thewaldenword-blog

[thewaldenword-blog]

“Skateboarding doesn’t make you a skateboarder. Not being able to stop skateboarding makes you a skateboarder.” – Lance Mountain, Bones Brigade

Makita Duggan had been having seizures all day. Bedridden for months since being diagnosed with Lyme disease, she was incapable of venturing out into the California sun. A prisoner in her Oceanside home. She wanted to die.

Her boyfriend, Tyler sat with her bedside. He gently placed Makita’s hand in his then said to her, “Picture yourself on a skateboard, free, bombing a hill, having fun again.” In her mind, Makita saw her self on a skateboard carving downhill, rolling fast with the wind in her hair and the sun on her face. Her body calmed.

“Learn to focus and appreciate the good when it is happening, and your life will improve immensely.” Photo credit: @tsnap101

From that moment on Makita and Tyler often talked about her getting strong enough to get on a board again. A few months later Makita was having one of her better days. So she and Tyler went to the local skate shop to buy Makita a new longboard.

“Although it had been a few years since I skated—I’d been sick for so long—it was like I had never stopped. On that day for the first time in a very long time, I smiled again…and laughed,” says Makita.

Photo credit: @tsnap101

As she skated, Makita could feel her deeply rooted depression (stemming from having a chronic illness) lifting slowly. Years earlier, Lyme disease had brought Makita’s life to an abrupt halt.

Skateboarding was setting her free from that crippling hold.

Now, no matter what, Makita wakes up every day and skates. She began meeting with a couple of female skate groups in the Oceanside area, namely BabesnBoards and SheSkatesHere. The female skate camaraderie helped her to heal; gain back her confidence. The girls in the group were all very kind and loving, encouraging Makita to keep on “kicking and pushing” no matter her skill level.

Pier poppin.

O’side Amphitheater.

Linda Vista with the girls.

BabesnBoards

“I’m not a pro, but skateboarding has given me the freedom to live again,” says Makita.

Makita and Tyler live to travel, and they always ship their skateboards first. Tyler began snapping photos of Makita cruising through her hometown of Oceanside and rolling around the island of Maui. The couple shared the pictures of her progress with family and friends, then on social media. Soon thereafter Makita got her first skateboard sponsor: @kotalongboards. One of Tyler’s shots was even recently used in a Billabong Womens ad campaign.

Rolling through.

Island cruising.

“It’s been a rough few years, but we made it through the hardest parts,” says Makita’s boyfried, Tyler. “I’ve watched her struggle through what no human should have to go through. Insane things that no one will ever know but us. No matter how hard it got, she just got more beautiful.”

Makita and Tyler. Riding in Hawaii. Photo credit: @i_am_makita

Makita says that skateboarding definitely saved her life; gave her a purpose again. She is still unable to work (or volunteer at the Escondido Humane Society, like she used to) but she and Tyler believe that her Lyme disease is getting closer to remission.

The Center for Disease Control estimates that there are over 300,000 cases of Lyme disease in the United States each year. (Learn more.)

Poipu, Hawaii. Photo credit: @tsnap101 @kotalongboards

“No matter what spot someone finds themselves at in life,” says Makita Duggan, Lyme Warrior. “There are always ways to overcome whatever personal battle you are going through. Find something to do every day that makes you smile. Even if it’s just the thought of doing it. Envision yourself doing it. You don’t even have to be good at it. There’s such freedom in skating and being in the ocean.”

Makena Cove, Maui. Photo credit: @wouldboards @i_am_makita

If someone you know has been affected by Lyme disease, share Makita Duggan’s story with them.

Or, go buy them a skateboard.

  Makita Duggan | Push "Skateboarding doesn't make you a skateboarder. Not being able to stop skateboarding makes you a skateboarder." - Lance Mountain, Bones Brigade…

[thewaldenword-blog]

Bring Back Lower Trestles to the WCT | Sign The Petition

Bring Back Lower Trestles to the WCT | Sign The Petition

In 2017 the World Surf League removed a natural wonder of a wave, Lower Trestles in San Clemente, from the World Championship Tour.

The Freshwater Pro, held in the desert at Kelly Slater’s artificial wave pool in Lemoore—100 miles from the California coast—replaced it.

Together we can bring surfing back to the ocean, where it belongs.

Let your voice be heard. SIGN THE PETITION below.

Bring Back…

[thewaldenword-blog]

“𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝?”

The World Championship Tour of Surfing is supposed to be, “The Greatest Show On Earth” where the gladiators of surf compete like its bloodsport, hacking and slashing apart the best waves on the planet.

Fighting to the death—last man standing—for the glorious World Title.

