It’s a calm sunny day just before the Memorial Day tourist storm. I’m waiting for Dave Yearwood at the Hallelu Boutique, his wife Catherine’s clothing store at Wrightsville Beach. I’m early. I look at a t-shirt. The label reads, “Don’t look to the outside for beauty. Look to the inside.”

I suddenly feel weird looking at women’s clothing, so I sit on a velvet couch and wait. A few minutes later, Dave opens the door. He tips his herringbone fedora, smiles through Risky Business Ray Bans and asks, “Do you like sweets?” I hesitate. I grew up in a neighborhood where that question often proceeded a punch in the head followed by, “Isn’t that sweet?” But I’m trusting. After all, he’s supposed to be a nice guy.

He breaks his cookie and gives me half. “You’ll love this.” I find out later it’s called a Stroopwaffel, a traditional Dutch syrup waffle cookie and it’s awesome. We’ve broken bread. We’re off to a good start.

I look around for a place to talk. “You know, I’m not much for sitting around,” he says, “Let’s take a drive. I want to check out this golf course.” A pro surfer. A golf course. Makes perfect sense.

We hop into his work truck. It smells resin-sweet and anything touched puffs a cloud of foam dust. I move a box of golf balls from my seat. “I love to golf. I go about twice a week. I don’t keep score and I have unlimited Mulligans,” Dave says, laughing.

“Is that yours?” he asks, pointing at my copy of the most recent Surfer’s Journal. He opens to page 39 and points to a photograph of Skip Frye’s order book and the name “Dave”. “That’s me,” he says. “How awesome is that?”

We navigate away from the beach, away from the water, away from anything resembling surf into Inland Greens, a local pitch & putt. For $14 you can golf all day. He’s a kid in a candy store. And that’s when Dave really kicks in. At first, he can’t even catch up with his thoughts. He has so much to say. Luckily, being ADD myself, I can follow.

(See the rest of the article in SurfCarolina Magazine)

I fought the shorebreak and the shorebreak won.

In short, I got hit in the head with my surfboard (a 6′2″ fish). It happens. Luckily for me, it happened in front of a house with 4 doctors who had “been malpracticing for over 50 years.”

It’s always strange when the universe decks you in the head then offers you an ice pack. Do you say, “Gee, what luck! An ice pack! thank you!” Or do you ask why the universe decided to knock you silly?

My wife didn’t freak out. The hospital was fast and nice. And I’m healing up well. Lose—Win—Win—Win.

This past week, I won a Trident 9′0″ longboad in a raffle at the WBLA longboard classic. It’s the Technician, Blue fin model. I’ve had it out twice and it’s a lot of fun. I can’t wait to see it in some bigger surf.

Thanks to the WBLA and Trident surfboards and of course, Chris McQuiston’s daughter who pulled the ticket.

See the Lumina News article.

“John is an absolute fountainhead of thoughtful imagination with an eye for the artistic and sublime. He wields a diverse and inspiring creative vocabulary with verve, style and passion. John never ceases to amaze… and deliver!”

—Tim Champ, Marketing and Brand Professional, Architect

By John Barnum Beausang

Published by Local Sessions Magazine, April/May Issue

The first week in March marked the Wrightsville Beach Longboarders Association (WBLA) first annual surfari to Playa Las Saladidas, Mexico. This remote strip of beach, a few hours up the coast from Acapulco, showcases a rock reef along a river mouth forming a world-class point break. Rides up to 3 minutes long are common, leading some to nickname it the Mexican Malibu.

But first, you’ll need to know a few important things we learned on our trip:

Pertinent Information 01: How to rent boards through the Internet

Catcha L’Olas in Ixtapa. It’s not the only game in town, but it’s the best. But coordinating with the manager, Leon is like getting punked, only no one is laughing.
Sample email interaction:
“I want to reserve 10 boards for the week of March 1-9. What types of longboards are available?”
“Great! See you then.”
“I need to know what we’re renting before we fly, so we know we’ll have good boards waiting for us.” I’d send.
“Can’t wait to see you!” he’d reply.
Repeat 20x. Use new adjectives and strange active verbs to spice it up. The, give up. Try asking for directions:
“Can you send me directions from the airport?”
“As soon as you get here, call me for directions.”
“I’d rather have you send me directions in advance than call when I get there.”
“That sounds good, too. See you soon!”
They’ll have boards and there’s no way on earth to reserve them in advance or get directions. You’re on your own.

