Longboard Surf 14

For our November meeting, our ever-diplomatic El Presidente, John Gillem made his way back from Costa Rica (without so much as a single crock bite) to reclaim his place as the fearless leader of our raucous crew, which now claims 141 members.

Taylor Jensen and his dad, Marty are currently in New Zealand for the Oxbow World Championships. Word is the surf conditions at the start of the competition were 8 to 10 feet and building at one of the longest lefts in the world. Promising conditions for Taylor, who rips in big surf and should show off some of his #1 ranked talent - going backside. We predict Marty won't be seeing much of him though; young rock stars always have an entourage. The rest of us can watch his progress live - check out www.aspworldtour.com for live coverage of heat statistics. Good luck Taylor, and congratulations to the entire Jensen family on the new Oxbow sponsorship!

The countdown has begun for our biggest event of the year. The 21st Annual Jimmy Riley Longboard Classic will be held Saturday, December 13th at Shipwrecks. Proceeds directly benefit CMS and CHS surf teams as well as our own club. Gillem says "Everyone's support is incredibly important as many of our own local kids are so talented, I fully expect to be seeing them on the cover of Longboard magazine in future years." He should know! Chair extraordinaire, Bob Gregory reports that Coronado's own Peter Johnson of Kane Garden Boards has offered to be the primary sponsor and will be donating 3 surfboards! We thank PJ, who has always been a huge supporter, not to mention former organizer and close friend of JR. He's even offered a 20% discount for club members interested in purchasing a Kane Garden board - contact Joe Ditler (otherwise known as Big Sis) at josephditler@san.rr.com to reach PJ.

Further JR news: WE NEED RAFFLE ITEMS! Debbie Pelosi is heading up the effort and it's a big job, so if you know someone who has anything to contribute - give Debbie a jingle and save her some stress (sugargirlindacurl@yahoo.com). Cash donations are always welcome too. Most importantly, watch for entry forms to arrive by snail mail soon and turn 'em in. Don't be a weeny and wait until the day of the contest just to check the surf conditions! We know who you are!

In other news, our fearless Jody Esquer recently defied the potential peril of severe dehydration and a midnight ambulance trip to the hospital after the Swami's contest just to pass along this important health flash…DRINK WATER! We're glad you're okay Ripper! On a serious note, surfers are particularly susceptible to becoming dehydrated so be aware and drink up.

While we're on the Swami's subject, the recent contest at Cardiff Reef went well for Team Nado, placing 7th overall out of 18 teams, all without brothers Gillard! Congratulations to everyone who competed and to Erik Karlsson and Donald McCloud for representing us in the finals.

The upcoming "Gathering of the Tribes" contest at Church's put on by our friends at the Doheny Longboard Surfing Association will take place on January 3rd and 4th. Bill Bigham has reserved campsites on the beach as well as a few cabins for Saturday night. Plan to arrive early Saturday morning. Sign-ups have already begun so contact the Big Ham at bighams@aol.com to get hooked-up. We promise to have forks for the big sunset spaghetti special this time!

Our first ever club Christmas partay is going down on Saturday, December 20th at Club Nixon. "Geezers only" according to young Jack Christensen, who is apparently unaware that we're a bunch of seasoned veterans at this party stuff.

Turns out we won't be fielding a team for the WindanSea contest at San Miguel, Mexico over Thanksgiving weekend afterall, but if you are interested in surfing in the contest, let Pat Mower or John know.

Much thanks to Patrick Duffey for all of the time and effort he has put in this past year to create and update our club website. He's a busy man these days, so be patient. Jody Esquer will be helping out soon, assuming she doesn't keep skipping her web design classes when the waves are good :) Hopefully, you'll be able to find this newsletter on the web and off your email soon.

In the pipeline…a club camping trip in February at San O' in conjunction with the Oceanside club - date and details to be determined. And the Rabbit Kekai Longboard Classic in Costa Rica has been pushed up to the much more family friendly month of August 2004, so start making your travel plans now.

It is with great sadness that we report the recent passing of Darcie's adored father, Richard Goodenough. As a much-loved symbol of this community, Goodie will be sorely missed. We're pretty sure that he had some well timed plans to start a surf club in heaven though, as shortly after his passing, he called Darcie's beloved 9'6" Step-deck Yater to join him. Must be some perfect waves up there. Aloha Goodie, we know you're smiling now!