After three successful screenings to very enthusiastic audiences at the Film Festivals in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Cruz , California. The Women and the Waves travels across the Pacific Ocean to screen at the Celestial Cinema under the stars on opening night as an Official Selection in the Maui Film Festival on June 17, 2009. www.mauifilmfestival.com

Through the collaborative efforts of Heather Hudson (Graciegirl LLC) and Peck Euwer (Swell Pictures Inc.), the film documents the female surfing experience through the lives of ten women from age 17 to 64. From the swells of Mexico to Hawaii’s temperate waters and the enticing California coastline, audiences will gain insight into what it’s like to “Surf Like a Girl!” Shot in High Definition, The Women and the Waves pays tribute to pioneers who paved the way and recognition to the everyday surfers who keep the dream alive.

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A British kite-surfer was left fighting for life after he became trapped in a two mile slick of poisonous jellyfish off the coast of Costa Rica.

Father-of-three Crispin Freeman, 42, was stung repeatedly for more than 40 minutes after he crash landed into the middle of the swarming mass. His ripped kite meant he could not re-launch to escape the treacherous waters. Mr Freeman sustained so many stings that his body shut down from shock and his airways began to constrict.Strong currents eventually swept him clear of the jellyfish and he was finally plucked from the waters off Bahia Salinas, near the Nicaragaun border. Mr Freeman, who had swelled up “like a balloon”, was rushed to a local clinic by his horrified friends and given an emergency antihistamine injection to save his life.But he survived the horrific ordeal on May 23 and has since made a full recovery.

Mr Freeman a former businessman from Solihull, West Midlands who has re-trained as a carpenter, relived the terrifying moment he crash landed.

“I tried to keep my neck out of the water to prevent them stinging me there but I was so exhausted that I couldn’t,” he said.
“I panicked initially but after a while I couldn’t feel anything at all. I thought I was going to die.”

Mr Freeman moved to Costa Rica in 2004 with his wife Jo and their three children Estrella, five, Arturo, three, and Ruby, one, to set up a property business.The family now spend around half the year in Central America and half in Britain.Mrs Freeman said: “He had been stung a couple of times the previous day so knew there were jellyfish around.

“But I don’t know where this slick came from – it must have been a cycle of the moon. His kite ripped when he landed in the water so he could not launch it again. He said it was like sitting in a bath of jellyfish. They were stinging him anywhere he didn’t have hair – on his inner thighs, upper arms and neck.”

A friend tried to help but Crispin screamed at him to go away because there were millions of jellyfish. He said it was agonising and his skin looked like it was covered in third degree burns. His friends on the beach were helpless but luckily the tide current washed him in away from the jellyfish. He has just been left with a bit of a rash, but at the time he swelled up like a balloon.

“Thankfully he is okay, but it could have been so different. I was so upset when I found out – I was crying my eyes out.”

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Guam – Guahan Napu Inc., the local non-profit association of surfers and body-boarders, is sponsoring two of its grommet members to compete in an upcoming children’s surf contest in Japan on June 14, 2009.

Napu Taimanglo and Jared Brandon Gogue, both age 11, will compete at the Isonoura Kids Surfing contest in the coastal town of Wakayama, near Osaka. This is the first time that Guahan Napu Inc. is sending association members to participate in an overseas competition. “These two groms are potentially Guam’s future junior male competitive surfers when they reach that age category. Our association believes that in order for these kids to attain the standards and skills to reach the next level, they should get some opportunities and exposure to compete and develop their surfing abilities in different contests on Guam as well as overseas,” says Willi Byerly, president of Guahan Napu association.

Both Taimanglo and Gogue had competed in the inaugural 2008 Rick’s Reef Classic I Kids’ competition and placed first and second respectively. In the 2009 Rick’s Reef Classic II Kids contest in March, Gogue came in second place while Taimanglo was placed third. At the Monster Energy Drink ‘Surf The Basin’ 2009 Kids contest, Taimanglo came in first and Gogue won second place. Taimanglo also competed against older surfers in the Men’s Open categories of both Rick’s Reef Classic II ’09 and ‘Surf The Basin’ 09 competitions. He also received Dial-Rent-To-Own ‘Athlete of the Week’ award in April.

Guahan Napu association is paying for the two grommets’ roundtrip airfares to Osaka. They will be accompanied by their fathers and Fred Mendiola of Lotus Surf Shop, who arranged for their entries in the contest and their accommodation in Osaka. The team leaves on June 12 and will return to Guam on June 16.

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