“Mr. Pipeline” himself will be at the UC Santa Cruz Media Theatre on Saturday, May 3 from 7 to 8 p.m. for a book signing and reading from his new work, “Surf Is Where You Find It.”
Lopez launched his book tour Tuesday night in Hawaii and saw over 300 people show up to the event. He also sold out all 200 copies of the book he had brought with him! It’s safe to say that the interest in a surf town like Santa Cruz for a book penned by the man synonymous with the Pipeline will be comparable to what was seen in the islands. Lopez is still in Hawaii and will return to his home up in Bend, Oregon before heading to NorCal for Saturday’s event.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to meet one of surfing’s most revered and influential characters. Check out the full details by clicking the banner below.
Logjam logs stand at attention. photo: Neil Pearlberg.
Few surfing contests are better suited for small waves than the Big Stick Surfing Association Logjam.
If a standard shortboard surf contest had attempted to run this weekend at Pleasure Point — which saw hot and glassy conditions and a nice low tide, but relatively small, weak waves — there would have been a lot of bobbing around, griping, and surfers pumping their boards spastically in futile attempts squeeze some juice out of the little waves.
However the “logs” at the Logjam — which requires contestants to ride leashless boards made prior to 1970 and weighing at least 20 pounds — were perfect for catching even the most meager little lines that lapped through First Peak Sunday, allowing surfers to dance gracefully up and down their planks as they sped down the line.
Back-to-back women’s champion, Chris Chiechi. photo: Phil Matthews
Big Stick member CJ Nelson had no problem catching waves, as he navigated a 1967 Hap Jacobs aircraft carrier to victory in the Senior Men’s division. Nelson decided that the contest was as good a time as any to test out the antique longboard.
“I’m borrowing the board and I’m potentially going to buy it, so I wanted to try it out,” Nelson said. “I liked it. I’ve been doing this contest since I was 14 and had the opportunity to ride hundreds of old boards. This contest is all about finding your dream board.”
Nelson beat out good friends Vince Felix of Ventura, who took second, and Marciano “Chango” Cruz. Felix gave Nelson a good run after he somehow managed to cram his nine foot, six inch Hap Jacobs noserider circa 1966 inside a quick First Peak barrel and score the only tube ride of the event.
“He stuffed a turkey into a toaster,” Nelson said of his friend’s feat.
With the Logjam’s board requirements limiting surfers to often hard-to-find and expensive antique longboards, many competitors relied on the aloha of others to borrow a stick for the contest. Kai Medeiros, 15, surfing in just his second Logjam, said he was especially thankful to Mark and CJ Nelson for providing him with a beautiful 1966 David Nuuhiwa noserider for the event. In the process of surfing the Nuuhiwa all the way to the Junior Men’s finals, the young longboarder said he fell in love with the board.
“It’s one of the best noseriders I’ve ever ridden,” Medeiros said tenderly. “I think of the board as being innocent since it was made before the shortboard revolution. I’m thinking about buying it. We might have to dip into the college fund.”
Quinn Pearlberg surfs with his father Neil Pearlberg in the Aloha Team final of the Big Stick Log Jam. photo: Dan Coyro/Sentinel
In the Women’s final it was Big Stick’s Chris Chiechi taking first place for the second year in a row, picking off a number of set waves and scoring some nice tip time. Cathy Meyerhoffer, meanwhile, took the Junior Women’s final against a talented field that included Santa Cruz’s Micaela Eastman and Nelson’s girlfriend, Jill Hansen. Hansen, who grew up surfing in Hawaii, said the small surf was an adjustment, but that she enjoyed her first Logjam.
“We’re kind of a team,” Hansen said. “To surf with CJ in the same contest was really special for me.”
Another team at this year’s Logjam was the father-son duo of Neil and Quinn Pearlberg, who rode together in the “Aloha Team” heat, where two members from the same club surf the same wave at the same time.
