24 Hour Surf Comp???

So a couple weeks back when my team manager from Firewire Surfboards called and asked if I would be able to be compete in a tag team surf comp in Huntington, I clearly did not see what I was committing too. The event was the surf 24. It is put on by the project save our surf organization as a major fundraiser to support there efforts of keeping our beaches and oceans clean and healthy. This event differs from most of the surf comps that I compete in throughout the year in several huge ways. First off, it is a team event, which is fun because it creates little rivalries between the different teams and makes for some good trash talking. Another major difference with this event is that it started Saturday at noon, and ended the following day at noon. That's right, 24 hours of surfing, where 1 team member had to be in the water for each of the 24 hours. The event also paired each surf team with both one Hollywood actor or actress, and one professional stand up paddle boarder. We ended up with Sam Trammel, one of the leading actors on the True Blood series. I was pretty psyched because he actually looked like he could surf while entering the water, that was until I saw him try to surf..haha He managed to post a little score in his heat though, so we couldn't ask much more from him. The event organizers lined the Huntington Beach pier with major stadium lighting and let us battle through the night. Our team started with around 7 guys who were all scheduled to surf a couple times each. to make sure that we all would be rested and have energy to make it through the event. This was all going as planned until around 7 or 8, when the drinks started flowing freely on the beach in and out of the teams tents. Needless to say this resulted in half of the competition being to wasted to paddle out, much less actually score solid waves. By around 9, Noah Ericson (Firewire team rider from LA) and I were the last ones left from our team that were still able to surf, so we just took it over and powered through the whole night switching jerseys hour after hour. I felt like a little grom again, I didn't take my wetsuit off for literally close to 30 hours. It became pretty evident that the top two teams competing for the win were Billabong and us. We were severely outnumbered by there army of team riders, but held our own up until the final heat of the event, where we just completely ran out of gas. We ended up taking second in the event, but throughout the 24 hour period both Noah and I were dropping higher scores than most everyone. I actually took top honors as the MVP of the surf 24 for scoring the highest single wave total of a 9.83, which I scored during my 1:00 AM heat on a little pier bowl left. For me, the event really could not have gone much better, I think Noah and I held it down for the Firewire team, and had most of the other teams fearing us the whole time. Being awarded the MVP and the custom gold Nixon watch was just icing on the cake.

Viva La Mexico

Well I was headed back out to California to hang with the one and only Jeff Weatherall (pro wakeboarder from New Zealand/fellow Astars rider) when I get the call from him at the airport letting me know that we are headed straight down to Mexico the next morning to surf, and hang with a bunch of his friends for a few days. My past Mexico road trip experiences have been pretty hellacious, mix in an adrenaline junky Kiwi, and a trip sponsored by Peligroso Tequilla, Needless to say, I was a little nervous.haha Trip ended up going awesome, got some fun waves, and met a ton of new friends from much different walks of life. On our trip we had pro wakeboarders Scotty Broom and Jeff Wetherall, pro snowboarder Marius Otterstad, Pro Moto racer Ami Houde, Insane musicians Cindy Santini, Marc Beauregard, and Kellen Malloy, Pro female surfer/photog Leah Dawson, photographer Jen Jones, and of course we brought our favorite lawyer Becky Mendoza just incase anything popped off.haha We had a few sketchy moments crossing the boarder with passports from several different countries, some with expired visas, and missing pages,ha, but lucky for everyone in our car I purchased a Lucha Libre Mask from one of the street vendors, so they passed us through no questions asked....haha All in all it was an amazing trip, we didn't get the best surf, but we all had a blast and got our fill of world class roadside tacos....

Spreading the Love

About an hour into our first session on the island of Trinidad, I noticed this local kid making his way out to the line up with a piece of wood under his arm that resembled more of what use to be part of a staircase than a surfboard. To my surprise, he was actually able to belly ride waves on it. I made my way over to him and asked if he wanted to learn to surf? His eyes lit up so large I barely noticed him grab my board right out of my hands in excitement. I spent the next hour or so pushing "Landon" into waves. He asked me when I was going to be back down at the beach so he could coordinate his schedule.ha Sure enough, when I made my way back down that evening for another session he and a few of his other boys we there, frothing at the mouth to go back out on my board. I told them that I was going to go warm up for a little bit and I would get them a few before I left the beach that night. As badly as they wanted to get out there, they were stoked with that and waited patiently on the beach for me to come in after every wave...Needless to say, throughout the rest of our stay landon and a whole crew of other groms were trading off on all of our boards. It was pretty hilarious, we all were put into a situation wear we had to borrow our own boards back, just to ride during out heats.haha
Here are a couple shots from the first day I met Landon. It was really inspiring stuff, seeing how excited he got about something so many of us surfers take such advantage of. Take a closer look at his board, complete with holes that were once created by a hammer and nail. Remember this photo when you go to complain about your stick!!

