PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

This is going to be short because I’m cramming my work week into four days and making plans to go to Santa Cruz to surf the Log Jam. So, why fly to San Francisco or travel anywhere for that matter to surf in a club contest?

I remember my first Club contest four years ago. On the drive to Malibu, I told my nineteen year old son, “John, we’re going to pay homage at the alter where it all began for Southern California surfing. We didn’t surf, just hung out at the team tent on the beach. Malibu was perfect. We saw incredible surfing, slept in our sleeping bags on the beach that night and felt the energy of a major contest with seventeen clubs present. Imagine--tents lined up, club banners flying, families, friends, and a rare ensemble of legendary surf talent. This was truly a gathering of our tribes.

Ask any of our team riders why they compete. You’ll get an idea of the stoke and fellowship present even in less that perfect conditions. I hope to see you at the Summer Classic at Tourmaline June third. Pacific Beach Surf Club puts on a contest like none other. I’d love to share stories from contests past and welcome you to the most fun surf club on the coast. And definitely one of the most talented surf teams.

Kathy Austin
President 2006

The 2006 Big Stick Logjam, Pleasure Point, Capitola, California

By Derek Lodico

The graceful tradition of longboarding came alive again April 22-23, at the 18th annual Big Stick Surfing Association Logjam contest.

The Logjam, held each April at Pleasure Point in Santa Cruz, California, is a little slice of surfing history. Since contest rules require contestants to ride boards made before 1970, and no leashes are allowed, it's an opportunity to see some elegant, old-school surfing, a skillful style born of the era's big, heavy boards and the annoyance of having to swim after them if you fell off.

The Logjam is the longest-running classic longboard surfing contest in the world, attracting thousands of spectators and more than 100 competitors who hail from California to Washington and range in age from 7 to over 60. In addition to the contest, the Logjam includes a paddle competition and a tandem division.
Past contest winners have included such names as Robert "Wingnut" Weaver (a four-time winner), Joel Tudor, Bob Pearson, Jay Moriarity, Dane Perlee and Michel Junod.

A combination contest and charity event, the proceeds from the raffle go to Ride-A-Wave Foundation, the Big Stick Scholarship Fund for local high school seniors, the Junior Lifeguard Programs, and Santa Cruz Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.

Wandering around the contest and looking at the old boards is like going into a time warp. Contests in years past have featured a 1967 Challenger Bump shaped by Bobby Challenger in San Diego, some Yater Spoons shaped by Reynolds Yater in Santa Barbara, a Hansen Feather, a couple of Nuuhiwa Noseriders under the Bing label, a Dewey Weber Performer (John Bishop, Hot Rod Surfboards), a Greek Eliminator, a Con Ugly, a CC Rider and a few old Jacobs boards.

The event has become as much a chance for classic surfboard devotees to show their collections and talk about board design as it is a competition.

This year's contest saw head-high waves as the tail end of a northwest swell mixed with the beginning of new south energy, beginning with drizzle which cleared to 70-degree weather and no wind- perfect conditions for an "old-board-no-cord" contest and a day on the beach, enjoying the sunshine and some barbecue cooked up by local community group the Pleasure Point Night Fighters.

Media coverage of past Logjams has included Longboard magazine, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, the San Jose Mercury, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Good Times.

Though the spirit of the event is all about fun and aloha, some dramatic showdowns in the finals are expected, as local talent goes up against highly regarded visitors for an exciting show of hang-tens, drop-knee cutbacks, barrel rides and floaters in a display of high-level classic longboard surfing.

The heats were 15 minutes long with a total of 4 waves allowed per competitor, the 3 best being judged. Each heat the first day was a mix of all age divisions, which means you were not competiting directly against your age group. Each person was given a score, and then allowed to surf with the same people in the afternoon so that everyone got equal share of tide and surf conditions. All surfers were then ranked 1-100 according to total points from the first days two heats. Day two all age divisions (juniors-grand masters and tandum) were broken down into the top 12 from each age group which made two semi final heats for all divisions. The top three from each age division went on to a 6 person final 20 minutes long, 5 wave max, 4 top waves judged. This is such a great forum because it allows everyone to surf twice on the first day. What a fun point break with head dips, nose rides, and cutbacks.

The Pacific Beach Surf Club in style with its “Bad News Bears” ensemble showed up and rallied for the event. With a team of only 6, we managed to have half make it to the finals. Quintin Macklin riding a windandsea pintail placed in the top 10 overall for the first day with powerful cutbacks and nose rides in head high plus surf. Barney Sullivan, also riding a windansea square tail put on a show with his old school soul arch and cover ups to place him in the top 10 for the first day as well. Both surfing in the mens division with old boards provided by Joe Roper’s Ding Repair on Morena Blvd.

