Bluebird Surf

Kai Otton is the big hit on Tour jumping to #10 in the world in his first year. We all know about him through his Chinese New Year visits to Taiwan as a guest of Clayton Wholly and Jason Sedor of TheBoardWok.com.

Kai boasted the single highest heat score in day two of the Rip Curl Pro in Arica, Chile. Check out his meaty wave here courtesy of Surfline. There is no doubt we are going to see some good things from this guy in the near future.

I took my two boys to see Surf’s Up, the new CGI movie featuring the voices of Jeff Bridges, James Woods, Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, and others. I didn’t really know any of this before I took them as I figured it was a penguin surfing movie…how bad could it be. Both of my boys were born in Taiwan and grew up on Pingu and surfing…even though they are only 4-5. My oldest has been catching waves with me since he was 1 1/2 yrs. old.

It was actually a really well done movie. The waves were pretty incredible and I’m almost embarrassed to say that I felt like a little kid again seeing this remote paradise that the character played by Jeff Bridges had all to himself. Perfect A-Frame peaks right off the beach….reminded me of the old days out at Paishawan when nobody had really gotten into looking for surf past Nanwan or Jialoshui.

Actually the parallels to Taiwan were pretty interesting. They ate squid on a stick and the island that they were on was called Pen Gu. I can’t count how many sessions were finished with a pint and a squid on a stick.

My boys were standing up in the theatre and giggling, pointing and mocking the characters. It was classic! I highly recommend checking it out…even if you are single. Although if you are single, you might wait till it comes out on video…unless of course you are Taiwanese. 🙂

According to the Associated Press, a powerful undersea earthquake and a series of aftershocks rattled eastern Indonesia, damaging buildings and causing panicked residents to flee their homes. Completely unrelated, was the large swell that hit Indonesia a few days prior and created some of the biggest and cleanest waves the Bukit has seen in years. Check out UluwatuPhoto.com, BaliWaves.com and Surfline.com for the goods. In remembrance of Kyle Z; He would have gone.

Dawn (my wife) shares this note with everyone who knew our son Kyle.

Kyle was killed as most of you know, by a boy who was out with his friends. A lot of information has been out there but not all of the information has been correct. This is what I can tell you I hope it gives some closure to some of the people who knew and loved Kyle.

Mr. Yu is a 20 year old boy who was in college at the time of the accident, after he hit and killed Kyle he fled and then later turned himself into the police. Since that time Mr. Yu has taken full responsibility of his actions and has never denied the fact that he was at fault.

I was in Taiwan last month for the guilty verdict and I can tell you it was a painful experience. Gary and I had to do a lot of soul searching to get over the anger that goes along with this kind of nightmare. We are forever changed as a family and as people. I was not sure what I was gonna do when I saw Mr. Yu again. It had been about 18 months since I last saw him. I had no idea on what I was gonna do in that courtroom, what was the right thing; what would Kyle want me to do? I always wanted to believe that I was a kind and fair person but was I able to get past my own anger and do what my children and Kyle wanted me to do? Did I have the guts? Grief is a funny thing once you get past the anger you have to deal with the loss and then the day to day living without the person who so much was your life. Time is a great healer and with that Gary, Aeric , Jacob and myself believed in our hearts that no one was gonna make this out without a lot of scars. We felt that Mr. Yu took full responsibility and was in truth very sorry for what he had done. You look at someone and have to decide if the person you are looking at is indeed sorry. I believed that in my heart he was.

Gary and I asked the court not to send Mr. Yu to jail that it would serve no real purpose, and truth be told I didn’t want to be responsible for another life. This decision was not popular for some and others wanted something more, but I can tell you we did not come to this decision lightly. I have cried many nights and in the end it came down to what Kyle would have wanted. I have to conduct myself in the manner in which I raised him to be and I saw him saying to me mom let it go it was an accident. With that in mind that is how we came to the decision we did.

Mr. Yu could of gotten 6- 10 years in prison but the court ruling is as such Mr. Yu will serve 1 year in prison and 5 years probation. He has to pay Gary and I a sum of money that will take him some time. Even though we asked the judge for no jail time she felt that carelessness of the crime some time had to be served. Due to the fact that Mr. Yu has taken responsibility from the beginning he was given a lighter sentence. I am relieved that I didn’t have to make that decision and the court has done that for us. We are at peace with the verdict and hope this answer’s the so many questions to a long nightmare.

