SLO County Female Surfers Featured

It’s pretty rare to read about San Luis Obispo County in the surf press. And it’s even more rare to read about local female surfers. But a couple of women with local ties stand out.
In next week’s Ticket, we’ll feature Pismo Beach native Sarah Gerhardt, the first woman to drop into huge waves at Mavericks, who will be coming to […]

African-American Surfing Club Started in SLO County

Thirty-five years ago, San Luis Obispo County native Tony Corley wrote a letter to Surfer Magazine, hoping to recruit other African-American surfers to communicate and share waves.
While the second letter he received was a racist threat with crude drawings and the letters “KKK,” subsequent mail came from many African-American surfers who were interested in hooking up. Thus, the Black Surfing Association was born.
This […]

Surfing Dogs

My dog Mona is not really a dog.
I mean, yeah, technically speaking, she is a dog. Ears, tail, etc. But she doesn’t act like a dog.
She doesn’t bark at cats. She doesn’t chase tennis balls. And she certainly never — ever — frolicks in the water.
Not Mona.
In fact, if we’re at the beach, she goes […]

The Ocean: Out To Get Me

Ungh.
I went in the water near Morro Rock this weekend, and it was, well . . . kinda gross. First of all, there were a gazillion feathers in the water, which is odd given that one doesn’t expect to find a gazillion feathers — and no birds — in the ocean. And then there was  […]

Surfing In Kansas

Poor landlocked people.
They’re always wishing they could be like us — with our big blue ocean and all. But then there’s that problem they always run into: They’re a gazillion miles from the nearest ocean.
But the little buggers try. Like, for instance, check out this surfboard with a motor on it. Since you need waves to […]

Surfing With Batman

When I was surfing in Morro Bay this weekend, a dreamy thought crossed my mind:
If only I could surf a little more like Batman.
That’s right — Batman. You probably didn’t know, but Batman was a pretty good longboarder in his day.
I know what you’re thinking — of all the super heroes, Aquaman should be the surfer. […]

Paint Your Surfboard

I have to admit, when I bought my longboard a few years ago, I was fished in by the way it looked. After all, it has these colorful tropical fish near the nose and a retro-looking wood veneer on the back half.
Pretty cool.
But it’s not exactly a performance board. In fact, it’s super heavy, it’s clunky […]

Shaun Tomson in SLO, II

Well, it’s was quite a weekend at the local beaches.
Saturday, it was warm enough to actually trunk it for a short body boarding session at Cayucos Pier. Sunday, I donned the wetsuit for a morning surf session at Pismo before returning to the beaches later in the day for a family outing at Avila.
I say […]

Surfer Shaun Tomson Coming to SLO

Hawaiian surfers aren’t always known for their hospitality.
In the 70s, when a group of outsiders came in and started — ahem — making waves, there were a good many Hawaiians who simply wanted them to go home. But those surfers remained and, in the process, changed the course of surfing, paving the way for a […]

Local Surf Exposed in National Magazine

My pants are soaked.
I just shot some video for an upcoming feature on surfer/shaper/painter/musician Shane Stoneman, and, well — I really wanted to get some shots of him in the water. So, of course, I just had to get to the ocean.
I know — tough gig.
That video, which will also feature music from Stoneman’s new CD, “Days […]