Salt Water Sessions for Breast Cancer

A Wave A Day's Sarah Kobach Hughen. Photo by Jay Reilly

I smile every time I see Sarah Kobach Hughen heading down the stairs at my local  surf break with her surfboard under her arm and her beautiful red  hair flowing behind her. The Wisconsin native -- who now lives in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif. with her husband and two young boys --  is not only stoked to surf but she's also armed with a purpose and a mission.
In May 2011 Sarah started "A Wave A Day: The Pink Board Project" in hopes of raising awareness and funds for breast cancer. Every day since then the 34-year-old has ventured out into the sea to catch a wave or two (or sometimes a lot more) --  rain or shine or sick.
"There have been a lot of awesome days that have been sunny with great waves," Sarah says. "I've also surfed in 20 MPH winds and I was the only person out. Sometimes it's  invigorating to be out there when it's like that."
Sarah gets major props for her "surf no-matter-what" mentality.
"There have  been days where I was so sick I had to throw up in a trash can and then paddle out real quick and catch a wave and come in and throw up again," she says. "I've also paddled out with a fever and a sinus infection."

Here's an excerpt from Sarah's blog on April 27:
Yesterday, was one of those days I would had rather not surfed.  Murky water, wind on it, and no swell – not to mention a tight schedule.
My window was at sunset… I suited up without even looking at it… does it really matter? I still had to go!  I ran from the car to up the path way to get my heart rate up a little – and when I got to the top of the stairs, I was taken back.
No one in sight.
Not one surfer.
Not one walker on the beach.
No one watching the sunset.
I know it is most likely circumstantial considering the conditions, but part of me feels like the ocean is really offering me this space and time before the project comes to and end to reflect.
I walked down the steps and stuck my feet in to the sand.  I love walking pass the days doings… I saw tiny baby footsteps, and soon to be washed away sand castles. As I looked out passed the surf the horizon seemed to be covered in whale spouts back lit by the sunset.  Sort of ridiculously beautiful.
I caught a couple poo poo water closeouts and stood  in waist deep water for a while.  Just feeling the current push at me from the North.
4 more days…

Check out more of Sarah's musings on the Wave A  Day blog: http://awaveaday.com/ .

For Sarah, the A Wave A Day project is also about raising awareness for living a healthy lifestyle.
"I really believe cancer is an environmental disease," she says. "When I'm out in the water I always see and  pick up trash floating around. We need to take care of our environment because it does affect our health.
I believe that having a healthy lifestyle and being in the ocean surfing can reduce your risk of diseases like cancer."

As Sarah celebrates her last day of the A Wave A Day project on May 1, she is overwhelmed at the wave of support and awareness she has garnered.
"I did this  project as a challenge. I knew it was going to be hard. It comes down to dedication; I knew I had to go for this 100 percent. I think about the people who are sick with cancer and other diseases who can't choose to wake up and surf everyday.
"One in 8 woman will be diagnosed with breast cancer sometime during their life. This is unacceptable to me," Sarah adds. "My hope is that through research, awareness, and an active lifestyle we can help make this statistic history."

*Sarah will celebrate her 365 days of surfing with friends and family tonight, April 30, for one last fundraiser at Curruth Cellars in Solana Beach, Calif. One hundred percent of all proceeds from the night, along with all the money Sarah has raised over the last year, will go to the Keep A Breast Foundation.

Tonight's even will include:
*Live Music from the Mattson 2 and the Red Fox Tails
*Farm to Table food from Green Truck
*Beer from Stone Brewing Co.
*Wine from Carruth Cellars
*Amazing raffle prizes from Spy Optics, Indigo Dragon Wellness Center, Greenasium Fitness Studio, Dakine, Bing and so more.
Tickets $10
Raffle tickets $5


Here are some photos from A Wave A Day's six-month celebration at Cardiff Reef in late October 2011:

Sarah (left) and Margaret Yao Calvani  from Bing Surfboards

Sarah and one of her groms

Sarah's six-month paddle out. Go girl!

