The Surf Blog Spot

Just a few of the best surfers to ever surf

Who is the BEST surfer of all time?

Think about your pick long and hard because surfing has been around for hundreds of years.

Post your comment with the name of the BEST surfer ever!

Green Home Sweepstakes

Keeping the whole “Earth Week” and Green Revolution vibe rolling, I thought it was fitting to introduce another lucky giveaway.  HGTV is offering this amazing “Green Home,” with eco-friendly appliances and furnishings, along side a 2008 GMC Yukon Hybrid.  The sweepstakes is for one Green Home (presented by Sears and Shaw Floors) and a 2008 GMC Yukon Hybrid.

Sweepstakes participants are limited to one online entry, per valid email address, per eligible person per day until 5:oo p.m. ET on May 9, 2008.  This sweepstakes is limited to United States residents only and its territories, possessions, and commonwealths, except Puerto Rico.  The sweepstakes is only open to legal U.S. resident, 21 years or older. Please read all of the Official Rules before entering. 

The Green Home is accordingly located in the environmentally responsible community of Tradition Hilton Head, SC.  Find out more on Tradition Hilton Head, SC.  Not only is this Green Home strategically located in a green community, it is also located on an island.  Having a home on a island means two things.  Your home is close to the beach and you can probably find some good seafood.  Having your island home close to the beach means that there are probably waves nearby.  Hilton Head Island has good waves and they get even better during hurricane season.  So enter the Green Home sweepstakes, grab your shortboard or longboard, and wait for that lucky call from HGTV telling you that you have the luxury of sitting back and relaxing on your own island.  Check out this map of Hilton Head Island. This is the first Green Home offered by HGTV and I am sure there will be more of these homes in the works. 

Click here for more information on the Green Home Sweepstakes

I wish everybody luck and if anybody wins the sweepstakes by entering via my website, I better get an invite to the Green Home for a week long surf session!!

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN

HGTV and GMC do not have any affiliation with the Surf Blog Spot or the Surf Blog Spot owner.  This giveaway is entirely for informational purposes. 

Celebrate Earth Day!  Make Everyday Earth Day!  Go Green!  Go Organic!  Recycle, Reduce, Reuse!  Recycling is Hot!  These are just some of the trendy lines you might hear at your Earth Day celebration.  Today is Earth Day and people in the northern hemisphere will be celebrating awareness and the Earth’s environment.  The history of Earth Day dates back to 1970 and is celebrated every April 22.  I thought a perfect post for this Earth Day would involve an environmentally responsible company that is also dedicated to surf and the Earth. 

I bet most rock climbers and backpackers are familiar with a very popular outdoor gear company from Ventura, CA.  If you are still trying to figure out where Ventura is or the company’s name….that company is Patagonia.  Find out more on Patagonia and their history.   Well, this same climbing inspired company also started a line of surf products.  Patagonia offers an extensive list of gear and accessories for sports like hiking, rock climbing, women’s surfing, men’s surfing, and fly fishing.  If going green is your thing, Patagonia also offers an organic product line.  Search Patagonia for ORGANIC products.

I found some organic boardshorts you might like.  Wear these boardshorts on Earth Day or any other day and you will spread your environmental awareness. Try on the comfortable 100% organic cotton Palaka boardshorts. 

Patagonia Palaka 100% Organic Cotton Boardshorts

These boardshorts are not recommended for a long 4-hour surf session, but recommended more for casual wear or relaxing at the beach.  Patagonia thinks the Palaka boardshorts should be used for around the town, a short surf session, or exploring the Amazon.  The organic cotton is not as durable as the typical nylon boardshorts.  Click here for more details on the Palaka boardshort.

Click here for more Patagonia  products

I am back and very excited to offer my readers this new sweepstakes.  I found a way to win a surfboard once a month.  Imagine that.  Sign up for your chance to take home a new stick every month (until this June).  Surfingmagazine.com is offering this killer chance to win your favorite surfer’s board.  The sweepstakes runs once a month every month, until June 23, 2008. 

