The Green Room

Following is the full interview with Capitola surf photographer Nikki Brooks that led to the article in Sunday’s Sentinel. This conversation took place on a rainy Thursday afternoon at Verve Café on 41st over a croissant and some hot tea…

How long have you been doing photography?

Well, I studied at UCSD and I started taking some photography classes. I graduated there in 2000 with a BS in Marine Biology, so about 8 years in surf photography. More seriously for about 5 years.

Is photography your full time gig?

Yeah. I work from home. I have two little babies. My husband is the main provider. But yeah, side jobs and surf photography is my main thing and I’ll also shoot weddings and portraits whenever I get the opportunity to.

(more…)

When she was selected as a finalist for the 2007 Follow the Light Foundation Award this fall, Nikki Brooks felt validated.

The Capitola native was one of only five photographers chosen from an international field by the Foundation, established in memory of Larry “Flame” Moore, longtime photo editor for Surfing Magazine, to recognize and support the industry’s best up-and-coming surf photographers.

“I was super excited,” said Brooks, 30, who has been doing surf photography for about eight years and working to make a career out of it for the past five. “It was another statement that you’re doing the right thing, keep it up.”

But at the awards banquet in San Clemente, Brooks got a pesky little reminder that an acclaimed woman surf photographer is still a foreign concept for many in the male-dominated surf industry. While Brooks and her 11-month-old daughter, Waverley, were mingling on the floor at the Surfing Heritage Museum, an industry bigwig — who shall remain nameless — approached Brooks and, apparently failing to read her name tag that identified her as a finalist, initiated a conversation that would best be described as awkward. (more…)

No, not that kind of amateur home video! Get your minds out of the gutter people.

Here’s the view from the media boat at Maverick’s, Jan. 12, 2008, captured by the shaky hands of your local surf scribe (Hey, it’s hard to film with a tiny digital camera while trying to balance yourself on the railing of a rocking media boat, packed well over its legal capacity with jostling photogs and journalists). In between the jittery shots of boats in the channel and close-ups of the back of photographers’ heads, I think I might have actually documented a few of the waves ridden during the sixth running of the Maverick’s contest.

Thanks to Sentinel video editor extraordinaire Christina Gullickson for putting the whole thing together and transforming my D-grade amateur footage into a dramatic blockbuster of epic proportions. The C-gull also managed to get this movie a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America by editing out a few of my narrational indiscretions (notice the break in the audio during Evan Slater’s air drop wipeout). Enjoy…

Fifteen-year-old Kai Medeiros showed up at Steamer Lane last Sunday ready to live out every grom’s dream.

The swell was up for the third stop of the Interscholastic Surfing Association’s local high school surfing season, and Medeiros was psyching on the prospect of ripping some big waves in his heat as family and friends looked on from the cliffs at surfing’s ultimate arena.

The waves showed up in force — powerful peaks rumbling over the reef at Middle Peak and pouring in off the point. Unfortunately, the ISF hadn’t. The tents, judges and heat sheets were all missing in action.

Medeiros and his teammates on the Harbor High surf team would later find out that their meet had been cancelled because of the heavy surf conditions. While most agreed that it was probably a smart call because of the big waves, strong currents and lack of experience among many of the younger surfers, some coaches, students and parents were upset about not receiving any notice of the meet’s cancellation.

“In the past, it’s run pretty flawlessly, but this year it seems like Santa Cruz is a lower priority,” Medeiros said of the ISF, now in its 20th year. “Now that they have expanded to the East Coast and Hawaii, we’ve kind of been put on the back burner.”

The contest at the Lane was the second cancelled meet of the season for the Santa Cruz region — the season opener in October at the Hook was cancelled because the ISF couldn’t gather enough officials in time. The next scheduled meet is the season finale, set for Feb. 23 at Capitola.

“I understand the safety issues of a big swell,” said Neil Pearlberg, now in his second year as Harbor’s surf coach. “But you’d think they would call me as a coach to tell the 50 people who were planning to show up. I got 30 calls from kids and parents asking me what was going on, and not even a phone call from the ISF.”

Pearlberg said he expected more from the Federation after having to raise nearly $4,000 dollars to pay for league fees, not including the entry fees for the State Championships scheduled to take place this spring in Southern California.