A Wave A Day paddle out at Cardiff Reef October 2011

Sarah and friends, including breast cancer survivor Cindy Gomez Sanchez (far right)

Sarah's A Wave A Day project has collected a ton of supporters, including Margaret Yao Calvani of Bing surfboards

Hippy Hoots & Shakas

Bird's Surf Shed will be the venue for the first ever San Diego Surf Film Festival May 11-13, 2012. Photo by: Shawna Suffriti

For the past five decades, hoots and shakas have echoed throughout theaters in celebration of the art of surf cinema. This gathering of the tribes made its debut in 1953 when Bud Browne introduced Hawaiian Surfing Movie, the first commercial surf film that was shown anywhere. John Severson and Bruce Brown followed suit by creating the standard style of modern surf films, complete with slapstick comedy routines. Add Jim Freeman, Walt Phillips, Greg MacGillivray,Hal Jepsen, Bill Delaney, Greg Weaver, Spyder Wills, and Steve Soderberg (to name a few)and you have a dynamic collection of surf films that have taken us on a saltwater journey around the globe and back.

Today’s surf filmmakers are tenfold. The progression of technology and surfing has made the sport even that more exciting to capture on film. Many of these independent filmmakers, however, have a  difficult time promoting their films and spreading the stoke.
It’s something that La Jolla native, bodysurfer and filmmaker Pierce Kavanagh wants to change. That’s why he, his wife Petra, and friend and artist Ed Lewis came up with the first ever San Diego Surf Film Festival (SDSFF).
The inaugural event, May 11-13, will be held at Bird’s Surf Shed in San Diego, a world famous restored quonset hut filled with an impressive collection of historically significant surfboards and artifacts.  Twelve  feature-length films and 20 short films centered around surfing will be shown during the three-day festival.     The names of the films to be shown will be announced April 14.
The event, which will kick off with a VIP party on May 10, will also feature surf-related art and photography by local artists.  Since San Diego is synonymous with surfing, the City of San Diego will present the San Diego Surf Film Festival with a proclamation on the opening night, Friday, May 11.

The SDSFF will be a platform for independent filmmakers from around the world to showcase their talents.  This will truly be an international event celebrating surf cultures from around the world.
“This festival is all about promoting and congratulating the individuals who create surf cinema simply out of passion,” Pierce Kavanagh says.
“A lot of our friends are independent surf filmmakers and we started to notice that it was becoming harder and harder to make surf films as an independent art form. The motivation of the film festival is to help support the independent filmmaker, give them promotional opportunities, help place them into distribution deals and get the public behind them. Doing this will allow them to get their freedom back and ultimately we will have better films because of it.”

To Kavanagh, San Diego and Bird’s Surf Shed are the perfect venues for the festival. After all, the San Diego surfing community has had a major influence on the history and development of surfing through its unique surfboard designers and remarkable surfers. San Diego may not be the birthplace of surfing, but there is no denying the contributions and innovations that this beautiful city and its ocean loving community have provided to the surfing world. The San Diego surfing timeline consists of such revered names as Bob Simmons, Carl Ekstrom, Larry Gordon, Butch Van Artsdalen, Skip Frye, Mike Diffenderfer, Bob Hansen, Pat Curren, Bill Caster, Steve Pendarvis, Mike Hynson, Dale Dobson, Rusty Preisendorfer, Joe Roper, and Hank Warner, to name a few.
“Intertwine this amazing surf history with 75 miles of diverse coastline, a new crop of creative board designers and an incredibly deep talent pool, and you soon realize San Diego simply lives and breathes everything that is wave riding,” Kavanagh says.