There is a limit of one entry per person and entries must be received by June 23, 2008 at 11:59p.m (Pacific Time).

Enter here for you chance to WIN BIG!!

Sweepstakes eligibility open to United States residents 13 years or older and a new winner will be announced each month.

Click here for your chance to win and be sure you read the complete “official rules” before entering.

Read the Official Rules on how to win your free surfboard.

Good luck and keep checking The Surf Blog Spot for new sweepstakes!!

Surfingmagazine.com and the surfboard sweepstakes are not affiliated with the Surf Blog Spot or the Surf Blog Spot owner.

This will be the freshest update until this weekend.  I will be out of town until Friday and will not have consistent Internet access.  This post should keep you entertained for at least 3 days.  I could watch this clip all day since each wave is like a little playground.  You will love watching this video.  I would definitely get a season pass to ride this wave (if they had one)! 

Seagia Ocean Dome

The Japan Ocean Dome is actually the Seagia Ocean Dome located in Miyazaki, southern Japan and was once the world’s largest indoor water park.  The word, Seagia, is a combination of the Greek words “sea” and “gia,” which means earth.  That is exactly where this “ocean” is located.  The Ocean Dome is located within the picturesque Phoenix Seagia Resort.  Take a look and drop in!  Get barreled or launch an air during the day or at night.  This wave pool is not the mushy, lazy wave that you might be used to in other man-made water parks.  The Ocean Dome is complete with a white sand beach, the world’s largest retractable roof, and can hold 10,000 people.  Inside the dome, the climate is kept at a warm 85 degrees F and the water temperature is at a comfortable 82 degrees F.  The actual dome measures 300 meters (984 feet) in length, 100 meters (328 feet) in width, and 38 meters (125 feet) high.  Even on gloomy days, closing the retractable roof provides endless sunny blue skies.

Inside Seagia Ocean Dome

Too bad the world’s largest waterpark officially closed in October 2007, with no plans of re-opening.  Reports on the Internet indicate that the indoor beach and wavepool are closed.  If anybody knows differently, then please email me.

R.I.P. Seagaia Ocean Dome

Last Friday night there were some exciting 2008 XXL Billabong award winners.  The winners were announced in front of more than 2,000 surfing fans.  The eight annual surfing Oscars were given out 4/11/08 by a panel of 250 surfers, surf media, and big wave riders.

Staying true to my prediction, Shane Dorian claimed The Ride Of The Year Award, making his wallet a little fatter with a $50,000 check.  Dorian’s epic barrel can be seen on the Surf Blog Spot under the XXL Billabong Ride Of The Year.  Dorian was interviewed about his ride at the awards show and here is what he had to say.  “Usually at Teahupoo, you pick your line, set your rail and you normally make it, but that wave was really unique,” said Dorian.  “I nearly fell at the start, I nearly fell in the middle and then it clipped me at the end.  It was difficult because I was almost eating it the whole time.”

The other big winner of the night was San Clemente big wave surfer, Mike Parsons, who surfed his way into the history book (for the time being) for riding the biggest wave judged to be more than 70 ft!  Parsons achieved this new record at the Cortes Bank off the California Coast on January 5, 2008.  The wave was claimed to be only 70 ft, but the wave was cut off at the bottom of photo and the true height of the wave could not be accurately calculated.  Therefore, the wave was only estimated at 70 ft, but in reality the wave was more than 70 ft.  It is the second time this big wave aficionado earned the Biggest Wave Award.  Parsons also won the inaugural title in 2001 for a 66 ft Cortes Bank wave.  Parsons walked off the stage with a little extra $15,000 in travel money.

Another San Clemente surfer, Greg Long, scored big while paddling in at Todos Santos and bringing home the 2008 XXL Monster Paddle Award.  On 12/05/07, Todos Santos pulled in four out of the five 2008 XXL Monster Paddle Award nominees.  Only one went home with the prestigious $15,000 award.  

