However, once it's over you want another and another. It's the same way for photographers.

An epic shot is never enough. It might be up on the wall or grace the pages of a surfing publication for all eyes to see, but the proverbial "what have you done for me lately" looms large for each photographer wanting to make a name for him or herself.

It's why surfers surf and lens men push the shutter.

The Blue Edge 2007 Photo Annual is a collection of images taken from the past year and that's all. It's a tight edit of photos from right out the back door and around the globe.

Flip through the pages and absorb the action, because before you know it, 2008 will be upon us.

Chuck Graham, Editor, BE

]]> 2007-07-10T19:38:14Z 2007-06-01T20:12:25Z tag:www.blueedgenews.com,2007:/news/4.140 2007-06-01T20:12:25Z

“Better put your jackets on,” the stewardess warned. “It’s a bit breezy out there.”
Tyler Smith, Raph Bruhwiler, Josh Mulcoy, Chris Burkard, and I stepped through the Dash 8’s door and were nearly blown off the airplane stairs. The wind was sharp, the air freezing. Black storm clouds loomed. Alaska lay within sight. Behind us were jagged, snow-covered mountains, and ahead lay shallow Hecate Strait, one of the world’s most feared waterfetches, just wicked today, smeared white by the southeasterly gale.

“At least it’s offshore somewhere!” someone yelled over the din.
Of course, this was expected. Daily, for months leading up to our departure, I’d monitored Haida Gwaii’s weather online, and the forecasts were repetitive, like the one posted the day of our arrival:

“In the past 50 years,” says the Haida Nation homepage, “industrial logging has transformed the landscape of Haida Gwaii from diverse old forest to young, even-aged stands of one or two species. The major river systems that once provided Haida villages with salmon; large cedars for longhouses and monumental art; and, plants for food, medicines, fiber and animal habitat have been eradicated by logging without consideration for these values.”
Still, we would not be digging holes for cedar saplings.
“You guys are here to go surfing?” the loggers asked, amused at our quest. “Good luck!”
Down at the quaint harbor, another local—a Haida—said we were out of our minds, that if we wanted to go surfing, we needed to go somewhere like California or Hawai’i. He suggested that we start drinking instead, joining him at a nearby cocktail lounge, where there would be “guaranteed fights.”
Reputedly the Haida were fierce, physically large, historically feared by all other Indians in the northwest. Every Haida we met was extremely friendly, but, back in the day, the kin of these folks would routinely sail across the Hecate Strait in cedar canoes to terrorize mainland tribes, acquire slaves and provisions, and return to Haida Gwaii with the proud gaze of dominance.
“The Haida, and only the Haida, were immune from attack,” Christie Harris wrote in Raven’s Cry. “In consequence, the pride of the Haida shaded even that of their mighty neighbors [the Tsimshian and Tlingit]. They were lords of the coast, the aristocrats of their world.”
While the offer of drinking and fighting proved nearly irresistible, we declined and repaired to a Chinese restaurant where we checked the online forecast and brainstormed between forkloads of MSG. West coast buoys reported a nine-meter swell. Otherwise, things looked grim.
“It might be stormy like this the whole time,” Mulcoy said.
“Could get worse,” Bruhwiler said.
“The west coast is going mental right now,” Smith said.
“Only if it’s blowing 70 knots onshore,” I said.
Along Haida Gwaii’s desolate and savage west side, the highest-energy coastline in North America, it’s not a matter of getting swell—aside from finding a surfable spot, it’s a matter of getting to that swell. There are no roads, no harbors, no hiking trails, nothing but deep, black fjords, vertical cliffs, impassable alpine ridges of rock and snow, and ancient forests averaging 20 feet of rain annually, pelted by furious winds and enormous seas. The island’s refined, pointbreak-rich east coast is one big tease, receiving basically no swell, ever.
“I’ll say that the east, or leeward, side…is the biggest waste of prime surf geography I have ever seen,” Ben Marcus wrote when he visited the island in the late 1990s. And so, perhaps in desperation late one woolly afternoon, Smith braved 50-knot onshores and horizontal rain to surf rocky waist-high wind slop in 42-degree water at a spot that could be world-class. Considering the huge swell hitting the west coast at that very moment, if Smith could’ve flipped the island, turning east coast to west, he would have been surfing a gargantuan Malibu. Alas, in geographical terms, it is not meant to be.
The west coast’s only car-accessible zone required a careful three-hour (each way) negotiation of a snowbound, signless logging road with many forks in it; eventually we reached the inlet, though sheltered it was. There we found a couple of pebbly beachbreaks, a flawless right point, and an enticing left rivermouth, but despite epic scenery and exposure to open ocean, these “spots” were flat while the truly exposed coast outside was bombing left and right. Smith’s binoculars confirmed this. “We need jet skis!” came the consensus.

But there are few jet skis in Haida Gwaii. Renting one was impossible. Even if we had our own, trailering it out atop that road would likely bang the thing to bits; having nowhere to launch it was another problem. Bruhwiler had considered bringing his two skis on the ferry from Port Hardy, but that would’ve been bloody expensive.
For all the world’s surfers, Haida Gwaii is a cruel and unusual place. We had a good crew for the task: Vancouver Island’s Raphael Bruhwiler really needs no introduction, a gritty lifelong soldier of the Pacific Northwest; Santa Cruz’s Tyler Smith, a Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Award finalist, top-placing Maverick’s competitor and Ghost Tree charger, is fearless; fellow Westsider Josh Mulcoy is a core coldwater freak, actively seeking juice along some of the globe’s harshest coasts—Norway, Alaska, Iceland, Oregon. “Still,” Mulcoy said, “Haida Gwaii is definitely the coldest place I’ve ever been.”
Cold was not an issue when it came to accessing the west coast. One day Raph and I lunched on Reubens and coffee in the Purple Onion Deli; soon Mulcoy arrived and the conversation returned to boats. A cute brunette named Lindsey overheard our plight; she handed me a scrap of paper containing the phone number of her friend, a local fishing-charter guy who just might be stoked to take us out yonder for a look-see.
“He’s got a killer, brand-spankin’-new Boston Whaler,” Lindsey said. “He just christened it the other day. Super fun guy, knows where to go out there—he works for the Coast Guard. Give him a call.”
A lifetime of cigarettes bespoke Chumma’s even, disc-jockey-modulated voice. It suggested that he knew his stuff, and I could tell he was keen for a real bluewater chance to test his new vessel before salmon season started.
“If it’s big water you’re after,” Chumma said, “the west is the place. I’ve spent my whole life trying to avoid the damn breakers out there.”
We arranged to meet Thursday at the dock at 5:30 a.m. Today was Monday—Thursday seemed an awfully long way off considering the severe but mesmerizing weather we were having. Locals said it would ease. The myth was, if you don’t like the weather, wait 10 minutes. Unfortunately we had to wait much longer than that.

