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Check the newest video on Surfline.com of Jamie Sterling and company charging some huge Dungeons in South Africa. Click Here to see the goods.

Japan Travel Blog
By Matuse Family Member Flynn Novak

Japan is often referred to as ‘the land of the rising sun.’

I didn’t have much time in my one week stay to investigate this slogan, but I did notice the sun beating down on my face every morning at 5:15 am! I like waking up that early and rising with the sun, mainly because it feels like I’m using the day to it’s full potential. I hate starting the day with the sun already up in full effect, it makes me feel like I’ve missed out on something.

I traveled from the CHAOTIC U.S. Open in Huntington Beach, to the tranquil country sides of Tahara, Japan for a WQS 6 star event. The weather was very warm, with light winds blowing through the humid air for most of our days there. The land was mostly used for cattle fields and agriculture, and the dominant smell blowing through the country side consisted of cows and warm soil. Japan was a much needed switch from hearing people cackle in my ear during the U.S. Open, to listening to the distant chirp of Cicidas and the singing of song birds in the bamboo forests that lined every cow pasture.

My Japanese hosts were, Eli and Hiroaki Suzuki–who I referred to as “the Keeper’s”. They were the owner’s of the Keeper surf shop and Lei Lei’s restaurant. I could easily say that these two people were excellent example’s of how the Japanese are the coolest, hardest working, and most respectful people in the world. Aside from running their surf shop and restaurant, which was conveniently an attachment to their house, The Suzuki’s somehow found time to tend to their 15 guests staying in their home for the surf contest. Anywhere from cooking the most tasteful meals to driving us 10 minutes down to the surf contest, these two were working all day to please their guests.

Most of the time, when I arrive in foreign places, it’s really difficult to feel comfortable. But even for it being my first time in Japan, I couldn’t have felt better even if I were sleeping in my own bed. The vibe of the Keeper’s household gave a very pristine feel of being at home, and that is something that I’ve never felt while traveling to foreign destinations.

As for the contest, we didn’t have great waves. It was anywhere from shoulder to knee high during the week-long event. I ended up making the round of 48 and finishing equal 37th out of the field of 192 competitors. I wasn’t happy with the result, but at least I didn’t travel all the way over there to lose in my first heat. But now that I think of it, even if I was a ‘first round clown’ I still would have had the same amount of enjoyment all due to our most hospitable hosts!

Japan is a very special place that I am sure I’ll return to soon…

By Derek Dunfee

How was it teaming up with Johnny this past season and chasing swells?

Johnny Maher and I had an incredible year of chasing swells. I bought my jet ski last year, but this was the first year that we towed together. If there was an emergency, I would definitely trust Johnny’s wave knowledge and judgment to tow me in or pick me up. We both wanted to focus on pushing ourselves into paddling into big waves this winter because paddling-in is the true way to build up confidence in big waves. Throughout the winter we went up to surf mavericks 4 different times, sometimes for multiple swells, went out to Todos 3 times, Hawaii twice, and Oregon for a tow-in contest.

Tell me a little bit about the Nelscott Reef Tow Contest you guys did?

One of my good friends Zach Wormhoudt is a full-on Mavericks local, and he is a competitor in both the Mavericks surf contest and the Nelscott reef tow-in contest. Zach took me out to Mavericks my first time maybe 4 winters ago, so he has seen me slowly grow as a big wave surfer. The Mavericks surf contest was called for the same northwest swell, so he couldn’t make it up to the Nelscott reef comp. He gave the contest director my information and pumped Johnny and my big wave abilities. The contest director called me on Tuesday night and said I had to be up there by Thursday night. We thought the contest was in southern Oregon, but it ended up being in northern Oregon, so we had a ridiculously long drive. We towed my jet ski and drove non-stop-barely making it up there by Thursday night, and we got pulled over by the police two times. In the contest Johnny and I thought we killed it, we thought we were going straight to the final, but we ended up placing like 10th. I was trying to tow Johnny really deep behind the peak on big set waves, a few times I thought for sure he was a goner, but Johnny was ripping and making most waves. Johnny and I both saw a big great white too!!

Did you do any training together?

