Cardboard Surfboard

Nice work from New York cardboardsmith, Ben Gallegos, circa 2015.

Huzzah Ben, Huzzah.

The Art of Wave Riding

Several years ago I procured the rarest of all surf related tomes, The Art of Wave Riding by Ron Drummond. I am proud to say that this most valued and beloved book has been framed and placed above our mantle. It is people like Mr. Drummond that sustain the faith.

Riders of the California Surf (1947)

Excellent silent film with a great segment on shaping a 12-foot, solid/laminated, redwood board (2:03).

Hands: Curraghs - Traditional Irish seacraft 1978

Hands was a great Irish television program produced by David and Sally Shaw-Smith. The Shaw-Smith's presented traditional Irish crafts, from the weaving of crioses (colorful wool belts) and the making of pampooties (moccasin-type shoes) on the Aran Islands, to the creation of items as varied as harps and candles, curraghs, drystone walls and Irish lace.

Orson Whales

A unique take on the classics - Moby Dick (novel), Moby Dick (song), and Orson Welles (a whale of an actor). Huzzak Alexitin!

Orson Welles - The Afterdeck

Another excerpt from a never-produced adaptation of Moby Dick.

Loomings by Orson Welles

Orson Welles performing his abridged and edited take on the classic Melville chapter, "Loomings" from Moby Dick; or the White Whale.

JFK's Victura

"I really don’t know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it is because, in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it is because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it we are going back from whence we came.”

 – President John F. Kennedy speaking at the America’s Cup in Newport, RI in 1962.

Those aren't the boards you're looking for...

Stormtroopers at the beach. Sables-d'Olonne, Pays de la Loire, Francevia: Let's go surfing

In the Mist of Summer (1977) Puerto Escondido, Mexico

Classic surf movie by Gary Pennington and Rick Jorgenson that captures a dreamer's ideal of the summer of '77; "Emerald green tubes, scented offshores, and summery water". Thanks to Scott Starr for keeping the dream alive.

Kayak Unknown

Found this sweet ride on Flickr via Dave Langlois - Check out the sweet handles fore and aft. Hard rails. Big Seat. And of course, Personal Flotation Device.

John Coltrane - Live At The Village Vanguard (Full Album)

A1. Spiritual 00:00

A2. Softly As In A Morning Sunrise 13:45

B1. Chasin' The Trane 20:23

Bass – Reggie Workman

Bass Clarinet – Eric Dolphy (tracks: A1)

Drums – Elvin Jones

Piano – McCoy Tyner

Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – John Coltrane

Recorded at The Village Vanguard, NYC, November 2 and 3, 1961.

Coltrane defending his music against the critics.

Down Beat: April 26, 1962, vol. 29, no. 9

And then from Melville:

"The heavers forward now resume their song, and while the one tackle is peeling and hoisting a second strip from the whale, the other is slowly slackened away, and down goes the first strip through the main hatchway right beneath, into an unfurnished parlor called the blubber-room." - Chapter 67. Cutting In.

The Brendan Voyage

Part One from a 1978 film on Tim Severin's marvelous journey.

Shooting the Pier

My wife and I recently acquired this fantastic photo of Laird Hamilton shooting the Malibu Pier. The photo was taken by Steve Munch of the Latitudes Gallery in Ventura, California. This pier shot occurred during the morning session on Tuesday, August 26th, 2014. Getty Images photographer, Jason Merrit, captured Laird emerging from the beach just after this epic ride (image below). Possibly, Steve Munch was captured in the lower left of Jason's photo.

The Malibu pier is on my commute from Malibu Lake to Santa Monica. On this day, I sat in traffic for over two hours because of the surfers, news crews, and looky-loos that came to see the surf generated by Hurricane Marie.

Bueno.

​M​o​t​A​r​t​:​ ​B​l​a​c​k​ ​S​u​r​f​i​n​g​ ​A​s​s​o​c​i​a​t​i​o​n

SoCal Black Surfing Association

http://www.blacksurfing.com/

Poached via Mot'Art

Naked Surfing In Angola

One man, alone, surfing in Angola. Brilliant.

Freeth Will Ride Atlantic Rollers

Here is a link to the entire June 28th 1907 article from the Hawaiian Gazette.
http://americanpaddleboardcompany.com/images/1907-06-28-Freeth-APC.pdf

Did George Freeth surf in Atlantic City in 1903?

