•Narragansett,
RI’s, Peter Pan was selected as a judge for the $10,000
Bic One-Design World Championship Final, scheduled to be held at
Chicama, Peru, from March 16-30th. Pan will join such
international Hall of Famers as Australia’s Nat Young,
Hawaii’s Joey Cabell, and California’s Mike Doyle
on the panel. For more info log on to www.bicsportsurfboards.com.
•Long Island, NY, globetrotter Bob Kuenzler recently got engaged to sweetheart Terri Schlosser. They plan to tie the knot sometime this year. In other matrimony matters, Dave Cropper, owner of Hampton, NH’s, Cinnamon Rainbows, and longtime coworker Heather Day are also officially engaged. Congrats to both lucky couples. •Somewhere else over the Rainbow, Cropper and employee Phil Carey will hit Tavarua in April for Jeff Booth’s annual gathering of the Quiksilver tribe. Meanwhile, Sashi Lyford recently launched 5 Star Surfboards out of Exeter, NH. Lyford has been shaping for a few months and hopes to provide the local community with rippable sticks for affordable prices. Check ‘em at the aforementioned Cinnamon’s. •In conjunction with Rhode Island Earth Day activities, the ESA South New England District and Rhode Island Surfrider Chapter will sponsor a clean up on April 19th, 2003, at Point Judith Lighthouse and Narragansett Town Beach. Special prizes go to those collecting the most trash; no prizes will be awarded to those talking the most trash... so Pan is definitely out. •South African native-turned-New York based surf/art photographer and ESM contributor Grant “The Real Mr. J-Bay” Myrdal enjoyed some idyllic Hawaiian refuge from this particularly cruel northeast winter. But he’s not completely in from the cold yet—as sometime this spring Myrdal’s art will hit hip NYC galleries Belenky and Nexus. Check out his new website at www.snorus.com for gallery updates along with a hearty sampling of Grant’s stellar imagery. Myrdal also got the opportunity to pen a feature story for the February/ March issue of The Surfer’s Path. Besides Grant’s quality prose, the piece focuses mainly on the rigors and how-to’s of Hawaiian water photography, offering deep insight from aquanauts like ESM contributors Chris Van Lennep, Sean Davey, and Daren Crawford as well as Don King and Scott Aichner. •Another Right Coaster seeking shelter from winter’s bitter tit, Wells, ME’s, Wheels-N-Waves co-owner Bob Morrell reported scoring killer conditions along the Costa Rican Pacific coast, from Tamarindo to Mal Pais, this January. Upon returning home in February, he found sloppy surf that was a little too conducive for ascending testes. But along with shop co-owner Vic Brazen, Morrell and the WNW crew are making the most of what’s around—hosting Tuesday night skate and movie sessions at the SPC Skate Park in Kennebunk. Keep up to date with the scene and the shop on their revamped website, www.wheelsnwaves.com. •Maine chargers and admitted surf junkies Ben Nasse and Tim Ouillette also kept busy, launching www.thesurfjournal.com—a toothsome testament to Maine’s waves. Kudos to the boys for impressive work on their first three online issues. Give it a look, and ponder the endless possibilities of one of the last true U.S. surfing frontiers.
•The 35th Annual ESA New England Midwinter Surf Championships went down on March 5th at Narragansett Town Beach, RI. Top competitive surfers from Maine to Maryland ripped through the 38-degree peaks, with most of last year’s champs returning to defend their hard-earned, frosty titles. Teams from the University of Rhode Island, Bishop Hendricken High School, and Gansett Juice Surf Shop also came out to bang boards. This year’s contest introduced a new event, “Mini-Mal,” which entails riding planks between eight and nine feet. Special “Iceperson” trophies were awarded to top finishers. Big thanks to all who came out, as well as the following sponsors: the Rhode Island Recovery Corporation, the ESA, RI Surfrider Chapter, and the Town of Narragansett Parks and Recreation Department. •Distracted from the blustery surf, Rhode Island photog Chris Parker informed us there was a Keith Richards sighting in the area... No wait, that’s just Water Bros owner and local charger Sid “The Package” Abruzzi singing his tats off with his band, Big World, at Oddballs in Middletown, RI, on December 28th, 2002. Parker bragged: “For a man in his fifties, Sid still knows how to rock-n-roll.” Move over, Mick! •NYC Surfrider Chapter founder Rob Bailey and the always-vocal New Jersey activist Dr. Bill Rosenblatt were recently appointed to the Surfrider National Board of Directors—joining fellow East Coasters Dr. Mike Orbach of North Carolina and Rhode Islander Kira Stillwell—making the Right Coast’s booming environmental voice even more robust. •Artist extrordinaire Mike Montanaro of Newport, RI, launched a new website at www.montanarodesigns.com, featuring a tasty selection of Montanaro’s original artwork as well as heaps of Northeast surf photos. Give it the old click-a-roo to check out his many waveriding-inspired works. •Like many Right Coasters, NYC freelance writer/photographer Aaron Mindel painted a bleak picture of this season’s ocean offerings up his way. Mindel professed that aside from the onslaught of polar offshores, his favorite breaks—Rockaway, Long Beach, and Montauk—have, in his words, “been flatter than a six-year-old ballerina.” Luckily, working frequently with one of The City’s latest skate conglomerates—Capicu Productions, ABC Skateshop, and Rock Star Bearings—he stayed pumped with a fresh skate video set to premiere in May. Go to www.capicuproductions.com for more info.
•Speaking of tough muthas, get well wishes go out to two chargers on the mend: Craig “Finz” Rogers of Dundas, Ontario, who broke his collarbone in a dirtbike accident; and John Newgard of Halifax, Nova Scotia, who suffered a sizable fin slash. •Other freshwater waveriding mentions go to Scott Disztenberger and Bob “Aquadoc” Beaton. West Salem, OH’s, Disztenberger is working on a new video set to cover the Lake Erie region, tentatively titled Out of Place. Look for a review in a future issue of ESM. Meanwhile, Beaton was recently honored by Grand Haven, MI, as Historian of the Year for his research into the Great Lakes’ surfing culture. •And to all the griping northeast surfers who think they’re bad off with freezing flatness and off-the-chart windswells, take the following into consideration: at least your ocean (or in this case, lake) isn’t frozen over. Milwaukee, WI, Great Lakes rider and photographer Ryan Bigelow reported to ESM that Lake Michigan has taken its annual freeze-over hiatus. Bigelow and local company Todd Phillingham, John Moser, and William Wall did, however, manage to score a clean, head-high day at one of their primo spots, Klodies, in early January that was “somewhat warm”: 32-degree air and 31-degree water. Warm’s obviously a relative term here. Lake Erie riders reported similar experiences, as ESM’s chief Great Lakes reporter Magilla Schaus of Buffalo, NY, along with Niagara Falls, Ontario’s, Chris Furminger and Crystal Beach, Ontario’s, Drew Pearson, snagged one last session on January 12th, before Old Man Winter slammed the door shut on surfers—who by this time had traded in their surfboards for iceskates and hockey pucks. –Compiled by Mike Fish |
