I initially was not going to comment on this story, but since everyone and their mother is, well, I gave in…
A 30-year-old Mexican national was arrested while trying to smuggle 24 pounds of marijuana ashore on his surfboard, the U.S. Border Patrol said.
The suspect was spotted Sunday morning paddling north about 200 yards off the coast of Imperial Beach, near the Mexican border.
When agents ordered the surfer to come ashore, he threw a blue duffel bag into the water, the Border Patrol said. Agents went into the water to make the arrest.
The duffel bag later washed ashore, with five packages of marijuana worth about $74,400, agents said. The suspect, whose name was not released, admitted he was in the U.S. illegally.
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.
Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards airs on ESPN 2 this Tuesday
Back again by popular demand, the 2009 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards presented by Monster Energy are re-airing on the ESPN networks. Known as the Oscars of surfing, the ninth-annual XXL show is scheduled for both the ESPN2 and ESPN2HD channels this Tuesday, June 9 at 10:00 P.M. Pacific Time, 7:00 P.M Hawaiian and 1:00 A.M. late-night on the East Coast. Check your local listings for the correct channel in your area and set your TIVO or DVR now.
The hour-long television special features the biggest waves and most spectacular rides from around the world over the last year. Highlights of the high-surf action include Californian Greg Long’s unprecedented paddle-in barrel at Dungeons in South Africa which earned him the $50,000 XXL Ride of the Year prize.
Long finished just ahead of a stellar list of other nominees including Australians Ryan Hipwood and James Hollmer-Cross at Shipstern Bluff, Tasmania, Hawaiian Garrett McNamara at Teahupoo, Tahiti, and Californian Brian Conley’s point-of-view tube ride deep in darkest Mexico.
Topping out other categories were Grant “Twiggy” Baker for his 60-foot-plus XXL Biggest Wave bomb at Cape Town’s ominous Tafelberg Reef and Derek Dunfee’s Monster Paddle Award winner at Maverick’s in Northern California.
Also appearing in the ESPN show are Billabong Girls Best Performance Award winner Maya Gabeira of Brazil, Monster Tube champion Mark Healey of Hawaii and Surfline Performance winner Grant Baker. In total, over $130,000 in cash and prizes — including a new Honda watercraft — were handed out at the gala presentation at the Grove Theater in Anaheim, California.
As always, one of the most visually entertaining segments of the show is the Verizon Wireless Wipeout of the Year Award, which was determined for the first time this year by the text-in voting of the surfing public. Winning by a wide margin was Australia Ross Clarke-Jones for his spine-bending detonation within the guts of a huge cavern at the newly discovered Pedra Branca break in the open ocean off Tasmania’s southern coast.
The list of presenters at this year’s XXL show was a who’s who in surfing from today and yesteryear. Celebrities announcing the prize winners with hilarious and heartfelt speeches ran the gamut from three-time ASP world champ Andy Irons and 1999 champ Mark Occhilupo to legendary big wave waterman Greg Noll to Maverick’s Pioneer Jeff Clark right through to Linda Benson, the first woman to ride Waimea Bay in 1959.
The Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards show was produced and directed by David Stanfield. Executive Producers are Mark Hall, Graham Stapelberg, Bill Sharp and Sam Pontrelli. The XXL Awards are presented by Monster Energy Drinks. Verizon Wireless is the official communications provider, Surfline.com is the official surf forecast and Honda the official watercraft of the XXL. Additional support for the event comes from Air Tahiti Nui, Surfing Magazine and High Surf Accessories.
Tune in to the show this Thursday night to see it all. Until then, check out the highlight clips and still photos from the 2009 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards at BillabongXXL.com. For more information on Monster Energy, please go to MonsterEnergy.com