It is commonly assumed that the Hawaiian born, George Freeth made his first appearance surfing on the mainland of the United States in 1907. The Hawaiian Star heralded his departure on July 3^rd of that year with the headline proclaiming

“WILL INTRODUCE SURFING ON COAST: GEORGE FREETH EN ROUTE TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BEACHES TO SHOW HAWAIIAN SPORT “

On July 22^nd of 1907, the Santa Monica Daily Outlook commented

“SURF RIDERS HAVE DRAWN ATTENTION – Many people daily gather to watch the Hawaiians in the surf at Venice…”

Although not named, the “Hawaiians” that the Daily Outlook speaks of are most likely George Freeth and fellow Hawaiian, Kenneth Winter. An August 2^nd article in the Hawaiian Gazette title “FREETH SURFING AT VENICE” mentions

“Freeth and Kenneth Winter tried surf-riding at Long Beach, but found the rollers there unsatisfactory, finally making a contract with Manager Hanna at Venice. There, exhibitions are given by Freeth every afternoon…”

But this may not have been the first time that George Freeth surfed on the mainland of the United States. One week prior to his departure in 1907 a curious article appeared in the June 28^th edition of the Hawaiian Gazette that might place George Freeth surfing in Atlantic City, New Jersey as early as 1903. The headline read “Freeth Will Ride Atlantic Rollers” and goes on to claim “Freeth has the privilege of being able to boast that he is the only man living who has ever surfed on the Atlantic coast.”. The article goes on to tell the tale of a young George Freeth shaping his own board and riding the surf at Atlantic City, New Jersey.

“With a hatchet and jackknife he fashioned this into a surfboard and again sought the sad sea waves. Far out he swam and then, among the breakers, began to have a real swim, pretty soon he noticed a rowboat coming out his way but he was having too good a time to pay any attention. Pretty soon the boat with four life-savers aboard got abreast of where he was standing on his head on the slab.

“Here, young fellow, you can’t do that here,” shouted one of the rowers.

Freeth saw that they were speaking to him and just to show that he could do it, he balanced on the board again and wiggled his toes in their direction.

“Get in out of here.” Continued the life-saver, “no one is allowed to come this far out; we can’t spare all the men on the beach just to look after you.”

“You run along back to the girls,” said George, “This looks pretty good to me out here. I think I’ll swim out a little farther where I won’t keep hitting my knees,” and Freeth started to push his slab in the direction of Ireland.

That made the life-savers mad and they began to chase George. Three of them tried to corner him but he dived under them and splashed in their faces with his feet as he passed. Then he caught a roller and surfed past them towards the beach. He did all kinds of stunts, zigzagged between the pier legs, and had the time of his life, but he had to come out sometime and when he did the whole beach police force was laying for him. What they did to him George doesn’t tell and it would be unfair to say here, but he didn’t surf at Atlantic City anymore.”

This article does not give a date for when this event happened but it does note that Freeth boarded a steamer, “rounded the Horn” and “was given a discharge in Philadelphia”. The only time Freeth had left the Hawaiian archipelago prior to his 1907 California visit, was sometime during the summer of 1903.

From the August 18^th 1903 Evening Bulletin, Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii;

“George Freeth, son of Mrs. E.K. Freeth, of Emma Street, won the fancy and high diving and the 100-yards swimming race in the tournament at West Chester, Pa., on Independence Day. Young Freeth is an employee of one of the local telephone companies of that place.”

Roughly one hundred miles from West Chester, Pennsylvania, the world-famous seaside resort of Atlantic City, New Jersey would not have been too far away for the young George Freeth to visit.

There is no author attributed to the June 28^th story in the Hawaiian Gazette. Possibly it was Alexander Hume Ford who is credited with the two photos appearing along side the article. But until a secondary piece of evidence comes to light supporting the claim in the 1907 article, we can only take this unnamed writer at his written word.

Did George Freeth surf in Atlantic City in 1903? It certainly seems possible.

Sailing the Time Machine

Sailing with Bernadette on the Santa Monica bay. Light winds and swell. Very pleasant. The Pacific Palisades are in the foreground. Craft name: Time Machine.

Merit 25

Name:		Sailing 8-17
Date:		Aug 17, 2012 12:02 pm
Map: (valid until Feb 13, 2013)		View on Map
Distance:		18.1 miles
Elapsed Time:		5:06:33
Avg Speed:		3.5 mph
Max Speed:		6.5 mph
Avg Pace:		16' 56" per mile
Min Altitude:		0 ft
Max Altitude:		39 ft
Start Time:		2012-08-17T19:02:44Z
Start Location:		Marina Del Rey Pier 44
	Latitude:	33º 58' 51" N
	Longitude:	118º 26' 33" W
End Location:
	Latitude:	33º 58' 52" N
	Longitude:	118º 26' 33" W

Google Map: http://goo.gl/maps/pNbv0

Kahanamoku Again is Hero

While training for the 1912 Summer Olympics in Sweden, Duke Kahanamoku managed to save the lives of at least two men. Duke was perfecting his already impressive swimming stroke under the watchful eye of George Kistler, coach of the University of Pennsylvania swimming team. Kahanamoku was residing near Philadelphia with the family of Lew Henderson when, as reported in the May 16th, 1912 Evening Edition of the Hawaiian Star, Duke assisted in the rescue of two sailors, who went in swimming in the Schuylkill River and became exhausted.  Duke and a companion pulled them out and got them safely to shore

Here is Duke explaining the situation in a letter to Lew.

“We were out canoeing all day yesterday up and down the Schuylkill River.  Say, Lew; there’s certainly some crowd along the river here.  We rescued a couple of sailors yesterday.  One of them could hardly swim:  just managed to get ashore.  I believe the two did not know how to handle themselves.”

Only a few weeks prior, Duke had dived for a man who had gone to the bottom of the swimming pool at Atlantic City.