsurfing hall-of-famer Robbie Naish to offload redundant 73-acre estate on Maui’s North Shore for $18 million: “Half a mile of coastline and not a neighbour in sight!”

"The crown jewel of the North Shore."

Twenty-three time world windsurfing champion Robbie Naish don’t need no intros.

A king of his sport. Kite surf and SUP pioneer. Won his first world title when he was thirteen. Morphed his windsurf fame into a line of wildly successful eponymous surf equipment.

So it don’t surprise that Robbie, who is fifty-seven and a granddaddy now, has put a few shekels away and lives, or soon, lived, on seventy-three acres of oceanfront land on Maui’s North Shore.

“I wanted to buy a piece of Hawaii,” Naish said of the estate he bought in 2005. “Before it’s all gone.”

Now, the whole joint is for sale and eighteen-mill will get you the keys.

From the Agent’s spiel,

Maui oceanfront 73 acre estate with maximum privacy, security, and open space. This is the 1st time ever this estate has been offered for sale. The parcel encompasses Kealii Point between Uaoa Bay and Pilale Bay with nearly a 1/2 mile of coastline and no neighbors in sight. Entering the main gate you are greeted by a 8′ tiki statue carved out of a single monkey pod log. The elegant Palm tree lined driveway leads to the approx. 6,000 sq. ft., 5 bedroom, 4.5 bathroom home plus a gym. Pocket doors disappear into the walls in the great room opening to expansive ocean and pastoral views. With multiple living spaces, including a guest wing, it’s easy to spread out to get some alone time or gather on the main level to enjoy the open great room, chef’s kitchen, bar, and dining room. Just outside the great room is a large covered lanai that flows towards a 10ft deep pool with a waterfall and spa. The large home office is a perfect place to remain productive while never having to endure a commute. Power is grid tied and there is a state-of-the-art PV solar system to keep energy costs low along with a private well. Additionally, there’s a 2,000 sqft shop with lots of room for ATV’s, jet skis, boards and more. The property is a short twenty five minute drive from Kahului airport or helicopter to your front door in a matter of minutes. This is the crown jewel of the North Shore.

Click here to inspect, buy.