“I’ve got kids really trying hard to make state,” he said. “When you only have five meets scheduled for the entire season, missing two is a big deal. They don’t get to rack up points to qualify. There’s no guarantee [the meets] will be made up. For four grand I don’t want ‘tentative.’ ”

ISF Director Diane Steuer insists that the two cancelled contests will be made up at some point during the season. However, no permits have been secured so far.

“Absolutely. All five events will take place,” Steuer said. “This year has been really tough for us. We’ve had 14 days canceled throughout the state. We’re basically rebuilding the schedule in the middle of the year.”

Nevertheless, Pearlberg said he is considering what alternatives might be out there to provide local high school surfers with more opportunities to represent their school through team competitions. He said he approached the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League this fall about the possibility of adding surfing to its list of officially sanctioned sports.

“There are schools in Southern California that recognize surfing as a sanctioned sport,” Pearlberg said, “and I find it unusual that in a town that is vying to be Surf City USA, and is supposedly the mecca for the industry, that the last e-mail I received from the SCCAL denied my request to even come talk to them about it.”

As it stands, local high schools recognize surfing teams only as clubs, like the chess club or the drama club. This means that the surf teams receive no funding or resources from schools and are responsible for their own equipment, transportation and other costs.

While the California Interscholastic Federation does not list surfing anywhere on its Web site, it does list skiing and snowboarding on its list of approved sports. In Hawaii, surfing has been an official high school sport since 2005.

“The vast majority of schools in California are viewing surfing as a club sport,” said Steuer, of the ISF. “Maybe three or four schools in our league recognize it as a sanctioned sport. There are also a couple of schools working on that issue right now.”

“The two main concerns of schools and administrators are liability and cost,” she said. “Once people see that those issues are taken care of, then they’re a little more open minded.”

SCCAL Commissioner Pat Lovell said that league athletic directors discussed the issue at a meeting in early October and decided against it. He cited liability, safety and costs as the main issues keeping surfing out of “Surf City’s” high school athletics.

“We’re not taking in any new sports right now,” Lovell said. “There’s no money to do that. It seems to us … that with the ISF, they’ve actually got a better deal going. Up here we don’t recognize surfing as a certified CIF sport.”

But Pearlberg points out that the surf teams are already fully capable of financing themselves and have been doing it for a long time. In fact, he said, his surfing team is better funded than the Pirates soccer team, which he also coaches.

“I’m not asking them to build a brand new pool or facility. I don’t need anything. I need kids to have a wetsuit and a surfboard.

“If kids don’t have a board I can bring extras. And if I want a meet I’ll get a tent and a clock and a bullhorn. I don’t need any dough from the SCCAL. I raised about two grand in sponsorships to get the fees down to around $150 per kid this year. I reciprocate by getting them business.”

Pearlberg also said that it’s an issue of meeting the demand of the growing surfing student body.

“I’ve got 50 kids in my surf club and only so many can surf in the meets,” he said. “I have more kids on my surf team than they have on the football team. I also have a plethora of girls this year. Meanwhile, I can barely scrape together 11 kids to play on the soccer team.”

Ironically, if the SCCAL did sanction local surf teams, the league would likely see a slew of them regularly winning regional, state and even national high school titles.

Last year, the Santa Cruz High surf team made it to the National Surf League’s Red Bull High School Cup National Championships in Southern California after winning their regional championship. The same year, team MVP Nat Young also represented his school by competing on the NSL’s All-Star team against the top high school amateurs from Australia.

How often does an SCCAL team in any sport win a section or state title? Let’s just say it’s rare.

The Santa Cruz High basketball team’s state title run in 2005 is still spoken about in mythical tones — and rightfully so. It was an incredible run.

But the point is athletic glory on that scale is pretty rare around these parts, and yet it could potentially be an annual ritual for the SCCAL if surfing were recognized as a legitimate high school sport.

From a standpoint based purely on physical athleticism, there’s no question that surfing deserves to be in the same league — no pun intended — as traditional sports like basketball, football and baseball. And there’s no doubt that the concentration of surfing talent in a town such as Santa Cruz is greater than in any other sport. Just look at the Maverick’s Surf Contest, in which nine of the 24 top big wave riders invited from around the world were from Santa Cruz.