San Diego's famous surf breaks such as Wind 'N Sea, Black's, Scripps and Swami's act as a venue for many surf filmmakers and photographers from around the world. Photo by: David Gray

The main goal of the San Diego Surf Film Festival is to bring the entire global surfing community together on a grassroots level.
“This is the main reason why we are going to put a twist on the competitive film festival concept.  We don’t want this to be a popularity contest, or a way to promote a particular brand so we are actually letting the filmmakers themselves decide on the awards” Kavanagh says.  “Surf Films are one of the most important mediums we have to honor our most beloved pastime and lifestyle. We want this to be a time to come together, enjoy each other’s company and be inspired by the works of art that these artists and filmmakers worked so hard to bring to life.”

Check out http://www.sandiegosurffilmfestival.com/ for more info and tickets!

Shaka!

SDSFF creators, from L to R: Ed Lewis, Petra Kavanagh & Pierce Kavanagh
Photo by: Mark Bromley

Check out the promo video:

San Diego Surf Film Festival Trailer from misfit pictures on Vimeo.

Passing on the Stoke

I wouldn’t quite call Pierce Kavanagh the “Michael Moore” of the surf industry, but the 6’2”  bearded body surfer has created a wave of fervor for the eco-surf documentary Manufacturing Stoke since its debut in the Spring of 2011. The critically acclaimed film about sustainability in the surf industry is more than an in-your-face documentary about why surf manufacturers should clean up their act. This film creates an essential and entertaining dialogue about the current and future state of  the surf industry and its dire impacts on the Earth. In between candid interviews with some top influentials in the green surf movement (such as Bird Huffman, Ned McMahon, Jon Wegener, Ed Lewis, Danny Hess and Clay Peterson), the film is gleamed with superb wave riding cinematography and a  groovy soundtrack. Manufacturing Stoke gives an insightful look at how some pioneers are changing the rhythm of the surf industry through their own visions and eco creations.
Pierce and his wife Petra (co-creator of Manufacturing Stoke) came up with the idea for the film after attending the Cardiff Surf Classic and Rerip Green Fest in 2010 in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif.
“I was walking around the booths and saw a shift in consciousness from people who were switching to more organic components  and an environmental awareness that I had not seen before in the surf industry,” Kavanagh says.  “Through  my research I found individuals  who were manufacturing their own stoke and pushing  away from the mainstream and developing their own products and lifestyle. … Everything has to start from a grassroots level.”
Armed with this new consciousness, the Kavanaghs created Misfit Pictures and shortly after assembled a talented group of filmmakers/surfers to make Manufacturing Stoke.  The independent film, which was made on a shoestring budget coupled with a lot of stoke, is an impressive debut from Misfit Pictures. From using news footage from the astonishing close of Clark Foam in December 2005 due to its use of deadly, toxic materials, to a whimsical view of wave riding from top to bottom, Manufacturing Stoke takes the “Oh shit what have we done?” a step further by exploring and offering  solutions to the growing challenge of enjoying the ocean without destroying it and ourselves.
To quote one of my favorite lines from the film, “There’s nothing more punk rock than being sustainable.”
Manufacturing Stoke, which appeals not only to surfers but ocean lovers alike, should be revered as the pinnacle of the surf industry’s transformation towards a cleaner way of life.
This Dirty Hippy gives Manufacturing Stoke five shakas!

You may even get a glimpse or viewing of Manufacturing Stoke  during the first ever San Diego Surf Film Festival (http://sandiegosurffilmfestival.com/)  May 11-13, 2012 at Bird's Surf Shed. Stay tuned!







Other Links:
http://www.manufacturingstoke.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHDeWGLnBGA
http://cardiffsurfclassic.com/

Free Diving With a Mermaid

Photo by Bo Pardou

Dana Richardson was born a fish out of water, so-to-speak. Richardson, who began her life in the fossilized ocean (Phoenix, Ariz.), always felt the yearning to be in the sea. The need to be aquatic led her to practice free diving in pools at the age of 8. To keep her scales from drying up, Richardson moved to Southern California in 1996. Now, at 33, the self taught free diver and “mermaid” feels right at home in Kona on Hawaii‘s Big Island, a free diving paradise where she has lived for the past decade.

