•Although the horror flick Friday The 13th is filled with endless scenes of brutal butchery, it's nothing compared to the slaughter East Coast surfers inflicted, when the ominous day rolled around once again this October. By the time the 24 hours were up, not only had Kelly Slater sealed his record-setting eighth ASP World Title by hacking up Aussie pro Joel Parkinson in the Billabong Pro Mundaka semifinals, but surfers up and down the Eastern Seaboard tore the guts out of a clean, head-high groundswell delivered by an early-season nor'easter. In New Hampshire, photog John Carden set upon an unnamed beachbreak with Granite State rippers Casey Lockwood, Luke Furtney, Devlin Hart, and Garret Krapf, who would've made movie villain Jason proud by carving gaping gouges and penetrating deep into the bowels of the unsuspecting swell. To view documentation of the carnage, visit Carden's gallery at www.johncarden.smugmug.com. •The merciless wave abuse may have been a case of revenge, since earlier in the week, the Atlantic delivered a pretty serious beatdown to surfers in the Fourth Annual Surfrider Foundation New England Team Challenge at Nantasket Beach, MA. The same low that provided such good waves on the 13th pummeled competitors--many of whom barely made the paddle out--with six to eight-foot, onshore, stormchunks. The swell was so treacherous, many riders only caught one wave in their heats, rather than deal with the relentless whitewater. Eleven teams from local shops, schools, clubs, and even the Coast Guard (for surfing, not rescue) came out, but it was Surfrider Rhode Island that took the win. The contest is organized every year to bolster Surfrider membership in New England, and despite the not-so-friendly conditions, several dozen new members signed up during the event. •From the wild northlands of Canada, ESM received word from Nova Scotia's John Fluke that the Billabong September Storm Surf Classic went off with classic conditions. Held at Novi's Lawrencetown Beach on September 11th, the comp saw solid head-high swell with offshore winds. Locals JD Patterson, Nico Manos, and Justin Huston, as well as American pros like California's Ricky Whitlock and Florida's Chris Ropero, battled it out for the $1500 purse. In the end, Whitlock came out on top, but the scores were hard to call, as each competitor pulled off up to a half-dozen lip hits, cutbacks, and floaters on the long, peeling walls. The event was a big deal for the community, as well, with almost 400 spectators coming out to watch the show. For complete results and photos, visit www.surfns.com.
•Long Beach, NY, ripper and Unsound teamrider Brandon Coons insists everyone check out his brother Adam Coons's band Tripdavon, namely their new release, The Enlightened Operative. It rocks. Visit www.tripdavon.com for a sneak peek. •In New York, West Gilgo's "Pistol" Pete Armata recently faced his own battle against shipping giant UPS. Pete was contacted by Hank Raymond, agent to Hawaiian legend Rabbit Kekai, who told him a friend had purchased two vintage longboards from a Manhattan dealer, but UPS wanted $800 to ship them to California. Tasked with constructing a more economical solution for mailing the boards--a 1962 9'6" Jacobs and 1967 9'10" Surfboards Hawaii--The Pistol proved to be the right tool for the job. After a week's worth of labor, several rolls of duct tape, 80 feet of bubble wrap, and four cases of beer, Pete secured the logs inside a custom-designed 11-foot wooden box, which safely transported them across the country. For his next assignment, we're hoping Armata can come up with a similar container for shipping the bulging stacks of ESM's monstrous January Surf Expo issue. •In other New York deets, ESM learned that Long Beach High School just launched their very first surf club. The club's advisor, Danny Bobis, said the organization has already scheduled a host of events, including beach cleanups, a shaping demo, gear swap, video premieres, and fundraisers for nonprofit groups like Surf Aid International and Surfrider. First up on the calendar was the club's Fall Community Beach Cleanup at National Boulevard on October 29th. The student-surfers, along with several members of the public, scoured the sand for trash, and the club displayed some of the salvaged items on campus for an environmental project. Bobis noted he's also looking for neighboring Long Island schools with surf clubs or teams to coordinate activities with, along with any sales reps willing to sponsor the LIHS club. To get involved, contact Bobis at lbhssurfclub@hotmail.com. •From our rockstar department, Rhode Island madman Sid Abruzzi said his band Big World will be rocking The Hustler in Indialantic, FL, on January 11th in conjunction with the 2007 O'Neill Sebastian Inlet Pro. Then they'll be headlining the Volcom party in Orlando on the opening night of Surf Expo. If you think Sid tears it up in the lineup, you gotta see him on stage.
