Nature at play: Great White “finishes off a seal it wounded earlier” ten feet from shore of popular Cape Cod beach!

Wounded seal swims into jaws of Great White at Race Point Beach…

It’s Great White season on Cape Cod, that hook-shaped peninsula in the Atlantic facing US state of Massachusetts.

The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (AWSC) has reported increasing numbers of the fish since Whites were designated as a protected species in Massachusetts state waters in 2005.

In 2018, a boogieboarder was killed by a Great White at Newcomb Hollow Beach and, in the same summer, a swimmer was badly injured after being by a Great white at Truro Beach.

In 2019, researchers reported tagging more sharks on the Cape than ever before, calling it a “banner year”.

Now, in terrific footage unloaded to YouTube two days ago and accompanied by the delighted squeals of children on the beach, a Great White moves in for the kill on a little seal it had hit earlier and which, inexplicably, had climbed back into the ocean after parrying the shark’s initial assault.

Surprisingly bloodless.

Feel your lungs inflate with joy at the onrush of nature etc.


Snack-time: Kayaker dips hand into water off Catalina Island, has it rudely nibbled by “needlessly aggressive” Great White Shark!

Un-chill.

A few months ago, now, four great friends and I sailed around the entirety of Catalina. We started at the southeastern end, a heavily strip-mined corner, anchored and slept of a rock-n-rolly small cove, moved on to Ben Weston, after breakfast, anchored again in Two Harbors for a luncheon of chips, guacamole and Buffalo Milk, made it around the northeastern end sometime after noon then made the traditional way down past Two Harbors, from the mainland-facing side, Empire Landing, Moonstone before heading back to Newport Beach.

It is very odd that such large, mostly desolate, island floats off Southern California. The Wrigley family, of gum fame, built a few beautiful buildings in the largest city, Avalon, and a few more in Two Harbors but overall the architecture leaves something to be desired and the scene is downright unchill.

Day tourists zipping in from Long Beach. Newlyweds too poor to go on a proper honeymoon getting wasted in dank beach bars.

Messy.

I often wonder how the whole place didn’t get colonized by Los Angeles’s uber-elite and walled off from the unwashed. What could be more exclusive than an island a hop, skip and sail away?

Bizarre.

In any case, a kayaker who dipped his or her hand in the water off the northeastern end had it bitten by a shark. According to the Los Angeles Fire Department the beast had been bumping the kayak, before the incident, which sounds needlessly aggressive.

A mile of the island was promptly shuttered for 24 hours.

No other details given.


Shocking: Photographic proof that the Industrial-Surf Complex is actively disenfranchising brave surfboard shapers uncovered!

Damning evidence.

You cannot, under any circumstances, trust Big Surf. It has been one of my mantras for many years, now, and has never done me wrong. Days ago it was revealed, here, that a World Surf League, Costco, Olympic cabal was maybe actively scrubbing brave shaper names, logos, from the surfboards to be used on ABC’s Ultimate Surfer and in Tokyo.

Today, very shocking photographic evidence proves the accusation true.

Study the two images (first the only one sent out across WSL/ABC channels, the second real and true):

A proper Stalinist scrubbing.

What did poor Jon Pyzel ever do to get disappeared?

What did he ever do to get vanished?

Is Matt Biolos next?

Matt Parker?

First they came for the high-performance board maker but I was not a high-performance board maker so I remained quiet etc?

We must rise up, all of us, and demand shaper names, logos, be always included or else how will history remember the grumpy local?

May the odds ever be in our favor.


Beat-up ol garage turned into dreamy studio. | Photo: Matt Titone/Surf Shacks

Gimme: Surf Shacks creator Matt Titone lists Los Angeles compound with backyard studio and in-ground hot tub for $US1.59 million! “The greatest Air BNB in all of California!”

"I essentially created a dream space for myself," says architect.