“I remember visiting Oahu when I was younger and Hawaii has always felt more like home to me than anywhere else,“ she says. “I’ve always had a deep respect for island culture and love all the islands, yet the moment I landed in Kona I knew this was my home. The island is alive and full of so much life and aloha, with an active volcano that is erupting daily. The Kona sea is filled with an incredibly vast amount of marine life, including my favorites, whales and dolphins."

An average day for Richardson is, of course, waking up to some Kona coffee, catching the morning sunrise and checking to surf. Luckily for her, Kona is the leeward side of the island so generally the water conditions are beautiful and glassy. If she’s not surfing or out on the boat she finds a good beach to swim from shore to say hi to all her sea buddies. Some of those “friends” are three main pods of spinner dolphins that travel off the Kona coast, which Richardson has swam with, photographed and researched for the last 10 years.

“I know their behaviors and routes well and can also recognize many by their scars and markings,” says Richardson, who also works on a dolphin and whale watch boat in Kona as a captain and naturalist. “ As wild dolphins, even though their route stays consistent, they do occasionally change it up, which always makes for an adventure.”

Richardson normally stays between 30-to-60 feet deep while swimming or photographing sea life (but she can go as deep as 100 feet) . She can hold her breath up to 4 ½ minutes now, but when she’s actively swimming, her breath hold is much shorter, around 1 ½ -to- 2 minutes, depending on how fast she’s going.

“I started as a self-taught free diver, having always been more comfortable under water than on land, and have since taken free dive courses to ensure safety and deeper levels of practice,“ she says. “The more you relax the longer you can stay down, and it truly is mind over matter. Free diving is a practice of discipline as well as awareness. I relate free diving to the alpha state, which is how some marine mammals rest. Basically they slow their heart rate down and shut half their brain down at a time, yet still are very conscious and aware of their surroundings. Underwater meditation.”

In between free dives, surfing, teaching snorkeling lessons, boating, “mermaiding” and underwater photography, Richardson, known to some as Dana Mermaid, took some time out to talk more in depth about her life under the sea.

DH: Describe to me as best you can the world beneath the depths.

DR: Beautiful, magical, amazing, and definitely to be respected. The ocean beneath the depths really is another world. The waves, plankton, coral, fish, turtles, rays, dolphins, whales, and sharks are all co–related and need each other to survive. Watching how the world works so gracefully in that circle of life underwater is a beautiful thing. Personally, I believe life on land is much more dangerous than underwater. The ocean life still has the ability to co-exist and everything is in tune with one another. Here on land, we seem to have forgotten that innate ability and there is much more destruction, which is now greatly affecting the underwater world. The ocean really is a magical place that needs to be respected rather than feared. Learning about sea life and their behaviors is so important and can help dispel the deep seated fears the world has spread about sharks and other sea life. Learning how the ocean world lives teaches us when and how to swim, which is key to respecting the sea life and being safe. Having swam with many types of shark species I can honestly say they are not out to get us. Rather, they are mostly shy creatures fulfilling an important role in the ocean ecosystem.

DH: What have been some of your most exciting experiences in the ocean?

DR: Swimming with sperm whales by far is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I’ve swam with whale sharks, the largest fish in the ocean, and when rare species like beaked whales surface it’s very exciting. I had an amazing swim with some pilot whales who were extremely playful. When I’m swimming in the ocean I never touch or feed any of the sea life and match whatever mood they are in out of respect, and let them come to me. I’ve had some amazing dolphin swims, and it’s very cool since I know a lot of them. Many times they have swam over and rubbed up against me. One time in particular a dolphin and I were swimming and he stopped next to me and came so close he put his dorsal fin under my arm and glided with me down to about 40 feet. Humpback whales are also one of my favorites to be in the water with. I’ve had some insane experiences with groups of males competing for a female, singers that sing so loud you can feel the sound. I was swimming with the Southern Pacific Humpback Whales and there was a baby that was so playful that it just kept rolling and circling, blowing bubbles and even swam over and grazed me with her pectoral fin. I could go on and on.

DH: What have been some of your most fearful moments under the sea?