All winter we were both training really hard when we weren’t surfing. Johnny was surfing, working out at the gym and swimming multiple times a day. I swim and I have been doing some kick-ass functional core workouts with my brother Shane Hurdman who is a personal trainer at Funxion Fitness in Bird Rock. Shane has me focused on strengthening my core by combining plyometric drills with my balance. I have noticed an improvement in both my surfing and my everyday life. For another workout I have been stand-up paddling a lot at La Jolla Shores. Stu Kensen has shaped me two really nice standup boards.

Any bad wipeout’s this winter?

Derek :“On the huge day in December, Johnny had a bad wipeout paddling into a bomb at Todos Santos. Johnny paddled out first, and I was on my Jet Ski watching so I saw the whole thing. Johnny free fell on a big one and skipped down the face. It looked like John got tangled up with his gun, and we he came to my jet ski, he said he was hit in the head by his 10’0 gun underwater and was dazed, then his full suit top was blasted open by the wave.”

Johnny: “I learned something about fear this winter just watching Derek’s 360 free fall from top to bottom on a huge wave at Mavericks this year. He ended up breaking his board and he even broke out his glass-on fins when he hit the water! He came up and the next set-wave was already widow peaking on his head and drove him into the rocks. I thought he was a goner; a rescue ski pulled him out all dizzy and broke. Good thing he trains for that shit, otherwise I don’t know.”

Check out the recent article on Daniel Jones posted on Surfline.com. Daniel recently visited Japan for the WQS 6 star competition. He was traveling with Ford Archibold & Punker Pat. Click Here to check it out.

Mikala Jones had time this week to stop by the offices of Transworld Surf and Surfing. Both magazines posted interviews with Mr. Jones. Mikala was stopping through on his way from El Salvador to Bali. Click Here to read the Transworld Surf interview. Click Here to read the Surfing Mag interview.

Mikala Jones is a Matuse Family Member who spends 1/2 of his year based on the North Shore of Oahu and 1/2 based in Bali. When he’s not there he’s traveling the world in search of perfect waves and cultural experiences. Check out the upcoming Surfing Mag issue which covers his trip to Sumba with Rob Machado.

Check out the recent surf session that went down in South San Diego with Flynn Novak and Daniel Jones. Firststoke.com was on hand to capture the session. The session was a tune up surf before the US Open of Surf in Huntington Beach. Click Here to view the footage.

Flynn Novak takes down an impressive field of riders on his way to a victory at Ala Moana Bowls on the South Shore of Oahu. The waves were going off in what many are claiming the best ever contest held on the south side of the island. When every heat has riders dropping 9’s and 10’s you know the waves are good. Flynn stated “It’s really nice when it’s more about the riding rather than who catches the one wave of the heat”. Flynn has been traveling the globe on the WQS and his experience seems to be paying off. It’s a great win for Flynn. We’ll see if this momentum will help at the US Open of Surfing this week in Huntington Beach. For the full story visit the ASP World Tour’s website. Click Here.

Other notable for the contest was Matuse Family Member Daniel Jones. DJ finished Equal 7th with Kekoa Cazimero. Making the semi finals and collecting a cool $500 was a good showing for the local goofy footer. Daniel will also be headed to the US Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach.

VIDEO PREMIER: If you want to come hang with Flynn Novak and Daniel Jones be at the Huntington Beach Brewery on Main St., July 26 at 9pm. Marley Time Productions will be premiering their new surf film which includes Flynn Novak and Daniel Jones. Flynn will also be a guest bar tender serving his favorite concoctions throughout the night. It’ll be a fun filled night sure to add to your memory box.

Words and Photos by Ariel Willeford

For Jamie Sterling chasing huge waves around the globe is second nature. He studies the Internet and pinpoints when and where the biggest waves in the southern hemisphere will be, while the northern hemisphere is asleep for the summer. There are a lot of logistics to chasing big swells, and since many of the waves Jamie aspires to surf require the assistance of a Jet Ski he has to make sure there is always one available when he shows up. Jamie stated “Last year I arrived at Mavericks on the biggest day of the year and had arranged a jet ski thru a friend and he failed to deliver the ski. It was a very frustrating day for me and my tow partner, Troy Alotis, to sit and watch my dream scenario unfold without being able to surf. I’m over relying on other people…I figured out in LIFE it’s always best to be self sufficient. I never want to be on someone else’s time or agenda when the waves are giant.” Since then he has made it his mission to make sure that the same scenario does not happen again.

