A Guide to the South Bay Surf and Action Sports Scene
12/21/12End of the World?Happy holidays, everybody! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season! Oh, and I almost forgot, happy end of the world, too. We all might’ve totally misread the Mayan calendar, but who knows? I sure don’t. So, with that said, I’ve assembled a few videos to help prepare you for the end of civilization. Hope your bunker has decent Wi-Fi! (Although, on a separate note, I guess we won’t have to worry about traffic anymore. Always have to look on the bright side, right?) Wonder what the surf will be like during the end of days? It’ll probably still be crowded. Here’s the trailer for “Deep Impact.” On a separate note, I still think Morgan Freeman would make a great... |
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11/26/12Surfin' RoundupWelcome to the surfin’ roundup! I spent a good portion of this afternoon surfing the Web for surfing news (Get it? Surfing for surfing news? Ok, sorry). Here’s a healthy helping of all that’s new and interesting in the surfing world. Quick highlights Alana Blanchard hates wearing a lot of clothing. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Hipster groupthink has invaded surf culture. I blame Instagram. Developers want to… um, develop the Gaviota coastline. Condos bad; Seals good. Courtesy of surfline.com, the surf documentary “On the Wave”—which, on the film’s site, is listed as “the first Russian surf movie”—will be presented by Surftime magazine on December 6th, at Double Six Beach... |
11/09/12The S-wordI don’t like to talk about sharks. Maybe I’m just being superstitious, but it feels like I’m tempting fate—like I’m one of those painfully oblivious characters in a slasher flick that’s the first to die a grisly death because he’s sure the murderer's long gone. “Jason Voorhees? Nah, he drowned years ago in Crystal Lake. Nothing to worry about at all. Wanna go for a walk in the woods? Say around midnight? Hey, did you know that I’ve never seen a machete up close?” But, during my previous surf session—which was at dusk, mind you—I was confronted by the absolute ridiculousness of this sort of thinking. This guy (for the sake of this post, I’ll call him Mr. Longboard) paddled up to me and... |
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10/21/12Hipster surfer?What exactly makes a hipster surfer? I haven't a clue. The New York Daily News ran a piece titled, Influx of hipster surfers in Rockaway. Here’s a screen shot, courtesy of Surfer. I was honestly unfamiliar with the idea that one could be both a hipster and a surfer (as opposed to being, say, just an ordinary surfer). Do you surf ironically? Don a pair of Buddy Holly glasses when your grab you old school Malibu single fin? Throw some flannel over your vintage beavertail wetsuit and paddle on out? Since the South Bay has more than its fair share of hipster, I only though it fair to share the plight of these poor NY surfers. Spread the word! The hipsters are coming! |
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09/28/12A Buttery EtymologyI was interviewing a rec assistant at a skate park in the Valley and I asked him, “Well, what makes your park so special?” |
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08/05/12Skateboarding tricks in a historical nutshellSince I’ve got skateboarding on the brain (and I hoping you do too), I thought I’d walk you through the brief but altogether excitingly bone-crushing history of skateboard tricks. (Quick note: These tricks are assembled chronologically, and I’ve yet to master most of them—and by most I mean at least 90 percent. I spend more time writing about skating than actually skating. Yeah… I don’t get out often.) During the ‘60s, skateboards were still relatively primitive—usually just a 2-by-4 with clay wheels—so the tricks were also somewhat simple: Handstands, the daffy (it’s actually rather appropriately named) and 360-degree spins were the standard. Other tricks, such as walking the nose, were based off traditional... |
07/19/12Reminiscing about not-so-smart phonesThere was a point before the advent of the smartphone—a time when men were men, women were women and phones were just mildly intelligent—that I actually used to “call in” to check the surf report. Yes, I actually used to listen to another living, breathing person read off the details on the latest surf report. No computerized avatar—just another human being talking on a crappy line that was full of static. They’d usually utter plenty of ambiguous observations, too (“Um… yeah, it kinda looks good, if ya got nothing better to do, come on down.”). But that was OK. And you know what the best part was? It was free. And yes, I was born after the Berlin Wall fell, so, no, I’m not that old. Although, time really doesn’t... |
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06/30/12Closed until further notice...On July 1st, more than 40 California State Parks will close due to budget cuts. Following more than 25 years of underfunding, the park system has currently accrued an astounding $1.3 billion in deferred maintenance. Last May, the state government announced that 70 of the state’s parks would close due to $22 million in budget cuts. Since then, 27 parks have saved from closure by nonprofits, local governments, private business and gracious individual donors. At this moment though, 13 coastal beach parks—including surf breaks at Moss Landing near Monterrey and Garrapata in Big Sur—and more than 30 parks inland are slated for closure. Furthermore, parks that will remain open may face a decrease in staffing, hours of operation, days of operation, and fewer... |
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06/20/12Where's My International Surf Day?It’s official: I didn’t get to celebrate International Surfing Day. Oh, I’m so ashamed. I even had it all planned out, too. I printed out one of these special forms from Jim Moriarty, chief executive of the Surfrider Foundation, which “excused” me from having to work today (flawless plan, like trying to take over Fort Knox with a single cherry bomb and a can-do attitude). My plan was to walk up to my boss and tell him in a commanding voice, “Sorry, chief (I’m trying to sound as official as possible here, so forgive me for the kitschy '50s nicknames) but I have to skip work today. I know, I know, you’ll miss me terribly. Nevertheless, today is the Eighth Annual International Surfing Day, and I can’t miss commemorating this... |
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06/18/12Trouble in MalibuDiscontent is floating in the line up at Malibu, also known as Surfrider State Beach. A number of ‘Bu locals aren’t too pleased with the Malibu Lagoon Reconstruction and Enhancement Project, which began on June 1st and will continue until this October. The project calls for draining most of the water from the lagoon (over 11,000 gallons), so that construction crews can reshape the actual structure of the lagoon with heavy equipment in order to improve water flow. The lagoon is notorious for having poor water quality—an issue that often plagues local surfers when the lagoon empties out in the lineup—and this $7 million project should clean up the nefariously scuzzy body of water. Well, that’s the plan at least. There’s a lot of vocal... |
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My name is Stefan Slater, and I’ll be your guide to the South Bay surf and action sports scene. My blog, Catching Air, features all of the info you need to know about this engaging (and sometimes eccentric) sports community. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the water. 