DR: One time I was swimming near this fish farm in a few hundred feet of water with a couple bottlenose dolphins when I noticed the dolphins swim off a bit. I dove down in an attempt to encourage their playfulness and invite them back over and out of the depths I saw a large shape coming towards me. Tiger sharks and baby whale sharks can look very similar so I just looked for either spots or stripes. I saw the stripes and waited as he came up to me and circled me a few times then lost interest. He was just curious, but I definitely was caught off guard and had that feeling of being checked out. Honestly, I really feel much safer in the seas than on land.


DH: What does it take to be a free diver?

DR: Free divers are definitely a unique group of people who continue to break records in the underwater realm, showing the impossible to be possible. Free diving is all self-discipline and mind-over-matter. We are basically diving underwater with breath hold and depth, which goes against what our minds and bodies tell us we can do. Much like yoga, breath is involved to relax the body and allow for more open movement. Breath is a big part of free diving, relaxing the body and lungs in order for the body to stay oxygenated longer. That ultimately takes practice, discipline and patience. It’s really important to not force dives, as you can really injure yourself. Most marine life seem to communicate through energy and there is the ebb and flow of life that shows their awareness of surroundings. Free diving is similar to surfing in that it’s very much self-discipline and ever changing. The ocean environment changes and each day can be a different experience in the elements. My body is also changing as well so it's very important to tune in to my surroundings and also where I’m at physically and mentally. Cold water is much more challenging to free dive in and also sinus problems or a full stomach really prevent length and depth while diving. When I’m away traveling on land, it takes a couple days for my body to re adjust back to free diving mode.

DH: How and why did you start “mermaiding?” Do you make your own costumes?

DR: I do make and create all my own tails to swim in. I started doing this about three years ago. As a child I always felt very connected to the ocean and played mermaids in the water. I believe a real mermaid lives and breathes the sea and has that deep connection to the ocean. As a marine mammal naturalist I’m blessed to be able to educate people about the ocean and help them experience the magic of the sea. Through the years my love of the ocean took me to different types of work from being a life gaurd, swim instructor, boat crew member, underwater photographer, snorkel instructor and safety swimmer, boat captain, surfer, and marine mammal naturalist. I just decided to take it to the next level and grow a tail! My main message is to re inspire our connection from land to sea as a mermaid. It’s pretty cool because I get to really capture the audience of kids and adults, educate about the magic of the ocean, and also really help others follow their dreams.

DH: Tell me about life behind the lens.

DR: I’ve been photographing underwater for the last 10 years. I’ve always loved the creativity of photography and started just playing around with some underwater cameras. The lighting underwater made for some really amazing photos. I started using a Nikonos film camera, which was fun for a little while until I realized what a drag it is to be having an amazing experience underwater and then run out of film and have to head back to the boat. So I switched over to the digital side and found a great housing that is perfect for how I swim with sea life and enables me to capture them in their habitat. My photography is called Mana Kai photography. Mana in Hawaiian means spirit, power, or life source, and Kai means the sea, so basically the spirit of the sea comes out through my photos. My favorite things to photograph are dolphins and whales and light rays beaming through the water. Sharks and rays are fun too. I love going back through the pictures and seeing the amazing things I was able to capture in that watery world. It’s pretty cool to be able to share that with others too, especially people who live far from the ocean and need to see what goes on under there.

　

DH: How do you give back to the sea and the environment?

DR: Every way I can -- picking up trash, educating others on the state of the ocean. The coolest thing is meeting kids even as young as 6 who are learning about the ocean in schools and how to make a difference. We all can create change at any age. I do some research for whale and dolphin species and do everything I can to bring awareness to marine life. I’ve come across several species of sea life entangled in fishing line and always carry scissors with me so if the opportunity arises I can help. I was able to free two different dolphins who had fishing line entangled in their mouth and tail. I also happened upon a humpback whale who I thought was entangled in a huge fishing net and lines. He was actually curious and starting to play with it, which is one of the main reasons whales get entangled. Luckily I caught him just in time and was able to get the entire mass of fishing line onto the boat and save him from an entanglement. “Malama I Ke Kai” -- take care of the ocean.

