"He was all about the pedicure," laughed photographer Shawn Parkin after his first-ever trip with Tom Curren. Arriving in southern mainland Mex in the dead of summer, the heat was nearly unbearable and Curren, being the savvy traveler he is, sought refuge in the only air-conditioned place he could think of: a salon. When he wasn't being pampered, Curren and fellow traveler Tyler Warren put a variety of unique planing hulls to good use, drawing clean lines and parking it on the foam ball when they couldn't stand the sun any longer.
By TSJ
As far as gaining some perspective on the man vs. fish trend that's permeating the waterman culture as of late, there's no shortage of reasons to pickup The Evolution of Freediving and History of Spearfishing in Hawai'i by Sonny Tanabe. Included in the 200-page book are the story of Dr. Terry Maas' record-setting 398-pound Bluefin speared off of Guadalupe Island in 1982 (which served as the cover photo for his seminal Blue Water Hunters), the story of the first purge valve masks, and all of the other deep water exploits that 100 years underwater have brought us.
Also included is a short, one-page story about the relatively obscure Del Wren, which both captivates and inspires. Born in Rochester, New York, in 1925, Wren ran away from home at 13. By the time World War II rolled around, he found himself serving in the Pacific theater. After the war he spent a brief stint in Oregon as a logger, where an accident took his left leg in 1946. Undeterred, shortly thereafter he moved to California and began diving. By 1958 he won his first U.S. National Spearfishing title, and the following year Wren and the U.S. team would finish third at the World Spearfishing Championships in Malta.
As the story goes, Wren was sick with the flu during a competition in 1954 and had decided to stop fishing early. Laid up on the beach under a towel, when it came time to announce the winners one of his fellow divers announced that Wren's 45-pound catch was enough for the victory. That's when his old nemisis Charlie Sturgill exclaimed, "That one-legged bastard, that's who won?" Thus a nickname was born.
The above photo of Wren was taken in 1953 and features his own handwriting depicting the adaptations he made to his equipment to become a successful spear fisherman. "To stay in top diving shape Wren practiced breathing exercise, did push-ups, and swam at least four times a week," writes Tanabe. "He preferred to use a Duck Feet fin. His accomplishments in the sport are amazing."
Russian surfing was incubated on Bali. The top Russian surfers live on Bali and many of them learned to ride waves in the frothy nuclear shorebreak of Kuta. Irina Kosobukina learned there, as did aerialist Sergey Mikheev and longboarder Nikita Zamekhovskyi. The first Russian surf competitions were held here in Balian, and so was the charming and internet-friendly High Heels Surf Contest in which competitors cross-stepped on soft-tops wearing four-inch stilettos.
Russian style may stand in high contrast to traditional notions of surf style, but isn’t that a wonderful thing? Photo: Anton Ivanov
Many Russians came to surfing from kite-boarding and kite-surfing, such as Evgeny Tsyshkov, who started the Kuta-based school Surf Discovery and was once an Olympic-class windsurfing junior world champion and one of the best kite-surfers in Russia from 2004 to 2006. Dima Zabula, who runs the surf school Endless Summer, was also a top-level kite-boarder and coach. Dima remembers the Russian attitude toward trying out new extreme sports:
“When I was teaching kite-surfing, we would get many international students. When there were German students, they take everything step by step. They go slowly. They take much more time in the water without any board. But the Russians do it totally different. I met a lot of guys who bought the gear and they don’t know how to do it and they don’t even take any lessons. They try by themselves and launch it and crash. And you know, throughout the whole world, it’s a common slang in the kite-surfing world: If somebody launches a kite wrong and they smash into something, this is called the ‘Russian Start.’”
Russian surf schools on Bali have been a contentious topic for years due to general participant over-zealousness. But they are now becoming more accepted in the Kuta-Seminyak area of the island. Allegations that the schools brought too many students to places like Batu Bolong in Canggu were resolved in meetings with Balinese locals. Now the Russian schools only bring two vans of people each morning after 9 a.m. And threats to shut down the Russian surf schools were proven idle.
Russian expats first made their reputation on Bali for street art, wild parties, and the High Heels Surf Contest. Now they’re working alongside the local surf population and coming to appreciate the cultural nuances of the island. Photos: Konstantin Trubavin/Jason Childs
The Russians are becoming more sensitive to their impact and responsibilities in the water, and do the best they can with new students. Evgeny explains, “Once, in Lombok, maybe four years ago, I was with a group. We paddled out and one local, a friend of mine, asked why they never smile. Russians never smile when they paddle out. It’s true, when you see someone paddling out, very serious—100-percent it’s a Russian. So from the very start, we try to teach people that it’s important, when you paddle out, to smile and say hello to everybody.”