PBSC’s club president Kathy Austin had a great take off and bottom turn on an over head set, cleared the section and popped out just in time. A 10 wave set pounded her on the head immediately after, only to paddle back out again, pretty tuff.

Derek Lodico, surfing a Dewey Weber Performer, mixed up a routine with switch stance and big cut backs, just enough to get him through the first day, barely, being the 12th of the 12 surfers from the senior mens division to advance. Board provided by John Bishop, Hot Rod Surfboards.

Ron Green surfing in the grand masters division, ranked the highest after the first day among the PB Surf Club riding a David Nuuwhia Nose Rider. For an old guy he sure can rip! Dr. Joey Steinberg, Also surfing grand masters for our club, tore it up the first day with a combination of good wave selection and smooth transitions through each section. Who says Nephrologists can’t surf?

Day two did the same with drizzle in the am which gave way to sunshine and glassy conditions mid day. Quintin scored 2nd in his semi final, and then went on to place 3rd over all in the men’s division. Ron also placed 2nd in his semi final heat, putting him into the final where he placed 3rd in grand masters. Derek slid through the semi’s in 3rd and then went on to place 4th in the senior men’s division.

The PB Club was welcomed by the Big Stick Surfing Association as if we were part of the tribe. Several times over the microphone we were referred to as a real old school surf club that has been throwing rocks at competitors since the 60’s. The club took 5th overall out of the 9 clubs that participated, not bad for having one third of our normal team. Not claiming that any of us are normal by any means.

After getting filled up on tri tip stake and slow cooked chicken at the after party, and watching 6 longboards get raffled off, one of which was a 60’s Jacobs, the PB Surf Club left the contest after a fun weekend of point break surf, making fun of each other, and having more pain in our stomach from laughing than in our backs from cranking those old board around. Truly one of the better surf events in the Coalition of Surf Clubs. Thanks Big Stick Surfing Association.

Click here for a PDF file of the contest's complete results.

Big Stick Surfing Association and Logjam History

July 1983: While waiting for a set wave at Cowell's on the Westside of Santa Cruz, Mike DeGregorio, surfing with his buddy, Cliff Ellyn, came up with a dream for a "surfing social club." Ellyn chipped in that there could be a community service aspect to the club, "so that it respects the sea."

That spirit is embodied in the club motto/dedication: "Friendship and camaraderie in and out of the water."

Dec. 10, 1983: Once DeGregorio developed the club mission, bylaws and all that necessary stuff, the first meeting of the Big Stick Surfing Association was held in Santa Cruz, with 24 charter members sworn in.

The original members included four DeGregorios, the Ellyns, Peter Ogilvie, Gary Miles, Gary Silberstein and Mike Watson. The club T-shirt was distributed to members with a newly designed Big Stick logo.

The first club photo was taken at the Cowell's stairs in April 1984, accompanied by a head-high swell.

In 1988 local surfer Ward Smith, with a committee of DeGregorio, Marty Weeland, Howard Gertz and Russ Beggs, developed a concept of the world's first "old board" contest. Soon this became the annual end-of-April Surf-O-Rama contest at Pleasure Point.

2001: After a dozen years of Surf-O-Rama, Big Stick renamed the old board contest the Big Stick Logjam.

Big Stick continues to develop the family-oriented surf/social club with summer beach parties. Community service for the club has included regular highway cleanup in Aptos on Highway 1 and support for the Big Stick Scholarship Fund started by Beggs.

Although not formed as a competition-driven surf club, contest directors including Al Sehorn and Mike Young helped make Big Stick's presence known at Coalition of Surf Club contests up and down California coast. This reached an apex in 1998-1999, when Big Stick was fourth in annual ranking among all coalition surf clubs and the team won the Santa Cruz Longboard Union Memorial Day contest at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz.

In the spirit of camaraderie in and out of the water, Big Stick has formed alliances with the local groups the Dirt Farm crew and the Pleasure Point Night Fighters. Also, the Big Stick Christmas Holiday Scrimmage has evolved in the last several years into the early December "Gathering of the Tribes" fun contest and holiday party with other Northern California longboard surf clubs.

DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY (DMD)
(Also known as Pseudohypertrophic)

By Derek Lodico

Authors note: Normally our health corner is devoted to issues related directly to surfing but for this month I have decided to take a different approach. I want to talk about how as a community of surfers, or “tribe”, and how as in touch as we are with the “spirit” or what some call the zone or rush of a good wave, so do we need to be with those less fortunate around us, especially the children. Thanks, Dr. D

Definition — One of nine types of muscular dystrophy, a group of genetic, degenerative diseases primarily affecting voluntary muscles (muscles we control with conscious thought).

