So my buddy Brian who used to work for Surf Aid sent me this invite. Looks to be a great event for a great cause. Was reminded when my ZunaSurf newsletter came via email today.

Here is the scoop.

“Surf Addict” and its crew, named after SF based Clothing & Accesories Manufacturer, along with other local partners/sponsors, will be the presenting sponsor of a launch party to benefit several sea life protection and environmental non-profit organizations.

Tomorrow night Friday, November 21st, 2008, 6:00pm-12:00pm – Aquarium At The Bay. Paddle Out on Saturday, November 22nd, 2008, 8:30am – Crissy Field

Learn more here

So I’ve had Woodshed Films on my mind recently as they have been promoting their new film, as you know.  Last night got The Seedling in from NetFlix and watched it over a pint of 2 degrees below.  Such a beautiful film that it got me all jazzed to ride the ole 9′6″ that I now fondly refer to as my ‘amplifier’.

It’ll take any session and turn it into a blast.  Luckily for me this morning the surf has been tiny the past few days after the epic weekend of sun and surf.  By lucky, I mean that it fit into my mind state after watching the film and dreaming about hanging ten.  I woke up and ran out in the fog and cold over the dunes to find one other surfer out.  The waves were tiny….like knee high on the sets, but with the same perfect shape its held all week.  Little barrels fit for an action figure were rifling down the sand bars.

I paddled out super stoked to play around and wake up.  Way better than coffee.  I was super cozy with my new found Patagonia hood with wool inside…so stoked on that.  Before long the other guy went in and I had a fun little playground all to myself….I used it too, paddling like a maniac for every peak that came in.  You go so fast on a big board you feel like you have to catch everything…can’t let anything go unridden.

I had one of the best sessions…gliding and sliding my way left and right.  I don’t know if it was the inspiration from the movie, the small waves, the nice shape or what, but I was cross stepping, riding switch stance, riding two feet together, and generally felt like I was on par with those log riding legends in the movie.  Tudorish I dare say….ok, I wasn’t even close, but I had some styly rides where my knee caps got all covered up…cutbacks, the whole nine.  Tomorrow the swell is supposed to jump up…have to break out the shortboard just when I was having so much fun on my log.

Next time its small, check out The Seedling and see if it works for your surfing.

Ps…the image above is a frame grab from the film that I tweaked a bit….thanks Woodshed!

The new film by Woodshed Films which promises to be a keeper. I mean come on….Thicker than Water, A broke down Melody…need I say more.

Check out the cool progression animation in the clip below.

‘One Track Mind’ Webisode 1: The Progression from Woodshed Films on Vimeo.

Here are the upcoming premieres…

One Track Mind Premieres!
Nov 19, 2008
November 19-23 – Santandar – Spain
More Info Coming Soon

November 20- Toms Shoes Headquarters – Santa Monica, CA
When: 7:30pm
Where: 3025 Olympic Blvd. Santa Monica CA 90404
Admission: FREE!
More Info: Drinks and live music from Pawnshop Kings and Kai Brown

November 22 – Ojai, CA
When: 4:30pm
Where: Ojai Theatre, 145 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai, CA
Admission: FREE!

Check out WoodshedFilms.com for more of the goods.

I am totally exhausted. What an epic weekend. We had record temperatures this week, about 10 degrees past the previous record set in 1906. Couple that with offshore winds and a super fun swell and well it just doesn’t get much better.

I surfed my 6′5″ quad yesterday taking off on some long extended drops…as the wind held up the face nice and long. The walls were lining up for about 50 yards and breaking both left and right depending on where you sat.

It was a good size and nice long period ground swell. The wind would feather the tops and make for beautiful rainbows that extended from the lip to the trough behind it and almost completing a full circle. I wish I had a picture of that for you guys. Need to work on picking up a water housing. The views from the beach in between sessions were nice too.

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Because of the offshore, some guys would get held up in the lip longer than they probably would have liked and ended up having to straighten out on beautiful ones like this.

So many good waves and so little energy to chase them all. As the sun was setting a couple surfers got pulled out in a rip and had trouble getting back to shore. One of them finally made it back to the lineup only to see the other about 100 yrds out waving for help. The first surfer made it to shore and called 911. Moments later three lifeguard trucks pulled up on the beach with spotters standing on their trucks sirens blazin searching with binoculars for this surfer. Swimmers got in the water, a Coast Guard boat came out and started patrolling beyond the surf and a couple fire engines were up on the Great Hwy. It was quite a scene. I was pretty far out there and didn’t see anyone past where I was sitting, which is what I told the guy who alerted the Fire Dept., Coast Guard and Lifeguards when I came in. I sat and scanned the horizon for about 20 minutes before the sun went down and didn’t see anyone out there, except for a few surfers getting their fill. I didn’t hear anything on the news either, but I bet whoever it was probably came in down the beach not realizing all the commotion was for him.

