•All
the gang here at the blah-job factory send out
belated best wishes to WRV and Unsound
teamer/ big-wave charger/ tow-in freak Will
Skudin, who turned 21 this May while in Puerto
Escondido. There, "Skuds" celebrated
the milestone with a full crew of Right Coast
hellmen and filmers. The posse included freelance
photo phenom/ diehard Yankees fan from New Hampshire,
Brian Nevins, fellow New Yawkers Sean
Killarney and George Geiser, Jersey's
Ben "McBride" McBrien, Sam Hammer,
Frank Walsh and photog Chris Pfiel,
Nor-Cackalacka's Chris Curry, Jesse
Hines, Noah Snyder and Carl Wallin,
and North Florida Gators Asher Nolan and
Will Tant. Not to mention, the festivities
were documented by Mike Nelson and Mez
for Eastern Surf's upcoming video
Always Right. The highlight of the
trip? None other than The Birthday Boy's wonderful
scheme to escape the obligatory rage on turning
the big "2-1." Will dodged the typical
hoopla by renting a jet-ski from the 'Escon
lifeguards and organizing an impromptu tow-at
contest--Red Bull RB5X style--with all
participants judging the winner from video footage
shot by Wrightsville Beach, NC, vid kid Nate
Lee, who was filming for both ESM
and his own debut project, Luggage. Chris
Curry took the grand prize of this issue's
full-page Money Shot photo on Page 118. Happy
birthday, Will, and many more to you from
your pals at Eastern Surf.
•Also on hand in Puerto, shooting for his own project was New Hampshire's Joe Carter, who is butt-up and balls-deep in his first release titled Get In The Van--so stay tuned to these pages for more info on what promises to be a stellar effort from Joe C. And speaking of surf films and the hardworking and talented Mr. Carter, ESM accidentally misconstrued the facts here last issue that Joe and New Hammy surfer, filmer, graphic artist, guitar slinger, and all around good guy/ longtime friend of the mag Ralph Fatello had fully partnered up on an upcoming video project titled 1. Instead, the boys are just helping each other out as friends and fellow Hamshirites on their respective, upcoming releases--just as Eastern Surf is doing with many of our coast's top vid guys (including both Joe and Ralph) for our inaugural effort, Always Right. Sorry for any confusion, guys. And once again, stay tuned for any breaking news on the aforementioned films. Guaranteed, you'll read it here first.
•This June, Connecticut native Grant Washburn once again proved himself among the world's elite chargers at the Red Bull Big Wave Africa 2005, held at Dungeons in South Africa. Grant bagged his second victory there and an enormous 20-foot bomb, which landed him R15,000 and the Sensi Threads Biggest Wave title. For more info on the Red Bull BWA 2005 and its previous six editions, visit the comprehensive website at www.redbullbwa.com. •Portsmouth, NH's, Skye Nacel has been busy repping for Erino Clothing, owned by Massachusetts surfer Chris Gillis, and sold in shops like Liquid Dreams, Zapstix, Luna Chics, Black and Blues and Walk the Cape. Skye's also been writing and shooting for a few rags, including N'East Magazine and Wire Magazine. Not to mention, he's started filming segments as the core sports guy for the new TV show on WNDS called Dan Egan's Wild World of Summer--which airs every Thursday night at 7:30 pm... And (gasp!) Skye hosts a local action sports radio show in Portsmouth every Tuesday from 1:00-3:00 pm called Perpetualmocean. Visit www.perpetualmocean.com for deets on that. Fitting talk show title for you, Skye--and way to keep things moving. •You know summer is officially here when the Surfrider Foundation/ Blue Water Task Force ocean water testers are prowling the Rhode Island coastline. This marks the fourth year that a dedicated group of volunteers--including surfers from the University of Rhode Island Oceanography Department, Save The Bay, Surfrider Foundation and the Eastern Surfing Association--have been enlisted to collect specimens from 13 of the most popular surfing breaks in the Ocean State. For more deets on the Blue Water Task Force, go to www.surfrider.org/programs.
•In late spring, the 6th Annual New England Longboard Classic Championships scored fun surf at Nantasket Beach in Hull, MA. Ideal conditions drew the biggest spectator crowd in the annual event's history--not to mention 143 eager competitors. Big winners included brothers Dan and Steve Hassett, Karen DeMattio, Kate Egan, Peter Pan, Eric Webber, Nora Vasconcellos and John Ryan. More than $2000 in merchandise and prizes were awarded to the top four finalists in each of the 10 divisions. After the comp, everyone flocked across the street to the local favorite, The Red Parrot, for food and drink. •New Yorker Mike von Wahlde let us know that on May 26th a silent auction and art show benefited Boarding For Breast Cancer at the Milk Gallery, 40 West 15th Street at 10th Ave in Manhattan. Participating artists included Tony Alva, Steve Olsen, Stacy Peralta, Kevin Ancell, Peter Beard, Lance Mountain, Barry McGee, Michael Halsband and a slew of others--all riders of the concrete wave or influenced by the aesthetic. Over 90 original works were available for purchase with the proceeds going to B4BC. Check out Boarding For Breast Cancer's website at http://b4bc.org. The event also served as the kickoff for a week of old school, surf-inspired longboard skateboarding--the annual Style Sessions. For more on that concrete mayhem, e-mail Mike at mike_v@objectsarenouns.com. •According to longtime Long Island source Bruce Bailey, big bro Java Bailey and his band Supercargoman held a slammin' CD release party on June 25th at the Vail Levitt Theater. Other bands that played were Mad Elephant and Stiltz, who actually did a music video shoot that night at the event. Keep your ears open for the new Supercargoman disc, as it's sure to be a pre-surf pump-up essential. And watch for ESM's Always Right video where Jav scores one of the sickest Northeast clips with a super-deep Esconlido tube.
•In historical access news--through the dedicated work of the NYC Surfrider Chapter, the New York Department of Parks and Recreation and numerous other local politicians and authorities--the first designated surf beach in Rockaway Beach, NY, debuts this summer at Beach 88th to the Beach 90th Street Boardwalk. The process of securing the access took approximately three years--while the necessary code and law changes were enacted at the state and local level--and it provides a great model of what happens when community and government work together. Good on ya, folks. •Lastly, flying under Eastern Canadian radar in early June, ESM cofounder Dick Meseroll and navigator first-class Tonya Wade spent a week of R&R--rest and recon--exploring and mapping potential somewhere above the 45th Parallel. When asked by your humble blah columnist for particulars, a tightlipped Mez tersely replied: "I ain't saying moose crap." Which to us says plenty, eh? Compiled by Mike Fish |
