Wrapping the Rusty Plunger in Stars and Stripes.

When one conjures “Australia,” Crocodile Dundee, Vegemite and Surf Lakes’ iconic Rusty Plunger immediately come to mind. Steam punking up there in Yeppoon, that wave-making device, straight out of Mad Max, was unveiled to the world for the first time by ultra-Australian Mark Occhilupo less than six years ago but has stamped its southern cross cred hard.

Alas, the winds of change blow furious and Surf Lakes is officially applying for U.S. citizenship.

Per the press release:

Surf Lakes has moved to become a USA-based company following the successful approval of a Scheme of Arrangement process in late 2023 and full implementation as of January 2024.

This new entity, Surf Lakes Global, Inc., a Delaware corporation, is now the parent company for Surf Lakes, providing access and momentum into the US market. Surf Lakes will maintain business operations out of Australia, including all research and development initiatives with the engineering team working at the Gold Coast and on-site at the R&D facility at Yeppoon. This strategic move was made due to many factors, including:

-The US represents a larger and more suitable market for Surf Lakes.
-The majority of Surf Lakes projects are in the US.
-43% of project enquiries to date have come from the Americas.
-The US has a much larger population than Australia (for perspective there are more people in Texas than Australia).
-Redomiciling in the US will yield improved access to US capital markets.
-The move allows for greater potential for investment in the immediate term and public listing opportunities in the medium-to-long term.
-Further strategic and business development opportunities.
-Closer and better connected to South America (Brazil represents another boom market for the wave pool industry).

Oi oi ouch.

But what do you make of this new development? An unforgivable betrayal or just the way things go down under (see: Mel Gibson moving to Malibu)?

Certainly more as this story develops.

Raised fist.

There is one name in core and that is Sid Abbruzzi. The Package has done it all from creating Rhode Island’s surf culture through his shop Water Bros to fighting the man to protecting the coast and ensuring access for all.

When Sid speaks, it is well worth a listen and now he is lending his voice to the growing protest against a proposed offshore wind farm.

Monied interests are planning to erect 1000 turbines, each 850 feet tall, some 12.9 nautical miles off Rhode Island’s gorgeous surf-rich coast. These will be both the largest turbines ever built and the greatest concentration anywhere on earth.

The field will be built on Coxes Ledge, a geological formation that supports a variety of marine life including whales and delicious cod. Not only will construction damage the area but hundreds of miles of underground cables will also be installed sending sediment plumes into critical breeding grounds. Long dormant toxic lead deposits and heavy metals will also be dredged right back into the system.

While wind is generally seen as clean, these turbines are made from dirty Chinese steel and, also, the blades cannot be recycled ending up in ugly blade cemeteries.

Etc.

There is much naughtiness about the plan though the surf core is getting behind a legal effort to stop it all.

Would you like to lend your dollars?

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Rotation time.

Surfers are odd creatures, relishing weather anomalies much, much more than the next man. Swell events, for example, pushing big ol’ barrels toward shore. The next man might be worried about his house, but surfers are there, boards waxed, ready to ride straight into infamy. Or wicked winds licking the sky, bending palms like toothpicks etc. The next man could be worried that his house will become crushed, but surfers are there, boards waxed, ready to stick an elusive double, even triple rotation.

But let us hurry quick to Ventura, California where a “State of Emergency” has been declared over barrels and airs.

Per the local ABC affiliate:

Strong winds whipping across Southern California are bringing dangerously high surf to beach communities once again Thursday.

The conditions prompted the city of Ventura to declare a state of emergency due to severe high surf events. The order allows the city to receive emergency funding from the state and speed up any needed disaster response.

The National Weather Service said: “High surf and coastal flooding are possible through Friday at west and northwest facing beaches.”

This comes after recent damage to the Ventura Pier during high tide events.

I would very much like the think that one Albee Layer is, currently, on his way to Silver Strand. The Maui-San Diego surfer has been really cursing himself after almost, but not quite, landing a 2x spin. Taking to Instagram, he wrote, “After thinking about this section instead of sleeping for most of last night I decided I hit it a half a second early and didn’t stomp hard enough on the landing. Good news is I probably hate myself enough to land it today if I get another chance which the odds are pretty low on. Fuck.”

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I think the odds will very much improve with Ventura’s predicted 80mph winds. I think, even, a 4x spin in the cards.

Huzzah.