OK we skipped a few heats from the last video post. Here’s the semis/finals of the 2009 Pipeline Pro. We’ll have a third segment along with a vimeo page up and running soon, hold onto your horses.

Hey Rookiesusa.com,

So I just got back about a week ago from an amazing 18 day trip to Australia and I already can’t wait to go back. About 3 months ago my friend David Schaub and I decided to go to Australia. We made the 14 hour journey over on the 22nd of May with no directions and no idea of where to find spots or what kind of swell to look for. We landed on the 24th and picked up our horrid, purple-flowered, thief magnet of a van after being told by the company owner that there was a 70% chance of break-in or collision. We took our chances anyway and headed straight away southbound from Sydney in search of waves. After two days of searching and driving we found boogie heaven. Nobody out and 4-6 foot. We surfed the spot for three days straight after randomly meeting up with fellow mainlanders Matt Meyer, Nick Ostrovsky, and Randy Holzmann. We also met some local groms named Riley Conlon, age 20, and Ryan Sewell, age 15. They were just two of the many rippers around the area.

After three days the swell started dying and the rain set in so we headed back north. We checked around three other cities but didn’t find much of anything, the swell just wasn’t big enough. For the next few days we surfed a mellow beach break, went wine tasting, attended a Riptide video premiere, bargain hunted and found shelter from the rain. We finally had enough of the town life and headed back south to our original stomping grounds. For the next two days we surfed perfect waves, 4-7 foot and light crowds. If California ever looked like a typical day here there would be 500 guys on it. We spent all day surfing about a mile away from the nearest car, building fires, crapping in the woods and staving off the incessant rain. David, Matt, Nick and Randy all scored a super session in the late afternoon with nobody out. Probably saw more airs that one day than I have all of my life back in California. The next few days just poured down rain all day, so we headed back to the nearest town. We all split up and David and I were really blessed when a random family took us in for two days while it pissed down rain. They took us out to dinner for pizza, made us beds in a fire heated room and cooked us meals. They also took us out to pet wild kangaroos.

Eventually the skies finally parted and somehow we all met back up again and headed back to the same spot as before. We got back to find it smaller than it had been with Dave Winchester and Spencer Skipper riding it. All I can really say is Dave Winchester is insane in person; he was boosting the biggest and most perfect airs on every wave. It was amazing, simply amazing. We ended up staying there until our last two days of the trip before heading back to Sydney. Overall we had an epic adventure, although we didn’t surf many different waves and continuously got rained out. In fact our only two days of nothing but sun were in Sydney, but in the end it was completely worth all the hassle. I highly recommend that all bodyboarders make the trek over at least once in their life as it is nothing but a boogie paradise. So now I am back in California, back to my 60 hour week and already planning my next trip. Until next time be sure to check out Allen-Photos.com for all the goods.

Cheers,

Chris Allen

Allen-Photos.com

David 30 minutes into his first session.

Ryan Sewel age 15.

Matt going huge in the early morning light.

Randy nailed about three of these back to back to back.

Ostrovsky striking the Iron Man pose.

Taming the local wildlife.

Dave Winchester full rotation. Nuts.

End bowl forward by Spencer Skipper.

Well it’s now been a year and a half since the premiere of the Dawn in Pismo, a split production cut by the likes of fellow Central Coast groms Zach Nicolas and Kellen Keene, documenting their round-the-world travels. Recently, Zach has thrown a good number of the movie’s segments online for our cyber viewing pleasure. He’s now moved on from the Den, living up in SF and starting anew following on the heels of a rather disturbing encounter with the Godfather. Kellen is still lurking around the Central Coast, busy with more video projects to fund further Mexico excursions.

- Reel
- Intro
- Dark Side Intro
- Australia
- Mexico
- Hawaii
- Skipp/Hubb
- Ross
- Stewart/Botha
- Cale/Weimann
- Hawaii Ozzies

To those who contributed to the winter review: it’s coming soon…we promise. Until then, check our edit of heats 48-51 of the Pipeline Pro below. The download time is quite obscene after some computer failures, so hang in there kids.

