Water Board To Vote On Toll Road – We Need Your Support!
Surfrider Foundation & Save San Onofre Coalition Rally “Save Trestles” Supporters To Attend Meeting

San Clemente, CA (June 3, 2013) – On Wednesday, June 19th the Regional Water Quality Control Board is expected to make a decision regarding the TCA’s permit to build the first “segment” of the SR-241 toll road extension. Surfrider Foundation is asking its supporters to attend the meeting at 1:00 PM to demonstrate opposition to the road. Public comment will be taken shortly after 1:00 PM.

Since 2011, three years after the California Coastal Commission and the Bush Administration shot down the proposed extension of SR-241 through the San Onofre State Park, the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) has been proposing to build the remainder of the road in “segments” – five miles at a time. “Segmenting” is illegal under state and federal law. Not only does TCA’s plan circumvent important laws, this approach makes absolutely no planning sense as it will create a “cul-de-sac of traffic” for San Juan Capistrano, and would end at a road that is not even built yet. More recently, the TCA held a “special meeting” to approve plans for the “Tesoro Extension,” the first five miles of the 241 Toll Road extension, without any public workshops or sufficient public notice.

“Building the road in segments is not only illegal, but it is a guise to construct the entire road down to San Onofre State Beach and Trestles,” said Stefanie Sekich-Quinn, Surfrider Foundation’s California Policy Manager. “The TCA knows that, yet they are intentionally misleading the public and State agencies. That’s why Surfrider Foundation and our partners need to public to show up in droves to convince the Water Board to deny the permit.”

The fight against the toll road has been going on for several years, with its most notable victory in December 2008 when the Bush Administration upheld the California Coastal Commission’s decision striking down the proposed six-lane highway on grounds that it violates the Coastal Act. Over 3,500 people opposing the toll road attended the hearing, making it the largest in the Commerce Department’s history. With the TCA proposing to build the first segment of the 241 Toll Road, the Save San Onofre Coalition, which includes Surfrider Foundation, resurrected the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lawsuit that challenged the original 16-mile proposal in 2006, bringing the fight to Save Trestles back into the courtroom.

The Regional Water Quality Control Board Meeting will take place on Wednesday, June 19th at the Water Quality Control Board Meeting Room: 9174 Sky Park Court, San Diego, CA 92123.

For more information, visit www.savetrestles.org

Here’s a post that assumes that you, as a surfer, give a damn and feel part of the ocean, land and air system we call Earth. It’s a very pretty graphic put out by the Guardian newspaper using data from Dr. Villy Christensen of the University of British Columbia, one of the foremost centres of worldwide fisheries research.

And, ugh, it’s pretty graphic.

Below that is another info graphic showing which fish are OK to eat.

I could say, ‘Enjoy!’

But that would be inappropriate, so how about, ‘don’t buy tuna!’ or ‘quit eating fucking sushi!’

You get the jist.

Click  here to start the graphic.

 What can I do?

Click here to open it full size at the fantastic informationisbeautiful website.

Here’s a chunk from a website called overfishing.org – kind of a guide to guides in different countries:

“Eating with a (clear) conscience A number of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) maintain seafood guides / lists on fish to eat and to avoid. Aimed at consumers these lists are usually based on a simple colour system with green being good and red being bad. Not all list are of the same quality and not all NGOs follow the same methodology. In general these list do provide a good and easy buyers or consumers guide overview. Print a list on a small credit card sized piece of paper, stick it in you wallet, and always carry your environmentally friendly fish list with you! This overview is not as comprehensive as it can be and contributions, especially for new countries, are welcomed!

Europe

United Kingdom

Pocket fish purchasing guide Extensive purchasing guide by the Marine Conservation Society.

International seafood red list Illustrated what not to buy and “better buys”. By Greenpeace UK / International. Good list with FAQ.

Netherlands & Belgium

De Goede Vis Gids One of the best guides available. By Stichting De Noordzee. (in Dutch, French version, pdf)

Vis-a-Card Good fish guide by Greenpeace Nederland. Printable credit card sized card. (in Dutch)

Sweden

WWFs Fiskguide – din guide när du ska köpa miljövänlig fisk (seafood guide) By WWF Sweden. Printable credit card sized in PDF (in Swedish).

