BoardWarrior Meets Design By Humans

DBH is a perfect fit for BoardWarrior. It’s an amazing way to share our designs and give as many people as possible an opportunity to get a perfect BW tee shirt. Keith has been busy with his newest design software. Usually it’s his cameras and editing programs. Now, his eyes are glazed from working into the wee small hours of the night drafting designs.

 California Grown was born while three of us were sitting in an airport waiting room while flying to film a surf piece. I think the original may have been on a napkin.

The Art & Craft line was born in Keith’s mind while filming Chapter Two. He got the feeling that his subjects were exploring their craft and he was turning it into art. I think it is his favorite graphics line. Once a skate boarder, always a skate boarder. He’s been sharing his graphics for a while now on BoardWarrior’s Facebook.

The Kitty line….well, Keith and Crystal have 3 kitties at home. What’s not to love. I have no idea why he decided to Kill a Unicorn in Skate the Rainbow! All I know is that he chuckles every time I ask him. He thinks it’s so absurd that it’s hysterical. Go figure. You’ll have to let him know if you share in his wicked sense of humor.  And isn’t that Trino blowing bubbles? 

Go check the designs out at our BoardWarrior store front in Design By Humans.  And stick around…there are plenty more to come.

Phuket, Thailand Surf Trip

Temples and Waves 

Thailand, the land of coconuts, spicy food, amazing people and, above all, there are the waves. Oh yeah, there are the waves!  I spent 2 weeks in the Phuket countryside at a place called Nai Thon Beach! Nai Thon is a quiet little beach town in the middle of nowhere. Really, in the middle of nowhere! If I were a tourist, not a surfer, I might have been scared. But hell, I am a surfer and we find the stoke everywhere it is. We hear all the time how ‘amazing the locals are’. Have you ever wondered about that statement…wondered if it were true?

 


OHM catching a wave.

Well, if you surf with locals around the world, you know it’s true. The locals at Nai Thon Beach actually take turns acting as lifeguards, not just for the locals, but also for the foreigners coming there to surf. They take turns when the waves are up and are always on it. I had the pleasure of spending most of my time there surfing, making friends, eating local food and sharing waves with some amazing and generous people.

The first day I went for a swim with my camera I met a guy named OHM. A Nai Thon resident, with roots going back generations, he is as inventive as he is fun to be around. OHM makes his living renting boards and selling a tasty homebrewed beer and freshly chopped coconut. What more could a hungry, tired surfer ask for.

I gotta tell you, chilling with OHM was a real pleasure. Over the next few days, he showed me the local surf scene. He seemed to have as much fun showing me the local life style as I had rolling with it. It pretty much consisted of surf all day, eat some spicy Pad Thai, cool your burning mouth with OHM’s homebrew, then do it all over again the next day. Oh, and don’t forget, listening to some locals playing guitar while your belly is still rumbling from that amazing, spicy as hell, $3 Pad Thai. Kicking back and looking around, all I could see was Stoke!!!

 Surfing Local 

To be a surfer in Nai Thon, or anywhere in Phuket Province, you need the right storm to get things moving. Sometimes that means you also need to have some patience. August is their low season and I came at the right time, having surf almost every day!!   

The water was so clear I got some amazing shots.
This is OHM taking a break.

 When the surf is down, you run to one of the other local gifts from Mother Nature, PHI PHI Island (Say Pee Pee), but that’s another story. And, yeah, we will tell it. It’s enough right now to say I had the pleasure of being in the middle of the surf culture in Phuket, Thailand. A place that will always make me grateful for what is given to us if we just open our eyes and look. The people there are rich and warm and welcoming.  If you ever need a stoke recharge and you are willing to embrace the local culture, not the tourist culture, head for Phuket and Nai Thon beach. Have a local brew with OHM and tell him Cory says hey.

 

For the full photo essay of our surf trip to Phuket/Nai Thon beach visit www.corypphotography.com .

  

Surfer - Nope- Skateboarder

Skylar shredding at Bishop Park

Skylar Walden - The Youngest Whitlock

Who’d of thought the grandson, son and nephew of 3 pro surfing legends would end up a skateboarder? And isn’t it testimony to the tightness of this family that everyone, not just the surfers, but the grand mom and sisters too, all support Skylar’s decision to pursue skateboarding instead of the family business, RW Surf.

Skylar Walden is Cory Whitlock’s son. There is no doubt when you see them together that they really like each other. That does not mean that they agree with each other. Nope, not at all. But they certainly respect each other. And it shows.  

Skylar catching air at Bishop Park

 

 We spent an afternoon with Skylar at a local Carlsbad, CA skate park. He is totally amazing to watch. He moves with the grace and agility of a surfer, but shreds on his skateboard like a pro. In fact he has been sponsored by local skate shops and it’s looking like he might have the stuff for a pro career. Considering his grandfather and father have been pro surfers and his uncle, Ricky Whitlock, is considered one of the top Big Wave surfers in the world, Skylar’s ability should not surprise anyone.

What is surprising about Skylar is, that with all the talent he has, he is not really sure pro skateboarding is where his passion is. What he really loves is music. And he comes by that honestly, too. He’s been jamming with his grandpa, Rusty (who still plays in a rock band), for as long as he could hold a guitar. He and his band, Swift Beats, are innovative musicians who write and play their own music. They even have their own unique sound. A sound that made Skylar grin as he said it….Rocky, bluesy, surfer….wow, I gotta hear this!

