In a herculean effort Laird Hamilton has spent days getting up at 4am to rescue families, groups of girls, bison, and all manner of animals, not finishing his heroics until dark.
Severe rain struck Kauai last weekend causing huge floods, mudslides and strandings with more to come today.
In a break from his Noah-like effort Hamilton told CNN he had been involved in more than 75 rescues, but did not want credit. So far he has rescued families on vacation, 15 girls from the home Leila Hurst, lent his boat launch to the National Guard, support farmers with livestock, helped people off their roofs and got them supplies.
“If you have compassion, this is what you do. These are opportunities to make a difference, when it really counts.”
Laird and friends also rescued 80 bison they found in the flood.
“We were just going around in boats, tying them and towing them, trying to get them back into pasture,” he said.
“People don’t know the level of intensity of what’s happened here. There are people who have lost everything. The power, the length and the strength of this: It’s unlike anything that I’ve ever seen.”
“In Hawaii we have a word called ‘ohana.’ It means family. Family and friends banding together. It’s a pretty wonderful thing. This would have been much worse had we not all banded together here. That’s ohana.”
After a frankly grim start to winter for the south west things turned around just after Christmas and it hasn’t stopped pumping since. This session is a result of the huge spring low that has sent swell right around the Atlantic.
The WSL has cancelled Margaret River after two shark attacks and shark activity in the area. The decision came after a meeting with the surfers and posts on Instagram from Medina and Italo.
Footage has also emerged of one of the attacks. Great work by the surfers by the way.
Press release below. What happens next is in the air as there are sharks at a hell of a lot of WSL events. So what constitutes acceptable risk will have to be decided. Probably by insurers…
“The WSL puts the highest premium on safety,” Goldschmidt wrote. “This cannot be just talk, and it cannot be compromised. Surfing is a sport that carries various forms of risk, and is unique in that wild animals inhabit our performance environment. Sharks are an occasional reality of WSL competitions, and of surfing in general. Everyone associated with our sport knows that. There have been incidents in the past – and it’s possible that there will be incidents in the future – which did not (and will not) result in the cancellation of an event. However, current circumstances are very unusual and troubling, and we have decided that the elevated risk during this season’s Margaret River Pro has crossed the threshold for what is acceptable.”
Following two separate incidents that occurred at nearby Gracetown on Monday, April 16, approximately 6 kms away from primary competition site at Main Break, the WSL actioned safety protocols and met with a variety of stakeholders for feedback over the past 48 hours before making the decision to cancel the event.
“Safety is our top priority and this is the right call given the circumstances,” Kieren Perrow, WSL Commissioner, said. “We’ve closely assessed the situation, spoke with the athletes, Water Safety, local authorities and reviewed as much information as possible. Margaret River is a fantastic part of the world, but the presence of actively aggressive sharks and beached whales this season have convinced us that this is the correct course of action.”
“It’s a really difficult decision as the surfers love coming here,” Sage Erickson, WSL CT Surfer and Women’s Representative, said. “It’s beautiful, the waves are amazing and the community is very supportive of professional surfing. That said, the situation this season is really challenging and a number of surfers don’t feel safe. I know it isn’t an easy decision, but we really appreciate the amount of information and discussion that went into it.”
“Sharks are something we will continually deal with every time we surf and we accept that risk,” Adrian Buchan, WSL CT Surfer and Men’s Representative, said. “Given the extenuating circumstances of dead whale carcasses, multiple attacks and increased sightings, I’m fully supportive of the WSL’s stance to put Surfers safety before all else. South West WA is one of my favourite places to visit and part of its allure is the raw beauty and feeling of being close to nature. I’m really feeling for the local community and look forward to to being back soon.”
The cancellation of the Margaret River Pro will see points distributed per the WSL rulebook, but organizers have not ruled out potentially completing the events elsewhere during the season.
Margaret River Women’s Pro Quarterfinal Matchups:
QF 1: Carissa Moore (HAW) vs. Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW)
QF 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) vs. Bronte Macaulay (AUS)
QF 3: Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) vs. Johanne Defay (FRA)
QF 4: Tyler Wright (AUS) vs. Lakey Peterson (USA)
Margaret River Men’s Pro Round 3 Matchups:
Heat 1: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Keanu Asing (HAW)
Heat 2: Kolohe Andino (USA) vs. Jesse Mendes (BRA)
Heat 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Michael February (ZAF)
Heat 4: Italo Ferreira (BRA) vs. Michael Rodrigues (BRA)
Heat 5: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) vs. Conner Coffin (USA)
Heat 6: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Kael Walsh (AUS)
Heat 7: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Jack Robinson (AUS)
Heat 8: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Connor O’Leary (AUS)
Heat 9: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Willian Cardoso (BRA)
Heat 10: Filipe Toledo (BRA) vs. Yago Dora (BRA)
Heat 11: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Joan Duru (FRA)
Heat 12: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Mikey Wright (AUS)
East Coast Visions is on Friday 20th at TyneBank Brewery in Newcastle.
The East Coast Visions event seeks to celebrate the ambition of adventurers and explorers by bringing their stories to a wider audience via the medium of photography, storytelling and music.
