MALIBU, HERE WE COME!

Okay kids, get ready for Malibu this weekend. Looks like a fun time. We're sending a full team and have a big support crew as well... I wonder which groms get initiated this year? My advice to you: sleep with one eye open (fair warning).

Here's the team roster and heat times for first round action on Saturday:

Nick D'Rov (6:15 am) and Max Ulman (6:30 am) in the Jr. Mens' 15-19.

Derek Lodico (7:45 am) and Travis Long (8:15 am) in the Sr. Mens' 30-39.

Pete Robson (9:00 am) and Jeff Hackert (9:30 am) in the Masters' 40-49.

Dave Sams (9:45 am) and Josh Hall (10:15 am) in the Mens' 20-29.

Ron Greene (11:15 am) and Pablo Smith (11:45 am) in the Grand Masters'
50-59.

Harley Taich (1:00 pm) and Nick Hastings (1:30 pm) in the Menehunes'.

Makela Saili (2:00 pm) and sister Mele (2:15 pm) in the Jr. Womens' 15-19.

Debra Hoyt (3:00 pm) and Kaley Swift (3:30 pm) in the Womens' 20-34.

Kathy Austin and Jane Mold in the Sr. Womens' 35+ (heat times yet unknown).

Bobby Challenger (5:30 pm) in the Legends' 60-69.

Be sure to bring your beach chairs, sun block and good vibes. The club will have at least three, and maybe four, tents to gather under for shade. All club members, whether competing or not, are welcome and encouraged to join us. Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed on the beach, but are in the parking lot.

And finally, the unsavory business part. The treasurer has asked me to tell all of you to have your entry fees paid BEFORE heading up to Malibu. If you don't, you won't surf. We have several alternates in some divisions standing by—with money—to take your place. If you have any questions, contact me at: surfrat@ureach.com. Phone: 858-204-6417 or 858-405-9168.

Caio,

Travis Long
Team Captain

By Celia Treamer

May 19th 2007 we flew out of San Diego with a quick stop in Arizona. We picked up my brother from a connecting fight. My brother Paul lives in New Mexico and spends his time traveling to surf spots all over the world, this year alone: Costa Rica, Bali, and mainland Mexico. He was our surf guide and plus he is a ripper in the surf and speaks Spanish like speedy Gonzales. A few hours later we arrived at the Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo aerpuerto. Zihjuatanejo (Zihua-for the loco locals) our final destination 1-hour north was Troncones.

Troncones, La Barra de Potosí, Ixtapa & Zihuatanejo, Mexico are located on La Costa Grande of the state of Guerrero about 240 kilometers (144 miles) northwest of Acapulco. Both Acapulco and Morelia are about 4 hours driving time from Zihuatanejo.

Zihuatanejo is a really cool town with family-run guest inns, hotels, condominiums, which overlook the bay and beaches as well as the homes, neighborhoods, apartments, stores, shops, and businesses, The food is amazing, the water is warm, and the beer is cold. The surf is only good when it gets a pumping swell with a specific direction and the stars need to be aligned and the wind has to be right and there can't be too many gringos in the water…just kidding. We stayed the night after a sunset swim, the water was 80 degrees and early in the morning, off we went heading Norte to Troncones.

Troncones is small beachfront community, part of the Municipio of La Unión in the state of Guerrero. It is home to about 500 permanent residents of mainly fishermen, farmers and ranchers. Troncones has also become one of Mexico's favorite beachfront eco-resorts. There are Yoga retreats right along side crazy beachfront bars and restaurants. There are no high-rise hotels, shopping centers or clubs here. The area of Troncones from south of the village, north to the neighboring village of Majahua, is dotted with small guest inns, vacation homes, bungalows, and Bed & Breakfasts interspersed with various seafood restaurants and low-key beach clubs. It is a super mellow town with warm and friendly locals.
The area has many great surf spots known to surfers worldwide. The great thing about this variety is there's good surfing somewhere along the coast in every season.