Even Lovell admitted that he was impressed by what he sees from young surfers around Santa Cruz.

“It’s amazing what those kids are able to do out there,” he said. “It’s really a thing of beauty.”

So what do the kids themselves think of the whole issue?

While some noted it would be cool to feel more like they were representing their school, the general consensus among the young surfers I spoke to was that they just enjoy the opportunity to surf with friends in a competitive format, as well as the camaraderie of belonging to a team.

Carly Wilson, a freshman competing in the young women’s longboard division for Harbor, said she doesn’t really care about the politics of what athletic body sponsors her team’s surf meets.

“I enjoy meeting other people who surf and getting to share the waves with only four other girls,” she said. “I’m just there to surf and get better.”

Tom Kendrick, author of Bluewater Gold Rush, will host a lecture, slideshow and booksigning this Thursday, January 17th at 6:30 p.m. at the Long Marine Lab in the Center for Ocean Health Building, 100 Shaffer Rd, Santa Cruz.

In his presentation, Swimming with Sea Monsters, 22 Years as a California Sea Urchin Diver, Kendrick will recount some of the more epic tales that he experienced during his time working as a diver in the California Sea Urchin Fishery from the late seventies to the late nineties. 

Kendrick’s saltwatery stories encompass everything from shark ecounters to surf exploration in California’s offshore islands to a chronology of the California Sea Urchin boom in which fortunes were both won and lost. During his urchin diving years Kendrick also came to know some unique characters. Many of his stories describe in captivating detail his numerous strange and hilarious interactions with some of the more eccentric personalities ever molded by the sea.

I was traveling in Costa Rica last summer when I happened to come upon Tom’s book. A young surfer named Darren from Ventura who I linked up with gave it to me when I mentioned I had nothing left to read on my trip. After a week of exploring the rivermouths together along the country’s central coast, Darren had to return to California and gifted me a number of useful items which both helped me out on the rest of my journey and lightened his load on the way back to the airport.

Among his gifts to me was Bluewater Gold Rush. With the exceptions of surfing, eating and sleeping, I remember having the book in my hands at all times for the next three days. During tropical rainstorms, sitting on the deck of the hotel waiting for the tide to come up, drinking Imperials. I couldn’t put it down. And even though I was on a surf trip in a warm-water tropical paradise, Kendrick’s book had me dreaming of taking a boat trip out to the Channel Islands and scoring a long period south swell at one of the many secret reefs, or fantasizing of having the reckless abandon to attempt to surf the right reefbreak out in the shark infested waters off of the Farallon Islands.

Darren had mentioned to me that his late father, Arnie, was a serious commercial abalone and urchin diver in the Channel Islands and that was why he had enjoyed the book so much. He told me that after his father passed the family decided to sell his highly sought after abalone fishing license, which was a huge financial help for the family, but also ended the family tradition of commercial diving. After I finished the book, I noticed that Darren’s father, Arnie Douglas, was among those memorialized in the back pages by Kendrick and for some reason this made Kendrick’s stories seem all the more personal to me. But really anyone who loves the ocean will identify with the book.

Kendrick’s first book is essentially a collection of stories–adventurous, humorous, tragic–woven together chronologically through a historical narrative of a lifetime dedicated to the sea.

I would recommend Bluewater Gold Rush to surfers, divers and anyone who has ever been captivated by the wonders of the ocean environment and the beauty of the California coast. In fact anyone who appreciates a good adventure would likely enjoy this book.

If you can’t make it to the booksigning and slideshow presentation this Thursday night at Long Marine Lab and would like more information on Bluewater Gold Rush, check out www.bluewatergoldrush.com.

Master shaper Steve Coletta has been making boards for Santa Cruz surfers for over 40 years. Now the surfing community is coming together to help support Coletta, who was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. 

Friends said Coletta was remaining optimistic and tackling the cancer head-on, with surgery scheduled for the end of this week. Coletta has been trying to shape as many boards as possible before going into his surgery and anticipated being unable to resume work for at least three months after his operation.