Thank you Dana for your inspirations and proving my belief that mermaids really do exist!!

Below are some more photos and a video of Dana the mermaid. Enjoy. Also check out Dana's website: www.danamermaid.com.

Photo by Sarah Lee

Misha Photography

Photo by Lisa Denning

Mana Kai photography

Misha Photography

Shark--preditor or victim?

After the popular 1970s movie Jaws came out I was even petrified to swim in a pool. The fear of sharks has stuck with me over the years and now, as a surfer, I often think about the "man in the grey suit" lurking below the sea's surface. But then I think, I am entering the shark's home. He has been kind enough to share it with me. I do think humans' general fear of sharks may be justified  in part, but just think about how many people are actually killed by sharks a year (less than a handful) compared to how many die of starvation a year (8 million around the globe).
In 2000, the year with the most recorded shark attacks, there were 79 shark attacks reported worldwide, 11 of them fatal. Ironically, the biggest threat to sharks is humans -- about 100 million sharks are killed every year by humans. Many of them are killed for the lucrative shark finning industry, which often illegally kills sharks  for their fins . These finners cut off the shark fins and then throw them back in the ocean to die. I recently watched an amazingly powerful film, Sharkwater, that shows the intense journey of a group of brave souls who try to save these sharks and  expose the shark finning industry.  While shark finning is illegal in some waters, there are no governments, including the United States, that have agencies enforcing these important laws. The reality is that sharks may be the world's top predators, but they are critical to the survival of the ocean's ecosystem, and ultimately our livelihoods. I highly recommend you see this film. It will change your view  on sharks and may even compel you to do something to stop the mass killing of these beautiful, powerful creatures of the sea. The ocean is not a free-for-all for us to drain all of its resources.
Here's a link to the Sharkwater website: http://www.sharkwater.com/
Check out the Sharkwater trailer:

Hippy Glamour -- 50s style

 I've become more fascinated recently with the 1950s era of fashion, culture and surfing. I can't tell you how many times I've watched Bud Browne's Surfing in the 50s (and yes, on VHS!). Browne, the father of surf movies, captured some of the greats in his films, including Dewey Weber,  Buzzy Trent, Phil Edwards, Peter Cole, Linda Benson and Marge Calhoun, who is my favorite all-time female surfer.
Calhoun, Benson  and the other pioneering women from  this era had such style and grace, not to mention chutzpa for riding big surf on heavy logs sans leashes and wetsuits. And they were super stylish in their '50s bathing suits (I'm actually on the hunt  for one now, similar to one worn by Calhoun in the Surfing in the 50s film).
Many of the bathing suits during this era were fashioned by none other than the "Million Dollar Mermaid" herself -- Esther Williams. The  former competitive swimmer and starlet-turned bathing suit designer set the stage for classic, stylish and quality beach-going and wave riding attire. During my grand quest for such a suit  I came across some really great vintage wear sites, including Esther Williams (http://www.esther-williams.com/) and a cool blog called GlamourSplash (http://www.glamoursplash.com/). 
I'm inspired and stoked to see this style of suit still being made. It's funny how the pioneers in fashion and surfing back then were making "modern" advances, and how today we want to reverse back to that time.  It was a time before polyurethane foam, plastic fins, Roxy, SUPs and everything made in China for cheap. I, for one, vote to go back to that era of classic, quality fashion and surfing, even if it means I can't wear a wetsuit.

Esther Williams

Marge Calhoun

Linda Benson

Climate Change rap..yo!

The earth’s climate is influenced and changed through natural causes like volcanic eruptions, ocean current, the earth’s orbital changes and solar variations. However, climate change is now a global concern due to humans' growing heavy footprint on the Earth. Whether you believe that climate change and global warming are really happening, check out this great rap video. It does have some expletives at the end but it's a great message.