Finland

Seafood Guide By WWF Finland. Direct link to PDF. (in Finnish)

Germany WWF-Einkaufsratgeber Fische & Meeresfruchte (seafood guide) Annotated purchasing guide. By WWF Germany. (in German)

The Americas

Canada

SeaChoice A comprehensive national seafood program. List available in PDF as well.

United States of America

Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Good list with regional guides for five different US regions.

Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood Informative site and fish guides. By the Blue Ocean institute.

Asia & Oceania Australia

Australia’s Sustainable Seafood Guide Not free, only as book, not accessible online. From the Australian Marine Conservation Society.

Thanks For All The Fish Free. ABC Channel fish pages. Based on the Australian Marine Conservation Societies guide.

Indonesia

Seafood Guide Fish and shellfish guide for Indonesia. By WWF Indonesia. In English and Indonesian.

Africa

South Africa

Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative An extensive database that even includes distribution maps of many local species.

Globally

For many countries no special guide is maintained. Seafoodchoices.org is a good starting point providing information on fish species, restaurants and suppliers. While maybe not directly developed for a certain country some of the guides mentioned above could be a good and useful start for guide-less countries nearby as well. For Europeans the international seafood red list maintained by Greenpeace International is a good starting point.”

MARINE MINERALS LIMITED CARRY OUT UNLAWFUL SAMPLING FOR DREDGING PLANS

We can reveal that Marine Minerals Limited (MML) has unlawfully undertaken the first significant works associated with their dredging proposal. Considering St Ives Bay is one of only 3 sites Marine Minerals Limited is applying to dredge, they are either incompetent or negligent in failing to apply for the necessary permission to carry out their sampling under the Coastal Protection Act 1949.

SAS has serious concerns about the project and how Marine Minerals Limited is operating. Marine Minerals Limited is simultaneously making very limited information available whilst they and their PR agency are promoting unsubstantiated claims. Marine Minerals Limited is yet to announce the method of dredging they will use to remove tens of millions of tonnes of sediment from the North Cornish coast, or how they have arrived at the number of jobs they believe their proposed activity will create. Without this information SAS and other stakeholders cannot identify the level of environmental impact that will be felt at the coast or the true number of established jobs that could be threatened or new employment that might be generated within the county.

St. Ives area’s Godrevy Beach, where mining samples have been taken. Photo by surfhog.com

Marine Minerals Limited has no excuse for not securing the appropriate licences before undertaking the seabed sampling work within St Ives Bay. SAS not only referenced the Coastal Protection Act 1949 but also even named the licencing authority in their response to Marine Minerals Limited’s scoping opinion. The Marine Management Organisation also clearly stated in relation to every license they grant that they “…would further advise you that the issue of this licence does not absolve you from seeking any other consents or approvals which may be required before you embark upon the work to which it refers.” It’s clear that the responsibility to ensure all licences and permissions falls with the applicant, Marine Minerals Limited.

Surfers Against Sewage’s Campaign Director Andy Cummins says: “Carrying out these works without the relevant permissions, as Marine Minerals Limited has, are not the actions of a responsible developer. Showing such blatant disregard for the environment and the licencing authorities demonstrates why SAS is right to have serious concerns about this proposal. The North Cornish coast is too valuable to allow irresponsible and unprofessional operators to carry out potentially devastating works.”

A spokesperson from the North Coast Protection Association said: “North Coast Protection Association (NCPA) are disappointed, but not surprised to learn of this development. Already we are aware of the countless contradictions made by Marine Minerals Ltd (MML) in their public relations and application documents which can only be seen as disingenous at best. We continue to have serious concerns that this company does not act in a professional way and the potential loss of jobs, and damage to the environment are simply too great to allow the project to go ahead”.

Cornwall Seal Group co-ordinator says: “I am sad to say that this description fits with our experience of Marine Minerals Limited. Marine Minerals Limited forced Cornwall Seal Group to work to extremely short deadlines of a few days because Marine Minerals Limited had booked a sampling boat before having obtained their original MMO sampling license.”

SAS are pleased that Cornwall Council is in the process of writing to both the MMO and Marine Minerals Limited setting out that it fully expects to that should Marine Minerals Limited wish to conduct either further sampling runs, or a larger scale extraction of materials from the sea bed, it is to first to get permission from Cornwall Council for this extraction as the licensing authority under the 2002 Order. However, SAS are extremely disappointed that a prosecution is not being sought.