“Instead of him dropping in on me, now we have to share the wave,” Neil Pearlberg joked before the two paddled out together.
“But I’ll still be in front,” added Quinn.
Keeping with the theme of celebrating surfing’s past, this year’s Logjam also featured a “Super Legends” heat of surfers all over 70 years old. 72-year-old Vince Pando of the Pedro Point Surf Club has been surfing since he was 24. Surfing, he said, has helped keep him feeling young.
“This is the first time they let guys our age surf,” Pando said. “Anything we can do to help encourage senior fitness is great. If you don’t keep it moving, you’re gonna lose it, and surfing definitely is moving it.”
Vince Pando, 72, talks about his super legend session with the other seasoned surfers at the Big Stick Log Jam Sunday in Pleasure Point. photo: Dan Coyro/Sentinel
Bill Bragg, 71, of Ventura, surfed with Pando in the Super Legends heat on the biggest, and possibly oldest, board at the event — an 11-6 Hobie shaped in the 1950s. Bragg said the camaraderie and community of the Logjam reminded him of the way surfing in California used to be.
“It reminds me of coming up here 45 years ago, when Kelly’s Cove in San Francisco was the place we always went because that was where you could always find somebody to surf with,” Bragg said. “Back then you were always looking for someone to surf with, as opposed to now where you go to check the surf and it’s like, ‘Oh, there’s too many people out.’”
If you haven’t already heard of the Bra Boys, ask an Aussie.
Wild stories abound Down Under about the crew of tatted-up, tough-as-nails surfers from the slums of Maroubra. They have a reputation for always having each other’s back and never backing down from anything — be it the mutant death wave Ours that breaks in their own backyard, or a small army of gangbangers trying to start a riot in their community.
With the release of the full-length documentary “Bra Boys,” and the accompanying star power of actor Russell Crowe, who narrates the film, audiences around the world are now learning the true story behind one of surfing’s more infamous tribes.
The film chronicles the evolution of the Bra Boys and the surf culture of Maroubra, a Sydney suberb, from its humble origins in the beach ghetto during the early 1980s, all the way up to the trials of brothers Jai and Koby Abberton. Professional big wave surfers and core members of the Bra Boys, the Abbertons faced murder charges in 2005.
If I had to describe the film in one word, it would be “heavy,” and not just in terms of surfing waves of consequence. The movie focuses as much on the tribulations of growing up in an urban ghetto — struggles with police, gang violence — as it does on surfing. Basically, the Bra Boys are hardcore. They make the kids from Dogtown and Z Boys look like the Teletubbies.
Two of the Bra Boys behind the film — Macario “Macca” De Souza, co-director and editor, and Mark Matthews, professional big-wave surfer — were recently in town to help promote the movie, which plays in Santa Cruz this week. De Souza and Matthews are two of the nicest, mellowest blokes you’ll ever meet. After a failed attempt to find some rideable waves in town during our recent flat spell, both sat down to talk about where they’ve come from, what they’ve accomplished, and where they’re headed.
Leo: For people who haven’t seen the film yet, talk about what it was like for you guys growing up in Maroubra and what it means to be a Bra Boy?
Macca: A lot of youth in Maroubra back in the 80s and 90s came from broken homes—Single-parent families and a lot of drug addicted parents—so the bond was the beach and surfing and each other. It got to a stage where there was a bit of shit going down with other crews coming in and causing trouble, so we had to stick together and came up with the Bra Boys. That was the older generation. Things have kind of changed now, where we come from good families. You know, some have bad, some have good, but we’ve all got each other.
Leo: How did the rivalry between gangs and surfers start? Why did they start coming down to the beach communities like Maroubra trying to start fights with surfers?
Mark: It was just a phase that happened…the whole gang phase, that homeboy thing. In Australia out west–away from the beaches–there’s a lot of gangs and a lot of troubled kids–like we were on the beach–but they don’t have the beach. We’ve got an outlet in the surf there, but they don’t have anything, so they’d rather come down and cause trouble.