The waves were big, but they were nicely spaced and had perfect shape so the guy probably just got tired. I know I was…I must have paddled several miles over the past couple days. It was well worth it too, trying to stay in position, cause when the sets came through you forgot all about your burning arms and back and just dropped in nice and smooth and relaxed stoked that you could now use the lower half of your body to carve it up.

Well, I’m pretty beat just talking about how tired I am…so I’m going to leave you with a couple last images.

The sunsets the past couple days have been unreal…

Stellar conditions for two days in a row. 4-6ft with occasional 7 ft sets yesterday and 2-3ft and offshore today. The rainbows coming off the spray were unreal forming almost a complete circle.

Time for seconds.

It was inevitable that Taiwan eventually got on the radar of the International Surf Community.  For a place with so much potential and such a unique culture to remain relatively untouched for as long as it has, is/was indeed special.  Hiroaki, who ran the only surf shop in the south when I arrived, has been spearheading the movement to create awareness for the typhoon rich island.  Mostly among the Japanese surf community.

Luckily for the surf community in Taiwan, scoring good sessions generally requires local knowledge and a bit of resourcefulness.  If you haven’t seen the post yet on Surfline, you can check it here.

Although I don’t think Taiwan will ever be the destination for most surf travelers, if timed correctly it can certainly be a good jumping off point to other more well known locales.  This shot above is bitter sweet for me as I believe I was the first one to ever surf this place that I know of.  Gazza, Dante, Red, The Meystro, RastafarIAN, McKrackin, Mike, Al and others broke it in at a time when Hiroaki and others stuck to Jialoshui and Nanwan exclusively.

Glad to see the local culture evolve and glad to be a part of Taiwan’s surf history.

This is the Taiwan I will always remember and look forward to returning to.

People  talk about the vibe you get in the water when things just don’t feel right.  I’m sure you’ve all heard about the stories where they are sitting 100 yds offshore and they get a weird creepy vibe and then paddle in to get a glimpse of a large fin cruising the lineup or something worse.

Well, I don’t know if I have one of those stories or not cause I don’t have any proof.  Let’s just say it had all the signs.

First off, tis’ the season.  October and November are Shark months in Norcal…not to say that the rest of the year is shark free by any means.  Anyway, I paddled out this morning for the dawn patrol and there were a couple guys and gals out off to the left of where I usually surf.  The swell was about 2-3ft with a somewhat high tide.  Beautiful as the sun was just coming up and the ocean was pretty glassy.  I surfed for about twenty minutes paddling to stay in position as everyone else drifted south.  I had a weird feeling cause the tide was high and I was solo for the most part…you always hear about early morning sightings etc.  Well, just as the thought popped into my head I saw a fin about 30 yrds out to my right, followed by another that breached the surface like a dolphin.  Whew…a relief.

The next set that came in I watched as the dolphin streaked along in the face of the wave and then kicked out half way through the ride.  It was cool to see and thought to myself that I was just being paranoid.  Ten minutes later, about 15-20 yards out to my right, I catch the tail end of a large splash/thrashing type movement under water…not right at the surface…but it did kick up a bit of spray which was what got my attention.  I sat there and just watched to see if I could see anything more for ten seconds or so…nothing….a wave came and I was on it.  Not a good one, so I kicked out a bit further inside and sat there looking out to sea again.  A second later to my left I saw a sea lion jump out of the water once continuing south.

Now of all the stories I’ve heard, those are the signs.  Dolphins present, splashing/thrashing, sea life acting erratically.  I didn’t want to just paddle in, but felt that I probably should…nothing wrong with getting to work early, right?  Besides the waves weren’t that good, at least thats what I told myself.  I got one more wave on the inside and then was out.  As I walked up on the dune I hoped to see something that would validate my paranoia, but never did get the proof.

Still not sure if what I witnessed was anything to exit the water for, but thought it was a good move to listen to that creepy vibe and respect the Ocean.  I know this is not the type of stuff you want to read about necessarily, but I had to tell someone.

Wednesday, November 5th
at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre in San Francisco
2 shows: 6:30pm and 9:30pm

Courtesy of Surfpulse.com

Matt Proehl and Paul Ferraris Photography Show in San Francisco on Saturday, November 8, 2008

Local Photographers Matt Proehl and Paul Ferraris will be having a show in San Francisco at the John Colins Lounge on November 8th at 7:00 PM. Matt and Paul will be showing all new work. Matt will have a variety of large-scale tropical and surfing prints. Paul will be exhibiting his recent black-and-white work. There will be a full bar and DJ.

John Colins Lounge is located at 90 Natoma St, San Francisco, 94105.
www.johncolins.com

What a beautiful acceptance speech last night.  A truly monumental moment in our Nation’s history.  I was moved and inspired.  As one of my old coaches used to say, ‘It’s a good day to be an American’.