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| when i was about thirteen we drove a conversion van with me my three sisters my parents and my grandparents! all the way from tallahassee to orange county california just because my mom was crazy and cool like that. so my waay older supercool stoner artist cousin gives me this surfboard somebody gave him when he was working for the movers. |
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| it was beat to shit because they'd had a prty in a pool with it. but i didn't care. it was a genuine surfboard from the real california and it was mine. so we strapped it on the roof and took the long way home. and you bet we got some funny looks. and it stayed unsurfed in florida for quite some time. and they say you can't never go home. but you gotta go back and get your stuff at some point. and at some point i drove it back across. i drove it back in my sister's vw camper with an old hansen (i'll post a pic sometime) and my sister's dog. that was a good trip. i learned alot about myself and stuff. |
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| and now i'm just a few days from forty-one. out here in oregon. been here since college. wife. kids. mortgage. a dog. and i still have this old beat up single fin. and to be honest, i don't remember ever taking it to the beach. |
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| dragged this one from the pile under the house. she was a good rider. i gave her a warm bath and held her. she was happy to be inside. i had thought to try to ride her again. maybe get her water tight and ready for the mushy surf to come. but her tumors were rampant. her diseases too many to ignore. her days were done. nothing but a full transplant or two would make her water tight again. i was thinking this over, when my son says to me. oh dad. i could rip that thing. |
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| and so he will. |
thanks gus!
Cheers,
Gus
LeRoy Grannis: 1917-2011
Grannis CollectionLeRoy Grannis and his lenses in his prime.
"The Grannis family wanted to let you all know that LeRoy Frank Grannis passed away peacefully today," posted Grannis's daughter Lisa Pontrelli Grannis yesterday on Facebook. "He was 93 and had a wonderful life. Rest in Peace, Granny. Your family and friends love you and we'll all miss you so very much."
From his early work around California's South Bay to his monumental shots from places like Pipeline and Makaha, Grannis skillfully and artfully composed some of the most memorable and indelible images the sport has ever seen.
"In 1960, LeRoy Grannis took up surf photography as a hobby at the suggestion of his family doctor," wrote Brad Barrett in the introduction to his 1998 book "Photo: Grannis." "He'd developed an ulcer due to stress on the job and the doc figured a hobby would help him unwind and get his mind off the tension at work. So Grannis bought a 35mm camera along with a 400mm lens and got himself a hobby. He fiddled around for a couple of months acquainting himself with his new equipment and started shooting surf photos. No fanfare, no big deal, no drive to create art, just a man looking for a way to let off steam ..."
Born in Hermosa Beach on Aug. 12, 1917, when he was 14, Grannis was already well on his way to a life in surfing. At 23, he took a job as a hired man for Standard Oil in El Segundo, then joined the U.S. military in 1943. After the war, with a young family in tow, Grannis took a job for Pacific Bell Telephone, where he worked in management and eventually retired from in 1977. But as noted, it was in 1960 that he first picked up a long lens and began to produce the images that he's famous for today.
RIP Leroy
Sion Milosky drowns at Maverick's
JoliWave of the day honors for Sion Milosky on the opening session at Pipe this year. He will be missed.
Originally from Kalaheo, Kauai, Milosky was an underground charger for most of his career who nevertheless commanded considerable respect at big-wave breaks around the world.
It's been speculated that he paddled into one of the biggest waves ever, an outer-reef bomb in Hawaii that's been sized at "30-foot Hawaiian," which means it was at least 60 feet by normal standards. Earlier this year he caught one of the waves of the winter at Pipeline, and before that he signed a healthy endorsement deal with Volcom.
With a late-season northwest swell in the water, on a day that Surfline.com was calling 18 to 20 feet with occasional 25-foot set waves, Milosky had reportedly been charging all day, riding some of the best waves that came through.
Out late trying to get one last set wave, he took off on a bomb and got rolled. He was found in the water 20 minutes later, beyond help at that point.
"We did respond to a possible drowning; the victim was taken by ambulance to Seton Coastside Medical," said San Mateo County fire Capt. Laurie Borelli.
Officials at Seton Coastside Medical Center in Half Moon Bay confirmed that Milosky had arrived there, and a report on MerceryNews.com confirmed that he "drowned after enduring a two-wave hold down around 6:30 p.m., according to Maverick's surfer Ken Collins, with whom Milosky was staying in Santa Cruz."
"Collins said Nathan Fletcher, who had traveled to Santa Cruz with Milosky, went looking for Milosky on a Jet Ski shortly after he fell," the story goes on to say. "Collins said Fletcher found Milosky's body at the Half Moon Bay Harbor mouth, about a mile from the break, 20 minutes after the incident."
Hawaii's Sean Moody posted on Twitter, "I don't even know what to say. One of the best humans I've ever met. RIP Sion."
Echoing a similar sentiment, big-wave queen Maya Gabeira tweeted, "Very sad news … we lost an amazing waterman true hero! Sion Milosky RIP! I'm speechless."
Despite Maverick's reputation as a fearsome big-wave break, Milosky's death is just the second big-wave surfing fatality there. The first occurred Dec. 23, 1994, when another notable Hawaiian waterman, Mark Foo, drowned. Wednesday's tragedy comes on the heels of Jacob Trette's near-fatal hold down at Maverick's on Jan. 25, 2011.
RIP Sion
tipple's a pretty good guy.
i've collected a couple more images i'll try to post.
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