Indeed, mythology saturates Northwest Indian culture, and true to universal theme, supernatural entities are created to explain the unknowable, interpreted through generations via intricate art, dance, and detailed verbology. For the Haida, the most prominent figure of myth and legend is the jet-black raven, something we saw every day. Technically the raven is a hawk-sized songbird, a skilled predator and scavenger, never short on food or wit, and, mythologically, the raven is a transformer, able to become anything, anytime, anywhere. “As a transformer he is responsible for the present order of the universe,” Martine Reid wrote in The Children of the Raven. “He discovers mankind, acquires and controls food, brings the light into the world.”
Episodes of raven myth are illustrated on totem poles throughout Haida Gwaii, and the one we found of most interest, considering the violent weather we faced, was how the raven discovered a man who possessed a small box containing a ball of light, which was all the light in the universe. The raven, cunning as he was, managed to steal the ball and use it to illuminate the entire world, previously an “inky, pitchy, all-consuming dark, blacker than a thousand stormy winter midnights, blacker than anything anywhere has been since,” Bill Reid and Robert Bringhurst wrote in The Raven Steals the Light. “The world was at once transformed. Mountains and valleys were starkly silhouetted, the river sparkled with broken reflections, and everywhere life began to stir. The Raven flew on, rejoicing in his wonderful new possession, admiring the effect it had on the world below, revelling in the experience of being able to see where he was going, instead of flying blind and hoping for the best.”
Halfway into the trip, staring out at clouds and rain and distant snowcaps, listening to the wind shriek past the hotel windows, we could almost—almost—relate. We’d found fun albeit gutless waves at one rivermouth, but really, until then, searching for waves, we’d driven an average of 150 miles a day, very slowly, with no music, in a rented four-wheel-drive truck, progressively coating the cab’s floor with food wrappers and empty water bottles. Five of us in the truck for hour upon hour, fidgeting and farting and letting the comedy flow freely. “Let’s see what’s down that road” became a common utterance, the driver (me) repeatedly and abruptly veering the truck off the main road and down sketchy singletracks in dense rain forest in the middle of nowhere, usually leading to an impassable hole or horizontal tree, or to another flat beachbreak, or to the cabin of a Haida family or hippie outcast who didn’t want us there.
That night, crew morale threatened to plunge irreversibly. “We need something,” Burkard said, glumly clicking through the Internet on his laptop. “It can’t stay like this forever, can it?”
“We’re definitely due for a change,” I said.
“Check the forecast,” Mulcoy said.
And it had changed—drastically:

Wednesday..A mix of sun and cloud. Low 7. High 11.
Thursday..A mix of sun and cloud with 30 percent chance of showers.
Low plus 5. High 12.
Friday..A mix of sun and cloud. Low 6. High 13.

We looked at each other. “High of 13? A mix of clouds and sun?”
Buoyweather.com confirmed a swing in swell angle, from southwest to west, optimum for both the entire west coast and a certain beachbreak up north. Our luck had risen.
Since hiring Chumma’s boat for the next day was unlikely, we settled for the beachbreak, which turned out to be an impressive score.
Moss Landing or Hossegor—take your pick. That was what we found, only minus the crowds and traffic and topless girls, and the water was much colder, the driftwood much bigger. Aside from a brief shower, the sun shone warmly all day and the offshore wind puffed gently, grooming the consistent and overhead lines, which, based on their orderliness, had come from afar. Only problem were the extraordinary tides, which in Haida Gwaii range 25 feet. So one sandbar that was good for 45 minutes would send us down the beach to sample another bar for maybe 30 minutes, then another, and another, and so forth.
For lunch in total solitude, we lounged in the dunes and roasted sausages over a driftwood fire, and the sweet scent of woodsmoke in the lineup that golden afternoon accented what had actually been a very good day, better than most in terms of any surf trip any of us had ever been on.
“Weather-wise,” said Smith upon sunset, “we probably just got the nicest day of the year. We got sunburned in a place where that normally doesn’t happen.”

And then it was Thursday. Chumma and deckhand Gary finished prepping the Whaler as we pulled onto the wooden dock an hour before first light, the scene faintly aglow under the orange harbor lights. As luck would have it, our hours of darkness—figuratively and literally—were about to end for good. Surfing beneath sun for an entire day at an empty, hollow beachbreak proved prescient for the second half of our trip—from now until departure, we would bid farewell to the darkness, dissolved by the raven, perhaps, and quickly forgotten.

On the last day, waiting for our airport taxi, a woman in a coffee shop said, “From the looks of your tans, you’re definitely not from around here.” Actually, we weren’t quite sure where we were, I told her, but we weren’t ready to leave it behind.
“I know what you mean,” the woman said, turning her face up toward the midday sun, smiling and squinting into the warmth.
In his book Haida Gwaii, Ian Gill wrote that there is “nowhere more beguiling, more hypnotic, more intoxicating and infuriating and enigmatic, more ineffable” than where we found waves, and, fittingly, nothing could better describe our path and our eventual taste—our feast—of it on Haida Gwaii, a.k.a. Xhaaidlagha Gwaayaii to native elders, these “islands of the people” where climatic traits are not mythical, the rain perpetual, the darkness vast. Yet Haida Gwaii is no site of monotony. Nothing remains the same for long.

By David Pu’u

It has been said many times by writers and travelers: “Bali is an amazing, magical experience.” I had heard that from Aussie traveler and surfer Jim Banks who had been there thirty years prior, exploring the surf potential: “Mate you HAVE to go there” was his principal direction. Being a little slow, it only took me those
thirty years.

I have found that the Gods of Bali dictate the tempo and timbre of the voice, heartbeat and siren song that drew a long history of transients into the island country from the ancient Chinese to present day Euro tourists, Japanese, a dwindling number of Aussies and now only occasional Americans. A world in turmoil has thrown Bali on the do not call list for international tourism. The US consulate had warnings up as we had left, about radical terrorism threats in Bali and Java. Asking around, I had decided to come anyway. It was a relief to see who and what actually controlled this part of the world. It definitely was not Al Quaida, as I was to learn in passing. It was a people who embraced me and taught me about the dance with the Gods of their land.

A case in point would be Petulu. The village we stayed in. In the sixties a clash with government troops had caused the entire village to be slaughtered. Genocide as our driver Gusti had described it. An even more horrible concept than a Western mind could accommodate when one experiences the closeness of the Balinese family unit. The silent homes of the vanquished lay dormant, waiting seemingly, he said. But for what? A couple seasons later something odd occurred. White herons descended into the trees above the village, a huge number of them. The Balinese believe. It was said to be the incarnation of their belief and proof by their Gods: the slaughtered innocent returned in the guise of those white herons. They are there to this day. I was dumbfounded when I saw that they would return at sunset each night to roost overhead. But that is “The Real Bali”: a land that urges one to believe.