Inflicting blunt rail-trauma to unsuspecting wave faces. Flying through the air fins-first at an opponent’s scalp as he paddles back out. Pulling leashes like Lance Burkhart, snaking waves—anything it takes to win.

Instead, Rick Cain gets rewarded World Title points.

The Surf Ranch is far from the Arizona wave pool depicted in the cinematic cult-classic, “North Shore” but the entire WCT event feels like mere theater as opposed to cut-throat competition amongst the world’s most ruthless rippers.

Picture Michel Borez at Lowers, forehand slicing with precision, swinging his sword, displacing enough water to fill the new Surf Ranch pool they’re planning to build on the Goldie.

Bourez blasting off from Lowers. Photo credit: @tallteef a.k.a Trevor Moran   www.trevormoran.com

“In my opinion, I never felt like we should be here as CT surfers,” Michel told The Inertia at last month’s Bathtub Pro in Lemoore, California. “To me, no, we need to be in the ocean,” says Bourez. “As a surfer, what you do your whole life is learn from the ocean—where the currents go, which wave in the sets is the best one, left, right, then you get here (Surf Ranch) and the only thing you need to focus on is the wave.”

The Wave

Every wave exactly the same. A mechanically flawless right-hander, alternating from open face to hollow tube back to open face for the end air section. A fat mush-burger for a left. Every wave exactly the same. Spectators watch surfers do copycat carves across the same sections, score identical barrels in the same spots for equal amounts of time, and attempt telegraphed aerial maneuvers. The performances: predictable. The wave—unaffected by tidal swings, wind conditions or swell forecasts—becomes about as much fun to watch as an animatronic country jamboree by “Big Al and the Bears” at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

Synthetic surfing on clones causes zero drama nor even a splash of suspense.

It is the unpredictability of ocean waves that brings excitement to surf contests. One could argue that the ever-changing nature of the ocean is the main reason we even pay attention at all.

VIP canal/bar at FreshiePro.

Not the ocean.

Gabriel Medina, surfs a victory lap with the Brazilian flag as a cape. Surf fans watch with mild interest on big screen set up on dirt path between wavepool and canal.

The lack of scenery in Lemoore is depressing. Waiting in the desert sun for three minutes in between waves is like waiting in line for the port-o-potty at a music festival. By the time the next wave reloads, you’ve begun to smell the bovine bung that surrounds you and regret your decision to come here.

Dear World Surf League, please ditch the desert.

“To be honest, it’s a circus…I have a hard time taking this event seriously,’ says Jeremy Flores, 2010 Pipemaster and winner of the last WCT event held in pumping beach break in Hossegor, France.

Bring Back Trestles

Damien Hobgood once called Lower Trestles in San Clemente, California “the most rippable wave on tour.”

Kelly Slater probably agrees. 6 of the 16 surf contests held here were won by him. If Trestles were still on the World Championship Tour, instead of the artificial wave at the Surf Ranch, then King Kelly would probably be much closer to qualifying for the 2020 USA Olympic team.

Ironically, in years past, Lowers has been likened to an artificial wave or wave pool. Due to its playful, forgiving wall, the wave has also been called “a skatepark.”

Lower Trestles is a high-performance surf spot. Its A-frame peak breaks right and left offering long, racy sections that allow the world’s best surfers to build speed, execute innovative maneuvers, punctuate hard turns with brutality and take to the sky for aerial acrobatics.

Lower Trestles: the perfect wave not just for the contestants but the fans as well?

Kelly Slater, wondering why the Hell he ever decided to leave Lower Trestles for the desert.

Gladiator gouging the lip.

Pop. Pop. Pop.

Carving a slice for his competitors.

Lower Trestles. What a surf competition should look like.

Backside bash on his way to another win at Lowers Pro.

In 2017 the World Surf League removed Trestles from the World Championship Tour of Surfing. The Freshwater Pro, held at Kelly Slater’s wave pool in Lemoore—100 miles from the California coast—replaced it.

Let’s make surfing exciting again; return the gladiators to the arena. Together we can bring surfing back to the ocean.

Let your voice be heard. Sign the petition below.

Bring Back Lower Trestles to the WCT.

[emailpetition id=”1″]

[signaturecount id=”1″]

Circus Maximus | WCT Exhibitionists Parade Mock Battles Of Human Skill And Daring For Spectacle "𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝?" The World Championship Tour of Surfing is supposed to be, "The Greatest Show On Earth" where the gladiators of surf compete like its bloodsport, hacking and slashing apart the best waves on the planet.

[thewaldenword-blog]

SURF • ENVIRONMENT • ADVENTURE

Born to destroy waves and stereotypes; carve creative slices of gnar for public consumption; kook-free since 1980. THEWALDENWORD.COM