Trinidad!!!!

This past week a whole crew of East Coast pros journeyed down to the land of KFC (more Kentucky Fried Chicken sold per capita than anywhere else in the world), to compete in the first major professional surfing event on the island of Trinidad. Not knowing what to expect, I linked up with several other surfers from our area, and helped persuade a couple photogs to join us on our journey. I think my quote on ESM's website sums the island of Trinidad up in my eyes, "The trip down to Trinidad & Tobago was pretty mental... the locals there are some of the nicest people in the world. It's pretty rare to have local surfers welcoming dozens of traveling pros to their normally empty lineup. When it comes to local talent, quality surf, good food, and good vibes, Trinidad is one of the most underrated islands in the Caribbean." Check out the rest of ESM's online feature here. There were surfers throughout the whole event that blew me away, I could not believe some of the talent from these islanders that I have never even heard of before. Some of them were even riding borrowed or handed down equipment. It was pretty inspiring to see, and definitely pushed all of us to surf harder. My goal before heading down there was to come back with the ratings lead for the WAPSS (Western Atlantic Pro Surf Series) and by being the only American surfer to make the final I accomplished that. I felt really good during my heats. I was riding one of my Firewire's that was actually shaped for good waves, but it was somehow going insane in the grovelly conditions. The final was a tough one. I was in the water with three Venezuelan surfer's who were able to work together and ensure that they had the best waves for the duration of the final. I did my best to get post some scores, but in the end had to settle for 3rd. Either way I am super stoked on how the event played out, and was really stoked to hang with the crew we had.

Here are a couple shots from the Event, I will post more photos, as well as video as soon as I can....
I actually landed this tail whip air!!, To bad it was about 1 minute before the Final Started......It would have been over if that was during it....

Maui Nix surf shop Window

The new Alpinestars window display at Maui Nix is looking good. Here are a couple pics of the new display featuring me. There is also a light display inside the shop directly above the Astars product table. Be sure to check them out next time you are around the shop. Also, dropped off a few of my older firewire's at the shop, check them out if you're looking for a new stick.

Volusia County Surfing Legends!!

Check out this shot that was featured in The Lifestyle Magazine of Volusia. It was an article entitled Home-grown Surfing Legends. Pretty cool little article about the history of surfing in the county, and about how many surfing Legends actually grew up in our area. Normally for these articles they pick horrible action shots, but I thought this one actually turned out pretty sick. It was taken during last years Tommy Tant event...

Stuck in the Middle...

Found this new photo on Able Planet's website. Thought it was a pretty cool display of how Able Planet diversifies their marketing by sponsoring athletes from totally different sports. The other athletes in this layout are Alexei Goosarov (NHL), Chris "birdman" Anderson (Denver Nuggets), Mike Gallagos (stock car), and Ashley Fiolek (X-games Gold Medalist).....

Landshark Pro 2010

After a long week of driving down to New Smyrna inlet every morning before sunrise, the Landshark pro is finally complete. I felt pretty good throughout the event, thanks in most part to my new Firewire I picked up while on the Goldcoast. (It actually wasn't even shaped for me, it was one of Taj Burrow's boards from the Burleigh event earlier in the year...) I ended up going down in the semi final to Gorkin and eventual winner Evan Geiselmen. My loss was a little controversial, word on the beach was my first wave was pretty underscored, but I was kind of expecting that coming up against two of the major hometown heros of New Smyrna Beach. And anyone who has ever been to Smyrna knows how much the locals support there Heros.. That being said, I can't take anything away from how Evan was surfing, he was definitely the most in form surfer throughout the week, and when the final day dropped a couple feet, I knew he would be hard to beat. I am just stoked on how I felt at the event. It's never a bad deal when you can surf a major pro event so close to home, and make a few bucks in the process. Thanks again to everyone for supporting the event!!
Oh and big thanks to ESM for posting a sequence of the finishing move of my first wave in the semi final, if you feel it was little underscored let the boys at ESM know here......