Then there is the smile. Yes, a miraculous thing when one hails from the West where smiles are reserved for special occasions. In Bali people just look at you, and the first reaction is generally a smile. It is a reflection of what they have on the inside I found, and entirely infectious. I was a little confused when the first light of a Balinese smile fell on me, as it was in passing through Customs, a place where stories of touts and forced offerings to the government abound. The customs officer did it when he waved us through, opting NOT to search our huge pile of luggage, gear and boards.

When you land at Denpassar, have $25 American cash in pocket. It is for your entry visa. (When you leave, exit is 200 rupia). Then go pick up your bags. If you have nice little chalk exes on your luggage it is marked for search. You have several choices here:

1.Ignore the exes, get searched and likely have to pay a tout or bribe as we call them here (clerks generally keep part or all of it, depending on what they are able to talk you into)
2. Wipe off the chalk mark if no one is looking.
3.Employ a porter or group of porters who if you point out the chalk marks will generally slide you through.

I have done all three. It is an icky experience and a strange way for a Westerner to be introduced to Indonesia. But it is what it is.

Now legally in Bali, you need transport. Taxi is not a bad deal initially. But you must have an idea of where you want to go. Historically surfers always head up to the Bukit Peninsula, home to Uluwatu, Padang Padang and a host of famous spots Jim Banks helped pioneer. Great surf, lots of crowds, lots of surf tourism activity. It is a typical surf tourism destination. Unless you like the crowds of Rincon or Malibu or Trestles you may want to go somewhere else.

Pick a locale you are interested in and book a driver. Driving is dangerous in Bali. You do need an international drivers license to operate any motor vehicle. You get those at the DMV or AAA here in the states. Local drivers generally go for between $35 and $50 US dollars per day. (Vehicle and gas included for the most part.) A good driver knows Balinese culture, the ins and outs of the myriad number of holidays which often create travel complications, and best of all can direct you into a variety of “homestay” accommodations. This sort of lodging is very abundant in Bali and varies widely in service and quality. But basically you can get a standard of accommodation that would cost 500 a day in a Western style resort for $20-$50 per night. We frequently find great accommodations for $5-$10 per night.

Surf is where you find it. Bali is a series of islands and there can be surf everywhere. Your driver, and a decent knowledge of internet surf forcasting, can land you in the right locale at the right time without much trouble.

Bali is primarily Hindu and is therefore a Karma based society. So you get back what you put out, in a manner of speaking. A smile goes a very long way in Bali and will cover a multitude of cultural blunders common to Westerners. Here again, your driver can help ease the cultural crevasse. A good driver will be very motivated to share everything about Indonesia with you.

Travel safety is an issue within Indonesia. Register your travel itinerary with the State Department. When in Bali avoid restaurants and places frequented by Westerners and the risk goes down. The Karma thing allows for a certain amount of craziness to exist but I do know that the Balinese hate the few random bombings and those who engaged in them. Several times we found that places were earmarked for bombings. Though extremely rare, it can happen. Use prudence and you avoid the potential.

Drug use. Don’t do it. Don’t bring any in. Don’t take anything offered to you. Lock and secure your luggage. Keep everything with you and in eyesight at all times when passing through airports. Penalties are stiff. Capital punishment exists. Over time people have been executed for it. Including Westerners. Do you feel lucky, or are you just stupid? The end effect will be the same if you are caught.

All of the islands off Bali are available via various ferry companies through the local ports. Again, your driver can book it for you and often suggest homestays where you are headed. We found multiple great places on Nusa Lembongan, which is a short hour plus ride out of Sanur. These islands are a great option for cleaner water and more pristine conditions.

As in any geographic location, things are cleanest where there are less people. Western Bali, (Legian) is less populated than the East Coast and is surf rich. Avoid rivermouths in populous locales. They are the worst of the worst in terms of disease potential.

Inland locales such as Ubud and many other places are incredibly rich in culture and actually not that far from the beach. It sort of all depends on what road you choose for your trip.

Check out Lonely Planet guides for a glimpse into what your options are. Book your flight, (EVA Air is a great Indo carrier, as is Singapore Air) and go, and in so doing go well, as a guest, willing to contribute to this remarkable places recovery from the acts of a few misguided fools. Contrary to what you read in contemporary media, a decent human being is the single best agent of positive change in the third world. Plus, it will be an adventure and a lot of fun.

Camping in winter eliminates creature comforts and outdoor cooking, instead replaced by hot smoky campfires, tipsy postprandial walks, rough slumber without good shelter. It is time best spent alone. And so driving along Highway 1 in winter too may harken of times preceding Sonoma’s chambers of commerce and expensive Sea Ranch homes, before the vintners and abalone pickers and gargantuan RVs, before elegant art galleries and bed-and-breakfast romance, before retirees and southerners en masse fled their suburban sprawl, which people actually needed to escape so they could revisit nature. But when the south was rural, why go north? It was much colder, much darker, vastly remote—decades ago, to Southern California surfers, Santa Barbara was a fringe, Santa Cruz was arctic, and nobody seemed to know what lay north of San Francisco.
That night I ate cold pizza and drank beer in fogbound darkness on the south bank of the Gualala River. The campground was flooded with rain beneath dripping redwoods, bordered by the fat river’s muffled rush. There was no noise from insects or animals—only water. I sat on a wet picnic table and watched the wide river when the fog broke, illuminated dimly despite the absence of moonlight.
Around three in the morning I woke thinking a jet airplane was landing nearby. It was heavy shorepound, the booming thundercrack funneled to my campsite along the river corridor. Since dusk the wind had died and the swell had hit—a giant westerly with a twenty-five-second period, strong and orderly, undoubtedly the winter’s best swell.
At dawn I parked in a pullout above the river, which was separated from the ocean by a narrow spit. The surf was huge, the sight impressive — because of the high tide and the beach’s severe drop-off, sets were slamming full-force onto the sand, immense wave energy accumulated over thousands of Pacific miles at last terminating in violent fashion.
Suddenly a rogue wave flooded the spit, scattering a flock of gulls and spilling into the river, the wake quickly forming a riverine version of what had created it. This chest-high river wave peeled flawlessly for dozens of yards in both directions before expiring into the riverbank, one of the most bizarre acts of nature that I had ever seen, in the middle of a Northern California river, an occurrence so rare it was an incredible stroke of luck to capture it on film.

As one local continues to rise, another fends off mediocrity.
Ventura's Dane Reynolds has jumped from 41st to 3rd in the World Qualifying Series (WQS) in the last three 6 star events spanning the last two months. During the coldest stop on tour at the Thurso-Scotland O'Neill Highland Pro from April 24 - May 1, Reynolds finished equal 13th and earned another 1388 points toward qualifying for the ASP 2008 World Championchip Tour. Nathan Hedge (AUS) won in the frigid conditions.
So far this year, Reynolds has combined his freakish ability with competitive conformity, and it's serving him well on the globetrotting WQS.
The WCT hasn't been as kind to goofyfooter Bobby Martinez, as he contiues to struggle after three events. Last year's ASP Rookie of the Year and world number 5, has yet to surf out of the third round during his sophmore season, settling for three disappointing 17ths. The WCT counts each surfer's 8 best results out of 10, and with seven contests remaining the pressure continues to mount with each heat.

