Pipe Updates

And so the final day is upon us. The quarters are set: Parko v. J.O.B.; Slater v. John John; Valiere v. Bourez; Perrow v. Medina. I have 4 out of 8 of my FS surf team into the quarters. Would have had 5 if I wouldn't have dropped J.O.B. like a retard. But all along I would have gotten a fat 0 for picking Freddy P, whom shall no longer be picked at all since he has fallen off of the WT. I lost Wilson, Wright, and Payne in Round 3, which will severely damage my FS score this round. Come OZ time Payne and Pattachia will definitely be nixed from my list in favor of the new arrival, Andino. Wilson, Medina, Wright, Andino, and Florence will be my core team - Medina and Wilson's values have already shot through the roof since I first put them on. Slater is a variable at this point. If he does the tour, he stays. If he's off I'll have like $12,000 more to work with. At any rate, I'm not doing horrible at Pipe. If John John doesn't win I'll be shocked. Looking forward to watching the webcast today. -D

The Moment We’ve All Been Waiting For......Pipe!

Well the surf never materialized last Tuesday - that day I said I’d pack up the books and camp out at the beach all day. It materialized on Friday - the day I had my oral examinations for entrance into the PhD program at 10am. The exam lasted an hour and at the end of it I received two “high passes,” which means that I am now a PhD candidate in Philosophy at the New School for Social Research. It also means that I can start asking them for more money (as it is the New School has horrible funding for grad students, but the education is unexcelled - it’s a battle-picking issue). On any normal day I would have headed straight to the beach to celebrate, but this wasn’t a normal day. R. and I had to leave for Miami early the next morning and still had gifts to buy for the in-laws, clothes to pack, errands to run, and I had to be at the waiting tables gig at 4:30pm. Just before work, around 3:45pm, I looked at the Lincoln cam on Surfline and watched a guy pitch a perfect trim across a stealthy little left hander and sighed. But with this test out of the way and the trip to Miami behind me I am now geared to be on the next pulse - if one comes (last winter was surprisingly flat).

Friday was also the final day of the Vans World Cup of Surfing (total misnomer) at Sunset Beach, and man did they score. It was 8-12 feet all day and seemed to turn on most for the final heat. I didn’t get to pay very close attention to the Sunset action, as I was sneaking peaks on the AspTogo app on my iPhone at work, but after the shift I sat down with the heat analyzer. I had an intuition that John Florence would take it and that turned out to be true - he was clearly on fire at Haliewa and if you’ve been watching pro surfing at all in the past three years you would have seen his first few goes at the Pipe event - this kid can read a Hawaiian wave like Dick Bernstein can read Hannah Arendt. All bets are on him to win Pipe.

I have surfed Pipe once. I was living on the North Shore in the late winter of 2000/early spring of 2001, just coming off a broken wrist - I had been in a cast from June to November of 2000 (the damn thing refused to heal - I am pretty sure it was because I was vegan at the time). I went over to Hawaii with a friend from growing up who turned out to be a total creep and a wuss when it came to bigger waves - pretty much the worst combination ever. On the brighter side, I was staying in front of V-land with some wackos including this gnarly bodyboard lady, Carol, and her convict boyfriend (whom the FBI ejected from the house one night when we were all sitting up playing cards). Hmm, that’s not quite bright. Well I had a blast surfing V-land. Mason Ho was about 10 at the time, already wearing a gold chain, sporting a funny fro, and shredding. Perry Dane scowled around the line up and visiting pros stopped by frequently to do enormous floaters over the inside bowl (namely a young Dane Reynolds). As I said, my surf bro at the time was a total wuss and I was coming off this injury so charging Sunset and just checking out some heavier North Shore stuff wasn’t happening for me that year. I surfed Rockies and Ehukai and some stuff in between there, but mostly camped out at V-land. Carol offered to take me out to Pipe one day though and I took her up on the offer. It was only 3-4 foot and very shifty. I didn’t really know where to sit - and was wearing a wrist brace. I caught an insider (no barrel) and turned around to have the biggest set of the morning (a rogue 5-6 footer) looming above my head. I had watched Pipe a number of times and no one tries to duckdive - you just ditch. I ditched my board, popped under water, opened my eyes and saw only reef. It was about 2 feet deep and it looked like I had nowhere to go. Then I started swimming along the bottom when I heard a crack louder than bombs above my head. Seriously this might have been the most frightening sound I’ve ever heard. I felt the power near my legs and thought, “I made it,” when all of a sudden a finger of whitewater picked up my stick-skinny body (still vegan at the time) and pulled me over the falls, pile driving me back into the reef heel first. From there the wave proceeded to hold me down on the reef scrubbing me like a kitchen sponge on a pot that has oatmeal stuck to the bottom. I came up spitting water and another wave broke on my head. My leash snapped from this one and I had to swim in with my gimp arm. Once on the beach I noticed I had a nice chunk of flesh taken out of my heel and some lovely scrapes on my thigh (thank god I was wearing shorts and not just a bathing suit as Carol had suggested). And that was my first and last time out at Pipe. I have been back to Hawaii once or twice since then, but have never been in the right mindset to give Pipe another go. It’s a shame because if I’ve ever felt ready or skilled or confident enough to hold my own on the North Shore it would be now - now that I’m not trying so damn hard to be a pro surfer. Ironic, yes, and the reasons comprise an entirely different blog post regarding my personal relationship to pro surfing and the surf industry. But enough of that dark matter. I have surf Pipe - I got my ass handed to me on a small day, which serves to show that the people that rip and charge it are on another level all together. (A small disclaimer for myself: I surfed Ocean Beach for ten years after this Pipe incident. Again, a shame I never gave the whole North Shore thing another whirl, but c’est la vie.) I love watching that wave and would sit there many times on my stay(s) at the North Shore when it was 8-12 feet on the second reef. I remember being impressed by Kieren Perrow, Ross Williams, and that Japanese dude Takayuki Wakita (I think that’s his name). And I still like to watch the webcasts - I have distinct memories of every Pipe event since they’ve been running the tour online. The most memorable to me was the year Kelly won on a 5’9” in brown barrels against Chris Ward. That was perhaps the most mental performance I’ve ever witnessed in a surfing competition.