“So where do you see yourself in five years,” I asked an in-over-his-head Franklin D(K) Roblevelt on the phone some blustery April afternoon. The kid had fallen off as of late. Here he thought he was calling me up and clueing me into some springtime inside lefts to ride, but I knew this slurry tone. The tone that runs like a disease through any knee up rider around these parts. Stanley had gotten to this baby seal all right, and I shed a tear as I ended the call and thought of the days when I thought Frankie was different. When I believed Frankie stood a chance. Before all of this. Before he was red eyed and claiming a bloodline to Jack Lindholm when I wasn’t around. Before photoshopping himself onto heavy North Shore sections and posting the fraudulent pics up around Pismo pizzerias and The Scoop. He was doomed. As doomed as Wonka, Red Dog, Louie and me before him. Our sciatic nerves are rousted, our midlife crises came early, and we’re broke and loveless. We are in our thirties and renting. We’re rattled. We might not have Halloween pumpkins and animal skulls in our front yards still, but we need something strong to make it through the night. I was never breastfed.

* * *

As mentioned in the swiftly flagged and removed Los Angeles Volume 4 of the Asthmatic Giant! tour diary on RookiesUSA, the seminal ambient folk sensation has been working on their full length debut LP “Red Dog Confessional”. With riveting synth’d out originals such as “Slammies on my Nipps”, “Red Headed Stepchild Blues”, “Gamer Thug”, and “Talkin’ PFC Blues” the Giant! has summoned the lyrical spirit of Roldy with impeccable honesty and plenty of soul on these new oxy friendly tracks. Check www.myspace.com/asthmaticgiant for release dates.

When his beloved hound Racer passed away some years ago and he himself very nearly touched upon death along that treacherous stretch of Highway 1, Michael Minnesota Emo had a rare out-of-body experience. It involved a convoluted vision of sorts. Filled with pastrami wedged in between his shiny, multicolored braces. Filled with Cardiacs, Asteroids and other surf spots of the outer cosmos. And filled with an ambitious archiving endeavor. From that day on he made a vow to carry out this vision. Stroking his vacuum-zipped 600mm lens by day and scanning in crusty old relics on his Epson by night, his vision slowly came to life. A plan to document every detail of the sport was unfolding behind the scenes. Video by video and mag by mag Emo worked diligently to accumulate material from other good samaritan spongers who were equally entranced by his vision. And finally, just a little over a month ago and almost 4 years to the day of his near fatal accident, he birthed his visionary baby, dubbed BodyboardersJournal.com. This site is testimony to Emo’s closet loyalty to bodyboarding and, more importantly, to Racer. If anything is going to legitimize our sport, it’s a comprehensive site that celebrates our history like this one. For now check the interactive gallery, the magazine and video archives, and the exhaustive set of links with much more in store in the coming future. Good on ya Emo. Contribute today.

Speaking of comprehensive, you have to check out transitsurf.com. I’m not quite sure how we missed this little gem in earlier posts. Along with Spongercity this blog has quickly become the source for the latest and greatest that is boogie, especially around Australia. Interviews, links galore, and commentary abound in this sweet little number with updates usually filtering in daily.

Back in the homeland Roldan hit the dirty 30 mark and moved back to the Central Coast. He’s slowly recovering from his foot injury from January while delivering pies at Giussepe’s and collecting retirement from PFC. Cale has been getting all kiwi chasing swells around north island New Zealand for the past month. He returned home yesterday and should have some photos for us shortly. Hellmore and Chaney have been dominating a plethora of springtime Asthmatic performances, opting to focus more on their music as it gives Chanus a chance to recover from hamburger meat toe and Darren an excuse to upgrade his fedora collection. Adam T is hanging steady on the Central Coast and is ready for some rotisserie bronzing as an Avila lifeguard this summer. Lastly, Murdock has been scoring some late season delights and also just booked a 2 month trip with Mr. Keene and his new video camera to Mainland Mex. Stay tuned for the carnage.

California also just witnessed its 1st south swell of the season 2 weeks ago to kick things off properly. Eddy conditions prevailed but there were a few nuggets to be had up and down the coast. C-Los posted a few wedge shots here, here, here, here and here from Day 2 of the swell. We were there to document a bit of the action as well for Day 1. Check the thumbnails below.