Last year Martinez won the Billabong Teahupoo, Tahiti event, his first WCT victory. This year he started off well, winning his first heat handily and advancing directly to round three. Conditions were marginal, looking more like a fun 2 to 3 foot day at Tarpits, instead of the gaping barrels associated with Teahupoo. In the third round Martinez lost to Luke Stedman (AUS), and now finds himself 25th after the third event with the Rip Curl Chile event on the horizon.
Damien Hobgood (USA) beat current number one, Mick Fanning (AUS) in the final with 30 seconds left in what was a dramatic come from behind vicotry.

Slater says, “I am still excited about every board Al and I work on, even after 20 years. With Jake and crew coming into the company and with the depth of resources they can bring to the table I feel that we can create something totally unique in the industry.”

Kelly currently has several signature boards with Channel Islands. Combining efforts is the next logical step for both as they work to progress the sport. Channel Islands was purchased by Burton Snowboards founder Jake Burton Carpenter in 2006, which has allowed Merrick the opportunity to concentrate on the craft and develop new and better surfboards. Having Kelly provide feedback on the development of new technologies is also in line with Burton’s own “rider-driven process” of incorporating athlete feedback into each one of its products.

“Kelly and I have a great longstanding personal and business relationship,” says Merrick. “I am excited now that we have the resources and technologies to develop new and better boards. I know that Kelly is going to play a massive part in this and his involvement will help lead surfboard design into the future.”

“It’s our goal to work with Al to see that surf technology can progress faster than ever. We have all known that Kelly is an integral part of this process, and not merely because of his standing in the sport, but because of his unique understanding of what makes a surfboard work, his determination to make it better, and his commitment to finding ways to accomplish this in a more environmentally friendly way,” says Jake Burton. “I look forward to being around and benefiting from Kelly’s involvement and leadership.”
About Channel Islands Surfboards
Founded by Al Merrick in 1969 and based in Santa Barbara, California, Channel Islands Surfboards shapes boards for many of the world’s best surfers. For more information, visit: www.cisurfboards.com.
Media contact: Shana Frahm (802) 373-2374 or Travis Lee (805) 566-0963.

Domoic Acid on the Rise
By Ben Preston

If you were concerned about the frequent occurrence of dead and dying birds and marine mammals upon local beaches last year, prepare for a worse situation this year. An even larger algal bloom—the worst in history in the Los Angeles harbor—will cause a higher-than-normal level of domoic acid (DA) to which these creatures are exposed.

DA is a toxin found in blooms of phytoplankton algae, which is fed upon by shellfish and small bait fishes, such as anchovies and sardines. When birds and marine mammals feed upon these organisms, the DA—which is concentrated in the tissues of the shellfish and small fishes—acts as a neurotoxin, causing seizures, brain damage, and eventually death in severe cases.

So far this year, record numbers of dead seabirds and marine mammals have been found washed up on beaches—including a 29-foot sperm whale near the University of California at Santa Barbara—from Santa Barbara to San Diego. The California Department of Health Services (CDHS), which normally issues an annual quarantine on sport-harvested shellfish from May 1st until October 31st, issued its quarantine early this year, in accordance with record levels of toxins found in shellfish in the waters off Santa Barbara. The routine testing conducted on April 24th showed the average toxin level to be about 450 parts per million—far above the 20 parts per million requiring a warning to be issued.

CDHS biologist Greg Langlois stated, “This toxic bloom has reached shore at various locations from Monterrey Bay to Ventura—and produced very high toxin levels. It is our hope that oceanic conditions will shift and push it further out to sea, or that it will run out of steam…before reaching shore farther south.”

Although no human illnesses have been reported, high levels of domoic acid can affect human physiology, causing the same symptoms as those exhibited by seabirds and marine mammals. Because of this, the quarantine on sport-harvested shellfish spans the entire California Coast, including its bays and estuaries. San Luis Obispo issued a warning against consumption of the dark-colored organs and viscera—commonly referred to as crab butter—of anchovies, sardines and crustaceans.

To report sick seabirds in the Santa Barbara area, call (805) 966-9005, and for sick marine mammals, call (805) 687-3255. For deceased animals call Joe Cordaro of the National Marine Fisheries Service at (562) 980-4017. In Ventura County, report sick or deceased animals to Animal Care Services, at (805) 388-4341.

For more information on quarantines and health advisories, visit the California Department of Fish and Game website: www.dfg.ca.gov. The CDHS Shellfish Information Hotline is (800) 553-4133.

Friday, Governor Schwartzenegger sent a letter to the US Maritime Administration disapproving Australian firm BHP Billington’s application to build a liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal off the coast of Ventura County.

Although Schwartzenegger supports LNG as an important part of California’s future in energy diversification, he also maintains that state environmental quality and clean air standards must be met or exceeded before any project will be approved. BHP Billington’s plans fell short of the mark.

His letter states: “As we look to the future, and to the possibility of an LNG facility off the coast of California, it is important to understand that there are many diverse projects currently being proposed by different companies that are pursuing state approval.”

A lack of action by the Governor would have resulted in the application being deferred to the federal government, which has different application approval protocols and environmental standards than does the State of California.

A Green Wave for Surfing
Making boards used to be hard on workers and the environment. One small company is pioneering efforts to clean up the process

by Jeffrey Gangemi
Back in December, 2005, the price of a custom surfboard shot up by $200 in surf shops across the country almost overnight. The reason? Surfboard shapers had panicked, reacting to news that Clark Foam, the $140 million industry's only major supplier of foam surfboard blanks, or the raw material shapers used to fashion surfboards, was shutting its doors after 44 years in business. Founder Gordon Clark had pioneered the production of foam surfboard blanks, keeping prices so low that he all but eliminated his competition.

Few, if any, of the thousands of shapers—skilled craftsmen who cut, sand, paint, and cover blanks with fiberglass and resin to make a finished board—had seen Clark's demise coming. That meant there was no major supplier in position to step in to meet demand. But the shortage of foam blanks was only one of two major problems facing the industry. The other was image. Clark's closure drew attention to the very real environmentally hazardous manufacturing practices few associated with the surf industry. The reality clashed with surfing's idyllic, environmentally-friendly image.

Clark had closed because California's Orange County Fire Authority had repeatedly reported Clark Foam to other government agencies, including the EPA, which cited the company for its continued use of the toxic chemical toluene diisocyanate, which can cause severe and chronic lung problems.

CLEANER TECH
Clark finally shut down his Orange County (Calif.) facility of his own volition, rather than face the legal fallout, according to a memo circulated by Clark at the time he closed. The media attention on Clark's closure shed light on this and other environmental problems associated with the production of surfboards, such as the use of polyester-based resins, which are harmful to the worker and emit noxious fumes. Most of the industry, long silent on the fact that manufacturing a surfboard is a dirty process, was poised for change.