Bra Boy Koby Abberton surveys Maroubra Beach. photo: Berkela Films
Macca: It’s equivalent to the gangs over here, but over there it was like rockers versus surfers and the sharpies versus whoever, you know. Every crew had their thing. They were known as the surfers or the rockers or the homeboys. It was just a phase that started at that time.
Leo: So it was about not only where you’re from, but also what you identify with.
Mark: Exactly.
Leo: How has Maroubra changed from when you guys were growing up?
Macca: It’s mellowed out a lot. We’re like 15 minutes south of the famous Bondi Beach, which has been just overrun by gentrification and tourism.
Leo: Yeah, that’s happened to a lot of neighborhoods around California. Like Venice Beach down south. What used to be Dogtown is all fancy condos now.
Mark: That’s exactly what’s happening in Maroubra now.
Macca: If we were going to compare it to anywhere in the world it would definitely be something similar to Venice Beach, where it was really localized, and now—it’s not as bad as Venice, it’s still quite local and there is still a strong local community—but it is a very high priced area now. At the same time there’s an area in Maroubra just back from the beach that’s still government housing projects. I’m sure ten years from now, they’re going to try and wipe that out.
Mark: The property prices anywhere on the coast of Sydney and Australia are just going through the roof. So locals, like the kids who have grown up surfing there, can’t afford to live there anymore. A lot of the older generation are moving away because it’s just impossible to live there. It’s getting more and more mellow because it’s just like holiday houses on the beach pretty much. You lose a lot of character.
Leo: What was it like to surf that wave “Ours” (the insanely hollow right slab that detonates literally a few feet in front of huge boulders, and pioneered by the Bra Boys) for the first time?
Mark: It was pretty nuts. I can remember when we first heard about it. It was so close that, when we heard it was such a good wave, we were just like, “there’s no way that a wave that good actually breaks that close to where we live and we don’t know about it.” So we thought it was just a hoax. We went over and checked it on a couple of different swells and from the shore it looks completely unridable. So we thought, “Yeah, there’s no way you can actually surf this wave. It doesn’t look that amazing because there’s too much consequence.” But once we checked it on the right swells and finally surfed it, we realized how good it is.
Leo: Is it true that spongers were the first ones to surf it?
Mark: Yeah, they had actually been surfing it for years. At Cronulla–where the wave actually is–it’s like a huge community of bodyboarders. They’ve got that famous break Shark Island and they all come from everywhere to surf there, so it was natural that they ended up finding it (Ours).
Leo: Mark, I know you’ve surfed some of the gnarliest waves around the world. Where would you rank Ours among the world’s heaviest waves?
Mark: Definitely size for size it would be matched with an eight foot day at Pipeline or an eight foot day at Teahupoo (Mark obviously measures wave height from the back). I’d definitely say it’s heavier than each of those waves at that size, and even up to ten foot, which we’ve gotten to surf it now. It’s a lot heavier than those places at ten foot. But then Teahupoo can get to 20 foot so…You can die at either of those waves, but at Ours there’s a lot higher chance of it happening. The consequences of falling at Ours are really bad.
Leo: How did Russell Crowe get involved with the project?
Macca: There is a show on the ABC back at home called “The Australian Story,” and they did a story on Koby when he was going through court. (Crowe) saw that show when he was overseas somehow and was interested in the story. Around that same time he had just bought a football team—in our rugby league over there—and it was our local team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs. One of our boys plays for South Sidney.
Mark: Their next up and coming star player was a Bra Boy, John Sutton.