In order to help Coletta with the combined financial burden of medical costs and being out of work for so long, friends are organizing a fundraiser on his behalf. The event is scheduled to take place Friday from 7-9 p.m. at the Rio Theatre[Seabright Ave. at Soquel Ave.]. There will be live music from local surf band Cruzin’ as well as a feature presentation of Powerlines Productions’ latest highlight footage of the Maverick’s season, including “The Big Ugly” swell that saw estimated 80-foot waves. Organizers are asking for a $10 donation at the door but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

There is also a raffle planed with some killer prizes, including six new boards from Freeline, Stretch, M10, Haut, Michel Junod and Surftech; wetsuits from Hotline, Billabong, O’Neill, Rip Curl, Xcel and Quiksilver; original artwork from local surf artists; gear from Paradise Surf Shop, Pacific Wave, NHS, DaKine, Block, Giro; a $200 gas card from Moulton’s 76 gas station, and more. Raffle tickets are one dollar each and boxes are set up at Haut on the Westside, Freeline Surf Shop and the Point Market on the Eastside, for those who may not be able to make it to the event.

Come on out and enjoy a classic surf party and help support a local legend in a time of need.

Sentinel Staff Report
After rain postponed competition Saturday, big waves showed up in force Sunday for the final rounds of the Nelscott Reef Tow-in Classic surf contest in Lincoln City, Ore. So did Adam Replogle and Alistair Craft of Santa Cruz.

Replogle and Craft’s surfing during the early rounds Friday afternoon and Sunday morning placed them in the middle of the field heading into the finals Sunday afternoon. The pair made the most of the many clean waves of up to 40 feet that rolled through to beat out the team of Rodrigo Resende of Brazil and Yuri Soledad of Hawaii.

Eraldo Gueiros of Brazil lost partner Carlos Burle after the first round when the The Big Wave Invitational in Memory of Eddie Aikau contest held at Waimea Bay in Hawaii went on high alert for Sunday [conditions ended up being too stormy to run the Eddie]. He picked up Everaldo Pato as a backup, and the duo took third. Osh Bartlett and Tyler Fox of Santa Cruz finished fourth and Homer Henard and Matt Rockhold of Santa Cruz were fifth.

The 3-year-old contest went through some rough times this year. Half its contestants pulled out of the event after the bigger Maverick’s Surf Contest near Half Moon Bay got the green light Friday. Then the swell came in later than expected for the Nelscott contest, which was supposed to be held Friday, allowing surfers to get in just one round that day. The rest had to be made up on Sunday.

But Sunday arrived sunny and calm with frequent, clean 40-foot waves. Contest spokesman Adam Wagner said that made everything worth it.

“There isn’t a single person here who wouldn’t say today was worth waiting for,” Wagner said.

As the first morning light dawned over the water at the 2008 Maverick’s surf contest, the scene didn’t quite appear to be in line with the months of pregame hype. But in the end, the legendary wave off of Pillar Point Harbor somehow mustered up some big-wave magic to provide everyone on hand Saturday with a thrilling finish.

Greg Long, the unsponsored 24-year-old charger from San Clemente, won the contest for the first time, beating out a field of 24 of the best big-wave surfers in the world. The real winner, though, was Maverick’s, which proved itself yet again as the world’s premiere big wave, worthy of all the hype and able to deliver once again, even with the odds stacked against it.

Ross Clarke-Jones (white) and Ryan Seelbach (red) drop in on one of the bigger waves of the quarters.

“I’m glad Jeff called it,” event producer Keir Beadling said. “It was a great day all around. Everything came together in a short amount of time.”

It didn’t look so good early in the day. The west/northwest swell that prompted contest director Jeff Clark to hold the contest had peaked through the night. While still potent, it was beginning to dissipate with some long flat spells. The tide was low but would be shooting up high through the morning and into the afternoon, which wouldn’t help matters.

While no one could complain about the weather conditions — light and variable winds and clearing skies — the waves weren’t huge by Maverick’s standards, just 20 feet on the face with the rare 25-foot bomb out the back.

The lulls between sets lasted up to 10 minutes, occasionally 15 — a big deal in heats only 45 minutes long. There were probably about 6-8 waves on average ridden in the opening rounds and the waves were already starting to show signs of dying out. They often would just jack up for a huge drop and then mush out into a soft shoulder, like big Middle Peak on steroids.

