The Green Room

“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.

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).

For more info go to http://votedanyoung.com/

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.”

Surfers are often stereotyped as being apolitical and apathetic regarding matters beyond the surf zone. To quote the ultimate surfer caricature, Mr. Jeffrey Spicoli from 1982’s “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”: “All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I’m fine.”

Aptos surfer Dan Young, however, has never ascribed to that stereotype.

Born and raised in the Pajaro Valley, Young is an original co-founder of the Surfrider Foundation as well as the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum. After earning his degree as biogeographer from San Francisco State University, Young went on to work for a variety of nonprofit organizations including The Nature Conservancy, the National Park Service and the Center for Law in the Public Interest. Currently, he divides his time between responsibilities as the music director at Pajaro Valley High School, president of the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival and board member of the Santa Cruz Surfing Club.

photo: Boots McGhee

Given his impressive track record of community activism, it came as no surprise when — on the morning of the deadline — Young decided to head down to the County Clerk’s Office and file official nomination papers to run for District 2 county supervisor in the upcoming election on June 3.

“This should be an interesting ride!” Young said to friends and family later that day, in perhaps the understatement of the election. Most local political analysts consider Young a long shot to unseat incumbent Ellen Pirie, campaigning for her third straight term as District 2 supervisor and selected by fellow county supervisors in January to serve as chair of the board.

Young, however, remains upbeat about his potential to woo the voters of the 2nd District, which includes the communities of Aptos, La Selva Beach, Corralitos, Freedom, and portions of the cities of Capitola and Watsonville — the surfer in Young is quick to point out that the 2nd District also includes the entire coastline from Capitola all the way down to the mouth of the Pajaro River. In the following interview Young talks a bit about his impromptu campaign to become “king of the beaches.”

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Kenny “The Mechanic” Ludwig (b. 9/21/56) was well known for the magic he performed repairing surfer’s cars, trucks and boats while driving up and down the California coast in his vintage tan-colored 1962 GMC Suburban. He was dubbed “Mechanic to the Surf Stars” by the Santa Cruz surf media.He was an accomplished longboarder, migrating to a longer board in the early 1980’s, well before the beginning of the longboard resurgence.

Sentinel surf columnist Leo Maxam is currently on vacation in Hawaii. He is sending dispatches from Oahu’s legendary North Shore with news and observations on the winter surf season…

On any given day during the winter season, there are likely a few surfers from Santa Cruz charging the North Shore. So far during my stay I’ve already run into four of them. They’re all seeking out the challenge of Hawaii’s legendary wintertime juice —- and looking to get some relief from the cold water back home.

Among these local surfers was supergrom Nat Young, who I met up with in the lineup at Laniakea a few days ago. Young told me he was in Hawaii for a USA Surf Team training camp. The team was training on the North Shore for a couple of weeks in preparation for the International Surfing Association World Junior Championships, which will be held this May in France. Young, 16, earned his spot on the team by outlasting a field of 63 of the country’s top junior surfers and making it to the finals of the USA Surf Team Trials held October, 2007 in Huntington Beach.

The goofyfoot joined a crew of elite junior surfers from across the mainland U.S., which includes big names like Evan Geiselman and Kolohe Andino, looking to unseat last year’s gold medalist, Australia. [Team USA narrowly missed the medals podium in 2007, finishing fifth.]

The 2008 PacSun USA Surf Team with Santa Cruz’s Nat Young (top row, fourth from left) : photo Surfing America/AJ Neste

While the final 12-surfer roster for France won’t be officially announced until April, Team USA Head Coach and former Pipe Master, Joey Buran, said that Young was essentially a shoe-in to represent the team in the boys under-18 division.

“Nat’s quickly moving from ‘up-and-coming’ to ‘already here,’ ” Buran said.

Young took a brief respite from tearing apart the North Shore’s waves with his teammates to talk a little bit about his first year on Team USA and surfing Hawaii.

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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.

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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.

If you’ve ever taken a surfing road trip to Baja California, you know the feeling. In the morning you wake up to the sound of waves crashing and poke your head out of your tent just in time to catch the sun rising over a beautiful, empty beach. After a full day of surfing and fishing with friends, followed by dinner and beers around the campfire, you awake feeling satisfied and free, ready for another epic day.

But on your way into town for supplies — beer and fresh tortillas — you are confronted by a reality in stark contrast to your care-free state. It might be two children you see walking the few miles along the dusty dirt road into town. It might be the dilapidated local schoolhouse, a single room constructed of weathered cinder blocks and a yard full of playground equipment in disrepair. Or perhaps it’s the family of six crammed into a beat up 1989 Toyota Corolla, puttering slowly along the washboard road, and as you speed past the little car it sounds like the transmission is about to blow at any second.

