A Crowdfunder has been launched for a Dorset surfer who is being divorced for night surfing. Friends say Karl, originally from NZ, ended up in the UK, and met the girl of his dreams, but when he rediscovered surfing (after a bad neck injury) and then started night surfing, he got kicked out of home.
‘Geordie Surfer’ who launched the appeal said,
“He hadn’t surfed since leaving NZ and was pretty confident that his neck was strong again… So we chucked him a wettie, got him hooked up with a board and got him out in the water. It wasn’t long before the dude was ripping. Super flow and a good powerful style! Once again he was hooked. The main problem being is that he simply didn’t have time to surf. With work, family, farm and home commitments he was adamant that he would not be able to find the time to surf.
“However, he was completely unaware that there was a small crew of us that had invested in some lithium powered portable floodlights, head torches and a crazy plan to surf at night. Not only could he escape the usual Bournemouth Pier crowds, he could also surf when his girls were in bed and it was too dark to work! It made so much sense! So there it is, when the swell came about we would all meet up between 10pm and midnight, set our lights up on the pier and head out for a surf! We would have a ball and it was all harmless. I mean we would only do this on decent days, days that were worth while. At least 3ft and it had to be reasonably clean. In reality we would surf at night a couple of times a month during the winter season where we receive a bit more Swell on the south coast of the UK.”
“But his wife could not stand that he had a passion outside of the family life. After over 10 years of devoting everything to his family and had found something for himself, something he wanted to pursue and a child hood passion that he had rediscovered, SURFING… ”
Very long story short Karl got kicked out..
“…his wife was adamant that this was it and it was surfing or them!”
Then solicitors got involved and
“To Karl’s surprise his ex had already set up legal proceedings and had already sanctioned a lawyer to oversee everything, basically trying to screw him over and lay the entire financial cost of the divorce on his shoulders. Not only trying to retain all family assets (home and possessions) he is facing the possibility of having to settle divorce costs and accumulated legal fees of what will be approx £6,000. This basically means taking out a loan to cover these costs (as if he hasn’t got enough to deal with).”
“But, and I mean BUT. The biggest surprise was still to come. When the divorce papers were received, the reason cited for divorce was his ‘obsession’ for SURFING. Just to take extract the urine and to be specific, night surfing. Now I know when we surfed at night as I keep the lights. We are literally talking a couple times a month at the very maximum. Now, I know how this sounds and how hard this is to believe, so read the citation yourself below. This is for real! Actually filing for divorce and stating the reason as prioritising his hobbie (surfing) and his obsession for night surfing. So 12 years or marriage gone to pot because Karl rediscovered his childhood passion of surifng over the last two years.”
The Citation (proof not check by us) here is pretty damning
The funding story ends with
“At the end of the day, we all derserve a wave, we all deserve to enjoy our passion and we all should be able to have a surf when it’s pumping. In fact, we deserve to surf even on the days it’s no pumping. Surfing is a way of blowing of steam, recharging the batteries and washing off the dirt! A good friend of mine once said that life leaves dirty spots on us, after we surf the spots are gone, they wash off! Let’s all try to help Karl wash off some the spots that have been left on him and get him surifng as much as he wants!
Thank you for taking the time to read this! After all, we are just helping a bro out!”
At time of publishing I have no idea if this is all legit, but if you got this far it’s probably worth a couple of quid!
In Rip Curl’s 50th year, we are pleased to announce a lifetime contract with the most important surfer in our company history, 3x World Champion Mick Fanning.
In celebration of Rip Curl’s 50th Year Anniversary, we are pleased to announce a lifetime contract with the most important surfer in our company history, 3x World Champion Mick Fanning. After two decades and three World Titles with the company, Mick has signed a 10-year lifetime deal that will usher in the next phase of his career with Rip Curl.
“Being a part of Rip Curl has been more than just a sponsorship” – says Mick…
“Having the relationship I have had with the company and the people within it, including the Founders Claw Warbrick and Brian Singer, has been a huge part of my career and the last 20 years of my life. Signing this 10-year deal is another cornerstone in that relationship, and I can’t wait to get out there and get on The Search!”
