Surfing

In June 2006 former LAPD Officer Kristina Ripatti was shot three times by a suspect, severing her spinal cord and paralyzing her from the chest down. Tim Pearce, her husband, “sensed that she would recover more quickly and fully if she could resume the activities she loved — biking, surfing, fishing — even with limitations.”

“When they surf together, Pearce carries her into the water and, using swim fins, pushes her board beyond the surf line before turning it toward shore. She rides the wave in and he follows close behind,” writes Jean Merl of the Los Angeles Times.

Club Of The Waves speaks with Australian surf photographer Trent Mitchell about subject matter, still shooting film, favorite travel locales, and his evolving fascination with the sport:

“…I rode waves long before I loved riding them. It was maybe after a couple of years until I really did love it. Maybe when I was 14/15. It could have been a few sessions out a local reef break, where you kind of weightlessly draw lines into the tube every wave. It was not big, but hollow for the size and I really remember being addicted to that weightless millisecond and going fast with a lip pitching over your head.”

Cirque Belgique: Belgian Snow, Skate, Surf Extravaganza. O’Neill team riders Delphine and Mathias Vanoverbeke, Axel Vermeulen, Keith Marcantuoni, and Pascal Van Der Mast surf Puerto Viejo, Peru, From Romania With Love freestyle snowboard documentary teaser, Luxemburg skatetrip, and Dopamine II surf footage.

Produced by Cirque Belgique

Wherever you are is where you are: Catching up with professional surfer and icon Rob Machado in his backyard of Cardiff-by-the-Sea–playing guitar and premiering his recent and well-received surfing movie The Drifter, where he finds “the empty perfection of an unnamed Indian Ocean reef…”

Produced by Ian O

Ventura, CA videographer Tony Cruz spends a day documenting San Francisco’s world-famous surfing location: Mavericks.

“In early March 1961, three surfers, Alex Matienzo, Jim Thompson, and Dick Knottmeyer, decided to try the distant waves off Pillar Point. With them was a white-haired German Shepherd named Maverick, owned by a roommate of Matienzo. Maverick was used to swimming out with his owner, or with Matienzo, while they were out surfing. They decided to name the point after Maverick, who seemed to have gotten the most out of the experience.” Wikipedia

Production by tonycruz.tv

With roughly 40 members and its headquarters a “dilapidated corrugated iron shack, about the size of an outside toilet,” the Gaza Surf Club is group of young and old Palestinians battling world-wide political perception, in addition to raw sewage on their surf break.

“The sea around Gaza is heavily polluted with at least 60 million litres of raw and partially treated sewage being pumped into it every day,” writes Jon Donnison of BBC News.

“It’s therefore a somewhat surreal sight to see young men, clad in wetsuits, boards tucked under their arms, splashing into the water. These are the surfers of Gaza.”

“In 1968, Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins set out to surf, ski and climb their way to Patagonia. The wild places they found later motivated them to protect the environment. Inspired by this journey, Jeff Johnson and Woodshed Films set sail on a voyage to South America to climb a mythical peak called Corcovado with Chouindard and Tompkins,” as told by Fletcher Chouinard.

The film is entitled 180° South: Conquerors of the Useless and also is a behind the scenes book of the same name, written by Yvon Chouinard and Chris Malloy and photographed Jeff Johnson.

In this recent interview, Jeff Johnson talks to Alpinist about the inspiration and challenges behind the film: “Most climbing and surfing films go to far flung regions of the world, document the good, leave out the bad, paint a pretty picture and call it good. 180 South takes a different approach, one that might effect change, and that’s rewarding.”

The process and result: Stuart D’Arcy of D’Arcy Surfboards is regarded as the most eco-friendly surfboard manufacturer in Australia. “We are committed to adopting cleaner production principles… This not only means that we minimize environmental harm, but also that we produce surfboards in the most efficient manner.” Darcysurfboards.com

Produced by Circulate Motion Pictures

Board Shaper

Entrepreneurs and surfboard shapers Joey Santley and Steve Cox of San Clemente, Ca. of start-up Green Foam Blanks and Ned McMahon of San Diego’s Malma Composites (soy-based surfboard blanks), are trying to change the toxic manufacturing history of the surfboard industry by creating blanks that are 60 to 65 percent recycled waste.

“A broken board tossed in a landfill will take generations to biodegrade; the plastic fins probably never will. Even the thin strip of wood that runs down the middle to provide strength comes at an environmental cost…” writes Mike Anton of The Los Angeles Times.

photo credit: Jaymis

Gary King of The Daily Telegraph writes about the global expansion of surfing, with international industry spanning equipment, clothing, publishing, competitions, and surf camps. In addition, there’s even a recent UK trend of students matriculating with Surf Science and Technology degrees…

“Long gone are the days when surfing was seen as the preserve of the slacker and the beach bum. These days you are likely to see people of all ages and walks of life bobbing around in the water waiting for that next big wave. In recent years a plethora of surf schools has sprung up all over Britain and a new £3 million artificial reef has been built in Bournemouth to capitalise on the sport’s ever-increasing popularity.”