Macca: So (Crowe) had been trying to call Koby and get in touch with him by email, and Koby thought it was just a prank because a lot of the guys around the beach, that’s just how we roll, it’s always prank after prank. So Crowe got in touch with Sutton who plays for the team and said, “Tell Koby I’m trying to get in touch with him.” They got in touch eventually, when Koby knew it was legit, and a couple months later we had what we felt was a strong enough rough edit to show him. So we showed him the rough edit and there was a narrator on there—just a generic guy—and he told us, “I really like the edit, but I don’t know so much about the narrator on there, he’s pretty shit.” So we asked him if he would do it and he said, “Yeah, I’ll do it.” He helped us a lot as far as taking it to a new level and exposing the film. From there he had his own ideas for making an adaptation feature based off our documentary. It’s going to be his directorial debut and Universal and Imagine Pictures are behind it. I think we’ll start production maybe next year.
Leo: What do you hope people take away from this documentary?
Mark: We just wanted to portray a truthful story. In Australia we cop a lot of bad media attention and most of it is just completely sensationalized. They’re creating an image of us that is just completely false and it’s getting to the point now where young kids are growing up in different areas and they’re mimicking that image they see in the paper. Just going out and causing trouble, the first step to just ending up in prison. They’re doing that thinking it’s what we do just because the media has created that image. So it was cool to get more of a true portrayal of what we’re about and what we believe in. Hopefully it affects kids in a bit more positive way.
Macca: Like Mark said, we copped a lot of flak back home, had a lot of haters. We didn’t make the film to glorify ourselves and to make people like us or hate us. We just told it how it is, and whether you liked it or not, that’s just what it was. What we hoped for a broader audience internationally was—there’s a bit of Maroubra in every town in the world—so hopefully they can take that love for family, that brotherhood, looking after each other, and coming from nothing and making something of yourself. Those were the main things we wanted to get across. The funny thing is now that we’re doing well with the film internationally, our critics have kinda jumped on the bandwagon and said, “Yeah, yeah, we’ve backed you the whole way.”
Salmon season is over before it began, but all is not lost for ocean sport fishermen. Abalone diving season opened April 1 and the abs are ready for picking — assuming you’re up to the challenge.
In this modern age of microwave dinners and point-and-spray pancake mix, there are still a few adventurous souls out there who enjoy working for their dinner on occasion. And there is no meal more labor-intensive, or deliciously gratifying, as abalone retrieved with your own two hands from the chilly waters of the North Coast.
“It’s challenging, for sure,” Sonoma Coast resident and North Coast diver Jamie Barlow said. “Standard visibility is usually just 5 to 6 feet. Good vis up here is like 10 feet, and 20 is excellent. If you need to go get some abs up here, be prepared to dive in one to two foot vis. Hold your ab iron tool for prying the abalone off the rocks out in front of you on a dive. That way you don’t run into the bottom with your face like running into a wall in the dark.
“Unless it’s the dead of summer, there’s usually a decent amount of swell in the water, even on the mellow days. When you get that intense surge, you hang on to the kelp and stay put when the big rollers come in.”
Along with fickle visibility, divers should be prepared for some seriously cold water. This is especially true during the spring, when heavy Northwest winds and the subsequent upwelling of colder water from the depths are at their heights, and temperatures can dip into the upper 40s.
“It was 46 [degrees Fahrenheit] last week,” said Nate Buck, a lifeguard for the California State Parks who has patrolled the Sonoma County beaches since 2000. “That’s the coldest I’ve seen it. Average water temperature hovers around 50 degrees.”
A wet suit at least 6 or 7 millimeters thick, as well as booties, a hood and gloves are mandatory. Other essential gear includes: a weightbelt, snorkel and mask; diving fins; an abalone iron to pry the mollusks off the rocks; and an accurate abalone gauge to measure the animal and ensure it is of legal size [at least seven inches in the longest shell diameter].
In addition to a California Sport Fishing License, divers also need an Abalone Report Card to document and tag each abalone taken. Cards cost $18.65 and can be purchased at most dive shops and general stores along the North Coast.