Pertinent Information 02: Renting a car in Zihuatenaho
After you get your bags and move through customs, look for your smiling rental-car attendant.
Our attendant was Victor Hugo. Seriously.
He’ll say, “I have something muey bueno for you.”
Shiny black Jeep Wrangler Unlimiteds will file out of the parking lot. But don’t get too excited, unless someone knows how to tell Victor he’s pretty.
Your Victor Hugo will drop your bags in the flatbed of a 4-door Nissan truck, hand you a key and point to the fuel gauge.
“Bring it back with 3/8th tank,” he’ll say.
“How do I do that?” you’ll answer. He won’t know.
“Do you have any cars with gas in them? It’ll be easier to drive with gas.”
“Yes, very good,” he responds.
You’ll get a map of Ixtapa. It’ll look like a kids placemat at Perkin’s. There will be a blue mass labeled Pacific and a nice illustration of a cactus. Don’t expect crayons.
Just for fun, ask, “do you have a map with street names?”
“This is good. When you get there, ask someone where to go,” he’ll tell you.
Before you can wonder how to get there if you have to wait to get there to find out how to get there, he’ll be inside, renting another red truck. Take a deep breath and enjoy the taste.

But don’t worry, after an hour in a Zihuatenaho roundabout, you will find your way to Ixtapa and the Catch De L’Olas surf shop. Everyone does. Eventually.

It looks like this:

Your car will look like this:

Pertinent Information 03: Getting to Playa Saladitas.
Take 200. This is easy, because every road in Guerrero, Mexico is Route 200. Not 200 North, 200 South, 200 East or even 200 West. Just 200. Accept it.

Stop as many times as you want for directions. Don’t worry, no matter how far you drive, you’re always 25 minutes away.

When barkness falls, because that’s when the dogs come out, watch for speed bumps. They hide in the bowels of the alligator-cracked pavement, then reach like demons for your axles.

Look for the hand-painted “Playa Saladidas” a sign on a dirt road. When you find it, angels will sing. Then, you’ll look down this moonlit flash-flood washout. Those same angels will begin crying.

The first landmark is a machete-waving hitchhiker who jumps out of a bush. It’s natural to scream. Don’t pick him up. He won’t have Bud Light. Either will the chainsaw-waving hitchhiker around the bend. Swerve. Scream. Repeat.

Next, cows. Lots of them. Rev your engine and inch up, they’ll move. Keep revving your engine and flashing your high-beams.

When the cows part, there’ll be a 2000-pound Brahma bull coming at your car. The good news is you’re on the right road. The bad news is you’ll want to vacate your bowels. Do not pet it. He should run past you. Should.

When he passes, look at his testicles—they’re as big as coconuts.

Enter the Saladitas barrio. Everything looks scary, because you haven’t seen poverty like this. Open your windows and say, “Casa De L’Olas?” Eventually a teenager named Omar will approach your car. Let him in. He is your only hope. His aunt owns The House of Waves.

He will lead you to the river—fifty feet of moving water—and say, “aqui!” Go. It’s ok. They do this all the time. If the German tourists from the internet made it across, so can you. 15 more turns, 7 chickens and an ass and you’ll be parked safely at the House of Waves. Tip Omar well.

Now that you’re safely there, someone can show you the paved road to town that was a half-mile from the hand-painted sign. You’ll recognize it when you drive past, because you’ll have asked directions there 3 or 4 times the previous night. You accidentally went the back way.

Pertinent Information 04: Give more than you take
Now that you’ve gorged yourself on session after session of perfect waves, ask Angel at the House of Waves about the schools. He’ll take you to meet the grammar and middle school kids a few miles down the (real) road in Los Llanos.