I didn’t think groveling was possible in a big-wave event, but guys were doing what they had to, just trying to get through some of the slower, flatter opening round heats, especially Heat 2. Granted, a term such as groveling is relative when used in the same sentence as Maverick’s. However, more than one surfer was seen scratching to catch a slower inside wave that they would normally never even flinch for just to get a score.

By the time the final rolled around, the wave droughts had gotten longer. The scene began to look more like Lake Havasu during spring break than a dramatic, death-defying big-wave event. There were tons of boats, jetskis, yachts and kayaks out, as well as a catamaran and even a dude on an SUP. Two Coast Guard boats were cruising around and a helicopter was buzzing overhead, but the waves were still playing coy. Spectators were relaxing, enjoying the sun and some beers while casually waiting for the next set.

“There are some long lulls out there for sure,” said Evan Slater, who placed sixth, before the final. “It’s gonna be a dog fight.”

Sure enough, the final started out with yet another long wave drought, with only one wave ridden through the first 15 minutes or so. With so few waves early on, the six finalists–Long, Jamie Sterling, Grant Washburn, Grant “Twiggy” Baker, Tyler Smith and Slater–figured that the winner would be determined by whoever could catch the one decent wave that rolled through. Faced with what appeared to be a dire situation, they huddled together and hatched a plan — split the $75,000 prize purse evenly between them.

“We were bobbing out there for like 10 minutes without a wave and I could have swore it was Greg’s idea,” said Tyler Smith, the only local to make the final, finishing fourth. “We all said, ‘Why not?’ You know, and shook on it.”

Turns out the surfers were wrong. After they joined arms in the water and made their pact, a set of 20-foot waves began marching in from out the back. Despite the high tide and the dropping swell, Maverick’s mustered up some big-wave magic and produced a thrilling final.

There was jockeying, big, late drops and radical big-wave surfing. Somehow the biggest waves of the day managed to march through right then with a couple legitimate, heaving 25-footers. It was the most consistent 15-20 minutes of the event and it came at the perfect time — 15 minutes before the end of what turned out to be an epic final, filled with drama and suspense.

“All of a sudden a few 20-footers rolled through,” Smith said. “[The pact] almost encouraged the waves to come. It’s not really about the money.

“I was hoping for the three, two, one,” Smith said referring to his third and second place in the last two Maverick’s contests and his hope for a title this year, “but I’ll settle for the 3, 2, 4. I’m just happy to make it out of my first heat. It was another great day thanks to Jeff Clark.”

You know it’s been a good final when there is no clear-cut winner heading into the awards ceremony. It also helps when there is a perfect 10 ridden, earned by Long for his air drop down the vertical face and big bottom turn after nearly losing his balance halfway down the face. Sterling also nabbed what many considered the largest wave of the day during the same flurry. In fact, the final was one of only two heats where every surfer snagged at least one solid ride and four of the six had two great scoring waves.

True to his word, Long announced at the podium the surprise twist to the crowd and received a huge applause.

“People always say that the day picks the winner,” Long said. “The waves just gravitate to one person and today the waves came to me. [Splitting the prize] really took the edge off for everybody. It was just a free surf, sharing with friends.”

Here they are folks, the final results for the 2007/08 Mavericks Surf Contest held on January 12, 2008 in Half Moon Bay, Calif. In addition to the results you will also find a random melange of video clips courtesy of the Sentinel and your local humble surf scribe.

First round (Top three advance)

Heat 1

1. Jamie Sterling, 25. Shawn Rhodes 19.5, 3. Greg Long 16, 4. Ion Banner 14.3, 5. Russel Smith 12.25, 6. Brock Little 9.25.

Heat 2

1. Grant Washburn 25, 2. Dave Wassel 20.8, 3. Matt Ambrose 16, 4. Josh Loya 14.2, 5. Kenny Collins 13.5, 6. Danilo Couto 6.8.

Heat 3

1. Ryan Seelbach 25, 2. Shane Desmond 23.3, 3. Evan Slater 21.7, 4. Garrett McNamara 17.3, 5. Ross Clarke-Jones 13.8, 6. Randy Cone 13.2.

Heat 4

1. Grant Baker 26.6, 2. Anthony Tashnick 25.4, 3. Tyler Smith 24.0, 4. Peter Mel, 21.7, 5. Zach Wormhoudt 19.4, 6. Darryl Virostko 18.2.