Consistently rough surf, a rocky coastline with dangerous entry and exit points, and regular sightings of great white sharks are typical along the North Coast. Given the multitude of challenges facing divers, finding the safest possible conditions is crucial.
“Most days of the year there is somewhere to dive,” Buck said. “A sure sign of a poor diver is a person who shows up and dives in poor conditions. A good diver will learn the coastline and learn where to dive given the conditions. A good diver will find the best conditions, and the best conditions is where it’s safe — calm, clear water. Lifeguards and rangers will always be happy to steer you in the right direction.”
Buck said most of the rescues he and his fellow state lifeguards make along the Sonoma Coast are of abalone divers.
“We average upwards of 50 [rescues] in a season,” he said, “some seasons over a hundred. I had four rescues this weekend alone. All the rescues I made were guys I warned and they did exactly what I told them not to do.
“A lot of them drive out from a long ways away to get to the dive site, so pretty much they’re going to get in the water no matter what the conditions are. You get people underestimating the power of the ocean and overestimating their own abilities. That’s when people get in trouble.”
Abalone live along rocky shores near kelp forests, kelp being their main food source, and like to set up shop in crevices and underneath boulders where they’re protected. Underneath its red shell, the abalone is essentially just one big muscle, which allows it to grab on and affix itself to the underside of rocks. Often their round, convex shells, which already look like rocks from the surface, will be covered in algae, allowing them to further blend in with the rocky bottom.
Red abalone can be found on exposed rocks during extreme low tides and as deep as 70 feet below the ocean surface. Because freediving is the only legal method of harvesting the animal underwater [absolutely no scuba or any other type of surface air supply is allowed] most abalone divers operate within 10-30 feet of water.
In order to pick an abalone, the diver must take a lungful of air and dive down to the ocean floor. After scouting out an abalone that looks desirable and measuring the animal by placing the abalone gauge to its shell, the diver must then use the ab iron [a flat strip of metal about 7 inches long] to pry the muscle off the rock.
The diver will quickly slip the iron underneath the shell, in between the muscle and the rock, and then lever upwards, popping the abalone off the rocks. However, if the diver takes too long in prying the animal off, or disturbs it while measuring or scoping it out, the muscle will clamp down tight to the rock and be nearly impossible to remove. Struggling to pry the abalone off at this stage is mostly futile and will only injure the animal, while burning up what little oxygen the diver has left.
State law allows licensed divers to take abalone from the waters north of the Golden Gate in the counties of Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte. The season is open during the months of April, May, June, August, September, October and November.
Unfortunately, not everyone follows the rules.
Abalone poaching — taking more than one’s legal limit of three per day and 24 per year, and taking them out of season — is an increasing problem, especially when a single abalone can fetch up to $100 on the black market. The California Department of Fish and Game estimates that over 250,000 abalone are poached off the North Coast every year. As a result, a tougher set of rules is being implemented in 2008.
“California’s red abalone is a very important and valuable fishery resource,” Nancy Foley, Chief of the Department’s Law Enforcement Division, said in a statement. “This new regulation should enable our law enforcement officers to better enforce regulations designed to prevent the overharvest of this abalone fishery.”
In years past, a diver could come ashore and leisurely return to his vehicle with his abalone and gear, change into some warm, dry clothes and then fill out his abalone card. On the card he would record how many abalone were caught [up to three for that day] where, and when. The diver would then punch out one of the 24 holes on his abalone card for each abalone he caught that day.
According to the new rules, divers must now carry their sport fishing license and abalone report card at all times when diving. Immediately upon exiting the water or boarding a vessel, the diver must fill in the month, day, time of catch, and location on abalone tags that come with his card and affix one tag to the shell of each abalone caught. After tagging all his abalone, the diver must then record the same information in his abalone report card.
While many divers see the new rules as an annoyance, ab divers like Barlow say they don’t mind the regulations if it means ensuring a sustainable sport fishery to enjoy in the future.