Also check back soon for a full winter review writeup with some above average pics of a rather below average season. Some housekeeping links to tide you over until then:

Videos:
- BOOM! meets Hawaii: Hardy, Team Manta, Team VS
- Hoovah uploaded another clip from his recent Mexico trip here
- Not so extras, extras: Hubb segment from Llowen Liberato
- Michael Novy you so sexy
- Nathan Henshaw Film Reel
- Folzz gives us a taste of the East Coast
- Zen filmz North Shore Edit

Miscellaneous:
- Boothy’s back
- Rocket owns and saves lives
- Lackey vid coming soon
- Spongewars Claws and Teeth interview
- Spongercity Interviews: Galagher, Waldron Bros
- Old Wedge article
- Dubb with Morey
- Check Garret Allard’s blog: Merge
- Check Ben DeCamp’s blog: Shark
- More blogs: Burkshit, Rawlins & Lackey, Hubb, Novy

Well folks, not much has changed since Statom’s departure! Strong NE winds continue to dominate the weather pattern with no NW swell in the water to speak of. Although the strong trade winds and wind swell is quite annoying, the waves are still in abundance at the right spots! I’ve had a couple sick sessions at Log Cabins with no more than two or three guys out. I’ll give you a little break down of the action!

The first day I surfed out there was a solid 6-8 foot with an occasional wash through set. I had to paddle out at Keiki pretty much because the paddle was next level! I only scrapped two waves; the first was cat shit but the second one was a drainer. It barreled so hard almost like a little Pipe bowl! My buddy Tyler had his video camera and was able to get the wave. Once we get a firewire I’ll post some frames of it! I heard from one of my friends that GT made an appearance after I went in. Tamega’s all about big sketchy waves, he lives for that shit!

Day two was a bit smaller but much cleaner, 4-6 foot draining with three guys out. Right as I walked up the trail I saw no other than GT pull into a nugget! I surfed for a few hours and was able to scrap a handful of fun waves! Anna was posted up on the beach providing the photo support, so check out a couple of her top notch pics that I posted below!

As The NE winds and NNE swell continue to dominate the swell and wind pattern, relief is lurking on the horizon! Caldwell’s claiming a solid 6-8 foot swell for the beginning of this week. Statom was able to accumulate a grip of footy as well as pics during his two-week campaign on the Rock that will be leaking their way through the site over the next few months so stay tuned for the action.

A couple last words: congrats to Hardy for the W. I think out of any Australian who hasn’t won Pipe, he was the most worthy! Go Hardballs! Word on the street is that Kellen has invested some serious cash on a super high tech next level guru style video camera! We plan on spending a few months in Mainland this summer so expect some weirdness to unfold! That’s a wrap folks, much more to come!!!!

Mahalo,
Murdock

Saturday February 28th
Well our 14 days on the rock has come to a close with quite a whimper. The lack of updates is directly proportional to the lack of surf here on the North Shore since our last transmission. Not to say there hasn’t been time for the daily double of Pupukea sandbar and inside Sunset sessions. But the incessant Northeast winds have made our options pretty limited in finding quality waves. The routine of late has been pretty simple: going rounds in the kitchen, scrapping windswell peaks, and hunting for trogs. James has picked up some extra shifts so I’ve managed a Haleiwa night, a couple nights at Turtle Bay and some neighboring Sunset hikes with his roommates to kill time.

I’ve posted some framegrabs from the contest in an etcetera here. If you haven’t checked the frames of Murdock filmed by Brett “Spacey” Roldan on the DreBoy site, I’ve pieced them and a few others into another etcetera here. Until our return to the mecca next year, keep checking back as we’ll have more photos and an edit from the contest in the near future as well as our batch of usual news updates and features.

ps Willie has been getting fun waves in Kauai and will be returning home shortly as well.