Semi Finals (Top three advance)

Heat 5

1. Jamie Sterling 22.3, 2. Greg Long, 17.9, 3. Grant Washburn 17.8, 4. Dave Wassel 14.8, 5. Shawn Rhodes 3.5, 6. Matt Ambrose 0.

Heat 6

1. Grant Baker 24.3, 2. Evan Slater 25.9, 3. Tyler Smith 24.3, 4. Ryan Seelbach 23.3, 5. Shane Desmond 20.4, 6. Anthony Tashnick 10.2.

Finals

1. Greg Long

2. Grant Baker

3. Jamie Sterling

4. Tyler Smith

5. Grant Washburn

6. Evan Slater

**Jay Moriarity Award: Jamie Sterling

Take a look back one more time at Saturday’s competition at Maverick’s courtesy of local videographer Ryan Vaughan. The scene, sun, waves and the competitors, all set to music from Ribsy’s Nickel. See the video …

Evan Slater air drops into oblivion during his heat at the 2007/08 Mavericks Surf Contest.

Ken “Skindog” Collins gets the bad news that he finished fifth in his quarterfinal heat, failing to advance.

An outside sneaker set catches the pack off guard in Heat 4 of the Mavericks Surf Contest. Zach Wormhoudt of Santa Cruz (white jersey) thinks about going for the wave but pulls back at the last second, probably a good decision.

Flea arrives fashionably late for his opening round heat as his driver attempts to maneuver through the gridlock of jetskis and other flotsam in the channel.

The much-hyped Heat 4 at the ‘08 Mavericks Surf Contest included Darryl “Flea” Virostko, Peter Mel, Anthony Tashnick, Grant “Twiggy” Baker, Tyler Smith and Zach Wormhoudt. Here Mel and Smith drop in on the first wave as Mel kicks out and Smith is overtaken by the white water. Flea takes a somersault wipeout on the second wave, and Baker makes a nice drop on the last wave.

I thought this might be Josh Loya’s year to take the title, but the Santa Cruz veteran had a relatively short Mav’s contest campaign in 2008. In Heat 2 of the opening round Loya was matched up against Danilo Couto (Brazil), Dave Wassell (Hawaii), Matt Ambrose (Pacifica), Skindog, and Washburn.

After a long lull to start the heat, Loya grabbed the second wave that rolled through and scored a decent sized drop to a bottom turn kickout. It was a nice ride but he needed to combine it with a bigger score to ensure a berth in the semis. After another lull a big set came marching through, catching the pack inside, and Loya was the first to make it out to the waves. After sprinting out to the first wave of the set, Loya spun around and took a few deep stroked to get into it. As he got to his feet, the wave began to suck out and go square, at which point Loya leaned back and kind of skirted along the lip and rode over the back of the wave. It would have been a heavy drop, but if he could have stuck it he probably would have been in first.

Another good wave never came his way after that and Loya finished fourth, just missing the cut. At the after party he told me he kicked out because he wasn’t in the right spot. He thought he would be able to find one more wave in the heat that would let him into the money spot, where he knew he could make it instead of getting worked and possibly snapping his board. It was a good strategy, there just weren’t quite enough waves coming through. In fact, I counted about half as many waves in Heat 2 as in Heat 1.

• Through the opening rounds it looked like a two horse race between Twiggy and Jamie Sterling. Both surfers placed first in their opening round heats as well as their semifinal heats, with Sterling consistently catching the biggest waves of his heats and Twiggy consistently taking off extremely deep and pulling radical maneuvers down the line. Twiggy pulled one particular rail grab carve along an inside wall that was especially impressive and earned a chorus of hoots from the channel.
• According to event producer and Mavericks Surf Ventures CEO, Keir Beadling, over a quarter of a million people logged on to view the contest’s online webcast and another 1,000 attended the live viewing at AT&T Park in San Francisco.
• Even with pleas from Jeff Clark and contest organizers to stay away, crowds packed tiny Princeton-by-the-Sea for the sixth edition of the Maverick’s Surf Contest. Fans began arriving before day break, and the San Mateo County sheriffs’ office estimated the contest drew 40,000 to 50,000 spectators to the beach and cliff area off the break Saturday. Those figures are similar to those from the 2006 contest, which was held on a Tuesday in February.