The UK’s coastline and surfing waves need better protection from inappropriate developments like this and pollution. Join SAS in calling for legislation to Protect Our Waves by signing the petition at www.protectourwaves.org.uk

PROTECT OUR WAVES GUARDIAN TODAY

AND YOU’LL RECEIVE THE ICONIC

POW TOMBSTONES ORGANIC T-SHIRT

AND A LIMITED EDITION CAR STICKER,

AS WELL AS ALL THE OTHER GREAT SAS

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS.

Image by Kirstin Prisk www.kirstinprisk.co.uk

We’re well on the way to securing 100,000 signatures for our POW petition, which we will take to Parliament later this year to encourage debate for stronger legislation to protect UK surf spots from sewage discharges, marine litter and inappropriate development. Your support & donation as a POW Guardian is vital in helping us deliver this groundbreaking campaign.

THE POW GUARDIAN RATE IS £36 ANNUALLY, EQUIVALENT TO JUST £3 A MONTH.

Sign the POW petition at: www.protectourwaves.org.uk
Thank you for your support!

The Pristine Seas mission aims to work in collaboration with local communities to conserve ocean’s beauty and create protected marine areas.
Supporting this partnership is Hollywood actor Paul Walker, the face of Davidoff Cool Water. Paul has studied marine biology and is known for his passion for the ocean.
To learn more about the Pristine Seas Mission and the partnership with National Geographic visit www.love-the-ocean.com.

Back in August, Barack Obama flew to Hawaii to visit his 85-year-old maternal grandmother at her apartment (where Obama lived throughout the 1970s) near the Punahou School, about a mile and a half mauka (towards the mountains) from the surf at Ala Moana harbor. Any number of great surfers cut their teeth on the hollow, bowl waves at AlaMo, including Gerry Lopez, who, like Barack Obama, attended high school at Punahou. But while Gerry’s path led to the waves, Barack’s led to the basketball court (State Champions in 1979, his senior year), college in Los Angeles and New York, community organizing in Chicago, law school at Harvard, and then back to Chicago and … politics. Now he’s going to be president of the United States of America and “the most powerful man in the world.”

They say Barack will be the first black president, but the truth is, he’s as much white as he is black. Funny how that works.

I haven’t seen too many presidents, of any color, close-up, but I did get to see one once … on the beach. The year was 1969, just about the time the first man stepped onto the moon. I was editor of Surfer magazine, and Richard Nixon was president of the United States. For his ‘Western White House’, Tricky Dick had chosen the exquisite Cotton estate and its hacienda, which crowned the bluff overlooking the lineup at Cotton’s Point, about halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego.

As it happened, Nixon’s next-door neighbor was my boss, Surfer founder and publisher John Severson. From John’s deck one could survey the scene, including the upper story of the hacienda and the special stairs that had been built to allow presidential access to the sand and sea. One afternoon, as I looked on, Dick and Pat (the Mrs.) descended the bluff, crossed over the railroad tracks (via a special set of stairs and plank inlays), and stepped out onto the beach.

It was a glorious day, and the couple was preceded, at a polite distance, by a pair of secret-service agents. In fact, Dick and Pat kept a polite distance from each other, too. Another pair of secret service agents followed, at a distance. The four men were dressed in black suits, complete with shiny black shoes, ties, jackets. Pat wore a casual pant-suit kind of thing, but it was the president who really caught my eye. He wore a pair of dark gray slacks – high, with the belt buckle positioned about halfway between his navel and his sternum – and a powder-blue shirt with short sleeves that came closer to his wrists than his elbows. He too wore polished dress shoes, and he stepped awkwardly towards the berm, along which he walked as he studied the sloshing surges of the Pacific. The impression I got was of a guy a lot less at home on a beach than Neil Armstrong had been hopping around in his space suit on the moon.

Anyway, during that trip to Hawaii last August, Barack Obama took time out to visit some of the beaches he’d enjoyed during his Punahou years. One of them was Sandy Beach, a high-quality bodysurfing spot on the windward side of Oahu. There, Obama scattered flower petals in remembrance of his mother, posed for a few pictures, and waded out to join a handful of locals populating a wedgy little peak on a small-wave day. You can see it on the YouTube [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugDrrAz0C_Y]. You can sense his total comfort in the ocean energy as he takes a wave and assumes the classic pose of the savvy slider. You sense the way he inhabits his body – not like a space-walker wearing a protective suit, but … like a surfer!