The closest spot is right in front, Troncones Point, but there are shore breaks up and down Troncones Beach, so you're almost always within walking distance of good waves when there's surf. Troncones Point is a left-point break off a rocky stretch, directly in front of the Manzanillo Inn. The depth is about 6-10 feet at different points in the line-up and gets shallower in moderate range to the beach. In fact, all the breaks down in this area are lefts. I’m regular but I love lefts too!

When we got into Troncones it was head-high thumping beach break close outs. We checked the point and it was small and not holding up. We decided to get a place to stay and then look for surf. We found an amazing place called Casa Ki and they had a 2 bed, 2-bath house on the beach with a great kitchen, hammocks, palapas, and a killer view. It was beautifully landscaped and tropical. The best part was there was always cold beer provided by the owner’s refrigerator (if you happened to run out).

We knew we wanted to go to a spot north about 30 miles called "The Ranch." We only brought short boards and heard this spot was fun and the surf in Troncones wasn’t looking so hot. When we got there after a crazy Burro, pig, cattle riddled road we knew we were at the right spot for our equipment.

Celia's Mexico trip continues by clicking this link.

All photos in this section courtesy of Celia Treamer.

GONE SURFING

By Bobby Challenger Thomas

Trivia Answer: DUKE KAHANAMOKU, Father of Modern Day Surfing.

And the Winner of Classic Tee Shirt is Chris Rule, thanks for reading the column.

Working final magic on the paddleboard. I would like the paddle team members to check in with me on Saturday before 4 pm down by the pier. That way we all can have a paddle-out maiden voyage and check out the speed of the board. It will also give us a short work out.

PS: If you cannot find me check with Team Captain Travis Long.

ALOHA JUST MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE!

By Jerome Lynn Hall

Woody Brown is no stranger to those of us who grew up in San Diego. A true pioneer in many respects, he was the first to surf Windansea Beach in the 1930s. Later, in 1939, Woody set world gliding records for altitude and distance; four years later he traveled to the Christmas Islands where his observations of Polynesian outrigger canoes became the designs for his construction of the first modern catamarans!

But Woody’s life wasn’t always so glamorous. In fact, it was beset with many tragedies, the most devastating of which was the passing of his wife, Betty, who died in childbirth in 1939. Grief-stricken and completely beside himself, Woody left his possessions and newborn son in La Jolla and escaped to Hawaii. In David Brown’s DVDs “Of Wind and Waves: The Life of Woody Brown.” and
“Surfing for Life,” Woody tells his story:

“Two days after I got back [from setting the world gliding records], my wife …died in childbirth and it was just more than I could take. I just made my world record, I was up on the top of the world, I had everything I could possibly want, and then she died like that and the whole ground fell out from under me and I had nothing left.

I cracked up…walkin’ around the street all night. I couldn’t sleep and finally I just said to the Lord, ‘Kill me, I don’t want to live anymore.’ And I couldn’t take care of my little boy, I couldn’t even take care of me; how could I take care of him? My wife’s brother and his family were very happy to adopt him. Well I just took off for Hawai’i and left everything, house, cars, everything. I don’t know what happened to any of it. I just ended up here in Hawaii and started life all over again.

'I started bumming around the islands, just nothing, a pair of shorts and a bicycle. It was getting late at night and I was coming to a house. Why, I’d stop and say, ‘Could I just spend the night? I’d be glad to pay for it!’

‘Oh, come in! Come in! Pay nothing!’ And they would just give me everything and sometimes I couldn’t leave; they’d make me stay for a week!

They had so much aloha, love in their heart for everybody.”

I recently returned from a trip to Australia where, along with my friend and colleague, Jack Hamlin, we journeyed to Woolongong University to co-present a lecture and to spend time surfing the west coast. While standing on a busy street corner one morning in Manly, a suburb of Sydney, we were approached by a stranger who overheard us discussing the local architecture. When he found out that we came to surf, he told us he would like to take us around to the various breaks.

The next morning, Ian Reeder picked us up in his VW combi, took us to his home, introduced us to his family, and spent the entire day driving us around to every break between Manly and Palm Beach. We even had the chance to watch World Pro Derek Hynd surf at Newport Beach, a truly memorable day for us in New South Wales!

