This segment of We Are Water offers an apology and some tidbits about nothing in general!
I can be reached at Sales@WeAreH2O.Com
Fresh Friday August 26th 2005
First I would like to say sorry for the lack of ‘fresh’ Friday articles. I have a few excuses but won’t bother you with them. I’ll be in and out doing articles as I can fit them in. This website is just a hobby for me, so I get to it when I can get to it. Thanks for the e-mails and encouragement. Some have been negative, but that is okay, criticism is good and any feedback is appreciated! It means that people are paying attention! We Are Water’s goal is to highlight the ‘art’ of surfing. Thus, with every art form, there comes with it the critics. Critics play an important role in art. So, thus, I put it in perspective this way!
Also, thanks for the help with the site and suggestions for improvements. I plan on implementing them soon. As with any hobby, time is the limiting factor. So, in due time! Thanks again for the help and the flash graphics.
Pro Surfing ramblings:
Kelly Slater’s continued run for a 7th World Title kicks back up
in Japan starting August 31st. Check the ASP website for on-line coverage:
http://aspworldtour.com/
Rants and Raves:
Although We Are Water is attempting
to entertain a global audience, the editor (me) and its current writers
are based on the East coast of Florida. Without boring someone who may
be reading this from Timbuktu, I’ll just briefly point out the fact
that Florida’s typical flat summer has provided us with a few days
of surf! We haven’t seen anything in the way of big and epic surf,
but there has been a scattering of days of fun small surf. After all,
we are considered to be the Small Wave Capital, and this summer has lived
up to that! As we are sliding into Fall, Florida’s surf season looks
to kick in. We are all licking our chops for bigger Hurricane and cold
front surf! I think this is what makes Floridian surfers so hungry for
surf. The ups and downs, the extended flat spells, the small and choppy
conditions, getting hit by Hurricanes, etc… all of this really make
us appreciate the days that are good. We don’t get jaded very often
here…so, any rideable wave makes us happy!
Random thoughts:
Lately I’ve been obsessively searching Ebay for old magazines and
books on subjects that interest me. I just purchased two that held my
attention long enough to read them. I have to admit, like everyone else
in my generation, I suffer from ADD. It’s a mild form, but I find
it hard to read anything that is not interesting (as you are nodding and
yawning). One magazine was ‘The National Geographic Magazine’
dated January, 1930. The cover story was ‘Florida-the Fountain of
Youth’. It was interesting in that the writer wrote with a unique
and distinct style. Also, it showed Florida in an early stage of development.
It predicted the mass influx of people and development and illustrated
perfectly what it was like back in 1930. It seems as if Florida at one
time was a rural state! The magazine also showed something that I always
knew…that sea turtles and their eggs were once harvested for food.
It’s a good thing they are protected now as the photos in the mag
showed a whole industry based on sea turtles. It’s no wonder they
are endangered now!
Another cool magazine I picked up was Sports Illustrated dated July 24th,
1967. The cover and main article is titled, The Summer Surfers Invade
Hawaii. This article which you would never read in a modern Sports
Illustrated was about vacationing Americans, all 20,000 of them, converging
on the sands of Waikiki for one big summertime party! And, party they
did…1967 style! The article mentions all kinds of characters and
focuses on the people that pose as surfers and use that ‘look’
to chase girls. It’s a well written article and towards the end
describes the real surfer’s mentality towards these wannabe
surfers.
It mentions celebrated big wave riders as Fred Hemmings, Felipe Pomar, Charlie Galanto, and Fred Van Dyke. Here are some quotes from the article that highlight the feelings of the real surfers versus the wannabes.
“You want to know what’s happening?” said Hemmings. “This sport is getting raped. In the whole world right now, there aren’t over 25 guy who’ll ride the big waves at Makaha or Waimea, and four of us are sitting here having lunch. That’s surfing. Everything else is for hot dogs, and I mean all of California, man. That scene on Waikiki is so far away from the sport of surfing, it’s ridiculous. There’s nobody down there but dreamers. It’s a zoo, man.”
“Surfing the big waves really isn’t a sport at all." Galanto said. “It’s more like a …a disease. It’s not fun. Hell, water skiing is fun. Chasing girls is fun. But riding a 20-footer at Waimea, for us, I mean, well, that’s just something you ‘ve got to do to live. It has nothing to do with competition. Competition surfing is silly, right, Fred?”
“The Dana Point mafia is what’s responsible for that zoo on Waikiki,” said Hemmings. "The Dana Point mafia, he half joked, is the California surfing establishment that is making money out of the sport through magazines, boards, trunks, films, etc. It really is a disease, more like gambling than sport. But, it’s nothing like the disease of that Waikiki Beach, man. Those dreamers ought to all go back to California and stop giving our sport a bad name.”
Like I said, literature back then was such more interesting! The whole article was intriguing and reflects on the modern world as we know it today!
We Are Water Happenings:
I published part two of ‘A Name’ by Dermot. A Name Part Two Swell Memories
Also, a new article by logjammer titled, ‘Surfing in the Past’. Logjammer is bringing us back to the future: Surfing in the Past Drifting article
My fingers are tired of typing and I need to go get wet in this current Hurricane Katrina wind swell we have running!
See ya’ll out in the water!
Dave Reid
August 26th, 2005
sales@WeAreH2O.Com