To be able to reach all the big wave spots along Americas west coast, Sterls and his partner Troy came up with a plan which will allow them to access every spot from Alaska to Mainland Mexico. Jamie stated “We bought a ‘93 Ford conversion van with a fold down bed in the back and comfortable enough seating for six passengers. Behind the van we are towing a double axle enclosed trailer that can hold a jet ski, tons of boards, and what ever else we want”. From their home in Hawaii Sterls and Troy will be able to leave at the drop of a hat to chase the biggest swells the Pacific Ocean produces. These swells more often than not end up being the biggest on the West coast of America. Jamie stated “I plan on surfing anywhere the conditions and swell will favor. I’m looking forward to exploring new spots that I have not yet surfed, ranging from northern Baja all the way up to the frigid waters of Alaska”. While Jamie and Troy’s idea is to keep the van based in central California, the first objective was to take the set up on a serious maiden voyage. Half of this voyage involved driving across a major portion of the U.S. and deep down into Mainland Mexico, ultimately arriving at Puerto Escondido. The plan for the summer is to leave the “Magnum Mobile Wave Chaser” in Puerto until November, when Jamie plans to drive it back up the coast and station it in Central California.

Jamie has been visiting Puerto since he was 16 and has made it his summertime home base. “It’s a lot like Hawaii” Jamie says. “It’s big and barreling, and every so often it gets too big to paddle into”. Back in 2006 Jamie had the opportunity to sample some truly giant Puerto. With the help of friend and fellow Red Bull athlete Coco Nogales, Jamie was towed into waves that up to that point were arguably the largest ever ridden at the infamous beach break. It’s been two years now and Jamie has been anticipating the next huge swell. Jamie stated “I’m going to be ready. At the end of this trip my ski will be there with all my gear, and when the waves come, Ill be on it!”. On this maiden voyage Sterls invited “Cabo” Charlie Stevens, a 20 year old who grew up in Cabo San Lucas and now resides in Carlsbad, and my self, a freelance videographer/photographer/surfer from the Big Island of Hawaii. Here is how the trip has unfolded so far….

Our whole first week was spent in southern California visiting Jamie’s sponsors, accumulating all kinds of gear and food provisions, mapping out our route, and getting completely prepared for the long road ahead. Jamie was determined to make sure we had everything we needed before we departed. Once we hit the road, we got on the 10 east and joined the massive convoy of huge semi-trucks leaving the golden state and transporting their various good across the country. Driving among these trucks was actually very nerve wrecking since our trailer and van would be blown wayward every time one passed us. Fortunately we made it through Arizona without incident, and after 12 hours of driving through the night we finally decided to find a hotel.

We pulled over in a random tiny town in New Mexico called Lordsburg to get a motel room when we noticed our van was leaking serious amounts of oil. The handy man that worked at that particular motel came over while we were looking at the engine and offered to help us fix it. This was the weirdest little town ever and we were real skeptical of this guy “Johnny” who offered to help us. We didn’t have many options since there was only one mechanic in the whole town and it was Saturday eve and EVERYTHING was closed on Sundays. After some serious deliberation we decided to trust Johnny and took the van over to his house. This was the most classic and memorable part of the trip. Johnny’s house was composed of a small cluster of Adobe shacks, which his elderly father whom we befriended had lived in his entire life. While Johnny wrenched on the van we spent hours talking story with Pops about all kinds of things and had our first opportunity to practice our Spanish. In the late afternoon this huge storm came rolling down the mountains, across the plains, and right onto us. It started as a huge wall of dust like you would see in old movies, dark brown and probably a thousand feet tall, being pushed by a super strong wind, similar to hurricane force winds in Hawaii. After everything including us was covered in dust it started raining super hard and it started flooding all around the house. Johnny and his dad weren’t fazed at all, but we were all tripping, agreeing that it was the strangest weather any of us had experienced. We stayed there in Lordsburg until the evening of the next day and hit the road again, driving across the majority of Texas and ultimately arriving in Corpus Christie.