Since Mick first signed with Rip Curl in 1998 he has achieved more than most of us dare to dream. He has won three World Titles, overcome personal tragedy and celebrated many triumphs, all the while maintaining face in the public eye.
Mick isn’t just a World Champion surfer,” says Neil Ridgway, Rip Curl’s Group Marketing Chairman. He is the most important surfer in the history of our company. We know that – and he feels it too – so we decided to lock the deal down for life, basically. You don’t walk away from a relationship like that, especially when it’s still working and it’s good fun. Anywhere he goes, we go. He is influential both inside and outside of surfing, and he is gold to the brand. He is one of us.”
Mick will spend the next 10 years on The Search, finding breaks in remote countries, chasing empty lineups and perfect waves. He will also pursue his personal businesses, MF Softboards as well as Balter Breweries, and will work on and for the environmental causes he finds passion with. We look forward to sharing this all with him.
Surf Ocean Lifestyle Masterclass, Keramas, Bali 27 April – 4 May 2019
Photography is all about the never-ending search for the best techniques, the right gear and the perfect subjects to help make images stand out from the crowd.
Foto Frenzy’s Surf Ocean Lifestyle Masterclass will do just that, with career pro shooter Ted Grambeau and ocean photo-artist Phil Thurston guiding participants through eight days of comprehensive and practical instruction and discussion that will establish the mindset, vision, skills and tools that aspiring ocean photographers need to take their imagery to the next level.
Quality instruction in the classroom will compliment time on the beach and in the water putting their new skills into practice.
With two world-class surf mentors sharing their extensive knowledge, participants will come away with an in-depth understanding across the surf, ocean and lifestyle photo genres.
This workshop will spark creativity, and craft a skill-set that can be harnessed to produce inspiring work in all types of photography. Hobbyist or aspiring pro alike, you’ll be provided with the tools for achieving professional results.
Four years ago Foto Frenzy broke new ground and offered the first intensive weekend Shooting Waves Workshop with Phil Thurston. Since then, Shooting Waves has given many keen ocean photographers the opportunity to share in Phil’s passion and knowledge through mentoring, tutorials and practical experiences.
Ted Grambeau says “Realising ones potential is a goal. As a photographer, it’s a never-ending quest to strive to improve all aspects of our image making skills”
Phil Thurston concurs, “Education is such a valuable thing; it has the power to change the course of your life and empowers you to create your own opportunity”.
The Surf Ocean Lifestyle Masterclass will go deep into the realms of ocean photography through a complete, eight-day, live-in experience in beautiful Bali. Fronting the famous Keramas break (home to the WSL’s Bali Pro Event 13-25 May), Komune Resort and Beach Club Bali is a superb venue for the Surf Ocean Lifestyle Masterclass – the perfect location to be immersed in a week of ocean photography and learning.
These two great photographers will be supported by the Foto Frenzy Team. Representatives from Aquatech water housings will also be offering advice and an extensive range of all popular housing and camera setups.
All-inclusive Masterclass: USD$3750 or USD$3000 without accommodation
Gold Coast-based Ted Grambeau is one of the world’s most experienced professional surf photographers, with a career spanning over four decades of making a full-time living as a professional surf photographer.
Studying photography formally at RMIT in Melbourne, Australia and assisting legendary Magnum photographer Burt Glinn in New York laid a sound technical foundation to be the basis of all of Ted’s work. With expertise not only in action sports, but he’s also equally at home in fashion and portraiture work–and his fine art images have been at the forefront of ocean imagery for many years. A wealth of experience photographing in the surf has enabled Ted to translate his water photography skills and apply them to underwater fashion, portraiture and swimwear with ease.
With a passion for adventure that has taken him to more than 100 countries, he’s photographed assignments with every major surf brand on the Planet. Being a part of major campaigns like the Rip Curl “Search”; Quiksilver’s “Crossing” and; Billabongs “Odyssey”. His images have graced the covers and filled the editorial pages for all of the world’s leading surf magazines and online sites.
