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Spectacular Galapagos
Here's the Galapagos section of the Spectacular Adventures! DVD featuring Cory Lopez, Asher Nolan, Zander Morton, and Alek Parker. This was a two week exploratory trip along some previously unsurfed coasts of the Galapagos Islands chain. We had a hell of a time dealing with the Archipelago's red tape governing ...)
Haiti Disaster/ How You Can Help
All photos Ryan Miller Terrible news last night from Haiti, an already suffering country rocked by a massive earthquake that has put nearly 3 million lives in danger around the capital of Port-au-Prince. Our thoughts are with our friends on the island Hispanola and the people of Haiti, the poorest nation ...)
Dave Wassel on Brett Barley
Photo: Struntz Brett Barley turned quite a few heads with his performance at the Volcom Pipeline Pro last week. Let it be known that dude will charge Pipe and he knows what to do when he gets a wave out there. Still, until next year's WQS, Brett won't get to surf ...Living The Dream: Ecuador
“If we make it there before dark, we’re psyched” is Ben’s claim for our 2.5 hour drive to the coast tomorrow. We’re planning on leaving in the morning but if our mission from the airport to our hotel tonight is any indication, we’re going to have to lower our expectations significantly when it comes to driving in Ecuador.
Leaving the Guayaquil airport, we find our rental car company and get a ride out of the airport to the rental lot. Its midnight and we don’t understand a word of the car rental guys spanish except that he’s going to tack on an surprise 20 percent to our bill for paying with a credit card (because usually people rent cars with cash?). From there, we’re driving through the city with a boardbag stuffed down the center of the car, completely blocking Ben’s vision to his right and rear – there’s a solid layer of dew built up on the windshield prohibiting us from being able to see out of it with any clarity. With my head out the window looking for the hotel, we make a series of incorrect turns that not only get us lost but also pulled over at a police checkpoint where we fumble for 10 minutes trying to explain our boardbags and reason for wandering around the city to la Policia before getting more bad directions and lost some more. Eventually, Benny spots the Howard Johnson’s – right where we’d been looking the entire time save for the fact that there is not a single light turned on outside the building. It looks more like an unfinished apartment complex from the road so we don’t feel bad about having taken 2 hours to find the place. We finally made it though, the internet is kicking, the shower has hot water, and room service is still open.
Golden Clips
Evan Geiselman going apeshit in between interviews and contest heats in New Zealand last month,
Video by Michael Lopez
Raven Outer Banks
Empty Outer Banks barrels from Raven Lundy,
First person to email spectad (at) gmail.com the name of the video and the riders section this song was originally in wins a Spectacular DVD
Rad Omen
Completely not surf related but probably the best thing on the internet right now, watch it the whole way through
Dave Wassel on Brett Barley
Photo: Struntz
Brett Barley turned quite a few heads with his performance at the Volcom Pipeline Pro last week. Let it be known that dude will charge Pipe and he knows what to do when he gets a wave out there. Still, until next year’s WQS, Brett won’t get to surf epic Pipe with only 3 other guys in the lineup. He’ll be back on the grind, sitting deep, taking beatings, and occasionally sneaking into a good tube when he’s lucky.
To get a different perspective from the rah-rah East Coast crew who’ve been on cloud 9 since Brett’s first heat (which isn’t a bad thing), I hit up North Shore staple and all around legend waterman Dave Wassel with a few questions to see what this all really means. Big thanks to him for taking the time to answer them. Dave is a guy who deserves a lot of respect for what he does.
Brett and Wassel, post-heat
Being a lifeguard, you seem to be in the know of what’s happening on the North Shore at all times. Is Brett Barley someone you had heard of, or seen surf before this event?
Through the first few days of the event, I didn’t recognize the name. When I drew Brett in my heat I realized that I’ve seen this guy getting good waves for the past 2 years. He cherry picks his sessions and the waves he goes for.
What were your impressions of him then, and what are they now?
I don’t think I’ll look at him any differently.
Pipe, when good, is always crowded and has a large pecking order. What does it take to work your way up that ladder and get good waves being someone who isn’t from Hawaii?
To get good waves at Pipe, it takes time in the field. Everyone out there put in years to get where they’re at and I firmly believe that everyone else should do the same but everyone gets lucky once in a while.
Do you think after this event Brett will have an easier time getting waves because more people out at Pipe will know him now?
No. Sadly enough he probably just just put a big target on his head. He was way better off when no one knew who he was. Too bad, he’s a nice kid.
There’s been a number of East Coast surfers over the years who’ve come out to Hawaii and excelled at surfing Pipe. Guys like Kelly, the Hobgoods, Cory Lopez, Todd Morcom, Jeff Crawford, etc… Does it surprise you to see people who come from such a small wave background go out there and charge?
It doesn’t matter where you’re from, it matters what you’re made of. But as long as he continues his same program and lets his surfing do the talking, Brett should do just fine. Let it be known that it was the media who added the hype and put that target on his head. He wasn’t the first and won’t be the last. We wish him the best.
Living The Dream
Benny’s life is just retarded. The legend took a break from surfing everyday of his life to judge the Miss Reef Argentina bikini contest in Mar Del Plata with Fish last week. Check out this little vibe piece from the contest for Fish’s website – a lot weirder stuff went down but you’ll have to wait a bit for it to surface.
Carolina On His Back
“It’s a good thing he doesn’t drink or it would get UGLY when he comes home.”
-Freddy James
The East Coast had a hell of a good showing at this weeks Volcom Pipeline Pro. Travis Beckman, Nils Schweizer, Oliver Kurtz, Ryan Briggs, Kyle Garson, Josie Graves, Ale Moreda, Devon Tresher, and Blake Jones all showed up for the Volcom 5 star event but Brett Barley was far and away the standout of the week, not just amongst his East Coast company but as the Cinderella story of the entire event. A perfect 10 followed up by a 9.67 and a 2.3 at Backdoor that would have been a 12 had he come out in the semi’s – There couldnt be a more deserving surfer to shine at Pipe this week… we’re stoked for you Brett!
Hatteras legend Freddy James had this to say:
“Growing up in hatteras it’s hard to judge just how good he really is in big barrels but after seeing him look so comfortable at Pipe you know he can hold his own with anyone anywhere. We all feel so proud and stoked for him. It’s great seeing him translate what he does so well at home to the biggest stage in the world for surfing. This does mean we get to burn him on every wave since he got to surf pipe with 3 dudes 4 separate times! He may have earned his spot in the lineup at Pipe but he just lost his spot at the First.”
I’m sure once Brett gets a minute to relax and take it all in he’ll be updating his site so start tuning into BrettGnarley.com now and tell him how psyched you are for him!
Brett and Nils earlier this week. Video by Oneill:
Go Brett! Go!!!!!
Tune into volcompipelinepro.com/live and watch Brett Barley surf on the final day of the WQS 5 Star.
Brett has gone from relatively unknown, to the guy everyone in surfing is talking about. Not sure why it took so long. This kid has been mad dogging it at Pipe for a few years now.
I guess you give the lineup to guys like Brett and Nils Schweizer and actually let them get waves, they will show you how it’s done.
Good luck Brett! Win this thing!
Pretty Timelapses
Nothing surf related here, just nice to look at
songs for the street
Fences (Phoenix Cover)) – The Soft Pack
Unemployment Forever -Meth Teeth