And so Pipe......“the most respected wave in the world”.........the final event of the highly chaotic 2011 ASP World Tour, is finally upon us. The event starts tomorrow morning, with a first call at 8am Hawaiian time (1pm EST). A good NW swell is on the forecast and rumor has it that the swell that graced Sunset Beach took some much needed sand off of the reef. I have a funny fantasy surf team for this event, but I’m sticking to my guns: Wright, Slater, Wilson, Medina, J.O.B., Florence, Patacchia, and Parko. The most uncanny picks are Wright, Wilson, and Medina, but the thing is with fantasy surfer you’ve got to get a core team that you believe will excel in any event and these guys, plus Slater are my core team. Not only that but Wright and Wilson have already shown us that they have what it takes in thumping pits (Teahupoo and Portugal), and with Medina, well, I’m giving it a go just for the hell of it. Slater is a no-brainer - with 11 world titles, a tube sense beyond belief, and enough confidence to cure an entire ward of clinically depressed individuals, he’s definitely the man to beat. As for wildcards, I only picked J.O.B. (Jamie O’Brien) because according to himself and to everyone else he is an undisputed Pipe Prince. He and John Florence are two white Hawaiians who grew up on the North Shore and have channeled all the native mana from from the mountains, sand, and sea. Same thing for Bruce Irons. Beyond their pipe skills all three have crazy smooth styles. I’ll be rooting for Bruce, for sure, unless of course he lines up against someone on my team. Everyone is pulling for him, especially since this event, like Teahupoo, is dedicated to the memory of his brother, the late great A.I.. Then there’s my other two picks, Fred and Parko. Hard to bet against either of them in Hawaii. Until this year Parko’s won three triple crowns in a row. Also I’ve been noticing a fire in Fred that I think might just be able to build enough momentum to take the whole house down - at least I hope this is the case. At any rate, Fred can surf both Pipe and Backdoor, and is a necessary Hawaiian stalwart on the ASP World Tour. I would love to see him and John in the final. That would be epic.

Now I must get back to the things that need taking care of: editing papers for the journal I publish at school (editorial meeting at 1pm today), reading Freud, writing papers, and going to pick up the car from the mechanic in Long Island (little issue with burning oil - nothing too major). You can bet I’ll have the live webcast minimized with sound off whenever the event’s on GO, unless of course I happen to be at work or surfing. The forecast out here for the next week is pretty grim, however, but I’ll maintain my watchful eye. Until next time, stay stoked! -D

Firing Long Beach and Ripcurl Pro Update

I drove out to Long Beach this morning with Anya (a photographer who is also my nephew, Sasha’s, mother). I knew the waves were going to be good. I knew it was good on Wednesday, but I opted for a crazy uptown adventure mission: trying to get to the little red lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge. I almost surfed yesterday and was closely monitoring the cams on my iPhone (Surfline Premium app) from 7am until 10:30am. Jersey was firing. I never want to drive to Jersey. I need a super motivated surf bro for that because I hate driving alone on freeways. One person and I’m good, but with only myself in my head I get tunnel vision. Hard to find a surf bro in NY whose schedule matches up - it’s crazy out here - everyone is on a schedule and if they aren’t then, well, that messes up your schedule. Long Beach and Rockaway were ugly side shore with huge bands of chop running vertically down the beach. I saw a few smashable pockets but there was a neat academic fashion conference (I realize that the words “fashion” and “academic” are hardly spoken in the same sentence - I guess I am trying to change that) happening at FIT, and I was scheduled to work at the restaurant starting at 3:30pm. Not worth it. Plus Anya had free today.