A handful of small companies had already been working, some for up to 20 years, on cleaner surfboard-making technologies that would cost the same as the dirtier ones. But they couldn't find a hole in Clark's monopoly to successfully introduce a product. Among the the contenders was Homeblown U.S., an independently-owned six-employee San Diego (Calif.) foam producer that had developed a foam production system that was similar to Clark's, but was safer for workers because it didn't emit volatile fumes.

Homeblown had started in Britain in the late '80s and held a 50% share of the market for blanks there. But Clark had such a dominant position in the market that it wasn't practical for Homeblown to open in the U.S. until the factory closed, says Ned McMahon, Homeblown's managing director.

REPLACING FIBERGLASS
Today, as Homeblown gains a toehold in the U.S. market—though it still produces only 75 to 100 foam blanks a day, compared to Clark's 1,000—it's ramping up its efforts to bring more sustainable surfboard products into the market. The company has introduced what it calls Biofoam, the industry's first plant-based polyurethane blank, made out of over 50% plant-based resins, which sells for the same price as a traditional blank— between $90 and $200, depending on size. Thirty-year veteran shaper Craig Hollingsworth is using Biofoam in all his boards and says it's just as good as traditional foam from a functional standpoint.

Channel Islands, one of the world's largest surfboard-shaping companies, is currently testing Biofoam and may add the product to its line. Another company, Patagonia plans to add Biofoam as well. And Homeblown is also working on adapting hemp cloth to replace the fiberglass used in boardmaking, and experimenting with biodegradable alternatives to the polyester resin that coats the boards.

Still, by all accounts, the push to make cleaner surfboards is just beginning. The industry at large is slow to change. McMahon says traditional foam production levels have actually increased since Clark's demise. He adds that offshoring makes it hard to compete, and says two of Homeblown's main competitors, including Bennett Foam, have moved their operations to Mexico to keep prices low and escape the same stringent environmental standards that may have prompted Clark to shut down.

"A NEW DAY"
A spokesperson for Bennett disagrees. She wrote in an e-mail to BusinessWeek.com, "Mexico has its own set of EPA standards which we follow and are compliant. We exercise the same standards that are required by the States."

There's no doubt that the end of the monopoly in surfboard blanks has paved the way for cleaner ways of making surfboards, with independent businesses taking the lead. "It's a new day today, and since Clark closed, we have had an opportunity to look at how we're doing things, and it would be irresponsible to duplicate what he did when we know better now," says McMahon.

Growing up on the tropical north shore of Hanalei, Kauai, with a family of surfers, surrounded by talent and support, and plenty of more-than-mediocre breaks, Janna Irons got the full grom experience. Back then she was one the few competing girl longboarders, but as of last year she joined the ranks of top longboarders in the first-ever ASP Women's World Longboard Championship. Along with her brothers, Bruce and Andy Irons, Janna is among the slew of talented surfers that have spent their grom years in Kauai.
Now a student at UCSB enjoying the waves of Santa Barbara, Janna Irons looks back at the old days of her gromhood.

What was it like growing up on the North Shore of Kauai?
Kauai’s North Shore was an amazing place to grow up. Not only is it gorgeous with great waves, but it’s also is a very close-knit community. Everyone knows everyone, which as anyone from a small town can attest, is a good and bad thing. On the upside, hitchhiking was a relatively safe way to get around the north shore when we were groms as you likely knew whoever picked you up, but on the downside nine times out of ten my mom would hear from that “friendly driver” that I was somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be.
As far as surfing goes it was rad to grow up around so much talent. Maybe there’s something in the drinking water there or something, but everyone kills it. Most of the time being in the line-up at Pinetrees was like paddling through a surf video.

How do you think the scene has changed?
I’m aware that female longboarders are probably the lowest members of the surfing hierarchy, maybe coming in slightly before boogie boarders. On Kauai when I was young we got away with it because there were only a few of us, but today all the girls have succumbed to what is “cool”- being a shortboarder- I don’t blame them. In the couple of years after I moved to Santa Barbara, my dad would call me from Pinetrees and tell me, “There are a hundred little girls at the right out front!” I figured it was a gross exaggeration, but when I went back to Kauai the last couple of times, I was shocked at how the grom scene over there has exploded. And they’re all phenomenal surfers! I guess with so much older talent, each generation pushes the next to go bigger and better. It just makes me wonder where it’s going to be 10 years from now.

How old are you, and how many years have you been surfing?

Pat: 10 years old. I have been surfing for four years.
Frank: 12 years old. I have been surfing for four years.

Free surfing or competitive surfing?
Pat: Both. I like to free surf because you don’t have to be so nervous, and I like to compete because you win lots of prizes.

Frank: Both, but I like free surfing better because you can stay out in the water longer.

Do you compete in the NSSA?
Pat: Yes. I'm in the “Menehune” division.
Frank: Yeah. I'm also in the “Menehune” division.

Best contest results?
Pat: Volcom--1st place with lots of prizes.
Frank: Christian Surfing Association (2nd place).

Where have you traveled to for surf?
Pat: Australia, France, Panama and Hawai’i.
Frank: The same as Pat, but I surfed bigger waves.

Favorite surf spot in Santa Barbara?
Pat: Sandbar at the harbor. I own that wave.
Frank: The Pit on a good day. Pat doesn’t own that wave; I do!

Did you guys really surf four sessions in one day at Snapper Rocks?
Pat: Yup. It was really hollow, but crowded.
Frank: I liked the barrels, but not the crowd. They were very aggressive.

Favorite music?
Pat: My dad’s music.
Frank: Switchfoot

Last book that you read?

Pat: “How To Make Your Mom Happy By Doing What She Says”

Play music?
Pat: drums
Frank: guitar

Do you feel that there is a connection between your surfing and playing music?
Pat: Uh, yeah. I get amped when playing the drums and surfing big
Rivermouth!
Frank: Like when I play guitar, I get so amped just like when I drop in on Pat
into a macking, gaping left barrel!

Favorite surfers?
Pat: My dad, Taylor Knox, Kelly, Rob Machado and Erin Smith.
Frank: POPS, Ollie from Bali, Taylor Knox, Gramps and Rob Machado.

What was the heaviest wave you surfed this past winter?
Pat: Pipeline
Frank: V-land

Your WORST wipeout besides the one at Cortes Bank, 100 miles due east of San Diego?
Pat: Oh yeah, I remember that one. At the Pit, a guy shot his board at me as I was going over the falls, but I had my helmet on.
Frank: A gnarly one outside Ledbetter on a big day at a minus lowtide.

Do you guys stay fit by “cross training” like your coach, Brandon Smith?

Pat: Brandon WHO?
Frank: You mean, “Sponger Smith?”