The 2007/08 Billabong XXL Awards can be seen on ESPN2 on Friday, May 29th at 9:30pm.

Other 2008 XXL Billabong Awards:

Monster Tube Photo Award $5,000

• Manoa Drollet (Tahiti) at Teahupoo, Tahiti on November 1, 2007. 

Best Male Overall Performance Award $5,000

• Greg Long (San Clemente, California)

Billabong Girls Best Performance Award $5,000

• Maya Gabeira (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

 Billabong XXL info and video: www.billabongxxl.com

After further review….

The winner of the Surf Blog Spot “Favorite Movie Of All Time,” survey goes to………..Endless Summer I and II.

Thank you for all your time and votes.

Adam

Does anybody recognize this surf spot?  Hopefully somebody reading this post has surfed this spot and remembers what it looked like.  I surfed it really fun with strong offshore winds.

Take a guess.

Hint:  The water is warm all year and is south of the United States.

Post a comment with your guess.

I found this cool prize pack sweepstakes and thought somebody might want to be a winner.  This is an official Surf City USA® prize pack that includes a whole grab bag full of good stuff.  Enter here for your chance to WIN!!

Entering the sweepstakes is free, only available to residents of the 50 United States, and must be 18 years or older.  The sweepstakes ends April 30, 2008 at 11:59:59 PM.  Please click here for all the sweepstakes rules and regulations.  Winners will be notified by May 15, 2008, by mail, email, or phone and will be given instructions on how to claim your prize.

The Grand Prize winner will receive: (1) Surf City USA® Mug, (1) Surf City USA® Mouse Pad, (1) Surf City USA® License Plate Cover, (1) Surf City USA Chap Stick, one (1) Surf City USA T-shirt, one Surf City USA® Pen and one (1) Surf City USA® golf tin.

Good Luck!

Enter here for your chance to WIN!!

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEOS

Here are the crazy 2008 XXL Billabong Monster Paddle Award Nominees. These brave surfers will also be honored at the eight-annual awards ceremony at the Grove Theater in Anaheim, CA. Over 500 entries from around the world and 12 months of swell hunting turned out the top five nominees. The surfers and the photographers had to narrow down the field to only five. That limited decision was a difficult one. Think of all the possible waves that could have won and then only choose five.

Believe it or not, but four of the five paddle-in wave nominees came from the same epic day at Todos Santos. Todos Santos Island is located nine miles off the coast of Ensenada, Mexico. With the odds in favor of a Todos Santos wave, the overall winner will pull in a nice $15,000 payday.

The five nominees include:

• Ben Andrews (San Francisco, California, USA) at Maverick’s, California on February 9, 2008.
• Mark Healey (Sunset Beach, Hawaii, USA) at Todos Santos, Mexico on December 5, 2007.
• Greg Long (San Clemente, California, USA) at Todos Santos, Mexico on December 5, 2007
• Jamie Mitchell (Gold Coast, Australia) at Todos Santos, Mexico on December 5, 2007.
• Rodrigo Resende (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) at Todos Santos, Mexico on December 5, 2007.

Post a comment on who you think will win the Monster Paddle Award this year!

The finalists have been announced for the XXL Billabong Ride of the Year.  The winner will be announced on April 11, 2008 at the eighth-annual awards ceremony taking place at the Grove Theater in Anaheim, CA.  There are only five nominees for the Ride of the Year and the famous and treacherous Teahupoo weighs in with three nominees.  Believe it or not, but the swell that produced Teahupoo’s three nominee waves were caught on video on the same day! 

The top winner with the Ride of the Year will take home a sweet $50,000 paycheck.  Not a bad day’s work for risking your life and life-long bragging rights.  I think that either Ian or Shane’s ride will take the Oscar this year.  Take a look at the video and comment on which wave is the “Ride of the Year.”

Check back tomorrow and witness the top five Monster Paddle Award Nominees.

