CURRENT'S MONTHLY CONTENT BROADENS

My constant cajoling for more contributors to this publication has finally paid dividends—and in a big way. Beginning with this issue, two monthly columnists will join the team to help cover a broader range of issues concerning surfers and the sport of surfing. A third columnist will continue contributing on an occasional basis as he finds time in his busy schedule to do so.

Jerome Lynn Hall will be writing about surf culture in his "Aloha Corner" column. He is, by trade, an underwater archaeologist and teaches at the University of San Diego. Ongoing projects of his include the Monte Cristi Shipwreck, a 17-century northern European merchant vessel in Monte Cristi Bay, Dominican Republic; and the 1st-century Kinneret Boat, a vessel extracted from the Sea of Galilee, in Israel. Formerly, Jerome was the underwater archaeologist for Puerto Rico and President of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, with headquarters at Texas A&M University, Bodrum, Turkey, and Alexandria, Egypt.

Jerome's first column below is entitled, "The Limits of My Language Are the Limits of My World."

Kathy Austin will be covering surfing from the womens' perspective in her "Women's Forum" column. She doesn't really need any introduction to this group as she is the immediate past president of the club. Her monthly "President's Message" gave her voice at the beginning of each issue last year. Professionally she is a loan officer for Signature Funding in San Diego.

Kathy's first column in this new category below is entitled, "How Do Women Surfers Differ From Men Surfers?"

Dr. Derek Lodico will continue providing his "Health Corner" columns as he finds time to do them. He is a Lieutenant, U.S. Navy Physician, at the Naval Hospital at Camp Pendleton "Serving those Who Serve." He's been accepted and will start Navy Dive School for Medical Officers in January of 2008 in Connecticut/Panama City, Florida, and hopes to eventually be assigned to the Navy Seals in San Diego. His influences in the water are (time order): Gary Murphy, Spinner, Erok, Barney, Shaun, Dan and Quint. Influences out of the water: Wife, Devon, Gavin and Star. His advice: "You are never too busy to help out, guaranteed someone once said the same about you. Obstacles are the things we see when we take our eyes off our goals. No voice is too small, it's not speaking up that breaks the circle. You always can find time to surf." Originally from Tucson, Arizona, he's resided in Pacific Beach for the past 14 years.

His next column, "Skin Cancer and the Surfer," will appear next month.

Also in this issue, Dawn Moore appears for the first time with a great article about the club's recent event in support of our fellow surfer, Ocean Allie. It follows immediately below. Enjoy.

Richard Steadham
Editor

SURF COMMUNITY RALLIES FOR ONE OF THEIR OWN

By Dawn Moore

Mahalo everyone for your generosity and support at the expression session the weekend of January 20 for Allie. Allie is so touched by our love, and she said to tell everyone thank you! It is truly wonderful to see our community, friends and family of Allie’s all come together for a common cause; helping to raise money for our friend. We are truly blessed. I’m not sure exactly whose idea it was, but before you could blink, Allie’s friends had raised enough money to pay for a week’s stay at the cottages on the pier. My family and I attended a PB Surf Club meeting at the VFW to discuss heat times for the upcoming weekend’s Gathering of the Tribes contest at Church's, and the next thing I know; we were involved putting together an Expression Session for our pal, Ocean Allie so we could pay for another weeks’ stay for her on the pier.

In less than 10 days, we put on a fabulous event! It was extremely intense pulling all of the details together, and I would like to take a moment to thank the people who made themselves available to me (pretty much 24/7) before and after the event: Kathy Austin and Jeff Hackert for their experience and ideas, (and taking my calls for hours on end), Derek Lodico who works tirelessly. Honestly, I don’t know how you do it Derek. Amidst being a doctor on call pulling 30 to 40 hours straight and raising a family, Derek still finds time to organize details, runs around collecting money, visits Allie, prints flyers, works with Make a Wish Foundation, puts together a slide show, and talked to me on the phone several times a day.

Andrea Holeman, one of Allie’s dear friends, was instrumental in this event as well. She has a wealth of resources. Andrea not only donated over $800 in raffle items, she hooked me up with Surfshot. Surfshot placed our story and flyer on their home page for a week straight. Celia Treamer was a wonderful sounding board, and helped me to stay organized. Celia and I were constantly meeting over the phone or in the coffee shop to discuss what was accomplished, and what still needed to be done. Celia, Shannon Shackleton and I met Friday night to organize all of the raffle items, and write up the heat sheets. Other people who were essential to this project, without whom the event would not have been possible include: John Slavin, Chris Abbott, Glen Paculba, Pablo Smith, Tom Davis, Masi Saili, Patrick O’Connor, Travis Long, Ida and Siaosi Veimau, Adam Calvo and Rodney. Celia wanted to say a special thanks to Rodney for catching the fish, cleaning the fish, cooking the fish and even yelling at the fish. ALOHA & MAHALO!!!