The city of Corpus Christie is in the southern most part of Texas, right on the water in the gulf. Upon arriving we realized the Oil leak was happening again, and Jamie decided to take the van into the Ford dealership to get it fixed correctly. Luckily we had a friend in Corpus and she put us up at her place while the van was being worked on. It ended up taking the Ford place 5 days to finish the van so we had days and days of cruising in the hottest place ever! It actually ended up being a lot of fun staying there because the pad we were staying in was a 5 bedroom, 3 story house with central A/C and was situated right on a canal with its own private boat dock. We put the Red Bull jet ski that we were hauling into the water and had it docked in front of the house the whole time. We did a bunch of fun stuff with the ski, wake boarding, towing with regular surfboards, whipping each other around on an inner-tube, and I also got to learn how to drive a jet ski for the first time. We also got to surf some real Texan waves, only 2 foot but surfable, and real fun for the standup paddleboard Jamie had also packed into the trailer. After some good ol times in Texas, and with the van in tip top shape, we were ready for the next part of our journey.

Once we hit the road and crossed the boarder in Brownsville, a constant feeling of anxiety kicked in for all of us. We had been hearing all kinds of crazy stories about traveling through Mexico so we were all on our toes the whole time. We instantly ran into some problems at the boarder with paper work stuff but once we got through that it was just a bunch of reading maps, asking people for directions and trying to figure out what roads to take. The roads in Mexico varied from the worst one lane roads filled with deep potholes I have ever seen, to the smoothest, wide, freshly paved roads (these were the toll roads, or Cuotas, some of which cost us as much as $40 to travel on). The toll roads were a savior because they would stretch for many miles without having to go through all the little towns, which had these tedious speed bumps they call Tope’s. Since we were towing a fairly large double axle trailer behind us which was hauling around 3000 pounds, we would have to slow down to literally 1 mph and let each set of wheels slowly go over the Topes one at a time. Each town had anywhere from one to ten or twelve tope’s, and they would appear out of nowhere, so there was a lot of hard braking going on last minute style!

We stayed in one large city along the way called Vera Cruz, which reminded me of a Mexican version of Honolulu. Vera Cruz is a major tourist destination for all the local Mexicans, and pretty much everyone there was on vacation. It was a very unique city with a real festive atmosphere along its oceanfront. The outskirts of the city were paved with cell like housing for the poor. These barrios were the largest I’ve ever seen, rolling on for miles and miles out away from the city. Thousands and thousands of people living in these tiny concrete structures that were all crammed together side by side and were virtually identical. Seeing that made me so, so, so, grateful to be from where I’m from, and to live where I live!

After one night in Vera Cruz we headed inland, hoping to reach the city of Salina Cruz that was located on the opposite side of Mexico, before it got too dark. A major rule of driving in Mexico is to never drive at night. There is the possibility of hitting wild animals that are in the road, and also the threat of being ambushed by Banditos. Just outside of Vera Cruz we encountered an awesome toll road that was straight and fast, and on this road we were able to make way better time than we had expected. We left Vera Cruz at about 8 am, which was on the Gulf side of Mexico, and made it to Salina Cruz, on the Pacific side, by mid afternoon. At that point we realized that we were only about 6 hours away from our final destination, Puerto Escondido, and we collectively decided to push into the night and keep driving. We arrived at Puerto at about 11:00 p.m., after 15 hours plus of driving. We went straight to a late night taco stand for dinner, and then out to a nightclub called Cabo Blanco, which rages on Monday nights, and coincidentally it was Monday night. We hung out until closing, and then Jamie had a few friends come over to our new pad and we finally got to unpack the “MMWC”(Magnum Mobile Wave Chaser).

After days and days on the road it felt so good to be able to spread out all our gear, and start to organize all the great stuff we had brought along with us. The trailer had safely transported a jet ski, beach trailer, nearly 40 surfboards, a stand up paddle board, fiberglass and resin for the local shapers, a barbecue, various food items, chairs, an umbrella, Jamie’s Kettle Bells he uses for training, all my camera gear and a bunch of other random accessories.

Before we knew it, it was close to getting light so we grabbed our surfboards, put our fins in, waxed up, and were in the water as soon as we could see the waves. We ended up having a lot of fun that morning, but we didn’t last very long after not sleeping at all.

Unfortunately our first week here happened to be Puerto’s first episode of heavy rains so far this season. This past week we scored a few beautiful sunny days and the forecast is looking promising for the upcoming week.