Continue what the WBLA started and take your extra clothes and the school supplies you brought or bought in Zihuatenaho. The supplies are great—they need everything—but the acknowledgment of these kids, of these people who live there as fellow human beings will go further than you can ever imagine. Spend time with them. Of all the great surf sessions you’ll have on your visit, none will compare to this.

In case you’re wondering, my latest project is a series of 30-90 second instructional, migraine-management videos. There are 5 to 8 web-based videos, ranging in length from :30 to :90 seconds.  More details when they launch…

Another project goes live. MyArestin.com

I was one of many copywriters who contributed to the DiD-designed and produced website for oraPharma, Inc.

Of course, you’ll have to register to look at it, but what’s not to love about scaling and root planing?

by John Barnum Beausang

When members of the Wrightsville Beach Longboard Association (WBLA) journeyed to Playa La Saladita, Mexico, on the Pacific Coast of the mainland, they went not only to surf what many call the Mexican Malibu, but also to give back to the local community of Llanos de Tamalhuacan.

See the full article in the Lumina news

“It seemed like my spiritual journey and my surfing journey collided the summer I started surfing,” says Laurel Hughes, the rookie filmmaker behind Any Given Morning. “I got baptized that same summer in the ocean.” For those of you who missed the sold-out screening at this year’s Cucalorus Film Festival, Any Given Morning is a documentary about the gumbo-ish group of soul surfers at Wrightsville Beach’s North End. “It’s just laid back longboarders who appreciate life, the beach, the community, and the waves,” says Laurel.

Laurel longed to learn to surf for years. In fact, she bought a second-hand wetsuit four years before she actually stepped into the water. “It all started when a new neighbor moved in down the street and he had four surfboards,” says Laurel. “I told him ‘you’re going to teach me how to surf.’” He had no choice but to comply. Soon enough, she headed out on her own. At first she stayed on the fringes, as anyone approaching a wild troop of ocean gorillas would; but in no time, local characters like Paco Strickland and Dr. John Bennett pulled her into the lineup, hootin’ and hollerin’ for her to paddle into the next wave. Surfing quickly evolved into a passion that Laurel struggled to contain. She even forced herself to make a rule that allowed only one trip to the beach each day. “I’m not sure if I was addicted,” Laurel jokes, “but I was calling the surf report more than I called my boyfriend.”

A few years back, Laurel put her career in the film industry on the back burner when she began working as an occupational therapist to help employers hire and manage people with disabilities. It wasn’t until she saw Greg Schell’s film Chasing the Lotus at the 2006 Cucalorus Film Festival that her passion for film reclaimed her. “That film changed what I thought a surf film could be,” says Laurel.

Inspired and high off the stoke of learning how to surf, Laurel played with the idea of making a movie of her own—a documentary on the motley crew of surfers and the beautiful environment at Wrightsville Beach’s North End. But venturing into the world of documentary filmmaking takes hard work and a lot of luck, especially when you don’t have a quiver of camera, lighting and editing equipment. It seemed the world conspired to help her. “I talked to a bunch of people about my idea to celebrate this gift that we have, and within 24 hours, I had all the equipment and help I needed to get started,” says Laurel. “The universe just pushed everything I needed right in front of me.”

With editor Mari Kittredge, cameraman and director of photography, Chris Davis, and a slew of loaner equipment and volunteers, Laurel set out to make her movie—to celebrate how surfing shapes the lives and perspectives of this diverse group at the North End. All that was left was to pass it by the subjects: the surfers themselves. A large number of the regular North End locals are members of the WBLA (Wrightsville Beach Longboarders Association). The WBLA is a non-profit association provides scholarships and financial aid to the local surfing community. Luckily, Laurel is a WBLA member, so getting their attention wasn’t difficult. “I ran it past Robert Choate [the president of the WBLA], and the rest of the members and they supported me because of the purity of my intention,” says Laurel. “My passion for surfing was infectious.”