Ted’s commercial clients include Apple; Speedo; National Geographic; Redbull; Patagonia; Corona; Warner Bros; Valley EyeWear; Oakley; Smithsonian and many more. He’s worked on numerous swimwear label editorials features and campaigns. Ted has three books published on his work, the prestigious Surfers Journal “Masters of Surf Photography”, “The Surfer and Mermaid” a children’s book in collaboration with writer Tim Baker and most recently; “Adventures in Light’ published in conjunction with Rip Curl to celebrate four decades of Ted’s photographic journey. Along with those works dedicated solely to his photography, Ted has contributed to another twenty books and has held several exhibitions of Fine Art photography worldwide.
With a professional career unmatched in surf, ocean and lifestyle photography, Ted Grambeau’s experience, knowledge and skills will be the source of much inspiration and practical learning for those set on taking their photography to new levels.
Philip Thurston’s passion for photography has developed from a lifestyle of living in the ocean and the spirit of adventure. His enthusiastic nature and fiery faith have seen him tackle some of the wildest oceans and scour distant mountain peaks bringing beautiful imagery to a fast-growing and fascinated audience.
“My goal is to capture the things I see in such a unique and fashionable way that through my imagery people are inspired to see life from a new perspective.”
Phil picked up his first top-side camera in the summer of 2005, capturing the adventures of a bodyboarding trip to Hawaii with his brothers. He was so captivated with the camera that upon returning home he built a waterproof housing out of perspex and silicon instead of studying for his High School Certificate. Phil went on to establish a housing manufacturing business and over the next five years built over 150 water housings for photographers and assisted his brothers in their passion for filming and bodyboarding, learning the essentials of operating still and motion cameras in the surf along the way.
In 2012 Phil set out to pursue his dream of being a professional ocean photographer. Based on the southern NSW coast of Australia, Phil (now a Manfrotto Global Ambassador) is established as one of the new-breed of ocean photo-artists, always chasing new interpretations of the ocean, while also taking on commercial work and freelance photography and filming projects.
Phil was central to the success of the Foto Frenzy’s “Shooting Waves” workshops held on Australia’s east coast over the last few years, and the Surf Ocean Lifestyle Masterclass builds on these strong foundations to take photographers even further on their own photographic journey.
Surfers Against Sewage calls for action from mountain summits to city streets, from riverbanks to coastlines, to help stop plastic polluting our ocean
The Big Spring Beach Clean is the UK’s biggest beach clean event, mobilising over 30,000 authentic community volunteers at locations nationwide This year, mountain cleans are included for the first time, alongside beach, river and city locations
Evidence shows that over 70% of plastic pollution comes from the land, meaning that we can all be beach clean volunteers wherever we are
Alongside removing plastic from the natural spaces around us, volunteers will conduct the UK’s biggest ever Plastic Pollution Audit to help further track and tackle plastic pollution to stop it at source
From the 6th to the 14th of April, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), in conjunction with the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation, will mobilise more than 30,000 volunteers at 500 beach, river, city and mountain locations across the UK in its Big Spring Beach Clean: Summit to Sea. SAS is calling for inspired community leaders from all walks of life to help remove and track plastic pollution in their local area.
The Big Spring Beach Clean is the UK’s biggest coordinated beach clean activity, which has brought together over 150,000 volunteers over the last five years, contributing an incredible two million hours of volunteer time to protecting and conserving our beaches for everyone to enjoy. These vital community events not only remove dangerous plastics from our unique and precious coastal environment, but also indicate where action needs to be taken further upstream to reduce the leakage into and impact of plastics on our ocean and beaches.
A recent report showed that plastic makes up 70 per cent of all the litter in the ocean, and if no action is taken to reduce its input, then it is forecast to treble within the next ten years[1]. Almost a decade ago, SAS pioneered the Plastic Pollution Audit at our beaches to identify which plastics were washing up on our tidelines. This year SAS is conducting the research again to map and monitor plastics, and signpost where urgent action needs to be taken to reduce plastic pollution.