“I’m okay with the new regulations and the need for Fish and Game to enforce them,” Barlow said. “It’s the fact that some people have been really dishonest and forced Fish and Game to make those changes that bothers me. It’s the classic case where a few rotten apples spoil it for the whole bunch”
Buck, also an avid abalone diver, agreed with Barlow.
“For me it’s really a privilege to dive for abalone and I think that we should do whatever needs to be done to preserve it for future generations,” Barlow said. “It’s a lot better than shutting the whole thing down. … but because of overharvesting and other factors, the abalone disappeared. So it’s very real to me that the ab population could disappear. It’s a precious resource that needs to be protected.”
If you are a registered voter in Santa Cruz County District 2 (Aptos, La Selva Beach, Corralitos, Freedom, and portions of Capitola and Watsonville) and want to learn more about District 2 supervisorial candidate Dan Young–or if you just want to rock out to some roots reggae rhythms–don’t miss Young’s ”meet & greet” concert party this Saturday in Aptos.
This is an excellent opportunity to get to know Young–a lifelong NorCal surfer–learn more about his grassroots campaign to become one of the County’s five supervisors, and how you can help this historic effort to get the first surfer into local public office on June 3rd. For more on Young and the focus of his campaign platform, check out this interview.
Roots rock reggae music will be performed live by Aptos locals Coastal Sage.
The event is happening Saturday, April 26 from 1-5 p.m. at the Aptos Grange (2555 Mar Vista Drive off of Soquel Drive).
As one of the longest-running “old board, no cord” surf contests around, the Big Stick Surfing Association Logjam — technically an offshoot of the original Surf-O-Rama — has created plenty of memorable moments over the years for contestants and spectators alike.
Along with Surf-O-Rama — which still runs every Labor Day weekend — and the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in February, the Logjam is one of the few surf contests that celebrates the spirit of surfing’s past by requiring contestants to ride boards made prior to 1970 and without leashes.
Between the graceful, old-school longboarding that goes down in the water, the antique boards on display from collections up and down the coast, and the legendary surfers in attendance — past winners include a who’s who of longboarding, including: Joel Tudor, Robert “Wingnut” Weaver, Ashley Lloyd, Terry Simms, Bob Pearson, Jay Moriarity, Dane Perlee, CJ Nelson, and Michel Junod — the Logjam is brimming with surfing history.
The latest chapter will be written April 26 and 27, when the Logjam returns to Pleasure Point for another weekend of classic longboard nostalgia, camaraderie and fun. This year’s contest will also include a “Super Legends” heat of surfers over 70 years old — and one as old as 77! — as well as “Aloha Team” heats, where two members of the same team will surf the same wave at the same time.
To get everybody in the mood, here’s a random sampling of memorable moments and classic stories from years past, offered up by Logjam surfers young and old…
Michel Junod, 59, veteran Logjam surfer and past winner:
“There have been a couple of rainy, funky ones, and there have been some with really good waves. I guess the one that stands out the most was the one I won. I’ve got a trophy around here somewhere, I don’t know where it is. I think it was ‘95. But the surf was great the whole day. It was head high on the sets and just perfect. The waves were breaking at First Peak and going through to Second Peak. It was just an open contest back then [no separate divisions] so everyone surfed against each other, from the young guys then like CJ [Nelson] and Jay [Moriarity] all the way to the older guys. It’s super fun because it’s competitive, but not dog eat dog.”
Sierra Partridge, 19, surfed in her first Logjam last year:
“My dad and I had to share the same board for the contest. It was an old Rick Irons longboard. It wasn’t a problem in the beginning of the contest, but later on his final was right before mine so we had to switch off. After his heat, he forgot that I was going to be waiting on beach to switch off with him, and he rode his last wave all the way past Second Peak down to 38th. He just blanked and forgot. So I had to run all the way down to Second Peak. He finally saw me running and realized what was going on and started running towards me with the board. I ended up only being about five minutes late, but I was so tired during the heat. I got fourth place out of six, I think. He apologized later. It was pretty funny.”