What’s your favorite maneuver?
Pat: Barrel
Frank:Barrel

Have You learned anything from Uncle Joe?
Pat: He talks to me about my cutbacks.
Frank: Same thing, cutbacks

How about your dad?
Pat and Frank: Paddle hard and set your edge when you go in to the barrel.

Any last words?
Pat: Don’t sell your boards. Ever

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Making Strides: Andrew Benett
By Chuck Graham

Paddling out at dawn in the rivermouth at Rincon, there’s no mistaking the big redheaded kid pig-dogging it on a sand-sucking barrel. He resembles a young Luke Egan (former world #2), utilizing his size to his advantage.

However, it wasn’t until this past fall that 19 year old Andrew Bennett put it together in the NSSA, where he vaulted from 50th in the open season ratings to 5th in a matter of just a few contests.
"He’s a bit of a late bloomer," says his coach, Mike Lamm of the goofy-footer. "But I think in the next 18 months he’ll make some inroads."

So how do you explain jumping 45 placings in the open season ratings to 5th overall?
I’ve been working with Mike Lamm for over a year now. But after returning from Indo last September with a ankle injury, I missed the first NSSA and didn’t do well in the two that followed. So I trained really hard with Lamm, and last November I won my first open, got a second in another, and I’ve won a couple of Explorers since then.

How did you hurt your ankle?
Down at the Mentawais at Macaronis, I pulled into a barrel, and as I was coming out the lip cracked me and compressed me. It was the ankle on my back foot. The doctor told me I crushed my cartilage, strained ligaments and bruised the bone. I’ve been going to therapy, but I was back in the water after the first day.

How do you feel about your jump from 50th to 5th? Is this a big surprise to you?
It kind of was a surprise, but I’ve been working hard with Lamm, especially the mental approach. It’s been a goal of mine.

What sorts of things has Lamm been working with you on?
Real technical stuff. He basically gives you a real exact goal you’re trying to attain when you’re surfing; what the pros are doing, and what’s different about their approach. It’s a different way of thinking about how you surf.

I’ve seen you surf at Rincon, and thought you were a pretty good surfer, but you hadn’t put it together in the NSSA yet.
For a while I wasn’t. Then outside of contests, I put a lot of energy towards it, surfing in the type of contest surf we have to surf. I also got some really good boards from Robert Weiner, which was a change at the same time as my jump in the ratings.

Any other sponsors coming your way since your turnaround?
I’ve been getting clothes and wetsuits from O’neil.

What are your immediate plans?
Depending on the nationals, I’m already surfing WQS events this year, and I’ll do a lot more next year. Hopefully this will be my last year in the NSSA.

How has the WQS gone so far?
Those are tough. I’ve made it through a few heats, and at my age and experience, I’m pretty stoked. It makes you realize how many good surfers are out there.

Congratulations on your recent success, and good luck in the future.
Thanks.

First Generation, South Pacific
Today, groms exist just about everywhere.

Papua New Guinea’s natural cornucopia is of Oceania’s most pristine. A maze of islands, reefs, mangroves, and passes, here lies a marine domain of dazzling fertility. Dangling from the eastern edge of southeast Asia’s center of coral reef biodiversity, Papua New Guinea’s waters are poorly surveyed, hosting thousands of uncharted of coral reefs—including fringing, barrier, and atoll formations—and is one of the world’s most stunning marine habitats, exceeding species known to the Australian Great Barrier Reef, the Hawai’ian islands, and the West Indies combined.

How to Surf Well: A Primer

First in a series

By David Pu’u

The height and breadth of the concept of learning to surf well is broad. In this primer we're going to look at a few basics.
First of all, the question:

What is good surfing? Surfing being sort of a subjective activity, what makes one technique or surfer stand out from another? Opinions vary on this, but in great surfers from the past and to date, we see certain common traits. Let’s look at a few.

1.Every great athlete knows his game and playing field inside and out. What this means to a surfer is that one must understand the nature of something pretty vast. Water, the ocean, storms which make waves, weather which affects waves, the wave itself, and the variety of different breaks and approaches to riding them are all part of our basic field of play which one must master.
2.Approach. There are many great approaches to riding a wave. But logically, since surfing historically has been viewed as being a relatively creative free form means of expression, what constitutes a “good” approach?
3.Technique. The application of an athlete’s ability to a task. How one performs that task most efficiently. In this primer we're going to start with the very basics of surfing. You would be surprised at the number of really good surfers that skipped this because no one ever explained it, and had to relearn later in their careers in order to move forward and on to a higher level of performance.

If you want to be a good surfer, get to know and understand water. Originally surfing was part of the culture of an ocean centric people. The Pacific Islanders were a water based culture. It was their home. Land was where they went to rest. When I was four, my Hawaiian father tossed me in the deep end of a pool. I swam. Get to know water and develop your ability in it. Every great surfer is as comfortable out at sea as a non surfer in front of the TV. It starts with your ability to be comfortable in water and get around in it. Learn to swim well. It provides a feeling of security and self confidence and as your surfing ability expands to larger more challenging surf your confidence will grow. It's the essence and starting point of being a waterman which lies at the core of the sport.

Understand what a wave is and it’s physical dynamics. It's a rolling energy pulse formed by a storm. Pulses vary in frequency and duration, which are measured in height and interval. For example a 4 foot swell at a 20 second interval is traveling faster and carries more energy than a six foot swell traveling at a 10 second interval.
When that 4 at 20 swell feels the drag/pressure of a shallowing bottom it will pitch forward or “break” and make a much larger wave than the shorter interval swell would. This is the basic physics illustration behind riding a wave.

“Forward” is the operative word here. Surfing is all about riding an energy wave and putting your board and body in a position to maximize that ocean embodied storm energy. In a breaking wave the point of energy release is in the top half of the wave, nearest the lip. This is because the lip is moving faster than the trough. The top half of a wave is where the speed and power lie. All great surfers generally surf “from the top of the energy wave” because great surfing is a function of speed, and most easily obtained by learning to utilize the top half of the wave.

Now let’s look at approach. What constitutes a good approach? A good approach is one that allows you to make the wave you want to ride. But a great surfer's approach is embodied in the concept of imagination. A great surfer does whatever he sees in his mind’s eye. It's this approach that made George Freeth, Duke Kahanamoku and Tom Blake great. It's that same concept that has caused Kelly Slater to recently redefine what's possible in ultimate expression of imagination.

How does one develop approach? One must start with the basics. You will read that a lot from me and many others. Basics. A good athlete is sort of like a good house. He has to have a complete foundation, or at some point his house teeters and collapses. In surfing the amount of foundational knowledge required to be good is vast.

Assuming one has a basic understanding of when and how to paddle for a wave lets look at a facet of surfing that hampers many people. It's so simple that it's often overlooked.
It's the basic action of standing up. The physical act of standing up on a board, going from prone paddling to one’s feet is actually a maneuver. Great surfers do it so well that you don't notice it. It appears to happen quickly and easily. But it's actually is one of the most difficult things to learn to do well.