Russian surf schools have evolved since they were founded eight years ago: from teaching techniques adapted to fit the Russian language and culture, to negotiations with the local community to find the best places to teach. The surf schools also employ as many local instructors as possible—along with the native Russian speakers, about 50 to 90 percent locals.
The Russian community contests on Bali also inspired a national championship back in the homeland. The Russian Surf Federation is starting a newly minted tour for 2014, with stops in Sochi, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Vladivostok, and Kamchatka. Sergey Rasshivaev is the head of the Russian Surf Federation. After getting his travel passport cleared (“we have special one for this”), he spent two years traveling and learning to surf. “No money for food. It’s not a problem. It was hard, but I was really happy. We are hungry for that—travel and free life.” He’s since started a travel company, Surf Holidays, and began exploring waves in Russia.
“We are hungry for that—travel and free life,” says Sergey Rasshivaev, the head of the Russian Surf Federation. Photo: Sergei Shakuto
So what can we expect after the “Russian Start?” According to Brad Gerlach, Russian style is not entirely antithetical to good surf style. “I am indirectly influenced by Russian philosophy,” he says. “My dad's diving coach was Russian. My dad was my coach. [They have] incredible aesthetic eye for beauty in movement.”
As Leo Tolstoy wrote in War and Peace, “The strongest of all warriors are these two—Time and Patience.” If the Russians continue surfing as they apply themselves to everything else, Russian surfing will be nothing less than epic and slightly terrifying in its beauty and general intent. Of all new cultures to come to surfing, Russians could in their own way be the ones to do it with the most style.
While on Bali I spoke with Made down at Batu Bolong. Made is one of the locals who has a board rental business on the beach and is part of the local banjar, or neighborhood government. Batu Bolong is one of the best places to learn to surf on Bali, and has seen many Russian surf schools and Russians beginners, day in and day out, for years. I asked Made, “What are the Russians like?” He thought about it and shrugged, “Biasa.” Same as everyone else. —Mariah Ernst
Question du jour...Peut-on surfer en talons hauts de 12 centimètres ? Et bien à Bali un groupe de jeunes surfeuses russes s'est lancé le défi ce 18 juin 2013 ;) . Un défi qu'elles ont relévé haut la main :) Les talons de 12 cm sur une planche franchement il fallait le faire...BRAVO MESDAMES !!! Et vous Messieurs ? CAP ou Pas CAP pour relever le défi cet été ? ^^ Source : http://vimeo.com/66365713
It's too easy to get consumed with our own surfing lives. Chasing swell, dialing boards in, and all that. But lest we forget, there's a pure and simple joy in standing up on a lump of water and rushing shoreward. And that's an easy, possibly life changing thing to share. Enter the "Ripple Effect."
For anybody that's spent some time in the San Francisco Bay Area, you maybe be familiar with the handiwork of Tim Gras. He operates Gras Surfboards while moonlighting as a community organizer in underprivileged areas around the city. Partnering up with Ian Glover, owner of the Big Dog Surf Camp, the two have begun arranging surf missions for kids from Sunnydale, the low income neighborhood near the Cow Palace. Getting word of the project, filmmaker Adam Warmington got involved and began documenting Gras and Glover's conversations with young, inner-city kids about their struggles. The area's rife with drugs, murders, and hardscrabble pressures. As one kid explains, “It makes you feel like your head’s gonna explode.”
"We can't pretend to fix all of the problems inner city kids face. What we can do is give them a fun day out," notes Gras.
I think Jake Howard reminds us all that we all just ant a fun day out. Race should have nothing to do with it, but for many years race was and in some places, still is an issue. The documentary "White Wash" tells us the story of the black surfers in California and other coastal areas that paved the way for todays surfers (black /white/ tan / not so tan/ odd man out). You can see it on Netflix like I did or start searching for it out there on the internet, I'm sure you'll dig it.
White Wash, the documentary, is a film exploring the complexity of race in America through the eyes of the ocean. Examining the history of "black consciousness" as it triumphs and evolves into the minds of black surfers, we learn the power of transcending race as a constructive phenomenon. The story is narrated by the legendary, Grammy Award winner Ben Harper (Fistful of Mercy, Relentless 7, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals) along with Tariq "Blackthought" Trotter of the Grammy Award winning hip hop group, The Roots whom also originally scored the film.