Wednesday February 25th
Where to start. It’s been an eventful past couple of days with the finale of another memorable Pipeline Pro finish. Ryan Hardy nailed his first victory at the Banzai without even pulling his Backdoor card in the final. His ‘09 campaign looks to be a promising one. PLC put on a very impressive 2nd place finish with his high flying repertoire but in the end it was the patience of Hardy that prevailed as he found a couple of the only larger lefts that made their way through as the swell turned more north. The Hardy chants were already strong before the final buzzer sounded and most assuredly lasted well into the night with a fired up Australian contingent getting weird on the beach. This one was well deserved for Hardballs and fittingly it comes on the heels of a major sponsor drop. Somebody’s bummed at corporate headquarters.

Monday the swell was up and the comp resumed with Day 2. We opted for a last session out at Yards as Willie would be departing that afternoon. Rusty Trombone and his crew joined us for a couple hectic sidewinders but it was mostly a fruitless effort with a strong current and washing sets. Not the most memorable ‘09 campaign for Willie but a solid effort nonetheless. After his departure we regrouped down at Pipe for the rest of the afternoon. Pipe was on fire and I filmed for the afternoon as the action heated up. Toby Player, Alistair Taylor, Dave Crowley and Diego Cabrera were all standouts during the afternoon hours. David Phillips definitely made the biggest statement with his Day 2 performance. After Round 7 finished up we avoided the post-comp convergence on Pipe and settled for another round at Yards. This time the right call was made and we scored emptiness until dusk. James’ parents departed that night leaving us with a nice collection of leftover food to take care of. This is essential for our daily food consumption.

Tuesday was more of the same. Another good Yards session followed by an afternoon lurking on the beach. We missed Round 8 but it was said that Dave Winchester, Nitch Rawlins, Ryan Hardy and David Phillips dominated. In the quarters things got controversial. Again we were not in attendance but one of the most stacked heats in IBA history went down with Nitch, Player, Stewart and Tamega going at it. In the end it was Rawlins and Tamega narrowly advancing over a fired up BP on some questionable scoring. We arrived for the semis with Winchester putting on an impressive performance despite the increasingly inconsistent surf. PLC, Hardy and Tamega would round out the final heat of the day. From there it was pretty much a clash of competitive strategies with Hardy’s tube riding prevailing over PLC’s aerial attack. Tamega’s scrapping and Winny’s jammers were pretty much nonfactors.

We will have much more media coverage to come in the next couple days including an etcetera from Anna Riedel showcasing some of her photos from the final day. The waves are back up for the next couple days so we’ll keep you up to date on all the latest.

Sunday February 22nd
Friday afternoon we had our first encounter with Willie and made our way over to Off the Wall. Winds were pretty garbage but we made the most of the scattered windswell peaks. James’ parents cruised over to his Sunset pad with Willie and his chick later on and Branch Mill was reunited for a solid meal. Oddly enough, the ever so slightest scent of sulfur was observed at the dinner table. We followed that up with a night cap run to Town where we ventured from Honolulu hot spot bars to Femme Nu and back to Chinatown to finish things off. Although it sounds big, we went home feeling somewhat emptyhanded with Willie not even allowing the Gremlin out of the closet and no lap dances embarked at the ‘Nu.

Saturday we did the tourist bit. I met up with Willie and his chick while James grabbed a Sunset session out front. We cruised the local farmer’s market and coffee house before making the trek to Waimea Falls. In fine Wonka fashion, we blazed some trails, named off a few exotic birds, and worked the Macro zoom on his 1985 1.6 megapixel camera for some stoney flower shots along the trail. I made it back to the beach in time for a chopped out Pipe session while James went to work and Willie visited friends on the West side. Another PLC siting was made, that guy is straight up devoted. A bonfire out front of Sunset put us to sleep at a decent hour later that night.

Sunday we met up with Willie again at OTW mid-morning. These winds are really getting annoying. I filmed for a bit but didn’t capture much magic. Willie, his chick and I decided to go for another excursion while James got a couple standup waves at Sunset. This time we ventured as far west along the point as we could go to seek out some sacred albatross’. Sadly, the trail reminded us more of the AWD dunes of Pismo than any kind of natural bird sanctuary. A mud bog diverted our attention away from the drab path and before we knew it we were getting down and slinging mud at one another. In the words of Josh Ralph we were “Getting Weird.” This phrase has completely dominated the trip. After a troublesome cleanup on the lava rocks we were back on the road and on our way to an evening OTW/Log Cabins session. The swell was up and the winds were down and we got a few nuggets tonight in front of an interesting cast of chronics. An optimistic forecast on the horizon for tomorrow has us done in early tonight.

