http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35663889/embed
Despite being the best female surfer in Brazil, Silvana Lima was refused sponsorship deals because she wasn’t considered sufficiently good-looking.
Interesting video – and the one quote in heading … ‘… if i was a man this wouldn’t happen’ scarily true perhaps.
It was in the turbulent Pacific waters off Corona del Mar 90 years ago when Duke Kahanamoku, the celebrated Hawaiian surfing and Olympic swimming titleholder, proved once again to be a genuine American champion. He is the subject of a Google Doodle today.
Dawn was breaking that Sunday, June 14, 1925, when Kahanamoku, then 34, in the company of several surfers, including Gerard “Jerry” Vultee, his best friend and pioneer aircraft designer, was preparing to enter the waves on his 12-foot mahogany surfboard.
The “Duke” (who was born 125 years ago today) could see that trouble was brewing when massive waves and swells propelled by fierce winds began to lash the coast.
All of a sudden, one of his companions cried out, “That boat is in trouble,” pointing to the 40-foot, 5-ton yacht Thelma attempting to enter Newport Harbor through the churning breakers.
Coastal storms had come up suddenly during previous months, and just recently they had brought havoc and death to the very waters Kahanamoku and his friends were planning to surf.
A year earlier, on June 8, 1924, the 30-foot fishing boat Adieu, carrying 16 passengers and its captain, overturned during a storm off Corona del Mar, drowning five fishermen from Santa Ana. On May 21, 1925 — just three weeks before the Thelma’s foundering — a rowboat carrying three teenagers capsized in heavy waves. Two of the youths made it to shore; a third drowned.
So the fears of Kahanamoku mounted as he observed the hapless Thelma struggle to stay afloat.
“Only a porpoise or a sea lion had the right to be out there …,” he later recalled, according to old news stories. “From the shore we saw the Thelma wallowing in the water just seaward of where the breakers were falling. You could see her rails crowded with fishermen. She appeared to be trying to fight her way toward safe water … but it obviously was a losing battle.
“A mountain of solid green water curled down upon the vessel … spume geysered up in all directions … then before the next mammoth breaker could blot out the view again, it was obvious the Thelma had capsized and thrown her passengers into the boiling sea.”
The following day, in a dramatic Page One story headlined, “Five Are Drowned When Waves Capsize Yacht … Twelve More Narrowly Escape As Swimmers Bring Victims to Shore on Surf Boards,” the Los Angeles Times described the frightening scene.
“The swell, as it gained momentum, merged into a mountainous wave and crashed over the bow, smashing the plate glass window of the engine-room, flooding the compartment and stopping the engine,” according to the article. “Practically all the members of the pleasure party were swept overboard with the first wave and were struggling in the midst of the torn wreckage and pounding waves.
“Before the fishermen could put on life preservers and assistance could reach them, the boat was caught broadside in the teeth of the tremendous breakers and rolled completely over twice.”
The sinking, said the newspaper, “resulted in the drowning of five passengers. Twelve others were pulled from the sea in a spectacular rescue staged by Duke Kahanamoku, famous Hawaiian swimmer, and others who braved the heavy seas on surfboards.”
Two days in Northern NSW with Asher Pacey and his self shaped twin fin.
even a non-surfer has to admire the glide and smoothness of this guy. Makes it looks so smooth and dare i say easy … from Magic Seaweed
Here we have Asher Pacey, the style-guru ripping on his self-shaped twin-fin. Surfing this kind of craft sets you apart from the crowd anyway but by combining a graceful, smooth approach with raw power in the right doses, Asher puts himself in a whole other category.
I guess the first thing to say was this was not an attack but a shark getting caught in the leash as it passed by FANNING.
DRIFT: It was only a matter of time. In fact that morning the commentator’s at the J-Bay Open remarked that Mick Fanning was in the surf before dawn, earlier than everyone else, and that the frigid seas of the Eastern Cape weren’t the place to really do that. How prophetic?
With the world watching live across the Internet, as Julian Wilson finished an 9.0 ride and paddled back out into the line up Australian Mick Fanning was attacked by what is assumed to be a Great White Shark.
As we watched in horror Fanning was thrown about as the shark got caught up in his leash and thrashed about. Fanning, Aussie to the core, fought back laying several punches across the shark’s back before the leash was severed.
Then the world caught up. Mick found himself swimming to shore, Wilson paddled towards his compatriot and the safety boats charged in. That must have been the longest minute of their lives.
