Donkey Patrol | Surfing Travel | Surf Resort | Kandui Mentawai Islands Indonesia | San Diego

Me my Shark and I from Chuck Patterson on Vimeo.

I’m not a competitive parent trying to prove that my kid is smarter than yours, but does your kid say WHISTLE HAW!!!!!

Well, The Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach completed last week and not without a fair bit of drama. The surfers competed at FOUR different locations throughout the comp and it’s fair to say the waves were less than desirable. The waves were so bad I am actually surprised that Neco did not do better than he did. I would liken it to Bede’s win at the Pipeline Masters, it wasn’t exactly pipe, and this certainly was not Bells Beach but Kelly with a broken foot, took down an inform Dusty Payne and proceeded to slice and dice all the way to the winners podium.

As I predicted, A.I. seems to have found his footing, his confidence and some of his drive. I really hope he can get his eye of the tiger, F*ck the world self back. I think it would be a great story to see him back on top again.

Fantasy Surfer continues to shit the bed this year with their new website, it lost all saved teams for the entire league and everyone is in an uproar about it. I think its funny that all of their advertisements seem to be working just fine, while the core of their site is rotten. That is actually a good ad revenue strategy, get thousands of fanatic users with a core following, rebuild what you got them to love and make sure it does not work, then plaster the site with Google and sponsor ads. Then your thousands of fanatic users will check the site several times per day throughout the contest period to see if the site is fixed.I wish I would have ponied up and paid to do FASL this year as my teams for both events would have done very well.

Rip Curl also announced the location for the Search Event and it is going to be in Puerto Rico this year. The waiting period is October 30th to November 10th, and I am going to do my best to visit Stefan Summer and Sydney during this period as the contest will surely be near their casa. Hopefully the wife will let me go after the new baby arrives in Aug/Sept.

Rip Curl Pro 2010 – Kelly Slater Wins Bells

The Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach is getting ready to kick off this week, and in fact the women’s event is underway as I type. The cast of characters is very interesting this year and while the forecast is not looking epic, I am betting the performance is going to be all time. I am predicting an Andy Irons comeback. Set your fantasy surfer teams now. Watch it live

And a quick video request for the Smythe:

Old new school vs. New new school. Yoda vs. Skywalker. Taj v.s Jordy

In yesterdays action, much like this hit YOU TUBE VIDEO, age and wisdom prevails over youth. Will this be Taj’s year?

Well with only a few hours to go until round 1, and trading still not open on the fantasy surfer website, I now feel confident that ASG is not going to make it happen for the first contest of the season. They need to hire data back, and get him to regulate.

Well, with a few days until snapper the verdict is still out on if Action Sports Group will complete the much needed revamp of the fantasy surfer website (fantasysurfer.com) prior to the first round of competition. I became skeptical when they missed their own deadline two weeks ago.  They later updated their site to allow for pre-registration, and to preview surfer values which is basically just a bs way of trying to buy time. Will they make the deadline, or will this failure help bolster more support for Fantasy Actions Sports League (fantasyactionsportsleague.com/surf). The cool part about FASL is that you can actually win money, the downside is it is fairly expensive. Only Time will tell. I am looking forward to the quiksilver pro 2010 at snapper rocks, and kicking off the new season.

It’s rare that I post on non surfing related stuff, but I stumbled across a diamond in the ruff and I feel obligated to let the world know. I recently visited the baithouse bar / seafood restaurant in clearwater beach for a holiday party and was instantly mystified by the beauty of the location, the charm of the people and the quality of the food.

The nostalgia reminds me of the very popular waterfront dining restaurants and bars I frequented by boat as a kid in virginia beach, va. The bait house is literally an old dockside baithouse in clearwater beach municipal marina that was converted to a bar and restaurant. The entire place is on a dock over the water and they kept part of the true “bait shack” look by keeping a small bait and tackle shop in the entrance to the restaurant.  The restaurant is out over the water, facing the waterway and the flow of boats motoring in and out of the marina. It is a breath of fresh air for clearwater dining. I have lived in pinellas county Florida for about two years and this place is my new favorite. All of the fish is truly fresh catch and the specials change with what fish are biting. Their assortment of beverages (particularly in the beer department) is quite impressive.  In addition to food, bait and tackle they have several boat slips, so coming by boat is a great option. If you have been out fishing on your own, or on a commercial charter trip (all the big charter boats park next door) they encourage you to bring your fish in and they will prepare it for you however you like, while you relax and enjoy the view. All the food on the menu is made to order, and is truly unbelievable. I can’t wait to go back.

PIPE MASTERS IS ON AT 8AM HAWAII TIME – Watch it Live

The Billabong Pipeline Masters is a prestigious event in surfing held annually at Banzai Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii. It was established in 1970 and attracts the top 45 surfers from the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) as well as 16 surfers who compete in walk on trials. The event is the final leg of the Triple Crown of Surfing and the final event on the ASP World Tour. This years event will determine the world champion for 2009, and is a points battle between Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson

Year      Winner
1971      Jeff Hakman
1972      Gerry Lopez
1973      Gerry Lopez
1974      Jeff Crawford
1975      Shaun Tomson
1976      Rory Russell
1977      Rory Russell
1978      Larry Blair
1979      Larry Blair
1980      Mark Richards
1981      Simon Anderson
1982      Michael Ho
1983      Dane Kealoha
1984      Joey Buran
1985      Mark Occhilupo
1986      Derek Ho
1987      Tom Carroll
1988      Rob Page
1989      Gary Elkerton
1990      Tom Carroll
1991      Tom Carroll
1992      Kelly Slater
1993      Derek Ho
1994      Kelly Slater
1995      Kelly Slater
1996      Kelly Slater
1997      John Gomes
1998      Jake Paterson
1999      Kelly Slater
2000      Rob Machado
2001      Bruce Irons
2002      Andy Irons
2003      Andy Irons
2004      Jamie O’Brien
2005      Andy Irons
2006      Andy Irons
2007      Bede Durbidge
2008      Kelly Slater