Friday February 20th
Yesterday we woke up to some shit weather so we watched a movie early and went through another round of James’ intense yoga/knee strengthening routine. He tore his ACL last year and has been doing some crazy rehab ever since. The NE winds and smaller swell didn’t keep us from paddling out at Sunset for a couple hours. The inside lefts and Boneyards rights had some juice to offer. We followed that up with another hectic guacamole round and Foodland run. Willie arrived and got a few at Off the Wall.

Today the weather is glum again and we’re waiting for the morning sickness to die off so we can meet up with Willie and find something to keep us sane. The vocabulary has delved into its usual vulgar depths with the recent lack of surf. Here are a few links to hold you over:

Riptide Hawaiian Expose
Message Board Collection of Event Photos
Jamie O Waldron Vid
IBA Twitter

Wednesday February 18th
Yesterday the first day of Pipeline Pro competition went down with some fun 4-6 foot wedgy but inconsistent peaks. Unfortunately for Murdock and I we were both subject to a combination of poor wave selection and a hungry field of talented internationals descending on the Rock. Murder made it through his first heat with a couple toobs and maneuvers but we both got axed in the 2nd round. The anti-christ/salt block preliminary strategizing against our competition was not unveiled and could have led to crucial victories. Standouts of Day 1 included Ruben Quinones, Damian King, Timmy Hamilton, and Oshi Grady, with Beans and Rusty Friesen displaying some California love in their heats as well. Check this video from the IBA site for Day 1 highlights.

After losing out we headed to inside Sunset and caught a couple sketchy peaks before rolling to James’ girlfriend’s birthday dinner up on the hillside of Pupukea for some killer grinds. We drowned our sorrows in beers and perved on some young bystanders and called it a night.

Today the contest was off so we made a mandatory Haleiwa/Foodland mission for cash and food and chilled down at Sunset which is just footsteps from James’ balcony. Swimming and bronzing and bronzing and swimming. From there we met up with James’ parents who are staying at Ke’iki and had pretty much a guacamole eating contest from Drew’s daily tree trimming assault. Willie shows up tomorrow afternoon so anticipation is high for some media production although the short range forecast looks grim. The contest probably won’t resume until next week. Below are a couple more tidbits from the pre-contest action. We will have full documentation for the remainder of the event so keep checking back.

Monday February 16th
Well got in around 9 last night and was swiftly picked up by Murdock and his stonie tree cutting roommate Drew. A quick stop at Terry McKenna’s so I could drop off the entry fee and James does a frantic rundown of “the list” and…we’re not on it! AKA no Erma trials today so we’re going straight to surfing Pipe. Stoked.

Because of this we sleep in a bit after staying up late getting situated and receiving an inspirational call from Miller. The wind is a little weird early today and the swell is still windswell wrap so we man the deck for a bit and throw out a mandatory lurk before a quick trip to Haleiwa. Binoculars, babe sightings, and wave sightings. God it feels good to be back.

Murdock’s new surfing partners Andre Botha and Anthony “Look like a hippy but don’t smell like one” Savoji cruise by and soon we’re off checking spots. We end up at Rocky’s. Couple fun ones early but the swell is rising fast and we’re dipping more waves than we catch. Get out and check Pipe. Solid crew of boogs on it. Big and wedgie but a bit weird and crowded. Throw down a little video (see grabs below) until it starts raining a bit. Murdock and I exit stage right to tackle some Backyards and its the right call. Lotta paddling but some empty offshore bombs offer up a couple choice toobs. Back at James’ house afterwards and it’s a full on pasta feed and a chill night as it looks like the comp will run tomorrow. Check the heat draw here and check for the live feed on the IBA site manana.

Sunday February 15th
The pre-trials trials have been set for an unfortunate few on the South Shore at Erma’s. Also, a list of the dk contestants has been posted on the IBA site here. Look for the action to heat up Tuesday as a 6-foot swell approaches da banzai and the opening day of the contest starts off with a bang.