Anyone who has met Laurel knows she can be persuasive. When it came to talking about views on surfing, she was downright insistent. In fact, only a few people refused her interviews. Almost the entire crew signed on to share their perspectives. From Dr. Tony Puente, a neuropsychologist at UNCW, to Paco Strickland a world-renown flamenco guitarist, the “Gumbo” turned out in full force to talk about what makes surfing at this unique break with this odd group of surfers so special. In the film, Billy Curry, a recent inductee into the East Coast Surfing Legends Hall of Fame, says, “There are a lot of people that surf, but few of them that are surfers. A lot of people go through the motions of being a surfer but they really don’t live the lifestyle. It has a lot to do with not just being in the water but being out of the water and how you treat people. There’s an honesty about surfing that comes out.” Beyond the personal connection, Laurel also brought out a spiritual thread that Cissie Brooks, a local guidance counselor reflects in the film. “When you go out there at sunrise…that’s just an incredible moment where you feel like you are right there in the middle of God’s creation and it’s so beautiful and it’s just this total feeling of awe.”

Capturing the spirit of these vastly different characters fell largely on the shoulders of cameraman Chris Davis, but his love of surfing and photography added a behind-the-camera energy that made the film infinitely better. “Chris had this passion,” Laurel says. “The days we had that camera in the water, he was grinning like a Cheshire cat.” Indeed, Chris loved shooting footage in the water. “Getting into the water was where I got to really combine my passions. There’s nothing like having Billy [Curry] coming down the line at you. It looks very different through the camera.” says Chris, “You have this wide-angle lens and they look a lot farther away than they really are. They’re right on top of you.” In discussing one particularly powerful part of the film during an interview with Cissy Brooks, Chris says, “She was visually moved. We just watched it happen and we knew walking out of there that we had something really special.”

Peeling the layers of 25+ hours of footage to create a story proved no easy task for editor, Mari Kittredge. “You’re not working from a script. You never know what you’re going to get,” says Mari. “You just have to cut, cut, cut. If it didn’t add to the story, it had to go.” The editing process was difficult for everyone, especially in deciding what parts and ideas they had to let go, but Mari says that the process can be very profound. “There’s some kind of fate that happens. Two things come together just by chance and they work,” says Mari. Music was just such an addition. Tracks from artists such as Hobex, Josh Garrells, Paco Strickland, The Imposters, and Jason Morant contributed to film’s joyful, appreciative tone and flowing tempo.

Mari says it also takes a lot of improvising, adapting and following your gut, especially at the last minute. For example, one of the last changes they made was to add Laurel’s voice to help narrate. “We realized it was Laurel’s story and she needed to tell it,” says Mari. In the end, the three reflected warmly on the results; not only of the film, but also in their personal transformations while making it.

The film was a success at Cucalorus and created considerable buzz. Surfers and non-surfers alike could relate to its message of community and appreciation for our blessings. “The best compliment I got on the film was actually from a few people who didn’t surf who said as a result of watching the film, they wanted to go out and learn,” says laurel.

Laurel is currently submitting Any Given Morning to other film festivals worldwide, waiting to see where this journey takes her. One thing is for sure: on any given morning, you can catch her and the rest of North End’s surfing biodiversity gearing up for the 20-minute walk from Access 2 to the inlet.

Any Given Morning DVDs are available for sale for under $20 at Sweetwater Surf Shop, Surf City Surf Shop, and Greenroom Boardsports, or you can purchase it online at www.anygivenmorningmovie.com.

Any Given Morning
www.anygivenmorningmovie.com
Length: 30:00
Director: Laurel Hughes
Editor: Mari Kittredge
Camerman: Chris Davis
Music by: Hobex, Josh Garrells, Paco Strickland, The Imposters, and Jason Morant

Dear Board of Aldermen,

In 1995, I was swimming in red-flag conditions in front of a lifeguard stand when I inadvertently got caught in a rip tide and swept out. I became exhausted and disoriented. It was a surfer who first saw me struggling, paddled over to me, dove down into the water, and pulled me up onto his board. He helped me until ocean rescue could get there. Ocean rescue was pulling two others who had been swept out at the time and didn’t see me. I was a triathlete at the time—a very strong swimmer. I knew better and there’s no reason it should have happened, but it did. And it happened fast. One moment I was in knee-deep water, the next minute I was on the bottom wondering how it could possibly end like this. My family and I know how important this issue is. Surfers save lives.