The trip out to Long Beach is so short in a car. I picked Anya up in Williamsburg at 9am. I was listening to NPR. The EU is scared of Italy becoming “the new Greece” and current investigation has found that NY cops have been altering and tampering with violation tickets for decades. Astonishing. In forty minutes I was running up the boardwalk with strong offshores at my back. I looked up. Yep. Firing. 3-4 foot lefts. Back to the car. Today I wore my 3/2 fullsuit with a poly pro hooded longsleeve shirt; no gloves; no booties. Water temp was around 60 degrees. Air 50 or so. Maybe 45 with windchill. A guy told me I was crazy. I told him it was like a summer in California (except the offshores).

It looked super barreling but they were really hard to squeak into. The tide was quite low and it was obvious that you would have to be very deep and very inside to grab the good ones. I started off quick and caught a few runners. I felt a little rusty on my shortboard, but was paddling strong. I saw a handful of guys blow what seemed to be very easy takeoffs. To their credit, the wind was pushing hard up the face. But I didn’t want to blow drops or miss opportunities so I vowed to takeoff no matter how late I thought I was. I still missed the two best sets of the day because I was out of position, i.e., out of rhythm. Years of surfing and especially the past five years paying close attention to professional surfing has taught me that this happens to the best of us. Yes, even Kelly has bummer heats. I’ve seen them. They’re rare, but they do happen.

All in all it was so great to be in the water attempting to slide down tubes of universal energy until my feet got cold and the sets became fewer and farther in between. But there were still waves. And there probably still are right now. But for today two hours was enough. Anya and I ate at the LBD (Long Beach Diner) and then I picked up my fish from ding repair at Maritime Surf. The guy, Mike, did a fantastic job. They weren’t gnarly dings, just old ones coming undone, a little rail gouge (SUP idiot in Montauk), and the points of the tail had simply ground down over the 5 years I’ve owned the little magenta wave magnet.

The drive back is never as fast. We left Long Beach at 1pm and I arrived in the West Village, after dropping Anya off in Williamsburg, at 2:40pm. But I immediately got a parking spot less than half a block from my apartment building - not bad for NYC on marathon weekend’s eve.

In Fantasy Surf news, the Ripcurl Pro in SF has been on hold for two days. I didn’t do as hot has I had hoped in rounds 2 and 3. As expected, Dane Reynolds lost to Bede Durbidge. It was dumb to pick him, but then again, he’s just so unpredictable - it seems as though he might just freakishly win any random contest he enters. Anyhow, Dane’s the only man I lost in round 2. In round 3 Kelly, Owen, Gabriel, and Miguel advanced. They’re all on my team. But I lost Julian Wilson to Brett Simpson (who was on my original SF team because it can be like Huntington sometimes), and Davo to Parko, which if I was at all good at math or stat I might have been able to see coming. I remember almost wanting to put T. Knox on my team, and in hindsight that might have been a good idea. OB suits him well. Same with KP. Very stoked to see him beat Adriano, who rips to high heaven, but whose style makes me wince. Pupo and Medina are the next Brazilian level - they are so casual - I like it. Oh and I am still waiting to see how Kerr goes in round 3. Would love to see him put it together and take the thing. Him v. Slater in the final would be sweet.

Next surf for me is looking like Tuesday. I’ll wear the same set up except this time with booties.

Fantasy Surfing Etc.

This is a pic I took of Owen Wright at the Quik Pro New York. This was on the first day of competition. I surfed down the way at Lafayette but it was completely mushy. Then I went and did the obligatory comp check. Was great to hear the fog horns - reminded me of the days when I used to compete. But then it started raining and the guys all looked like little specs of black and I realized that I was going to be really late for my 1pm meeting, which I was. I also realized that I prefer to watch the comps live online in high def with running commentary and instant replays. Otherwise I'd just rather be surfing. But I must admit that I am addicted both to surfing and to watching ASP world tour events online. If any of you reading this have taken a lesson with me, you know that part of the lesson is a complete explanation of the way pro surfing works and its history on the car ride home. And for those of you thinking of taking a lesson, well then, perhaps one of the benefits is said breakdown. I also play that dumb fantasy surf game because I think it makes watching the comps a bit more exciting. The stalwarts of my team for the latter half of the year are Owen Wright, Kelly Slater, Julian Wilson, and Gabriel Medina. The other four slots I just kind of mix up each event. It's not working for me that well - I started the year rated 1400th and now I've fallen to 1700th (at least it's out of 14,000!). I think this is due to the fact that I am horrible at stats. I always have a guy in the final but I lose a lot to friendly fire. At any rate, it's fun to play when you're as big as a surf nerd as I am. As for lessons, weekends are pretty open going into late October. Water is still 65 degrees. For those of you thinking Spring will be warmer - you're wrong! If you want to get in while it's not ice blocks out there get in now. You have about another month or so. Then it's hardcore only until June. But I am more than happy to teach you then.