Since time was not on our side, it was important to reach as many people as possible. Especially since it’s wintertime, and there’s no guarantee that the weather or the waves would cooperate. I designed a flyer and composed a story line for distribution. After Andrea and I talked about Surfshot, she and I went to work. Andrea called Surfshot, Longboard Magazine & Channel 8, and I contacted every surf club between here and Santa Barbara. Immediately, Swami’s, SDSL and Sunset Cliffs came to our aid. Coronado also sent out an email to their members asking for participation. Then I contacted swellcheck.com, surfinside.com, surfline.com, surfingsandiego.com, surfingList.com. All of these sites posted our story and flyer.

Story continues by clicking this link

THE LIMITS OF MY LANGUAGE
ARE THE LIMITS OF MY WORLD

By Jerome Lynn Hall

“ In Hawai`i we greet friends, loved ones or strangers with Aloha, which means with love. Aloha is the key word to the universal spirit of real hospitality, which makes Hawai`i renowned as the world’s center of understanding and fellowship. Try meeting or leaving people with Aloha. You’ll be surprised by the reaction. I believe it and it is my creed. Aloha to you.”

Creed of Aloha, by Duke Paoa Kahanamoku

It is only fitting that a column on surf culture and history should begin with Duke Paoa Kahanamoku. For many, if not most, of us “the Duke”—or Paoa, as he preferred his friends call him—still symbolizes everything that is pure and good about surfing. His Creed of Aloha governed the way that he interacted with friends and strangers alike, and remains the example for us to follow.
Say it. Say, “aloha.”

Now, say it again, but this time exhale gently when you enunciate “haaaa.” More than just a traditional Hawaiian salutation, aloha has many meanings: as a verb, it is desiring, or regarding with affection; to venerate or to love. As a noun it connotes, among other things, mercy or compassion. Anecdotal data suggest that—when deconstructed to its component parts (“alo,” presence, or the front, or face, and “hâ,” to breathe or exhale)—it signifies that breath of life that passes from one to another upon greeting, in its own way a recognition and invocation of the divine.

The first settlers of the Hawaiian Islands arrived in outrigger canoes, most likely from the Marquesas Group sometime between 300 and 900 A.D. They brought with them a myriad of tangible and intangible resources: plants and animals, gods and ceremonies, customs, practices, and language. But because culture—those norms, values, and beliefs that are shared within a group and passed from generation to generation—is dynamic and adaptive, it doesn’t take long for a distinctively regional ethos to emerge. So it was with`Olelo Hawai`i, the Hawaiian language, that source of aloha which finds its grammatical and phonological foundations in the closely related tongues of the Samoans, Maoris, Tahitians, and Marquesans, all of whom are members of the Austronesian language family.

When we study aloha in our Surf Culture and History class at the University of San Diego, it is with a somewhat different, perhaps unconventional, perspective. Aloha, I tell students, is respect born from reverence, a sacred regard for the elder. And “elder,” by our definition, is anything that was here before you: the ocean, all creatures in it, the waves, the beach, and the gift and the tradition of surfing; yes, even “you” are older than you, for embodied within each of us is the biological dream of thousands of generations. So, aloha, that simple greeting of grace and affection, exhaled by one and breathed in by another, finds its source in self respect and emanates outwardly.

In an age when patience, kindness, and ethical behavior are in seemingly short supply, when everywhere from the corporate boardroom to the favorite point break the notion of entitlement rules the day, it is the aloha spirit—that deeply-centered respect for self and others—that offers hope to those of us intent on making the beach, the community, and the world better places in which to live and play.

“ The limits of my language means the limits of my world,” said Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Think about aloha. Wrap your mind around it; behold how swiftly your heart and body follow. Marvel at how wonderfully your world changes.

COALITION CLUBS GATHER, SURF, CELEBRATE

By Richard Steadham

The Doheny Club's annual "Gathering of the Tribes" contest took place on January 6 and 7 of this new year at Church's (one of the breaks at Trestles). It saw our club finish in a very respectable third place out of a total of 17 clubs. Taking second was the Malibu Surfing Association and winding up on top of the heap was Doheny (no surprise there; the host club almost always wins their own contest).