I understand you have been receiving a lot of unhappy emails in the past few weeks about the proposed ordinance restricting surfers in front of lifeguard stands on red flag days. I know some of the emails have been disrespectful, and I apologize for those who let their frustrations get the best of them. I truly appreciate how much you do to keep this town as wonderful as it is. As a result of your service and those before you, Wrightsville Beach is a wonderful place to live, work and play. That said, I’m very confused as to why this ordinance was proposed. I assume it wasn’t an arbitrary move. Unfortunately, there has been no posted or published reasons that I can find why you would choose to change this rule, except for ambiguous wording in the rip tide section of the town website.

If there are legitimate reasons beyond semantics, there are a lot of us who are willing to listen. As far as I can tell, this would be an unwise and unsafe decision. For one, Ocean Rescue (the experts in beach safety) say this is a bad idea and that it would make the situation more dangerous. Secondly, there is no precedent for this move: To my knowledge, no other coastal towns in North Carolina have this restriction. Lastly, the surfers themselves have expressed their unanimous disapproval of this move.

In the Feb.7-13 Lumina News article, Mayor Whalen said that the change, “is not taking anything away from the surfing community.” Unfortunately, it could take something very precious away from the surfing community: a family member, a neighbor, or perhaps one of the thousands of visitors who come here to patronize our businesses each year. Mayor Whalen also said he takes issue with the idea that surfers are more skilled than everyone else in the water. A surfboard doesn’t necessarily make them more skilled, but being attached to a floatation device makes them infinitely better equipped to help out in dangerous surf situations. Surfers constantly observe and react to changes in the water and weather conditions. They have proven to be an invaluable second line of defense for swimmers who get into dangerous situations—especially during red-flag conditions.

If the board could just publicly state the upside of this change—how this would make our beaches safer—that would help out tremendously. Until then, the bottom line seems very clear: If you restrict surfer access in this way, it could cost lives—the absolute opposite of your duty in public service of Wrightsville Beach.

Sincerely,
John B. Beausang

keep looking »

Recently Written

• Dave Yearwood Interview
• A Fish to the head
• Raffle win!
• New Recommendation from Tim Champ
• Surfing the Mexican Malibu: Pertinent Information learned on the WBLA’s first annual surfari to Las Saladitas, Mexico.
• Latest Projects: Migraine Videos
• MyArestin site
• WBLA help schoolchildren, catch waves in Mexico—published in March 20 Lumina News
• Any Given Morning—Published in Local Sessions Surf Magazine, FEB/MAR ‘08 issue
• Letter to the City of Wrightsville Beach—Published in the Feb. 21-27, Lumina News

Categories

• Bauer
• copywriting
• design
• fishing
• Journal
• movies
• Published Articles
• recommendation
• Surfing
• tshirts

Archives

• July 2008
• June 2008
• May 2008
• April 2008
• March 2008
• February 2008
• January 2008
• December 2007
• November 2007
• September 2007
• August 2007
• July 2007

Blogroll

• Captain Seth Vernon - Double-haul Guide Service— The most amazing fishing guides in North Carolina
• My LinkedIn page - My background, professional experience and network
• StrongRabbit - Amy's nutrition and holistic health
• WBlivesurf - Surf report for Wrightsville Beach, NC
• Wrightsville Beach Longboarders Association - The Wrightsville Beach Longboard Association is a group of young and old surfers that see the need to capture the true spirit of surfing, to use this spirit for the betterment of our communities and to live the surfing lifestyle in a positive manner.

Admin

• Login
• Wordpress
• XHTML

Search