"I love you all from the bottom of my heart and will always be here as a guardian angel to my loved ones."

It is easy to get caught up in the frivolities in our surf world. The silliness of the World Surf League, for example, or the phrase “Chinese wax job” coming under fire for being racist, but it really is a tight knit space full of people who genuinely do care about each other. I am reminded of this usually during sadder days. Who, here, could forget Offrocker and the wonderful poignancy he brought to this group?

Well, a similar human heaviness but also so beautifully human is hovering up in Malibu. Surf icon, pillar of the local community, Lyon Herron announced, days ago, that he was leaving palliative care and heading into hospice after a long bout with cancer.

Taking to Instagram, the stylish man wrote:

So I’ve made the decision to move palliative care to hospice care, the suffering and pain has just gotten past the point of being able to handle. For those of you that know me, know that I have a very unique connection with death. I’ve been so close to it so many times and have literally been told that I wasn’t going to make it through the night more times that I can count. I’m so comfortable with the end of this life’s journey that I honestly am welcoming the end with open arms. I don’t want anyone to mourn me when I pass, but to celebrate the life that I lived. I am so blessed and so grateful for the life that I’ve had, I’ve been living on borrowed time for a very long time now and now it’s my souls time to move on. I’m doing it the natural way so who knows how long it will take but I want to thank each and everyone one of you for keeping me going through the toughest of times. Like I said, I am blessed. I love you all from the bottom of my heart and will always be here as a guardian angel to my loved ones. It’s not goodbye, it’s just see you soon. So excited to finally get to see my uncles who have passed before me. Adios friends.

A who’s who from Jamie Brisick to the Brothers Marshall, Jake Burghart to Pink herself jumped into the feed to provide memories and encouragement.

Dume local and exceptional filmmaker Paul Taublieb shared with me, “I remember him clearly on a day of small south in a brief window of remission, which was surrounded by years of surgeries and suffering from a cancer that grew weird globs inside him, and he laid the rail of the log into the face and stood, Dora-esque, Fain-esque, Herron-all, and I saw a smile creep across his face, a shard of joy penetrating past whatever he was enduring. Surfing could do that, actually the silly hobby do something good.”

Ain’t that the truth.

Godspeed, Lyon Herron.

Godspeed.

Welcome to Paradise.

As every surf fan, and student of history, knows, Hawaii used to be a kingdom. Wonderful and benevolent kings and queens, princes and princess paraded around, enjoying the freshest Spam musubi and pristine turquoise waves in this earthly paradise. All was upended, though, when evil robber barons descended from the mainland. These bad men, who descended from the Haole tribe, stole and plundered and, eventually, toppled the monarchy altogether.

Still, though, remnants of the sovereignty remain, tucked in various corners here and there. The Florences, for example, from Oahu’s North Shore. And the Kai “Borg” Garcia’s from Kauai.

It was with much joy, a few years back, when the noble families united. Nathan Florence, middle son of Alexandra, and Mahina Florence, daughter of Garcia, tied the knot in holy matrimony.

They seem a perfect couple, shining a light on all, and Mahina, recently, shined it upon the French.

Joining Longboard champion and Waikiki’s own Kaniela Stewart plus Kauai’s Tahaki Papke, Mahina walked the most recent Louis Vuitton fashion show debuting the fall collection in Hong Kong. One “inspired by the idea of a businessman vacationing in Hawaii,” according to new head Pharrell.

Mahina, according to Hawaii News Now, “strutted with a surfboard wearing what looks like a rash guard topped with a business jacket.”

Stewart, “rocked a green aloha shirt-blazer combo with matching shorts.”

Watch, please. And enjoy.

"No, there's no Plan B."

Surfer Magazine and its dumb lying robots aside, the situation in Tahiti in relation to the upcoming 2024 Olympics is certainly something. Surf fans initially rejoiced when it was announced that the surfing portion of the Games would be held at Teahupo’o. The gem at “the end of the road” is as good as it gets, in terms of professional surf competition goes, and watching hopefuls go, or not (see: Filipe Toledo), will certainly thrill.

Except.

Olympic organizers started getting too clever, deciding to replace the old judging tower with a new one thus infuriating locals. In order to prove how great it would be, a barge was hired for a test run.

It proceeded to smash the reef to bits.

Calls immediately were raised to move the show back to France though, hours ago, France’s Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera has put her foot down, telling the country’s reporters, “No, there’s no Plan B. We’re on this path which is really the right one. We’re on the right path to have a new, resized judges’ tower that corresponds to requests made by locals. There was a test that was obviously not well prepared and could not be conducted properly,” she said. “And unfortunately it damaged bits of coral, which is obviously completely regrettable. The next test must be meticulously prepared.”

Do you think the locals will be relieved to hear about the meticulousness?

More importantly, are there currently tears in the Toledo household?

Finally, will Surfer Magazine jump back in or has the machine singed its little metal fingers?