To ride waves like that, to be relaxed and oriented and aware in the curl, requires more than just a skill set. To ride waves with composure and style requires a consciousness we haven’t seen in an American president for a long, long time. Maybe ever. Combine that athleticism with a keen intellect and a comprehending and open heart, and you have a recipe for success. Keeping things in proportion, weighing choices without wasting energy, staying on track, being patient, maintaining balance – these are all attributes of a surfer who, above all, lives in the present. No room for excuses, no time for pretense. What you see is what you get. No drama Obama.

So, I see this as a very good thing for the world – for sustainability and the environment, for compassion and relationships, for sanity and reason. I feel optimistic, and I expect intelligent wave selection and excellent maneuvers. Although Barack is definitely taking off behind the peak, it’s clear he likes a late takeoff and a steep drop. And I’m pretty sure he sees a high line through the pit towards the light at the end of the tunnel.

– Drew Kampion

The Role Foundation participated in the Sanur Beach Clean-up in collaboration with volunteers from the Art of Living.

The millions of tons of debris that finds its way into the world’s oceans each year has devastating affects on marine wildlife. Sea birds, turtles and marine mammals are tangled in discarded fishing line and thousands more ingest the increasing amount of plastic floating in the oceans. Much of the debris littering Bali’s beaches is brought in on the tides from other destinations, yet a large proportion comes directly from Bali, finding its way to the coast through rivers and streams.

Ten members of the Role team arrived at the beach in North Sanur to tackle this problem directly and focused on a river that flowed directly into the sea, depositing large amounts of trash all over the beach at low tide. The team worked hard wading though filthy water with rotting fish carcasses to remove plastic bags, flip flops, and all manner of rubbish. After two hours work fifteen large rice bags had been filled and the river was looking decidedly cleaner than it had earlier that afternoon. Unfortunately, it was not possible to remove all the rubbish as the conditions were so bad and proper equipment such as wellington boots and gloves are essential for any future attempt to clean the area.

The clean up did make an impact on the local community, with residents coming to watch what was happening and commending the team on their efforts. Hopefully, the message will be absorbed and go some way to preventing an immediate return to the dumping of trash in the area.

Role would like to thank the Art of Living for organizing the beach clean up and Coca Cola for donating refreshments for the event. The state of the world’s oceans is an issue that affects all of us and we have a duty to try and maintain its health for future generations.

Surfing 4 Peace isn’t so much a state of being as a state of mind. Are we really going to solve the problems of the Middle East through surfing? No, maybe not. But according to the logic of this growing grassroots movement, when politicians are unable to make peace between nations, it’s up to us to make peace between peoples.

Photo: Alex Klein

When over 3000 people showed up for the Surfing 4 Peace Benefit Concert, in October of 2007, Surfing 4 Peace co-founders Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz, Arthur Rashkovan and Kelly Slater knew they were on to something. Surfing 4 Peace is an American-Israeli-Palestinian person-to-person initiative created to build communication and cross-border cooperation between the surfing communities of the Middle East and spread the stoke of surfing, starting with the Gaza Strip, Israel’s neighbor to the south.

Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz is a legendary surfing ambassador, and is credited as the man who introduced Israel to surfing in the 1950s. Arthur Rashkovan is an Israeli surf industry executive and the go-to guy for all things surf and skate in Israel. Kelly Slater needs no introduction.
Surfing 4 Peace is also the lead organization in the joint effort known as The Trinity Project, which includes LA-based Gaza Surf Relief and Explore Corps. Together, this surf-based alliance is hard at work to help bring the joy of surfing to the kids of the war-torn Gaza Strip. Since June of 2007, when Hamas militants took control of the Strip, Gaza has been placed under an economic and travel embargo by Israel and the international community. The aim of the embargo, which limits the flow of goods into Gaza to all but humanitarian relief supplies, is to weaken the grip of Hamas’ hold on power in Gaza through collective punishment. Over a year has passed and the embargo has had little, if any, affect on Hamas or their hold on power, while daily life in Gaza has become more and more difficult.