•In other Rhode Island news, surf photog Joe McGovern just returned from the emerald green expanses of Ireland, and word has it he's holding a filthy collection of images from the transatlantic voyage. McGovern has made the pilgrimage to his ancestral homeland for years, and he even hosted the Irish Surf Culture team when they visited the States this summer, so he was seriously dialed in with Irish locals, who celebrated the prime fall wave season with the Bundoran Ocean Fest while he was there. Ocean Fest rocked out with four days of music, surf films, local beach culture, ocean-themed art, and seafood. To see one of Joe's images of Bundoran's finest break, The Peak, double-overhead and firing, visit www.nesurfari.com. •Another East Coaster venturing to Ireland this fall was Rockaway Beach, NY's, Frank Cullen. Cullen and his wife, Pauline, who's a native of the country, visited the Irish coast around Galway and surfed five different spots. The notoriously hospitable locals, including Aonghus Collins, plus Terry Cormican and wife Bernie, treated the couple with a supremely generous and welcoming spirit, even allowing them use of their entire quivers for their stay. Frank and Pauline can't wait to return, and they send both "Aloha and Failte" to their gracious hosts. •Up in Maine, Aquaholics Surf Shop recently opened a rental outlet by the pier in Old Orchard Beach. The store offers hourly and daily rentals for surfboards, bodyboards, wetsuits, and other surf gear. Additionally, local artists Amy Bartlett and Lizzie Muse have been working hard on a seascape mural for the store's back room. Go to www.aquaholicsurf.com for more info. •Speaking of art, Cape Ann, MA, surf artists Karen and Jon Conant hosted their first open house at their new Everlution Forms studio in Rockport this October. Local waveriders came out and knocked back a few drinks while checking out the new digs, which featured surf and ocean-themed creations, including furniture, fish sculptures, retroglass designs, and pottery. If Everlution sounds familiar, that's because the duo's work was featured in ESM's 2004 Surf Art Feature (Vol. 13, #96). To see more of their designs, check out their site, www.everlutionforms.com.
•In the last item from our creative files, NYC art/music guru Todd DiCiurcio was super jazzed to tell us he just wrapped up a live painting display alongside Robert Pollard at the musician's November 13th concert at the Bowery Ballroom. Former lead singer of Guided By Voices, Pollard was performing in support of his new solo album, Normal Happiness, and in addition to his music and DiCiurcio's artwork, Michael Imperioli, who plays Christopher on The Sopranos, also jammed out with his indie psychedelic band La Dolce Vita. To view Todd's art, visit www.metdcstudio.com. •Congrats go out to Kennebunkport, ME's, Aimee Vlachos, owner of Wahine Kai East Surf School, and local surfer/ carpenter Shawn Bullard, for their September wedding on Martha's Vineyard. The newlyweds took their vows on a 110-foot sailboat docked on the posh island, and they plan to honeymoon in the Dominican Republic this February. •In addition to his work as a surf videographer, New Hampshire's Joe Carter can now add diaper changer to his resume, as he and girlfriend Nicole recently welcomed the birth of their first child, Maleeha Lucina Carter. With swell still booming from Hurricane Florence, Maleeha knew Dad would have to work, so she waited until the waves faded before emerging into the world on September 14th, measuring 20 inches and weighing 8.3 lbs. Big congrats to the newly enlarged Carter clan! Compiled by Chris Towery |
Eric and Gabriel Seeger -- Courtesy Seeger 
Pit-squeak Andy Karabinchak -- Richardson