Hugo Tagholm, CEO of Surfers Against Sewage says “The Big Spring Beach Clean is an annual celebration of our beaches, uniting thousands of like-minded volunteers to take action for our ocean. We are excited to be working with the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation to invite anyone, anywhere to lead a community clean-up with us to tackle plastic pollution. We can all be ocean guardians from our summits to the sea, from our river banks to city streets. Register your event today.”
Richard Walker, Trustee of the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation said “Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation and Surfers Against Sewage share a common passion for tackling the scourge of plastic head on, and we know that this is an issue that resonates with an ever-growing number of people. Our Iceland stores are at the heart of high streets up and down the country and we recruit our store colleagues locally, making us a true community retailer. We are delighted to be backing SAS in encouraging individuals and organisations throughout the UK to help make a difference to the quality of their local environment through The Big Spring Beach Clean.”
SAS hopes to engage a wide range of people to take part in protecting the ocean from summit to sea.
Individuals can find their nearest clean or volunteer to lead their own at www.sas.org.ukor by emailing [email protected]. All Clean Leaders will receive a Big Spring Beach Clean kit, a limited edition SAS insulated Hydro Flask, a step-by-step guide to organizing their clean, along with support and guidance from the SAS Team in organising their event.
We would like to thank the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation, HydroFlask, and Community Partners; Surfing England, British Canoeing, Canoe Foundation, The Wave Project and the Outdoor Swimming Society
Charles Bukowski said “Style is the answer to everything’’ and Asher Pacey is laced with it from top to toe, check out his lines as he styles for miles through multiple tubes in this sweet little edit.
Plan B, Jax Jones & Martin Solveig, Razorlight, Slaves, Mabel, Bugzy Malone, Sam Fender, Dermot Kennedy, Claude Von Stroke, Grace Carter, Ibibio Sound Machine, Artful Dodger, Easy Life, Caravana Sun, House Gospel Choir, Sea Girls, and more announced for Cornwall’s own surf and music festival.
Fistral Beach / Watergate Bay, Newquay, Cornwall | Wednesday 7 – Sunday 11 August 2019
This morning, Boardmasters has revealed the mighty Foals as the Sunday headliner for this year’s festival, along with another wave of huge acts including , Plan B, Jax Jones + Martin Solveig, Bugzy Malone, Mabel, Slaves, Easy Life, Sea Girls, Caravana Sun, Claude VonStroke, House Gospel Choir and more. They join already announced Saturday headliner Florence + The Machine as well as Giggs, Dizzee Rascal, Jorja Smith, Franz Ferdinand, DJ EZ, Wilkinson B2B Sub Focus, Idles, Michael Franti & Spearhead and Ocean Wisdom. After 2018’s most sustainable Boardmasters yet, the festival returns to the sun-soaked Cornish coastline for another year of the most exhilarating surf and music action in the UK. Boardmasters takes place Wednesday 7 – Sunday 11 August 2019 across two stunning sites – Fistral Beach and Watergate Bay. Tickets are on sale NOW via the website from £30 deposit.
Foals are back, making their hugely anticipated return this year. Fronted by Yannis Philippakis, Foals first burst onto the scene in 2008 with Antidotes, which cemented them as a musical tour de force. Now, after a four year hiatus, Foals make an entrance, releasing their massive single ‘Exits’ last month. Festivalgoers will be treated to an electrifying headline set, as Foals are set to epically close Boardmasters 2019.
Boardmasters has also revealed more than 60 more acts in this next wave for the 2019 festival. Two of the biggest names in house music Jax Jones & Martin Solveig will join forces for what’s sure to be an unmissable set at Watergate Bay. Mabel, one of the UK’s most refreshing young musical role models is riding the wave to Boardmasters this summer, set to bring her infectious pop vocals, with songs that explore everything from female independence and the challenges of modern relationships to growing into your own skin.