Photo: Alex Klein

With the end of the siege nowhere in sight, and with little or no resources on the ground for youth recreation in Gaza, the Trinity Project is gathering the necessary resources to allow Gaza locals to take advantage of the one recreational resource that is open to them: the Mediterranean Sea.

The Med may not have the waves that a proper ocean can provide, but it has plenty of waves and the precedent for surfing in the region is well established. Israel, Gaza’s neighbor to the north, has a thriving surf industry with thousands of surfers in the water and a strong local manufacturing sector. Gaza shares the same coast and the same waves but its people lack the access to equipment and the finances to purchase boards, wetsuits, etc. With unemployment in Gaza at or around 80%, surfing is a luxury that most in Gaza simply cannot afford.
Seweryn “Sev” Sztalkoper is well aware of this fact and in the summer of 2007 he founded Gaza Surf Relief to help gather donations for the aspiring surfers of Gaza. He has since gathered thousands of dollars in donations, including brand new surfboards, clothing, and related gear. While Sev prepares the donor end, Surfing 4 Peace’s political advisor, and Explore Corps director, Matthew Olsen, has been hard at work on the ground in Gaza organizing the local surfers and helping to establish the Gaza Surf Club. The Surf Club aims to unify Gazan surfers into a defined group for the purpose of securing donations, organizing cross-border events, and engaging in an efficient dialogue with the international surfing community.

Photo: Bryan Derbala

Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, Surfing 4 Peace Director Arthur Rashkovan orchestrates the show and keeps everyone on track. In most other situations this type of initiative would be fairly straightforward but with daily rocket and mortar attacks being launched from Gaza into Israel and the constant threat of a major Israeli military incursion into Gaza, the situation is anything but. So, like a general in his own little army of surf do-gooders, Arthur directs the efforts to spread the stoke across the frontlines of war. With the first major shipment of Gaza Surf Relief goods safety delivered to Tel Aviv, the Trinity team must now engage in constant negotiations with the Israeli Army and Civilian Administration to gain permission for the surfboards to be sent into Gaza, despite the ongoing embargo.

Photo: Bryan Derbala

Luckily for everyone, Arthur and his team already have experience getting surfboards into Gaza. In August of 2007, Doc Paskowitz led the Surfing 4 Peace team down to the Israel-Gaza border with 14 boards donated by Israeli surf shops. In an event that received worldwide media coverage, Doc led the charge across the border, a board under each arm, to deliver the goods to the eager Palestinian surfers waiting on the other side. The event sent a loud and clear message to surfers and professional peacemakers alike: when the politicians fail to make peace, the people must take it upon themselves to reach out across political divides.

Photo: Bryan Derbala

The momentum that it created was evident at the Surfing 4 Peace Benefit Concert, held at the Dolphinarium Beach in Tel Aviv two months later. Attendance was at over 3,000 and the festivities included a sunset paddle-out and surfer’s circle for peace, followed by a live show with performances by Kelly Slater, big-wave charger Makua Rothman and local surf band Malka Baya. The highlight of the night was a speech explaining the Surfing 4 Peace initiative given by Doc Paskowitz, who has become a living legend in the Israeli surfing community.
The winter of 2007-2008 saw the beginning of the next phase of the Surfing 4 Peace project, with the arrival of the Gaza Surf Relief boards and gear, and the formation of the Gaza Surf Club. As we go to press, the next shipment of boards has arrived and the Trinity team awaits the necessary army permits for their import into Gaza. It could be days or it could be weeks until the paperwork is approved, which is more of a political issue than a military one.But the Trinity crew isn’t just sitting around waiting. Gaza Surf Relief is already hard at work gathering the next shipment of donated goods, including wetsuits and soft-top surfboards for an Explore Corps-sponsored Gaza Surf School. Surfing 4 Peace is working with Israeli-Arab surfers to help increase the resources for Israel’s poorest Arab neighborhoods and develop sea- and surf-based alternatives for the area’s kids. The Trinity team is also working on producing Arabic-language translations of classic surf films, a cross-border music collaboration project, and a skateboard donation program.

Photo: Bryan Derbala

In Los Angeles, the editing process has begun for a documentary film called God Went Surfing With The Devil, that follows the efforts of Surfing 4 Peace and the Trinity Project to spread the stoke in the context of war, with an anticipated release later in the year. The title comes from a quote by Doc Paskowitz on the occasion of his cross-border charge to donate the first group of boards: “God will surf with the Devil if the waves are good”.