I am constantly reminded that there is much goodness around us. Every now and then, people who embody the spirit of aloha come into our lives. Aloha: it’s more than a quaint Hawaiian word; for Jack and me, it’s the traveler’s dream of feeling welcomed in a foreign land. And for others, like Woody Brown, it’s a life redeemed by the kindness of strangers.

Think about aloha; seize every opportunity to put it into practice. Then stand back quietly and watch how your life is magically renewed.

SURFER'S MYELOPATHY

By Dr. Derek Lodico

Its that time of the year, warm water, lots of tourists and family in town, lets take em’ surfing! You would think pretty harmless for a beginning surfer. In the next few health corner articles I am going to go over some of the medical conditions related to the “new surfer”. This issue involves one of the more serious potential side effects.

A 25 year old medical student, and son of a Japanese Neurologist, is visiting Hawaii and like many tourists before him decides to take a surf lesson. After he is done with his session in the water he develops a pain in his lower back and numbness in his legs. Shortly after he collapses on the beach. After arriving to the nearest hospital he is evaluated and found to be paralyzed from the waist down, which to this day is permanent.

I know you are thinking he must of bailed hard on a wave or twisted something or maybe he was hit by a surfboard. None were the case. He was suffering what other beginning surfers have presented with in the past now called Surfer’s Myelopathy.

"My who?” Yeah I hear ya.

Myelopathy –“pathos” or pathy means disease or suffering. Myelo or “myelos” means marrow or spinal cord.

Over the years more and more people have taken up surfing. In the age of adrenalin and gun ho attitude about sports performance many new sports injuries have emerged from the ashes, surfing is no different.

An emergency room in Hawaii has had nine patients with surfer's myelopathy between June 1998 and January 2003 which was tracked and findings were published in the SPINE journal. The average age was 25. Below is a brief description by a Neurologist Dr. James Pearce from the Straub Clinic in Hawaii.

” Surfer's myelopathy is a unique spinal-cord injury associated with first-time surfing:

Cause: Repeated hyperextension of the back during a long period on the surfboard, causing temporary problems of blood flow to the spinal cord.

Symptoms: Ranging from mild weakness and sensory problems to back pain, partial paralysis of lower limbs and paralysis of lower half of the body.

Treatment: Varies depending on the case.

Outcome: Most have full or nearly complete recovery, but some remain paraplegic.

Advice to first-time surfers: Don't stay out on the board for a long time; head back to the beach with any sign of unusual back pain."

Health Corner continues by clicking this link.

CLUB NEWS

In May, President Jeff Hackert moved to Los Angeles and summarily tendered his resignation as president of the club. He said he still wanted to be involved with club activities whenever he could however and requested that he remain on the Board of Directors and just switch places with 1st Vice President Torrey Brown. This was found acceptable to the Board and the switcheroo took place. Torrey is now the president of the club to fulfill the remainder of Jeff's term, which ends December 31, 2007. Hail to the new chief!

In other news, long time members may look back fondly on the '90s and remember when the club printed a quarterly newsletter called, "Lines." Many may still have copies of those old issues tucked away in a closet somewhere. For the rest of us, there's now a link to all 18 back issues of Lines in PDF format located on the Home Page of the online version of CURRENTS. Go to:

http://www.pbsc-currents.org/index.html

When you get there, scroll down the page until you see the link. Click it for a walk—or should I say slide—down memory lane.

Finally, I'm sorry to disappoint followers of Travis Long's "Exploration France" series who were expecting to see Part III in this issue, however, you'll be able to read the thrilling conclusion in the August issue. Stay tuned.

Richard Steadham
Editor

Jul 21-22: Call to the Wall; Malibu Boardriders Club; Malibu

Aug 18-19: Oceanside Longboard Surfing Club Contest, Oceanside

Sep 8-9: Malib Surfing Association Classic; Malibu

Sep 15: PB Surf Club Late Summer Longboard Classic; Tourmaline

Oct 6-7: Swami's Surfing Association Contest; Location to be decided

Nov 24-25: Windansea San Miguel Invitational; San Miguel, Mexico