It’s these scenes — the abject poverty facing many of the people in Baja’s remote desert villages — that slap you in the face. Compared to their daily struggles, driving hundreds of miles into the Mexican desert in search of some empty waves seems about as trivial as the drama on a telenovela.

This Christmas, a group of ten surfers, mostly from Santa Cruz, is organizing a different kind of Baja surf trip, one where helping those in need is just as important as scoring the ultimate wave. The surfers hope that through their combined efforts they can give back a little something to the people and the places that have provided them with so many good memories over the years.

In a nutshell their plan goes like this: Ten friends buy five used 4WD trucks. They load the vehicles up with 5,000 pounds of donated books, toys, clothes, art materials, bikes, tools and other supplies they are collecting throughout this holiday season. Come March, 2008, the ten surfers will break into five teams of two and drive the entire length of the Baja California peninsula — some 1,600 dusty, bumpy miles from Santa Cruz — surfing and donating the supplies, including the five trucks, to those in need along the way. Once they reach the end of the road in Cabo San Lucas, they will fly home.

In all, the team hopes to make donations worth more than $30,000. Because each team can spend a maximum of $3,000 for everything — including vehicle, food, gas, license, tolls and airfare home — the trip has been dubbed the Baja3000.

“We’ve been surfing Mexico for a long time, and we love it,” said expedition organizer Robert Brough, 42, of La Selva Beach. “This year, we decided to return one small token of thanks to a people and place that has become a part of our lives.”

Despite the logistical challenges of such a large-scale surf trip and charity mission, the surfers in the group feel they have the experience to pull it off. Most of them have been taking surf trips to Mexico — both Baja and mainland — for over twenty five years. The crew has also organized expeditions to exotic destinations as far away as Fiji and the Galapagos islands. They have been planning the Baja3000 mission for over six months now.

The friends have also created a contest format to add a little element of competition to the long road trip. In fact, the trip is governed by a set of rules so convoluted I won’t even try to explain them all here. According to the surfers, the rules are designed to maximize their donations as well as their own ingenuity, teamwork and grit.

While the trip is not a race, a points system has been established in order to determine the winner of the event. Points are awarded for a variety of tasks ranging from doing one’s own vehicle repairs and rescuing stranded motorists, to surfing fabled out-of-the way breaks and visiting important cultural sites. Once all five teams reach the final destination point in Cabo, the scores will be tallied and a coveted Baja3000 trophy will be awarded to the winners.

“We decided to get back to our roots, travel simply, meet people, and just surf” said team member Robert Ellenwood, also of La Selva Beach. “Because we surf some very remote locations, we’ll be able to make our donations in towns that seldom receive any kind of assistance. We hope to have a direct, immediate and positive impact.”

Ellenwood, a filmmaker, plans to document the entire trip with video equipment and produce a DVD movie complete with surf footage, music, stories of how donations are used, and all the inevitable mishaps and adventures of a Baja road trip. As a token of thanks for their contribution, donors to the cause will receive a copy of Ellenwood’s Baja3000 DVD.

Thus far, the group has identified three charitable organizations in Baja that they will work with during their trip. The first, Fortalecer, provides a mobile classroom to children of migrant farm laborers all around Baja California Sur. The program, run by Mexican and American volunteers, visits migrant labor camps and provides toys, games and educational activities to workers’ children and helps about 500 kids each week.

The Baja3000 also plans to contribute to a special needs school in Todos Santos, a small town about 50 miles north of Cabo. The school provides education and therapy for severely emotionally and physically challenged kids suffering from autism, deafness, Down syndrome and other disabilities.

“The school’s library only has about 50 books, the water doesn’t work in the restrooms, they need an internet connection, and even basic supplies such as paper and pencils are in short supply,” team member Mike Brozda said in an email from Baja, where he is currently researching other potential charitable organizations and what supplies are most needed.

Children enjoy playtime at the special needs school in Todos Santos.

The final charity the Baja3000 plans to assist is the Palapa Society, which runs nine different community services in Baja, including a scholarship program, library, medical clinic, rural-area road grading service.

“Baja has a high poverty rate with 34 percent of its people living in ‘extreme’ poverty, so the needs are huge,” Brozda said. “Coming down here for two decades, we’ve come to know and respect the wonderful people here. It seems right that we should give something back.”

The Baja3000 team is looking for donations of quality supplies. Especially needed are warm clothing, shoes, infant and children’s supplies, books — especially children’s books in Spanish — tools, toys, bikes, mechanical services, household items and cash.

Donors will be able to read all about how their contributions are used and view photos and video of the trip via regular updates posted on the Baja3000 web site at www.Baja3000.com.

To make a donation please contact Robert Ellenwood at 206-3080. More information can be found at www.Baja3000.com.