 Skylar and Swift Beats will be playing at Boar Cross’n on Thursday night, July 3^rd. The sports bar is at 390 Grand Ave, Carlsbad, CA. The BW crew will be there recording live music for the documentary, 50 Years of Shaping, and getting some footage of Skylar and the band at work. Make it if you can. After all, where else are you going to hear rocky, bluesy, surfer music!



Skylar learning the family business with Dad, Cory and Granddad, Rustsy
 

Matty Takes First in Division at First Stop of Cali Am Jam, 2014

 Matty Jessee, BoardWarrior team rider, took 1^st in his division of 11 and under at Mather skate park leg of the series, the first in a 5 stop series. Matty nailed the win with his huge Board Slide on the 4 rail, Front 180 down the Big 5 and his bevy of Transition Tricks.

 

CALI AM JAM

If you haven’t already watched Keith Halterman’s video of the May 31^st stop on the Cali Am Jam comp, well, you should. Keith is videoing the series for event coordinator Rob Ferguson, of 4141Corp. NorCal’s best skaters showed up for this free admission event. In keeping with the philosophy of community support behind Rob’s 4141Corp, prizes for local talent topped 7K. Spreading the love!

BEAST

Those following Matty know it's true. Matty is nothing short of a beast.   With his outstanding agility and technical skill, we can hardly wait to see what he can do on 6/28 at the St Helena competition.



Matty with Carl Watson

 

NorCal Ripper in SoCal

NorCal Ripper Shows His Style in SoCal

Matty Jessee, BW’s youngest team rider, was invited to a weekend Ramp Jam in Santa Barbara. The kids of the guy putting on the comp follow Matty on Instagram and wanted him there.  Of course, dad sent the invite, to the whole family. Hey, these kids have the whole Social Media thing covered. Matty, along with mom and dad (Stacie and Matt), sister Shay and even Trouper, the family dog, were invited to spend the weekend, while Matty competed with lots of amazing SoCal rippers.

Backyard Fun

For a backyard jam, it was amazing. Reps were there from Powell Peralta and the Arbor Team. Cash prizes were flowing. Matty was on fire. His energy, silliness and all out ripping style were crowd favorites. Dad, Matt, says ‘I was super proud of him’ and says ‘he was landing tricks he never landed before. Matty was in the zone!’  

There was a one hour jam for kids 12 and under. It was a rad format that let the kids rip it up with each other and show their style. Everyone had fun watching the kids tearing it up and just having fun rooting for each other.

Matty ended up with a ton of prizes and a $40.00 cash prize. He took 1^st place for best style and best attitude. Then he picked up best trick over the box for a kickflip and a big pop shovit, taking 2^nd overall behind Cash Money, a SoCal 11 year old, who is a sick transition skater.

Why is Skateboarding Different?

When it comes to skateboarding, kids are more interested in cheering each other on to perfect tricks. It’s not about beating the other guy. It’s about pushing each other to do a sick trick, high five’s all around.

 

Santa Barbara TV show, Life Chronicles, interviewed Matty after the comp and one of the questions was ‘why Matty thinks parents should allow and encourage kids to skate.’ He never hesitated with his answer:

‘Its super fun, you can do it with your Dad and family and anyone can do it.’ He said ‘its great exercise and better than just playing video games.’  He pointed out ‘it’s not too dangerous because you can skate at any level’. He also mentioned its fun to meet people from all over and travel to different places. His favorite tricks are rails, kick flips and skating street.

 It was a great day all around and everyone had fun watching the kids out there tearing it up and just having fun. Only in skating do we do this.  

 

Cory Patterson filmed the 2014 Mavericks Invitational for BoardWarrior. This is his account of  the day. See the video at  BoardWarrior.com

 

Mavericks Invitational, keeping his eye on a building WNW swell. With it peaking on January 24th, Mavericks was called, running at 12 ft at 19 sec, and wave faces running between 25 and 30 ft. It was on. Loaded up all my gear and jumped in the car and ran up the coast. I hopped on a boat at 6:00am, on Friday morning, the 24th, taking off out of San Francisco Bay. The boat was running with energy. Rollers so big we had to hook out over 5 miles just to get around them. As we wrapped around Pillar Point around 7:30am there was Mavericks in all its glory, pumping with rocks, great whites and peaks pitching so hard. 24 of the best big wave surfers were called and put on one amazing show.

Lets pause here and tell a little back story for those of you who don’t know about the history of Mavericks. Mavericks is located at Half Moon Bay a half mile out off of Pillar Point. It has the potential of reaching heights of 60 ft. In 1975, Clark was the first person to ever paddle out to Pillar Point and ride Mavericks. The Mavericks Invitational was founded in 1999.

The contest was stacked with some of the best big wave surfers in the world, with names like Greg Long, Peter Mel, Shane Dorian and Grant “Twiggy” Baker. In the end Twiggy dominated the final heat to pull off the win. Mavericks is a one-of-a-kind place and when it’s pumping there’s no place gnarlier than that. To witness that first hand was incredible. Thanks mother nature for an amazing show. See you next year. Mavericks 2014

Cory Patterson

http://www.corypphotography.com/
    

 

Feb6

- See more at: http://www.boardwarrior.com/blog/#sthash.VLjQDwOE.dpuf

What is BoardWarrior?

 Think about the origin of surfing, or he'enalu,

as it was known to the Pacific
Island warriors who created it, possibly as a fishing technique, then later as a tactic of warfare. Picture them, proud, strong  and  fearless, riding a hand-hewn plank of wood in treacherous surf, braving sharp, rocky shores through violent currents, prey to strong, fast and mindless predators. This was the origin of surfing, created by men and women with a powerful physical and

spiritual connection to the mighty Pacific Ocean.