Judging by the leadership of Surfing 4 Peace and the efforts of the Trinity Project, you don’t even have to check the surf report to know that, at the grassroots level at least, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is going off.

BIO:
Matthew Olsen is an American political consultant and the director of Explore Corps, a California-based non-profit that develops outdoor educational and youth recreational programming in the context of international development. He splits his time between Tel Aviv, where is the political advisor for Surfing 4 Peace, and Gaza, where he works with the Gaza Surf Club and Gaza Surf Relief.

You can find out more at:

Surfing 4 Peace:
www.surfing4peace.com/

God Went Surfing With The Devil:
www.godwentsurfing.com

Gaza Surf Club:
www.gazasurfclub.com

Gaza Surf Relief:
www.gazasurfrelief.com

The Trinity Project:
www.thetrinityproject.com

Explorer Corps
www.explorecorps.org

Words: Brett Davies
Photos: Kristin Menzel

This was my second trip to Ghana. After my first trip last Christmas I had fallen in love with this country for a number of reasons: surfing uncrowded waves was one reason for my attraction to this African country, but also the people who had made me feel so at home and made my stay unforgettable.

I was going to travel to Mexico last Christmas but being peak season flights were out of my budget. I decided to look at other options and for surf destinations that I hadn’t travelled to before with the hopes of scoring some good uncrowded waves. Remembering that Ghana had been one of the destinations that Bruce Brown had travelled to in his classic movie The Endless Summer, I started to research into Ghana and came across a surf shop called Black Star at a beach called Busua.

The shop was owned by an American from California called Peter Nardini and co-owned by a local from Busua called Frankee Bordes. I contacted Peter to ask what the conditions would be like over this period, and he informed me that it wasn’t the best season but he had scored good waves the previous season. So I took a chance and booked my ticket. I surfed at least three times a day in uncrowded 2-3ft punchy beach breaks with the odd little cover up here and there. Having travelled to many surf destinations around the world, never have I been able to surf every single wave I wanted. At this point there were only a few local surfers in Ghana, most of whom had only been surfing for a couple of years.

I had an idea before I left to organise a local surfing contest in Ghana and I knew that Peter was also keen on the idea. I work in the surfing industry (Rip Curl UK), and thanks to James Hendy (UK marketing manager) I was able to gather enough promo to use as prizes for the contest, also using contest rash vests left over from this year’s Rip Curl Boardmasters to use for the Ghana contest. Most of the event was organised when I reached Ghana, with the help of Black Star and a few friends: the posters were hand-written and sent to lodges in the surrounding areas. Trophies were made by a local carpenter called Richard who did an outstanding job considering it was tough to explain to him exactly what we wanted.

The event had four categories: men’s, longboard, ladies and a tag team, which was mixed with locals and foreigners. I knew that there were about eight local male surfers, two local ladies and about four foreign surfers within the area – but I did not know what to expect on the day.

Unfortunately, on the day of the contest the waves had dropped in size from the 4-5ft world-class waves I had had the pleasure of surfing at various spots earlier on this trip. But the posters had paid off and on the day surfers from all over the globe wanting to take part in this historical event came down. There were surfers from the UK, Italy, France, Germany, America, Canada and even an Aussie from Margaret River.

The surf was 2ft and glassy in the morning, and we managed to run all the semi finals and the ladies final. We ended up with enough surfers to have four man heats in each category apart from the ladies. The tag team was lots of fun, having a mix of locals and foreign surfers. The finals were run in the late afternoon using the tidal push to its full advantage. Throughout the day the beach started to fill with locals, volunteers and travellers creating an incredible atmosphere. The men’s final was the last to hit the water, with most of the finalists surfing 3-4 times that day. The final horn was sounded at sunset and after we held a presentation to crown Ghana’s first ever surf champions, followed by a massive party with lots of dancing and a bonfire on the beach.

I would like to thank all the surfers who took part in this event, without you this event would never have happened. Also to all the spectators who turned up to cheer on and support the surfers that took part. I would like to thank Black Star surf shop for hosting the contest and my good friends Akwasi McLaren and Sean McKernan. Hopefully this contest will pay a small part in promoting surfing in Ghana and be the start of many more things to come.