New Alpinestars Wallpaper

Check out my new Alpinestars Wallpaper. If you really want to stare at me every time you open up your computer you can download a copy for free. Just click here. I know its probably not the best photo or layout for a desktop wallpaper, (some of your files and folders might blend in with it) but if you like it, throw it on as a screen saver.

Currumbin Rock Pools

Check out this slide show I made from my trip to Rock pools located on the Goldie. A couple good friends of mind mentioned checking it out. I could remember the guys from the Endless Summer sliding down the natural rock slide jump of these massive rocks, I couldn't wait to get there!!

10 things you must do on the Goldcoast

The Goldcoast of Australia is by far one of my favorite destinations to travel to. If you are ever blessed with the opportunity to go there, here is a list of 10 things you must do......
1. The most important thing to do on the gold coast is to get your fill of their famous meat pies. I don't care how picky of an eater you are, you will find a type of meat pie to satisfy your hunger, and believe me you will be craving one when you return home. As an experienced "pie eater" I will let you in on the secret, hit the local bakeries, get there early when the pies are fresh, and be sure to get your feast on because the pie shops usually close around 2 or 3. If you are able to time it so you get there right before they close, you may be lucky and get a deal on whatever goods are leftover!!
2. Surf your brains out at all of the different points and beach breaks. (don't try to beat the crowds, just as many people surfing at 5am as there are at 11am, just wait your turn and enjoy every second of it, because even the scrap waves on the points are better than any surf on the east coast.)Also if the waves are good, don't count on people leaving the lineup for work!!
3. Wear tons of sunscreen, I think there is a little whole in the Ozone layer directly above Australia, the sun is brutal, and will fry your tender American skin.
4. Make sure you don't leave the goldcoast without at least 1 magic shred sled from one of the shapers over here. I know you can get Aussie boards in the states, but there is no comparison, I don't know what it is, they're just better here. A little hint, you can eliminate the stress of bringing home a damaged sled if you pick up a Firewire while you hear.(I had several boards in my bag and the only one with damage was my step up poly board.)
5. Eat as many Tim Tam cookies as you possibly can and purchase some reserves to take home. They make Oreos taste like shit!!
6. Check out the Currumbin Rock pools. (I mean come on. They did it in the original Endless Summer)
7. Act like a dumb American and accidentally drive on the "Right side" of the road.
8. Take some time to Get to know some of the local people. You will quickly realize how layed back their culture is and how genuinely nice most of the people really are.
9. Wake up early enough to watch the sunrise over there. Pretty insane, the moon is still lit up as it sets, while the sun melts the horizon.
10. No matter how big the mission seems make your way over to Straddie Island. The first day I ever went there the beach breaks were knee to waist high when we left and it was overhead and barrelling when we jumped of the boat taxi..

Recommendations for 20 hours on a plane!!!!

These useful tips will help eliminate the likely possibility of losing your mind while traveling to Australia.
1. Make sure you are sitting in either a window or Aisle before boarding the plane. Preferably a window with an open seat next to you. Much easier to fall asleep resting against the window, and its pretty annoying sitting in the aisle seat (if you are blocking someone in who need to get out every five minutes).
2. Make sure you have a set of good quality noise cancellation headphones. These are essential, I turn them on as I walk into the terminal and turn them off when I make it to the baggage claim of my final destination. I leave them on even when theres no sound playing... I prefer the Able Planet foldable headphones because they take up much less room than the others that don't fold while maintaining the quality.
3. If possible bring 2 ipods, I use my Itouch to watch movies and play games until the battery dies, and use the shuffle to jam out to.
4. Bring some sort of sleeping pill to ensure that you sleep at the correct time to help minimize jetlag.
5. Do not ever board a flight without snacks, or real food. Normally on international flights proper snakcs and food are provided, but I never rely on the airlines to keep you satisfied. One of the worst things is to be on a flight when you are really hungry and the guy next to you is eating an enormous cinnamon roll from Cinnabon and you are limited to two micro bags of peanuts and half a can of coke.