Here's a pretty standard technique many elite athletes use. It works especially well in surfing. It's called “visualization”. Visualization is when you sit quietly and think about what you want to accomplish. You “see” the act in your minds eye. It's a dress rehearsal for the action to be accomplished. It pre programs you to accomplish an action that must take place in an instinctual manner.

Let’s apply it to standing up. Lie down on the floor of your room or on the beach, close your eyes and imagine a cat getting to its feet. It happens quickly and effortlessly. You hardly notice the effort. Then imagine yourself at the starting line for a race. The starter fires his gun. In that instant you spring to your feet. The act of standing on a board should take place in one swift powerful movement. It should leave you with your feet centered over the drive points of your surfboard and weight loaded. In the next instant you un weight yourself and the board will respond yet again. The act of standing up is surfing’s first maneuver, and when mastered makes surfing much easier and is the first step in developing one’s individual approach. To get better at it simply apply the visualization technique and do repeats. Cross training exercises are abdominal exercises, and push ups.
When you go surfing after applying this technique over a relatively short period of time you will experience rapid improvement.

Santa Barbara Surfrider was privileged to host Yvon Chouinard at their April 5th general meeting. Speaking before a packed house at the Faulkner Gallery in the Santa Barbara Public Library, Chouinard kept the audience captivated with background information on his unique business ethic—always striving to minimize environmental impact and look out for the best interests of his employees—and bits of advice on how we can improve our lives through more careful use of resources.

“Scandinavian countries are way ahead of us,” he informed the audience, “They are resolved to be oil-free by 2010.” He went on to explain that in terms of quality of life, the US ranks 14th in the world—not in keeping with our disproportionate consumption of natural resources. “We’ve got nothing on the Italians as far as quality of life goes.” he said.

Chouinard also talked about volunteering and local land use issues, both important tenets of Surfrider’s modus operandi. He gives each of his employees two months of paid vacation every year expressly for the purpose of volunteering for environmental programs. Many employees opt to travel to far away places to help out, but involvement in local environmental organizations is encouraged as well.

Chouinard also donated a number of signed copies of his book, Let My People Go Surfing, to the Santa Barbara Chapter. “We hope to work with Yvon and Patagonia to achieve mutual coastal preservation goals,” said Chapter Chair Scott Bull.
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By Ben Preston
The fate of Goleta Beach Park—arguably the county’s most frequently visited park facility—hangs in the balance as Santa Barbara County prepares to make a final review of the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR). The DEIR addresses the two different ways being considered to deal with the park’s beach erosion problems.

One, favored by many Goleta Beach enthusiasts and the owner of the Beachside Café, employs a coastal armoring measure called a permeable pile groin. This concept consists of wooden piles arranged like those supporting the pier, but closer together. Erected perpendicular to the shoreline, the idea is that the closely-spaced piles would cause a reduction in the longshore current and allow sand to collect on the up-current side of the groin, while still letting sediment through to the down-current side. It involves an initial placement of 500,000 cubic yards of sand on the beach, and regular maintenance replenishments. Advocates of this method reason that the gaps in the groin will cause less down-current erosion than a traditional non-permeable groin.

The other method, preferred by many environmental groups, is called managed retreat. Managed retreat moves park facilities and utility lines away from the shoreline in order to allow for a wide coastal buffer zone. Proponents of this approach argue that the beach naturally fluctuates over time, and that allowing a coastal buffer zone is a better way to protect park facilities without compromising sediment deposition further down the coast. Many people favor this method, as it provides a more natural beach setting, and tends to require less replenishment than hard armoring.

Earlier, the hard structures for coastal armoring proposed to the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission involved the use of a rock wall running the length of Goleta Pier. Since this approach would have allowed no sand to get past it for down-coast sedimentation, community groups caused enough of a disturbance to get the armoring plan changed to the permeable pile groin setup.

Emergency rock revetments were placed at Goleta Beach in 2003 with a 30-month expiration date. Still there, the concern of many is that if the county doesn’t have enough funding to perpetuate sand place on the beach by a dredge, the rock wall will become exposed and cause more rapid erosion of the beach.

Currently, the final arrangements are being made for a long-term plan for Goleta Beach Park. Members of the public are encouraged to make public written and verbal comments to ensure that their views are held in contention during the creation of the final EIR. This is the time to find discrepancies in the DEIR, and find things which haven’t yet been addressed.

So whether you are a dyed-in-the-wool property rights activist or a Volkswagen-driving environmentalist, now is your time to be heard on this issue. For further information on the Goleta Beach DEIR, please visit the following addresses:

For the County’s official notice of availability:
http://www.sbparks.org/GoletaBeach/docs/DEIR%202007/DEIR%20pdfs/DEIR%20Notice%20of%20Availability.pdf

For the DEIR Executive Summary:
http://www.sbparks.org/GoletaBeach/docs/DEIR%202007/DEIR%20pdfs/Executive%20Summary%2021Mar.pdf

For the entire DEIR:
http://www.sbparks.org/GoletaBeach/docs/DEIR%202007/DEIR%20TOC.htm

Additional information can be found at:
www.sbparks.org

The public hearing, where testimony can be offered by members of the public, is on Tuesday, May 1st, at 6:00 p.m. in the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission hearing room at 123 E. Anapamu Street. Written comments are due by Monday, May 14th. Get out and make yourself heard. Stand up for what matters to you.

The kids are the future of surfing. But it is only with a full understanding of the materials and choices available now, can the kids usher in the future of surfboards. Surfing has always been lead by the young with new moves and board design to support the direction. Even the current retro trend is a new interpretation of old designs and they are being surfed with decades of new surfing ability.

Now surfing is at a crossroads. While Clark was making foam, and more importantly, controlling the market things were quite stable and change was slow. In some ways that was a good thing as techniques were perfected both in the water and the shaping room and there was steady progress in one direction.

Clark closed in December of ’05 and simply blew the lid off stability, direction, materials, environmental issues, Asian production, and more. Now is the time to review the materials and directions.

For nearly 50 years surfboards have been made with PU foam and polyester resin. The foam was made with a component called TDI and the “T” is Toluene which causes cancer and is part of the reason Clark closed the doors. Toluene is bad for the environment and bad for the worker. Polyester resins contain Styrene – another cancer causing chemical. Even with protective clothing and a respirator the shop worker is not protected because styrene can be absorbed directly through the skin.

Now many boards are made with PS (EPS and EXP) which is more commonly known as Styrofoam. PS uses Styrene and Benzene in the manufacturing process, both of which cause cancer. Both PS blanks and PU blanks are relatively safe for a shaper wearing a good respirator. The big difference with EPS is it must be glassed with epoxy resin. Workers can develop an allergic reaction to epoxy that will make them sick but it is only from direct contact with epoxy not absorbed through the skin. Epoxy is not as bad for the environment as polyester either.