Thankfully unscathed the crew was returned to the beach where the near nonchalance of Fanning’s initial adrenaline fuelled response dissolved under the weight of the enormity of the situation.With events like Chopes and Pipeline, waves of consequence that have taken lives over the years it was only a matter of time before something horrible happened live in a contest. It’s a sobering note that Mother Nature has as little respect for us and we sadly often seem to have for her.
Thankfully Mick and Julian are well and healthly if very shaken. It remains to be seen whether South Africa will return to the WSL next year. For the country’s sake I hope it does. The event was called off and everyone will now be taking stock of the situation before heading to Tahiti.
OK well it is a vaguely hidden advert for HP or something like that but love the madness of the project – hunting for the unridden wave. If it isn’t playing in your area then hit this link – thanks for the shout out readers ….
When Tom Thimpson suffered a horrendous drop-in he reacted in a fashion people might call extreme. We will endeavour to find out what happened a couple of seconds after this mid-face rugby tackle.
“It’s all happened to us before, you’re out surfing, enjoying a good session with just you and your mates.” Writes Tim on Vimeo “Then you suddenly get that sinking feeling as you see 10 people pile out into the lineup, all at once, heading for you like a homing missile. Oh well, it was bound to happen at some point, so you just smile, wait your turn and try enjoy the remainder of you’re session.
“This would work except the newcomers have a different attitude, continuous snaking, consecutive drop-ins and generally bad attitudes would make you think you have entered into a WQS final. As luck would have it, one particular homing missile decided to head my way to fade me for the third consecutive time, let’s just say my exit off the wave was either poorly timed or perfectly executed, depending on how you look at the situation.”
The moral of the story? Don’t drop in. Be respectful and earn acceptance. Sadly by including the line: “Brazilian’s play soccer – Kiwi’s play rugby.” It is sure to incite a whole lot of jingoistic nationalism. Please take those country stereotypes and hang them in a dark cupboard where they belong.
god I just love kitesurfing …. there it is
Love this surf pic
from magic seaweed
Whilst not as vast as Hercules coastal wave heights should exceed anything we’ve seen during the previous three storms. © 2014 Magicseaweed
Strike Four on Saturday is an absolute monster, forecast to be the largest and perhaps most damaging yet with poor surfing prospects. Similar to today’s storm it’s likely to do little but wreak havoc on already hard pressed communities in Northern Europe. It’s hard to maintain unbridled passion for surf in the face of severe coastal destruction. Take a moment to reflect on the damage and, perhaps, hope that enough is enough for this winter at least.
The story of these recent swells is one of coastal destruction. Where Hercules set up prime surfing conditions in much of Europe, these storms which followed have brought little in the way of great surf for most of us. Instead we’ve witnessed the continuing rapid erosion of sand and cliffs, direct damage to structures and buildings, and ongoing coastal flooding. Much of this is attributed only indirectly to the giant waves but much more a function of huge astronomical tides (caused by the alignment of moon and sun and the moon being particularly close to the Earth) and as importantly a large storm surge.
This surge is set up by three main mechanisms associated with the giant storms that have created such large waves and strong winds: the first is simply the low pressure in the storm lifting the surface of the water above its normal level. Secondly the wind (gusting up to 90mph near the coast here) creates a ‘wind set-up’ – simply pushing water in front of it towards the coast. Thirdly the waves themselves generate a rise in the sea level as they break in shallow water. Where the past couple of storms have seen tides near their absolute maximum, today’s storm arrived with a more typical spring range tide. None the less taking these extra effects into consideration we saw coastal defences breached and considerable additional damage.
The only good news for coastal communities already suffering is a return to neap tides almost 1.5m/5ft smaller than we saw at the peak of that last swell which should go some way to mitigating wave action.
Hercules (6th Jan): 28ft@21 seconds
Take Two (1st Feb): 28ft@19 seconds
Brigid (5th Feb): 30ft@18 seconds
Strike Four (8th Feb): 35ft@19 seconds
*Anyone surfing/shooting this storm or interested in press please email ed@magicseaweed.com.
At Dawlish in Devon the only railway line between London and Devon/Cornwall has given up its long battle with the Atlantic. It really was a picturesque part of the journey.
An empty Spanish cargo ship split in half on a breakwater near Bayonne on the Atlantic coast today. Drifting after its engine failed, the Luno crashed into the breakwater at Anglet, snapping neatly in two.