The Favorite Surf Movie Survey from March 31, 2008 is a tie right now.

Endless Summer and North Shore are tied for the lead.

You can still vote for your favorite movie by filling out the brief survey. Vote by going to the survey.

The winning movie has already been announced.

The day before the huge swell hit Southern California, the Central Coast of California was getting lit up with hefty tow-in waves.

If you have ever surfed the Central Coast then you know all about the cold and heavy waves.  This video was shot north of Point Conception and south of Santa Cruz, CA.  Next Winter, when you are looking for some Central Coast surf, inject yourself with some courage and try to paddle out.  The Central Coast is not your local beach break.  Watch out for jagged rocks, hazardous sea lions, sharks, and locals.

R.I.P. Peter Davi

If you lived on the West Coast during the massive swell of 12/5/07, then hopefully you took the time to get some nice, ice cream headaches that day. Yes, even in San Diego you need a full suit and booties during the winter sessions.  This is a little So Cal video clip from that day referred to as…..Big Wednesday 12/5/07.

 On 12/5/07 a huge low pressure, thousands of miles from the California coast, generated extra-extra-large surf for the brave combatants paddling out to face the monstrous waves.

I am sure that some of you watching recognize or have even surfed the other spots in the video.  Maybe you got barreled at Blacks?  Or surfed Swami’s or Scripps.  I love surfing Blacks and Swami’s.

Just a FYI, the north facing La Jolla Cove (like the one in the video) rarely breaks and it needs a very strong ground swell to produce bombers like it did on Big Wednesday.  On a normal day, the La Jolla Cove is a peaceful tourist hang out and the waters are usually calm.  Beach goers swim in the cool waters during the summertime and relax on the little tranquil beach. 

Not on Big Wednesday!  Check out the maniac in the video trying to body surf La Jolla Cove!!

Ecologic Designs Billboard Surfboard Bag

Billboards for board bags?  The answer is YES. 

That is the cool new concept behind Ecologic Designs and their line of eco-conscious bags.  These surfboard bags are made for the green hearted surfer.  The recycled billboard bags are an eco-friendly option to the standard, manufactured vinyl board bags.

Ecologic Designs uses recycled vinyl billboard signs to make their bags.  The environmental friendly bag is waterproof and each bag has a unique billboard design.  It is like buying your own personalized board bag. Ecologic Designs definitely makes sense when it comes to reusing and reducing vinyl-based plastics.  We can all positively impact the earth and ocean.  Next time you are in the market for a board bag…think about Ecologic Designs!
   

The surfboard bag is made for surfboards less than 7 feet in length. The bag includes a comfortable carrying strap and an internal Velcro pocket for your rashguard, extra fins, leash, or sunscreen. Dimensions of the bag are 83.5″ x 24.5″ with light padding.

Pick out your personal surfboard bag!

Grab your surfboard, schnitzel, and sauerkraut.  You will need all three if you are planning a trip to the local “wave” in the middle of Germany. 

The Eisbach, known as the “Ice River,” is a tributary of the Isar River.  The standing wave, about 1 meter or about 3 feet high, rolls through the bustling metropolis of Munich, Germany.  During the river “swells,” the wave can be surfed for as long as you can stay on your board.  Check out the video and the guy body-surfing the wave!  I wish I knew about this wave when I was driving through Munich. 

Even though this is an artificial river with posted signs stating, “Surfen und Baden verboten” (Surfing is forbidden), Munich surfers and visiting tourists, still brave the elements.  Watch out for floating debris, the rocks submerged right behind the wave, and the seasonal freezing cold water.  The locals have even modified the Eisbach flow by rigging chains and 2X4 boards right in front of the wave.  This apparatus gives the wave the consistent curling effect.

The wave is located next to the English Garden and very close to the famous Haus der Kunst museum.

So, the next time you want to celebrate Oktoberfest (Munich style) or take a European vacation, make sure you bring your board and some Euros.

Visit Munich and surf the Eisbach River Wave!