Water Water Everywhere

January 12, 2005 by

Sands Beach was closed earlier in the week due to water toxicity. For surfers from southern California, this is not surprising - beaches down here usually close when it rains because of all the city f...
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Surf Column: Johnny Utah

January 5, 2005 by

A couple months ago Newsweek magazine rated UCSB the nation's #1 surf and ski school. You might have seen the ranking; it was accompanied by that classic picture of UCSB taken from out beyond campus p...
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Trippin’ on Blue: Birthing a Board

November 17, 2004 by

I haven't bought a new board in three years. Of course, in that time I have picked up the occasional inheritance from missing housemates and yellowing pieces of crap from garage sales, but I haven't h...
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Surf Column: Irons and Rasta

November 10, 2004 by

I have been watching a lot of surf movies recently. I totaled up the hours for last week and I think it came out to about 16 - yeah I know, pathetic. Surf movies are like porn: a poor substitute for t...
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Trippin’ on Blue: Confessions of an Addict

November 3, 2004 by

Sometimes I wonder what I am doing back here on the sports page. Surfing is not really a sport; it is more akin to some sort of addictive hobby. It is fundamentally different from the team sports that...
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Surf Column: Trippin’ on Blue

October 27, 2004 by

So I didn't have an article last week. My editor got mad, and I still can't figure out why; seems to me you can't hire a surf columnist and then be all surprised when he flakes out on you.
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Trippin’ on Blue: Kook’s Upside Your Head

October 6, 2004 by

Surfers have this whole discrimination thing going against beginners. We invent derogatory names reserved solely for those that suck at surfing. Kooks. It is not cool to be a kook. It is not cool to b...
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Surf Column: The Ranch

September 29, 2004 by

I want to start by stating that I am not giving anything away. Don't bother sending your angry letters accusing me of exposing secret spots, because the Ranch is not a secret spot. A huge chunk of pri...
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Surf Column: A Ride to Ride

May 27, 2004 by

Mexico is right there. It doesn't take any planning, all you need is a car, some cash for gas and time. The further south you can go, the warmer the water, the thinner the crowds and the cheaper the b...
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