Cause — An absence of dystrophin, a protein that helps keep muscle cells intact. All of the cells in our body are surrounded by a sac made of cholesterol and protein. Under this sac or phospholipids bi-layer, Dr. geek language for a sandwich with cholesterol as the bread, and water gel as the jelly, are proteins that act as scaffolding to anchor the cell membrane and keep it stable. This scaffolding is lacking within the muscle cells in kids with Muscluar Dystrophy. Instead of these kids having nice stretchy muscle fibers, they develop muscle that turns to fibrous scar tissue over time.

Onset — Early childhood - about 2 to 6 years.

Symptoms — Generalized weakness and muscle wasting first affecting the muscles of the hips, pelvic area, thighs and shoulders. Calves are often enlarged.

Progression — DMD eventually affects all voluntary muscles, and the heart and breathing muscles. Survival is rare beyond the early 30s. A less severe variant is Becker muscular dystrophy.

Inheritance — X-linked recessive. DMD primarily affects boys, who inherit the disease through their mothers. Women can be carriers of DMD but usually exhibit no symptoms. Yeah me too, took me a long time to figure out the whole gene thing. Mom and dad both have what are called sex chromosomes, or as we know them; boys have a XY and girls have a XX. Boys get one of their mom’s X’s, and one Y from dad. Girls get one X from mom and one X from dad. The disease is carried by mom, it doesn’t show up in mom because girls have two X’s, there are locations for the muscle scaffold gene on both, so if mom has the one bad X, the other remaining X can produce the dystrophin protein or “scaffold” to make up for the bad X. Boys none such luck. They get the one bad X from mom, and a Y from dad that doesn’t have the ability to make “scaffolding” to make up for the X. I know confusing, read it a few times.

Taylor Erwin is a local kid from Tourmaline that now lives in Las Vegas with his family. He grew up with the tribe at Tourmaline playing on the beach like all the other groms. Many saw how debilitating the disease can be first hand. Taylor is the inspiration for the Pacific Beach Surf Club’s Longboard Classic coming up on June 3rd. You can help us raise money for MDA by getting involved with our event, or by contacting me directly to make a donation to MDA in conjunction with our surf event. Our goal is to raise $5,000 to $10,000 for MDA and present it on the MDA Telethon in September. You can contact us for more info at pbscboard@hotmail.com and if you want to donate directly to MDA in our name you can do this as well. Hope to see as many of the “tribe” as possible at the 8th Annual Longboard Classic at Tourmaline Surf Park June 3rd to help us raise awareness and funding in the name of one of the tribe’s children. Thanks, Dr. D

To learn more about MDA, go to www.mdausa.org

Surfing and Sinusitis
Heya, I just read the newsletter (my first one--very cool, by the way), and I thought I'd just mention that I had chronic sinusitis for years. And then last fall I started surfing, and getting a lot of salt water up my nose (hehe), but my sinus infections actually almost went away completely. I figured that since a salt-water rinse (in your nose) is recommended every night when you have bad sinus problems, and I was getting one naturally, that it was an unexpected bonus to surfing. Of course, it could have been the surfing in general helping my overall attitude, but all I know is that my sinuses started to actually get better when I started surfing. I'd ''blindly'' promote that benefit of surfing if I were you guys!! Anyway, what would the day be without at least one pointless yet positive letter (haha). Thanks--keep up the good work!
T.J.
Pacific Beach

Thanks T.J. for kicking this section off with our first letter. --Editor

Got a comment or complaint? If it's surfing related (including this newsletter), email the editor, Richard Steadham, and let's hear about it. Be sure to include your name, and the city where you live. Note that letters will be subject to editing for length and clarity.

UPCOMING COALITION EVENTS

Memorial Day Classic: May 27-28; Santa Cruz Longboard Union; 21st Annual; Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz
Call to the Wall: July 22-23; Malibu Boardriders Club; 14th Annual, Malibu
Oceanside Longboard Contest: August 25-27; Oceanside Longboard Surf Club; Oceanside

OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS

May 6-7: NSSA SW Conference Explorer, South Jetty, Oceanside
May 13: Surfrider Foundation, Beach Cleanup, Oceanside Pier
May 14: WSA Tour Series Championships, Church, San Onofre
May 20: CSUS Series Championships, Oceanside Pier
May 27: Surfrider Foundation, Pacific Beach Street Sweep
May 27-28: Matix/Sun Diego Pro-Am #8, Ocean Beach Pier