Malibu: A lady from the start
By Matt George

Courtesy Rip Curl www.ripcurl.com

Malibu has always been a lady.

Malibu is the epicenter of modern surfing’s performance and soul and to ride here is to participate in her legacy and to become a part of her future.

Malibu is, quite literally, a sacred site with a long-believed Goddess energy. Four thousand years ago, the Chumash Indians lived on this “life creating” site, comparing it to a womb, and giving it the name “Hamaliwu” (The surf sounds loudly) in honor of what they believed to be the female voice of the sea. Forever a surf culture hothouse, Malibu is also responsible for the very surfboards we ride today.

Surf Journalist Paul Gross wrote “Malibu is the exact spot on earth where ancient surfing became Modern surfing”. When Tom Blake and Sam Reid first rode Malibu in 1927 they opened the floodgates on this perfect surfing wave. By the time America entered World War Two, up to 300 surfers at a time could be found in her line-up. Oddly, it was that same war that sparked modern surfing design.

Post war materials, called Fiberglass and resin, allowed the finest designers of the day to discard their redwood planks and use lighter, easily shapeable balsa wood. Dale Velzy, Matt Kivlin and Dave sweet were notable innovators, but the lid really got blown off the pot when, in the summer of 1950, a young lady named Vicki Flaxman approached preeminent designer Joe Quigg for a board. Forced to think out of the box, Quigg came up with a 9’6” that was so thin, so light and so responsive that by the end of summer Vicki “was surfing better than most the men”.
This board quickly became the most popular loaner on the beach and soon the men were shaving their boards down to what they considered toothpick proportions. However, having a jump on things, Vicki and her friends Aggie Bane, Claire Cassidy, Robin Grigg and Darrylin Zanuck dominated the line-up for a full year.

The next quantum leap in feminism at Malibu came with the advent of the phenomenon known as “Gidget”. Based on the 1957 novel by Frederick Kohner, the true story was based on his plucky daughter, Kathy Kohner, who spent a spectacularly romantic summers learning how to surf at Malibu. It was Malibu Kahuna Terry “Tubesteak” Tracy who, because of her diminutive size, nicknamed her Gidget “Girl plus Midget equals Gidget”.

Original "Gidget" movie star  : photo ASP/Karen

The Science of Surfing
  
Keep missing those killer waves? ..............  Maybe 'rocket' science can help.

Article courtesy National Aeronautics and Space Administration
www.nasa.gov                                (click on images to enlarge)

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 25 September, 2005 : - - Surf forecasters are now using near real-time meteorological data from satellites to find big waves. With a click of a mouse, they can use the Internet to link to satellite sources like NASA's QuikScat satellite with its JPL SeaWinds Scatterometer, which provides data used for studying ocean circulation, forecasting weather and understanding air-sea interactions that control global climate.

"We are using satellite data to study the global and coastal oceans in many different ways. Surfers are now using it too, including to figure out where to ride gigantic waves," said JPL oceanographer Ben Holt. "The skill and nerve needed to ride big waves is awe-inspiring."

Two days later (after Topex image above), a surfer at Half Moon Bay, Calif. rides those waves.

Rip Currents

Why Rip Currents Form

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, As waves travel from deep to shallow water, they will break near the shoreline. When waves break strongly in some locations and weakly in others, this can cause circulation cells which are seen as rip currents: narrow, fast-moving belts of water traveling offshore.   (more info) 

Rip Current in Florida after Hurricane Jeanne Courtesy of Dennis Decker/NOAA