Ten boats have now sunk following the breach of the inner harbour. Fishermen and the emergency services are battling to remove boats from Porthleven’s inner harbour now the tide has dropped. © 2014 Mike Lacey Photography
Fistral Beach before and after the recent storms. You Can see how the protective layer of sand has been washed away allowing the high tide wave action to undermine the beachside property. That’s Alan Stokes jumping for joy in the summer. © 2014 Jason Feast Photography
Laird and all surf Jaws for Point break 2
18 years ago a slight lapse in concentration crushed Pascale’s dreams of surfing. With the help of a family friend and a roll of duct tape; she can now call herself a surfer.
Pascale Honore & Tyron Swan
Film/Edit : Mark Tipple
http://MarkTipple.com | Facebook.com/MarkTipplePhotoSupport their journey West at http://DuctTapeSurfing.com |http://Facebook.com/DuctTapeSurfing | ducttapesurfing@gmail.com
Music : Halfway House, Apricot Rail
music.HiddenShoal.com | Facebook.com/ApricotRail
What more is there to say other than HUMANS ARE AMAZING. Or should that be the unbreakable human desire to live and experience the world freely is. I ADORE this video. And how the surfer dude is so blasé about it too, it’s just what he does, because, why wouldn’t he?
Check out the most impressive wipeouts in Tahiti, mostly at Teahupoo.
Sometimes surfers can fail in front of massive waves, check out some of the biggest wipeouts at Teahupoo and other tahitian spots! (no serious injuries, riders are all ok)
PRODUCTION
XTreme VideoFILMED BY
Marc-Antoine Bouvant
When what goes up comes down over shallow reef. Shouldn’t laugh, but I did!
One hell of a scary few moments yesterday for Brazilian ace female surfer Maya Gabeira. Check out the gigantic waves here and then check out the rescue video below Wow.
When it all goes wrong you need your friends like this
It is big
Very BIG
Before sunrise the farol da Nazaré was packed like never before with spectators to watch the ZON North Canyon Team – Garrett McNamara, Andrew Cotton and Hugo Vau – ride collosal waves from the biggest Atlantic swell so far this winter.
The day was similar to last January 28th. This time it was the UK’s Andrew Cotton who snagged the wave of the day. “Definitely the biggest waves I have ever seen.” said Cotton. “Tricky, challenging and definitely dangerous”.
“It was a wild day in Nazaré and I am so grateful everyone survived and that I was able to put my good friend on that bomb”, said Garrett McNamara, who haunts the Nazare canyon whenever the charts turn scarlet.
Also in the water today were Carlos Burle, Maya Gabeira, Pedro Scooby, Felipe Cesarano, Eric Rebiere, Sylvio Mancusi and Rodrigo Koxa.
McNamara decided to stop surfing after Mayas Gabeira suffered a brutal wipeout, and was washed unconscious onto the beach. Fortunately, she was successfully resuscitated faces no serious consequences.
good tip this one
Anthony Walsh loves heaving slabs, ain’t no denying that fact. But what he also has down is the kinda POV shooting that give his edit just that little bit extra spice.
spent a bit of time down in the flat calm getting used to the board and practising turns etc and then went for 5km paddle to loosen me up ….
sunny day and warm around 20 degrees C
Need to get in the waves soon and have a proper play
On August 27, 2011, the Billabong Pro Tahiti event on surfing’s World Tour was placed on hold due to a massive swell bearing down on the famed big-wave spot, Teahupoo. With forecasts calling for unprecedented surf, some of the greatest surfers in the world descended on the island to be in the water, despite a “Code Red” called by the Tahitian Coast Guard, which sought to keep everyone on shore. See the historic day through the eyes of two surfers — the young gun Laurie Towner and the veteran Dylan Longbottom — as they catch some of the biggest, most dangerous surf ever recorded, much of it captured with the super slow motion Phantom Camera for never-before-seen imagery.
and then this ….
This day at Teahupoo- Aug 27th 2011 during the Billabong Pro waiting period is what many are calling the biggest and gnarliest Teahupoo ever ridden. Chris Bryan was fortunate enough to be there working for Billabong on a day that will go down in the history of big wave surfing. The French Navy labeled this day a double code red prohibiting and threatening to arrest anyone that entered the water.
Kelly Slater described the day by saying “witnessing this was a draining feeling being terrified for other people’s lives all day long, it’s life or death. Letting go of that rope one time can change your life and not many people will ever experience that in their life.”
All images where shot by Chris Bryan using the Phantom HD Gold camera.
Kite*Surf*Bike*Rambling 