The NW swell which had arrived in Southern California on Friday, still had some punch left for Saturday's first round heats. Set waves were topping out about chest high, but had wind on them for most of the day, increasing steadily as the day wore on. Sunday's advancing rounds saw flipped conditions however with beautiful glassy waves all day, but with a noticable decrease in size. Knee to waist high waves dominated the sets for Sunday's action.

Quintin Macklin surfing circles around the competition continued his winning ways by taking first place in the Men's Shortboard Final. He also finished fifth in the Men's Final (all heats are longboard unless specifically noted as shortboard). His trophy case must be busting at the seams at this point in his career. Thanks for being one of us Quintin! Your talent is amazing.

Two of our team riders really stood out this time: Ron Greene and Bobby Challenger Thomas. Both men won first place in all of their respective heats, but came up just a little short in their finals. Ron finished second in the Grand Masters while Bobby managed fourth in the Legends. Congratulations guys. For most of the afternoon on Saturday, Bobby kept complaining how unfair it was to the older guys in his division (ages 60-70 years old) that they had to surf all their heats on the same day. By the time the Legends' Final came around though, Bobby went out like a trooper and gave it his best with a tank that read almost empty. Thanks for hanging in there Bobby. The club appreciates your stamina and grit.

Also making it to the finals and receiving trophies were: Travis Long and Halley Burd earning third place in the Tandem Final; Debra Hoyt taking fourth in the Women's Final and sixth in the Jr. Women's Shortboard Final; Derek Lodico placing sixth in the Sr. Men's Final; and Kathy Austin coming in sixth in the Women's Shortboard Final. Congrats to you all!

Nick Hastings surfed to a second place in the Boy's First Heat on Saturday, but managed only fourth in the Semi-Finals on Sunday.

Alex Greene received third in the Jr. Men's First Heat, finishing fourth in the Quarter Finals on Sunday.

Bob Greene took first place in his Legends' Heat, second place in the Quarter Finals, but was edged out in the Legends' Repocharge with fourth place. All of his heats were on Saturday.

As Maxwell Smart would have said, "Missed it by that much." Eleven, count 'em, eleven of our riders received a fourth place showing in their respective first rounds and thus just missed advancing: Patrick O' Connor in the Boy's; Harley Tesche in the Girl's; Nick D'Rov in the Jr. Men's; Josh Hall in the Men's; Travis Long and Jim Cameron in the Sr. Men's; Jeff Hackert in the Masters; Jane Mold and Jackie De Rieux in the Women's Shortboard; Mason De Rieux in the Men's Shortboard; and Celia Treamer in the Master Women's.

Other team riders making us proud, but unable to advance out of the First Round were: Max Ullman taking fifth in the Jr. Men's; Mikela Saili coming in fifth in the Girl's; Masi Saili (Mikela's father) taking fifth in the Masters; Kathy Austin and Jane Mold both fifth in the Master Women's; Keri Endich sixth in the Women's Shortboard and Richard Steadham sixth in the Grand Masters.

Next year PBSC is shooting for first place at the "Gathering." Doheny, you better start looking over your collective shoulders.

HOW DO WOMEN SURFERS
DIFFER FROM MEN SURFERS?

By Kathy Austin

I e-mailed this question to the women of PBSC.

It’s worth mentioning that ours is an articulate and diverse group, not to mention, made up of some very good surfers. The responses stated the obvious physiological differences in strength and gravity centers and then basic dispositions, women being more social, and an interesting theme bubbled up.

As women surfers, we are not as different from men surfers as we are from women who don’t surf. The theme was how much we enjoy our surfing girlfriends. When girls paddle out there’s always laughter and a waft of floral scent from shampoo or lotion. We women have a need to connect and only another woman who surfs understands what we love so dearly. Is there anything better than paddling out with your girls or spotting one in the line up? Tell me you don’t paddle right over to say "hi."

I admit to whole breakfast conversations devoted to wave shape, sand bars and crowd strategies. Come to a contest some time, and you’ll see that we girls watch each other’s heats and cheer each other on. I’m not saying we’re having more fun than men, but we certainly appear to be.

NEW CLUB LOGO CONTEST

You voted (well at least some of you did), and the winner of the new logo contest is!

The Original

Tradition reigned over the upstarts, but not far behind it was a tie between the "PB Longboard" design and the "Cone Shape" (a white version of which is in the lead art at the top). The Board is currently kicking around the idea of having new T-shirts printed up with all three designs (separately of course). No one says we can't have a variety of design styles and colors for members to choose from. Look for them on sale soon at future club functions and thanks to all who took the time to vote.

Please welcome the following new members into the club:

Max Ullman
Dave and Mary Helen Ish

Be sure to show the PBSC aloha spirit to each when you see them at future club meetings and events.