The blanks made like Firewire or with parabolic stringers all use either PU or PS foam and these are just a different way of putting stringers in a board. They will affect the way the board rides but whether it feels good or not will be personal preference.

Some boards are made in molds like Aviso. This is carbon fiber – which is very strong and stiff with epoxy resin. This technology is used in many other things from boats to cars and can be made light and strong. Again the feel will be personal preference but remember when a board comes out of a mold it looks exactly like every other one out of the mold. I don’t know too many surfers riding the exact same board as their friends.

Many boards are made in Asia today. They are made in molds and made in the traditional way too. The molded boards again are all the same. It is sometimes hard to tell because the Asian factories are coloring the boards nicely and they are making boards for the famous surf brands here. The boards made in the traditional way also look pretty good since shaping machines have made it much easier to duplicate good designs. Many of the workers in these factories though don’t surf and some haven’t even seen the ocean. I think it would be strange to get a board made by someone who hasn’t been in the ocean. These boards are cheaper but then no wonder!

High tech molded boards or cheap boards from Asia are a couple of ways to go but since we all surf in the ocean and it is our duty as a surfer to preserve and protect it, I think there is a better way to go. I believe we need to think about what is best for our environment and we, as surfers, need to take an active role. I have surfed a few times with legendary surfer Skip Frye and every time before he surfs he takes a few minutes to pick up trash on the beach. It takes just a few minutes. Imagine what an impact we could have if we all just took a minute to pick up some trash on the beach before we paddle out – the beaches would be clean!

As for our surfboards, you can see how they are made with some pretty bad stuff but there is now an alternative. A company in San Diego is making surfboard blanks using MDI instead of TDI – it’s the only company doing this. This is a better choice because MDI doesn’t cause cancer. But this company is also combining MDI with the rest of the mix made from plant based materials called Biofoam. Biofoam blanks are sustainable – meaning that it is made from easily renewable sources. Some manufacturers claim other foams are recyclable and yes, that is true. All foam is actually recyclable while it is just foam. Once it is made into a surfboard with a stringer and cloth and resin, none of it is recyclable.

This company is also working on new cloths using hemp, bamboo, and tencel – all plants with very strong fibers and sustainable – instead of using fiberglass. A new plant based resin will soon be available that is 98% plant based and UV cured. This resin has no toxic fumes and is sustainable too. While these are new products and have recently just come on the market, with further development this is the future of surfboards in terms of a board that is safer for the workers, sustainable, and better for our ocean environment.

When I was a young surfer I only wanted a board that was made locally by a shop with local experience. Why would anyone want a board that was made halfway around the world by non-surfers. More importantly though is the environmental impact of shipping on our oceans. Shipping a container of surfboards (or blanks) across the ocean has a huge carbon footprint and is about as far from green as it gets. In addition, shipping is the #1 cause of ocean pollution.

So as we consider the future of surfing, new materials are available from new factories around the globe. There are good sustainable products available locally and I believe the best boards are available from the people surfing right in your area. As you – today’s groms – consider all this, just remember, YOU are the future of surfing!

The ocean has always inspired Peggy Oki. Whether it gave her the skill and grace to lay down on concrete moves informed by surf sessions as Dogtown’s only Z-girl, or beckoned her to reproduce the beauty of seascapes in her later life as an artist, her eyes and ears seem to always be tuned to the sea, its beauty and mystery.

It’s no surprise, then, that the call of the ocean led her into environmental activism, a passion she pursues as avidly as she chases the perfect wave. It seems the call has become a plea for help, and Oki is ready to respond.

“I was surfing Blacks Beach when two Grays came within 25 yards of me,” she said. It was the last Christmas of the last millennium and the Christmas present she got from the sea made up her mind.

“This experience led to my commitment as an activist to help the whales,” she said.

Since then, she’s launched several efforts to bring awareness to the plight of these magnificent mammals.

Far from being your typical save-the-whales activist however, Oki chose another route: art, and the natural enthusiasm of children and lovers of nature.

The project is called Origami Whales Project, a curtain of folded whales that draws the eye with its color, but more importantly, its size. This year’s curtain is going to be almost 30,000 origami whales big, representing the number of whales targeted in the oceans all over the world. It’s both beautiful and saddening, and Oki hopes that its impact will be enough to motivate the hearts and minds of IWC attendees at their meeting next month, because, while the IWC has maintained a moratorium on whaling since 1982, whales continue to be slaughtered all over the world.

Putting together a 28,500 origami whale curtain is not an easy task, acknowledges Oki. But it’s fun, and because she’s spent her life doing things that are fun, she knows exactly where to go for the kind of boundless energy and enthusiasm needed to get the job done.

“It was wonderful to be working with children again,” said Oki. “They seemed very interested in the ‘cool things about whales’ that I shared with them.” The kids in question are 11-12 year olds from a school in Camarillo, and children in the Kid’s Club at Patagonia in Ventura.

“For the Kid's Club at Patagonia, we had the large conference room with big screen. With the little ones seated on the floor, and the large screen, 7 minutes of ‘Blues, Bryde's, & Humpbacks’ from Earl Richmond, and my personal one minute of close encounters with bubblenet feeding Humpbacks in Alaska, the whales seemed lifesize, bringing lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhhs’,” she said. “I think that between the two groups, probably 500 whales were folded!”

Then it was off to Cate School, a private school in Carpinteria, where the community service educator rallied her kids around the project.

“We had about 20 students in and out, some stitching with us, and all folded enthusiastically, making nearly 1,500 whales. We accomplished our goal of 22 strands, and the instructor wants to promote continued involvement of the school. There are about 4,600 origami whales towards the goal of 28,500--with additional pledges of whales coming in.” said Oki.

28,500 origami whales aren’t going to fold themselves however, and Oki is calling out to anyone willing to fold even a single paper whale for her curtain/art project/ whale memorial.

“It is a small sacrifice compared to the suffering of thousands of whales; and I am glad to do what I believe to be the most important action I can dedicate to them at this time.”

Visit http://www.peggy-oki.com/cu_origami.part.html to get information on Origami Whales, and how you can contribute your mad paper folding skills to the project. The page has links to folding diagrams and petitions you can download, as well as contact and deadline information, as well as links to Oki’s other projects. Don’t wait – you have one more month to become part of this year’s Origami Whales Project.

Volunteers needed to stitch strands of origami whales with a simple hand-sewing method at the “Origami Whale Stitching Parties” in creating the “Curtain of 28,500 Origami Whales” to raise awareness about commercial whaling. All ages & genders are most welcome.
All materials, including origami whales, will be provided.
Please check the online calendar at:
http://www.peggy-oki.com/events.html
• TUESDAY, 17th of April
“Curtain of 28,500 Origami Whales” Stitching Party
5:30-8:30 PM
The Treasure Hunt
919 Maple Avenue, Carpinteria, CA. 93013, ph: 684.3360
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