The pursuit of adventure is a driving force in modern life, but who are the people who are looking towards the horizon?
Well alongside interesting speakers from the surfing and kitesurfing worlds, Olympic legend, BBC snow sports correspondent and avid surfer Jenny Jones will be doing a talk about her journey to Sochi 2014, where she won the first ever medal for team GB in snowboarding!
For the surf explorers theres a talk from Stuart Swift who spent 6 months driving overland from London to his hometown of Cape Town, living with his brother Callum in nothing more than a tent and a Mitsubishi Shogun. Their mission: to surf and to make records. What transpired was more than just that simple objective, and the stories of mind blowing point breaks are interspersed with considered words and actions depicting an enlightened and conscientious approach to the boys’ exotic new cultural surroundings. A real life surfing & photography odyssey, which when seen projected on to a massive screen elevates Stu’s witty conversational style to epic proportion.
If you can’t make the event but fancy the chance to win a sick looking custom surfboard for just £5 check this out. The board was shaped by Saltburn’s own Glenn Nary from Visionary Surfboards, it is 6’0 x 20 1/2″ x 2 1/2” 36L
100% of the money raised from their raffle prizes (drawn on Friday at the event) will be split between Surfers Against Sewage & Snow-Camp charities. But to get involved with the Surfboard all you need to do is send £5 via PayPal to [email protected] Or if you’re feeling generous you can get 5 entries for £20 the same way. In case you’re in the area and want a ticket visit their website, but for all the info on the board here’s the blog article as well as the entry list on their Instagram, where your name will appear if you enter:
Italo Ferreira and Gabe Medina have hit Instagram to raise their concerns about surfing in the Margaret River area both the comp and in freesurfs after the two attacks as Australians go back to the shark debate – which basically decides opinion into the ‘cull’ or ‘deal with it’ camps.
“Two shark attacks in less than 24 hours here in Australia, detail, just a few miles from where the event is being held. Very dangerous do you not think?” said Italo
“Even so, they keep insisting on doing steps where the risk of having this type of accident is 90%, so I ask: is not the safety of athletes a priority? We already had several alerts. Life goes beyond that! I hope it does not happen to any of us. I do not feel comfortable training and competing in places like this!”
Gabriel Medina posted his views
“Today they had two shark attacks on a beach close to where we’re competing. I do not feel safe training and competing in this kind of place, anytime anything can happen to one of us. Hope not. Leaving my opinion before it’s too late!”
JJF also had ended a surf session near Gracetown before the event started due to two large sharks.
The WSL meanwhile has stepped up safety measures.
“WSL continues to assess the current situation at the Margaret River Pro where there have been two confirmed shark incidents near Gracetown in the last 24 hours. We have actioned our well established safety protocols and are gathering all the latest information to determine next steps. We will continue to liaise with all involved, most importantly the surfers, their safety remains paramount. Today’s competition (Tuesday in Western Australia) has already been called off and all surfers have been advised not to surf in the area. We are constantly evaluating the situation, and will update as soon as possible.”
Some of the Aussie press have got a little hysterical claiming the comp should be cancelled, sharks hunted down etc. But many locals are philosophical claiming they surf with the creatures all year, and considering the amount of surfers in the water near seal colonies, and amongst a salmon run the incidents are small and chances of getting caught up with a shark are pretty rare. (Since 2000, there have been 15 fatal and 41 non-fatal sharks.) And the WSL has promised to increase jetski and aerial surveillance with drones…
So the question is what do the WSL do? Remember there are sharks at Snapper, Bells, J Bay, probably Chopes, and Pipe. On the Qual tour parts of the Tuamatos have so many reef sharks you have to take off anything shiny.. Durban.. the list is endless.. And while possibly not in the numbers WA has right now the sharks are still there.
Responses on social media have varied from sympathetic to, well, typical west Aussie advice…
@salemdivision You are the surfers ! If you decide not to surf there’s nothing the wsl can do…they can’t force you. It really is up to you ! @italoferreira
@caribgrunt pussy
@jarredbriotti😭😭😭 90 % chance of getting eaten? Haha so if you go into the water 10 times a shark will get you 9 times? Stick to surfing mate as your maths is shocking #soft
johnoharePussy! Scared of a little ol’ Shark or scared of the competition? You’re in the surf, you mix it up with our white pointers the most beautiful sharks in the world! 😉✌️
ollyolsonBucket of cement mate
@glenatmargs you have 10 skis, drones and sonar equipment, why be scared during the comp. during the free surfs maybe but we have to deal with this every year. And the white pointers don’t turn up in numbers until June.
@npewhite So as a pro surfer you never considered there to be sharks in the ocean!? Perhaps you need a new career if you don’t like the idea of sharks in the ocean. Oh and for everyone the footage @gabrielmedina is showing is off the idiot, who despite knowing beach was closed and despite fisheries trying to get everyone out of the water decided to still go out and surf.
The first of it’s kind in Europe, this hardware-focused shop has over 300 of the latest JS surfboards, including the new Monsta 8, the Julian Wilson air 17x and the new groveller “the Flying Pony” A variety of models in both PU and Hyfi technology.