The wave's as good as any day at The Wall. It's missing the palm trees swaying in the breeze and aging beach boys hustling tourists, but there is sand. Plenty of it. You'll find this wedge on the other side of the world, dug out of one of the planet's most inhospitable deserts. Noa Ginella, Wadi pool sliding outside of Abu Dhabi.
The description reads: "A bookmark is stuck in a forgotten book that is one day knocked over by wind. It experiences its environment by surfing the pages that turn in to ocean-waves, enjoying the ride of its life. As the book cover closes light reveals new challenges."
As I walked down the steps that lead into the Uluwatu cave, my friend Brook turned and asked if I want to go to a place where most tourists don’t get to see. We hooked a sharp left off the path and less than a minute later, I was disgusted. Here, in the heart of beautiful Bali, was a bubbling swamp of black sludge. The smell of human shit made me gag. The low hum of mosquito nesting grounds made me worry. The dreamy blue tubes only a few meters below the black swamp made me realize what a surreal juxtaposition this was.
The septic pipes that are meant to treat restaurant cooking oil and toilet waste at Uluwatu are broken and the waste now flows directly into the swamp. During the rainy season, the swamp becomes a dirty waterfall that, just like the warnings on storm drains state, “Flows To The Ocean.”
I was in Bali to make a mini-documentary about the waste epidemic. It wasn’t a coincidence that we arrived at the scene I just described. After seeing the sludge pit, I interviewed the head of Project Clean Uluwatu. PCU is an organization that is working to install a liquid waste processor that would take the waste from the sludge pit and treat it properly. This is a $50,000 project and they are $20,000 shy of making it a reality. It is baffling that only $20,000 would make the difference between surfing in clean water as opposed to feces-filled scuzz at one of the most legendary waves in the world.
We don’t all need to roll up our sleeves and get messy in order for a change like this to occur. While that’s an earnest thought, it isn’t a necessity. All we really need to do is support the people who are in the trenches willing to do the work. Organizations like Project Clean Uluwatu are the architects working to fix a broken system. They are willing to do the dirty work for the rest of us. Only we need to give them the financial support to make it happen. If you’ve ever surfed Uluwatu, if you want to surf Uluwatu, if you like the ocean, if you wish something good would happen, then click here to donate, and this sludge pit could be gone by the end of the year. —Kyle Thiermann
Plastic in our seas, Texas-sized islands of refuse in steady rotation in the oceans' five gyres. The problem's become synonymous with the planet's unsolvable environmental decay.
But then "unsolvable" is a pretty strong word, especially for a 19-year-old. Enter Boyan Slat. Not exactly a surfer per say, Slat's a Dutch engineering student by trade, he's also the inventor of a device he calls the "Ocean Cleanup Array," an ocean-powered sifter that he claims can remove 7.25 million tons of plastic over a five-year span.
"The essence of The Ocean Cleanup Array is, instead of fighting it, to use the ocean to your advantage," reads a description on Slat's website. "The gyres are 5 areas in world's oceans where rotating currents create an accumulating mass of plastic, dubbed 'Garbage Patches'. Moving through the oceans to collect plastic would be costly, clumsy and polluting, so why not let the rotating currents transport the debris to you? With The Ocean Cleanup Array, an anchored network of floating booms and processing platforms will span the radius of such a gyre. These booms act as giant 'funnels', where a slight angle of the booms create a component of the surface current force in the direction of the platforms. The debris then enters the platforms, where it will be separated from plankton, filtered out of the water, and eventually stored in containers until collected for sales/recycling on land."
Ultimately money talks, and Slat predicts by gathering the debris for recycling the project could ultimately be revenue generating.
"According to current estimations – due to the plan’s unprecedented efficiency – recycling benefits would significantly outweigh the costs of executing the project," says Slat. "Although the quality of the plastic is somewhat lower than ordinary recycled plastic, it could for example be mixed with other plastics to produce high-quality products. PR through an Ocean Plastics brand can further increase the plastics’ value, and would create awareness with the consumer."
The Ocean Cleanup Array concept began as a school paper that Slat was working on. It's since won the Best Technical Design award from Delft University of Technology. In the last year Slat also founded The Ocean Cleanup Foundation to help move the project forward. (read more at http://www.surfersjournal.com/journal_entry/trash-pick)
Bali is a little island with a big problem - it's drowning in trash. In this short film, host & pro-surfer, Kyle Thiermann, shows the good, the bad, and the ugly of Indonesia and what we can do to restore it to the pristine, tropical paradise it once was.