Manchester’s most exciting grime export, Bugzy Malone will show off his huge radio hits at this year’s Boardmasters, along with self-confessed neo-punk band Slaves. 90s two-step heroes, Artful Dodger will pull in the sways with their garage waves, while British rap supremo hitmaker Plan B and ‘America’ hitmakers Razorlight and Sleaford Mods also join the line-up, alongside Irish vocal powerhouse Dermot Kennedy and House Gospel Choir who have collaborated with the likes of MNEK, Stormzy and Annie Mac.
BRITs Critics Choice winner Sam Fender, Brighton’s freshest young export Grace Carter and homegrown Cornish electro bedroom beats Hockeysmith are all added to the line up today. Summer rays are sure to shine through Caravana Sun’s bouncy pop and dreamy sounds, while 2019 breakthrough band Easy Life promise to delight with their biggest singles including Nightmares and energetic indie band Sea Girls, nominated for BBC’s Sound of 2019, will feel at home by the sea at Watergate Bay, as will Cornwall’s very own Bailey Tomkinson. SOAK, hailing from Northern Ireland, joins the Boardmasters bill, having recently released single ‘Knock Me Off My Feet’, as well as folk sensation Gabrielle Aplin, African funk and disco collective Ibibio Sound Machine, hot off the back of the release of self-titled debut album The Magic Gang, British band The Hunna, 90’s soul-inspired Jvck Jones, ‘Petty Love’ songstress Jaz Karis and the dreamy Rachel Chinouriri.
World-renowned DJs will bring the hottest beats to Cornwall this August. Brooklyn’s own dance-punk enthusiast, BODEGA, will bring their deep beats, along with Detriot’s DJ extraordinaire ClaudeVon Stroke and one of the founders of the house music movement Derrick Carter plus, house producer James Hype, who shot to fame for his ‘Hotline Bling’ remix. Other huge dance acts include electro heavyweight Dennis Ferrer, Leeds electronic duo Prospa, house vocalist Karen Harding, ‘Feel My Needs’ hitmaker Weiss, Conneticut’s own DJ Jonezy, Defected Records’ Melé and, influenced by a heady fusion funk-soul-disco, DJ Proof.
In a huge next wave of acts for Boardmasters 2019, other acts added today include Barely Legal, The Stalks, Ross From Friends, Problem Central, Fin Henderson, Laurel, Mella Dee, Feet, Darkzy ft. Window Kid, Eli Brown, Cakeboy, Skeggs, My Nu Leng & Dread MC, Shapes, Seb Heart, Echo Town, Jack Vallier, Mall Grab, Jordan Lee Collins, Lucy Gallant, Mason Maynard, Nathan Dawe, Ferris & Sylvester, Georgia and The Dunwells for five unforgettable days in the most breathtaking festival setting in the UK, with more acts set to be announced in the coming weeks.
Boardmasters will continue its tremendous work to keep the festival and the Cornish coastline, cleaner than ever before. Long-term supporters of Surfers Against Sewage for over 20 years the festival will once more collaboarate on a series of beach cleans throughout the year as well as during the festival. Other sustainability initiatives will continue, including the hugely successful re-useable cup scheme, the litter bond, Cornwall’s ‘Final Straw’ scheme and more to make Boardmasters as clean, environmentally-friendly and enjoyable as possible. This is all part of the mission to have eradicated all non-essential single use plastics from Boardmasters by 2020.
Boardmasters epic surf competition is back, as part of the World Surf League Qualifying Series. The biggest names on the international surf scene will battle it out on the waves at Fistral Beach. More details to be revealed in 2019.
The Zennor Haven Wellbeing Area will return to Watergate Bay. The perfect place to unwind and relax, with yoga, mental health workshops, healthy food offerings, meditation and more. The UK’s largest Silent Disco will also return on Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 August as scores of festivalgoers kick start 2019 proceedings at the main stage.
Inspired by the freedom, adventure and creativity of surfing and music, Boardmasters was born in 1981. Expect parties that run late into the night and a beautiful beach to recuperate on during the day. The five-day event is situated across two stunning locations in Cornwall – UK surfing mecca, Fistral Beach, where world class International Surf Competitions take place, and the most stunning location in the country to watch live music, Watergate Bay.