Pete Ogilvie, former BSSA president:
“Big Stick’s Logjam is the only surfing competition that features an ‘Aloha Day’ in which competitors of all ages and genders are in the same heats, not competing against each other but just trying to surf each wave with as much skill and power and fun as they can bring to that moment. Surfers don’t even know who will be in their age/gender division when and if they advance to the semifinals on the next day. Everyone surfs twice and their scores are totaled to determine who goes on to the serious competition, but the divisions are gerrymandered so that almost all of the surfers in the contest make it to the semifinal rounds and earn points for their clubs.”
Terry Simms, 2006 Logjam. photo: Phil Matthews
Robert “Wingnut” Weaver, four-time Logjam winner:
“Back in the old days, when it was the Surf-O-Rama, first place used to be a ticket to Hawaii. I used that ticket to go to Hawaii with my then girlfriend — she had to buy her own. We went to Kauai and I proposed while we were there. Eighteen years later and we’re still married.”
Gioni Pasquinelli, 34, former BSSA President:
“When I first competed in the contest [2004], it was really like no other contest I had ever seen before. In the same heat we had contestants of all different ages, women and kids. Everyone was friendly and saying hi. So that was my first impression, I was just really shocked to see people hooting for each other out in the water, saying ‘go for this wave,’ in the same heat. It was fun. You really don’t see that in any other contest. It’s a very different attitude.”
Kackie Cohen, current BSSA President:
“My first Logjam — and first Big Stick event — was in 2006. I’d seen a posting on Surfline recruiting volunteers for the contest, and I figured since I was going to be hanging out at the Point watching the contest anyway, I may as well pitch in and help. I worked a shift selling raffle tickets and set up tables and chairs for the banquet with Gary Silberstein [Big Stick Secretary for Life] and Beth Colyear. Every single club member I met that day had so much aloha and was so welcoming that it was totally love at first sight for me. Long story short, I joined the club, and in the summer of 2007 I was asked to join the Board of Directors. Now I’m honored to be serving as the first woman president in the history of the club. I can’t say enough good things about this group of people. Pete says there’s a lot of heart in the contest, and that is because the club itself is all heart.
“BSSA has awarded over $50,000 in scholarships to local surfers from funds raised by Surf-O-Rama and the Logjam. This week, when Gary Silberstein and I were out hanging a few contest posters in surf shops on 41st Avenue, we ran into a previous winner — Hunter Young, whose dad Dan Young is running for County Supervisor. Hunter is an EMT instructor at Cabrillo and works one day a week at the Freeline shop. He saw our poster and told us both he and his sister had been awarded scholarships from Big Stick. It was really great to hear that and to see what a positive impact this club and — indirectly — this contest are having in the community.”
If You Go
WHAT: The Big Stick Surfing Association Logjam, one of the premier classic longboard surfing contests in the world. More than 100 competitors from the top Coalition Surf Club organizations up and down the West Coast will be in attendance.
WHEN: April 26-27, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.
WHERE: Pleasure Point (Saturday is in front of Jack O’Neill’s house at East Cliff Drive and 36th Avenue and Sunday is at First Peak at East Cliff Drive and 32nd Avenue).
ON THE NET: www.bigsticksurfing.org.
There’s a good chance at least one of the antique longboards on display or in the water at this year’s Logjam will have been crafted by the hands of Johnny Rice. The Santa Cruz master shaper, who has been providing surfers with beautiful wave riding tools since 1954 after studying under Dale Velzy, celebrates his 70th birthday tomorrow.
Rice continues to actively surf and shape after all these years, and remains “very stoked” according to his wife, Rosemari Rice, who celebrated her own birthday exactly one week before her husband’s.
“We get in the water as much as we can,” Rosemari said. “I was in last Monday on my birthday. At our age, Cowell’s is best, or 38th. He has a hard time standing up because he’s had two major back surgeries, but he still goes out there.”
