Cover

Cover photo featuring Ian Walsh tucked under a beautiful overhead wave at world renown Honolua Bay, Maui, Hawaii.

Page One

Page one featured article photo of Billy McCoy with Lake Superior literally freezing at his feet.

Table of Contents

Volume 18, Number 4 - Summer 2009 Hard Yards: Melanesia by Andrew Mooney (as told to Andy Morris), Photography by Stuart Gibson; Down For Whatever, Robbie Page by Tim Baker; The Grand Sable Experiment, Words and Photos by Shawn Malone; Hobie’s Story, A conversation between Alter and Steve Pezman; Soundings VI: A Question of Flex, Interviews and Portraits by Devon Howard and Andrew Kidman; Gone Bamboo: Artist/Architect Mark Huebner By Gavin Ehringer; The Swarm by Brad Melekian; Westsiding: Stacy Peralta; No Contest, Photographic Evidence of Our Traceless Lines; UnderCurrents/Liner Notes. Masthead. Published by Steve and Debbee Pezman.

Now Hear This!

The author shares his experience with "surfer's ear," or exotoses, an affliction common to cold water surfers, including treatments used in years past to the most common procedures used today. Morals of the story: early treatment of that bony growth in your ear reduces surgical risk and a $15 pair of earplugs is less expensive than medical treatment.

Lost Coast Sojourn

Three men explore the pristine surf and cliffs along Northern California's Lost Coast by kayak. Black bears, sea lions and great white sharks be damned. Exploring by kayak afforded access to nooks and crannies that a motorboat couldn't reach or that were inaccessible on foot.

Prison Letters

Surfing Magazine's former editor contrasts his typical snide comments and witty retorts to Letters to the Editor to the plight of prisoners that depend upon their surf magazines for daily sustainment. Every prison letter ends in a request.

Hard Yards: Discovery Doesn't Come Easy in Melanesia

Three young men go on a surf trip to a remote South Pacific island, seemingly unprepared for life outside of their usual trappings and with apparent expectations of constant perfect surf, bars, girls, and paradise. This article is a 21st Century print version flashback of the film, Forgotten Island of Santosha, with hundreds of beach, reef, and point breaks waiting to be discovered and ridden. And very hot waters and abundant sea lice. The search is on!

Down for Whatever - Carving on through with Robbie Page

To heaven and hell and back again, married and divorced, rich and then penniless, Robbie Page resuscitated a competitive surfing career, competing and winning in Australia and South America, and finding new directions deep inside himself and the fundamental joy of surfing.

The Grand Sable Experiment

A surfer's dream: an extreme natural environment--untouched--no sign of civilization in sight other than a distant lighthouse, glassy conditions, and astounding scenery. An icy, artistic pictorial display of surfing in 33F unsalted ice water.

Hobie Alter's Story - Chapters from His Early Years

The story of Hobie Alter, the Henry Ford of the surfboard industry, who engineered a long-standing, volume production line of high-quality modern surfboards using specialized materials and techniques. Hobie went on to design and market a top-selling sailboat, the Hobie Catamaran. Hobie discusses other innovations such as the balsa wood glue press, first use of fiberglass in surfboards, girls' longboards being the best (shorter, lighter and looser), Makaha Model, urethane foam, Clark Foam, expansion into the East Coast, the first marketed signature board, the Phil Edwards Model.

Soundings VI

Flex, an under-examined element of surf design, is discussed by seven maestros of flex, none of them interested in a stiff sled. Renny Yater, Mitchell Rae, Shawn Ambrose, Sage Joske, Timmy Patterson, Steve Pendarvis, and Bert Berger each discuss their approach to incorporating flex into a board, through the use of different materials (e.g., foam, resin, glass, wood) and techniques (e.g., rails, stringers, tails, decks).

Gone Bamboo - Mark Huebner Moves from Gray to Green

Huebner discusses sustainable construction and living on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. This construction method requires more maintenance but is built with local, sustainable materials, use local Costa Rican workers, and use no metal or plastic fasteners.

Westsiding: Stacy Peralta

A storyteller tells his story of life as a Z-Boy Dogtown skateboarder, surfer, and film director. Known for producing "Dogtown and Z-Boys," other notable credits include "Riding Giants" and "Crips & Bloods: Made in America."

No Contest

The photo editor issued a call for entries. The league of extraordinary surfing photojournalists answered. Everyone was a winner. Beautiful photo essays visually tell the story of surfing.

Undercurrents

This edition of UnderCurrents features reviews and news of a new film by Jack McCoy, featuring underwater cinematography; a film "The Searching for Michael Peterson" (with a soundtrack by The Brown Birds); Tom Wegener's "Tuna" surfcraft in "What a Kookbox”; and, a retrospective on Drew Steele's Surf Punk days.

Ouanalao