The Delaware-born graphic designer Matt Titone whose two-volume series Surf Shacks mocks the traditional idea of surfers living in putrid hovels, its owners shrivelled and twisted and devoid of any erotic opportunities, is selling his divine Venice home for a little over one and a half mill. 

Titone and his wife Courtney have moved to Oxnard, near Dane Reynolds, Israeli super-surfer Eithan Osborne and the Silver Strand Fight Club, thus rendering the little cosmos they created in Los Angeles redundant. 

The house is at 3904 Michael Avenue, which ain’t that far from mythical Ladera Heights, black Beverly Hills, a domesticated paradise, palm trees and pools etc, and was built in 1947.

The listing agent describer it thus. 

The vibe begins in the lush low tolerant landscaping that extends throughout the property. Each area of the home was tastefully thought out to creatively use each space to the fullest, while never compromising style and flow. The main home was recently re-imagined featuring 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. And the private 2 story guest studio is complete with custom cedar finishes, Murphy bed, lounge areas, private deck, all easily opens to the outdoors through bi-folding doors. It is perfect place to host family, entertain friends, and create a comfortable work space. The outdoor area features an in-ground spa, fire pit and outdoor surf shower. Just steps to trendy eateries, shops and all beach area living has to offer. A truly unique home that offers an experience in living.

Titone’s brother Sam, an architect, was the muscle behind the renovation, his first independent project after graduating from college. 

“My brother and sister in law were my ‘clients,’ but I was lucky enough that they just let me play. They wanted an in-law suite and had a good idea for the look and feel of the interior. We were also on the same page with the aesthetic from the get-go, so that allowed me to really go nuts with the design. I essentially created a dream space for myself, since I was living there at the time. I wanted an independent, self sufficient back studio space for me to work, sleep, cook, relax, and enjoy nature.”

And, as Titone told Whalebone Mag who described it as the “one of the greatest Airbnbs in California”,

“Everyone who has stayed here has been cool and seems pretty jazzed on the place. The floating steel staircase is a beautiful detail, there’s a cool vintage fireplace on the outdoor patio, both the upstairs and downstairs fully open up as indoor/outdoor spaces with 2 bi-fold door systems and the whole place smells like freshly cut cedar. We also offer guests a pair of bikes and surfboards to use during their stay. The space is just really unique and cozy thanks to my brother’s design. It’s really private and the natural light that comes in is incredible—it’s hard to not be stoked when you are staying back there in my opinion.”

Buy here, although knock a few shekels off your initial offer. 


Revealed: One of surfing’s most influential characters went from learning to paddle to Pipeline standout in three short weeks of training!

Impressive.

Of all the films that most influenced the arc of surfing in the 1990s -2000s, Momentum is way up there. Taylor Steele’s opus turned thousands of teenagers onto our beloved pastime and broke many stars including, but not limited to, Kelly Slater, Kalani Robb, Rob Machado, Captain America, etc.

As significant as Momentum was, though, it doesn’t hold a Candlebox to the 2002 sneaker smash Blue Crush. The coming of age story, set on Oahu’s North Shore, turned millions upon millions onto surfing but did you know its star, Kate Bosworth, did not know how to paddle before taking the role even though casting instructions specifically called for an “experienced wave rider?”

In a candid new interview, Bosworth says, “Literally, eight to 10 hours a day, I was driving to Point Doom. I committed myself for the three to four weeks. I really thought that I was going to have this quintessential heroic moment that I’ve learned, I’ve mastered it, and the role is mine. And there was a surf instructor there, he had taken me out, and I just ate shit over and over and over and over again. It was really sad. And yet, remember, I’m also the 4-year-old who said, ‘I’ll get back on.'”

The “I’ll get back on” reference to an experience she had falling off a horse at a tender age.

As sad as her skill level was, she forced herself to improve, landed the role and then went out and conquered Pipeline. Impressive, no?

I recently watched Momentum Generation and those surfers discuss how scary Pipeline was to them initially. A fine film, I found, but did you think so?

Candlebox.

What an awful band they were.