Folks, this could possibly be the most dangerous experiment ever undertaken in the history of the theatre–or it could be pretty funny.
On Friday, April 11 “Point Break Live!” began a three-month San Francisco engagement at Xenodrome. “‘Point Break Live!”‘ is the absurdist stage adaptation of the 1992 Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze extreme-sports blockbuster “Point Break” (just admit it, we know you’ve seen it). The drama unfolds as former college football star-turned FBI agent, Johnny Utah (Reeves), goes undercover as a righteous surfer dude on the beaches of Santa Monica in order to infiltrate a wild gang of bank-robbing, skydiving, bare-hand-fighting, adrenaline-junkie surfers lead by Zen-master, Bodhi Sattva (Swayze). Epic, indeed.
Since it’s Seattle debut in 2003, “Point Break Live!” has entertained sell-out crowds in Minneapolis, New York City and Los Angeles. As strange as it may sound, here are some rave reviews from legitimate print and online publications.
* “In a nutshell: About the most dead-on dose of hilarity to ever be
on stage.” - LA.COM
* “So hideously over the top, you can’t stop laughing.” - LA WEEKLY
* “Can only be described as all-encompassing, wet, interactive, loud,
extreme, and altogether awesome.” - LA2Day.com
* “PBL! shamelessly rides the gnarly breakers of travesty until
viewers wipe out on the shoals of helpless laughter.” - LA TIMES
According to the play’s press release:
“Point Break LIVE!” features armed robbery, big-wave surfing, car chases, explosions, no less than two extended skydiving sequences and an indoor monsoon. This “action” play offers a true cathartic experience, putting you in the water with the surfers, throwing you out the door of an airplane, and robbing you at gunpoint. Add in the hotness factor - surfer dudes and female stunt doubles - and you have a night of live theater that rivals anything by Samuel Beckett in terms of pure excitement and energy.
What makes the play really unique, though, is this twist: the starring role of Johnny Utah is selected from the audience each night. The impromptu Keanu then reads their entire script off of cue-cards. This method manages to capture the “rawness” (i.e. complete lack of acting ability) of a Keanu Reeves performance, even from those who generally think themselves incapable of acting. The fun starts with the “screen test,” wherein the volunteer Keanus (usually 5-15 men and women vie for the role), go through a grueling audition process. The part is then cast based on Applause-o-Meter. At the end of the performance, the “volunteer Keanu,” is handed a VHS tape of his or her performance.
The rest of the audience also plays a role in the produciton. “Survival Kits” are issued before the start of the show, containing items to help audience members participate in “the ultimate ride,” including a plastic emergency poncho to protect themselves from the action that literally spills forth from the stage.
The play could potentially land into the “so stupid it’s funny” category–and it looks like that’s the intention here–but it could also very easily wind up being ”just plain stupid.”
For now, you’ll have to judge for yourself. If you have the courage to go check it out please let me know what your final verdict is. I’m still building up the nerve to confront this reincarnation of one of the classics of the canon of Failed Hollywood Surfing Blockbusters. Look for a pull-no-punches theatrical review in the Sentinel soon.
“Point Break Live!” plays at the Xenodrome, 1320 Potrero Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94110. Tickets are available for $25.00 each at www.theatermania.com, or by calling 1-866-811-4111. If not sold out, tickets are also available at the door for $25.00. ”Point Break Live!” will continue through June 2008, and possibly beyond, every Friday night at 8 p.m. with two performances on Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. For more info, cast photos, and video, please visit www.pointbreaklive.com.
Roots rock reggae music will be performed live by Aptos locals 
Along with Surf-O-Rama — which still runs every Labor Day weekend — and the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in February, the Logjam is one of the few surf contests that celebrates the spirit of surfing’s past by requiring contestants to ride boards made prior to 1970 and without leashes.