We have all felt very at home here in Puerto, with such spacious accommodations and good friends around. “The quality of life in Puerto Escondido is top notch,” says Jamie. “One of my favorite things about this place is going uptown to the local outdoor marketplace”. The market has a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, and all kinds of things you don’t find in the states. Our daily diet here in Mex consists of fruit smoothies every morning, fresh salsa, beans, rice, tortillas, ect. It has been a real treat to have our own kitchen and to be able to cook our own meals at home with all the fresh ingredients the market has to offer.

It is now July 16th and we are all psyching on the new approaching swell. Early this morning Sterls and I ran way up the beach and Jamie surfed his own private reeling left sandbar barrel. It was like a quarter of the length of desert point, but all sand. Sterls got some of the longest 3-4 foot sandbar tubes he’s gotten all year.

The approaching swell arriving this weekend is an 18 second period ground swell, with a super southerly direction. These are the perfect ingredients for a Mexpipe tube fiesta. We’ve got the Red Bull Ski all laced up, our paddleboards are waxed, and our tow boards are strapped. It should be an epic last week here and we are all going to take full advantage of our final days here at the one and only Mexican Pipeline. Stay tuned for the next chapter in the real life adventure that is Jamie Sterling’s life.

Dear fellow watermen and women of the world,

I have just returned from Chile, for the 60th annual IWC (International Whaling Commission) meeting. The journey was comprised of an eclectic group of heavy hitters, such as, trip coordinator Dave Rastovich and wife Hannah Mermaid, current world #2 Joel Parkinson, Chilean super charger Ramon Navarro, Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson, Dane Ward, Chrystal Thornberg, and cinematographer extraordinaire, Dave Homsey. Our trip was organized by the amazing people from ‘Surfers for Cetaceans’ and our journey was rightfully entitled “El Mar Mi Alma”, which roughly translates to “the sea my soul”.

During our adventures across the Chilean coast line, we surfed and interacted with local environmental organizations, fishermen, artists, students and anyone passionate about protecting our rapidly depleting population of whales, dolphins and *cetaceans alike. We were also there to celebrate Chile’s recent decision to declare their waters an international marine sanctuary. Blessed with good fortune, we were able to sample a few of Chile’s finest left hand point breaks and express our creative sides by painting huge whale-centric murals across Chile’s colorful townships. The country is alive with spirit, culture and endless ways to enjoy nature at it’s finest.

On the other hand, during my time spent inside the IWC meetings in Santiago, I realized that the various suited delegates from around the world care more about maintaining politically correct relations than ending the illegal slaughter of whales and dolphins. It seems as though the IWC has created a platform for talking heads to spin their wheels in up scale hotels, wearing designer suits and indulging on gourmet buffet platters. While grass roots organizations such as Sea Shepard and Surfers for Cetaceans, push to create long lasting change in order to protect our ‘planet ocean’.

As the delegates justified the relativity of killing of whales and dolphins, scientific research has proven that whale and dolphin meat can hold up to 20 times the acceptable mercury limit for human consumption. Recent test of dolphin meat being fed to Japanese school children indicated that mercury levels far exceed those of Japan’s Minamata mercury poisoning disaster of the 1950’s. With international resistance growing and coverage of cetacean slaughter reaching global media sources, the last remaining whaling countries are now faced with growing economic hardships. To quote environmentalist extraordinaire Paul Watson’s thoughts on this year’s Antarctic (operation Mushashi) whale saving quest, “We plan on sinking the whaling industry, financially”.

As Surfers, I believe we share a vested interest in banning together to protect the amazing creatures and overall wellbeing of our seas. We can no longer be kept blinded by the horrific acts of marine animal violence/negligence in the name of turning a quick profit. With many marine species on the brink of extinction, the time to ban together and create lasting change is now!

If you would like to get involved or learn more, check out these online resources…

www.surfersforcetaceans.com Dave Rastovich’s organization
www.seashepherd.org Paul Watson’s organization
www.chile08tour.com our trips traveling blog

Sincerely, Chris Del Moro 111

*Cetacean- are the mammals most fully adapted to aquatic life. They include whales, dolphins and porpoises.

Check in on Jamie Sterling’s latest exploits around the world. Click Here to read Jamie’s latest entry into his Red Bull Blog.

Also check out Jamie on Fuel TV this week. It’s called “INSIDE: A Week at Teahupoo” and will be premiering this Thursday 7/17/2008 - 8:00pm ET/PT on FUEL TV! This version is an abbreviated version of the full length video due to be released on DVD August 5th, 2008.