When I left Taiwan with the boys I could not get out fast enough all that I felt was that this country has taken the best part of our lives. I had to return for court and I cried when I left the states and I cried when I arrived, but through the fear and pain came back all the great memories and the so many people who loved us and Kyle Chechen treated me like a returning queen. Seeing all the people who where so much a part of our lives was good for my soul. It made me remember why Kyle loved this place so much.

As Gary gets ready to finish his 91/2 years in Taiwan and move home to me and the boys, I know one day we will return because Kyle’s spirit is their. To all of you who help support us and loved Kyle keep surfing cause he is watching…

Dawn

Dawn and I miss Kyle everyday and thank all of our friends who supported us during this very difficult time. We where able to get some closure with the court’s decision but as any parent who loses a child, the pain of that loss never goes away.

Some of you may remember the unfortunate story of big wave surfer Clint Kimmins and the events that unfolded at a LifeSaving Event down under. Well, here is his story. I think it is pretty powerful and a good reminder to never take life for granted.

I am bitter because having moved up to SF recently, I missed that swell down south in SC.  We had nothing but onshore crap…big crap up here.  I wrote a post in the Forum, way back when, talking about my fish experience down in SC with my brother.  The video footage shot by Graham Nash brought back all those memories.   The place is phenomenal when things come together.  I’m jonesin hard.  Thanks Surfline!

Puerto Escondido delivered for Santa Cruz local legend Ken ‘Skindog’ Collins as he went big this year winning both the Ride of the Year and the Monster Barrel Award at the Billabong XXL Award ceremonies this past weekend.  Check out the action here.

While we are talking about gnarly waves like Puerto, have a look at this clip from Down Under.  The Bra Boys show how its done at a place they own called ‘Ours‘.  One of the best clips I’ve seen in recent years.

These two clips will keep everything in perspective next time you paddle out.  HOOT!

Well if you think you are safe on a tow board while your boat or ski is scaring away all the wild life, think again.  Atleast, one local had an issue with it…and wasn’t scared.

Somewhere in West Australia….by the way, its always in Australia where the freak accidents with animals tend to take place…but somewhere in West Australia, a thirteen year old girl was attacked by a Sea Lion, of all creatures.  This wasn’t your normal attack either and of course not your normal thirteen year old.

You know recently a swimmer was attacked by a Sea Lion here in San Francisco and I think it bit the swimmers ankle and nibbled on her leg a bit…bite marks and such.  Well this was nothing like that, it was a full on killer attack Sea Lion type of freakish occurence.  The driver of the boat, 40 yr. old Chris Thomas said “It was really sort of movie like.  This thing just exploded in a full-on frontal attack”.

First of all the mangy beast was over 650 lbs. and was described by Chris to have leapt out of the water like those Great Whites in the National Geographic Shows.  You remember the photos showing that they can breach the water and soar to huge heights as they target their prey.  Almost reminiscent of the way killer whales like to play with their food.

Anyway, Ella Murphy was standing on her tow board being towed around when all of a sudden this giant Sea Lion leapt out of the water documentary style and latched onto her throat giving her a huge wound under her chin, breaking her jaw and knocking out a few teeth.  Chris, described as a family friend, saw the Sea Lion then circle back around and attempt a second pass at her as she lay floating in the water…luckily he was able to get between the Sea Lion and Ella to make the rescue just in time.

Chris being a veteran surfer in the area, said that he had recognized the Local as being “one of the big boys”.  “It actually lined her up” and “hit her head on”.

Luckily, young Ella is recovering nicely in a hospital and actually doesn’t look too bad considering how this sounds.  I’m sure you can all picture what this must have looked like, since we’ve all seen this happen in the movies…its usually a furry rabbit with BIG FANGS and SHARP TEETH! or a little mutt or crazy cat….but Sea Lion!!  Only in Australia.

Best wishes of a speedy recovery go out to Ella and her family and I hope Chris doesn’t have too many nightmares playing that one back in his head.  As for the Sea Lion, authorities are seeing what they can do to relocate this animal to a less trafficked area.