Ghost Wave
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5. I interviewed Rush Randle on not competing in the Jaws contest in 2004. Parsons and Gerlach described the Jaws contest to me during an interview in San Clemente in 2004.
6. A great deal of work I would do for The New York Times in the coming years—surf-related and otherwise—started with a story called “A Machine Age Clash Among Surfers,” February 5, 2002. The story dealt with the unfolding controversy of Jet Ski-assisted surfing through the eyes of Jeff Clark, Peter Mel, Mark Renneker, and Grant Washburn. Some other surf-related Times stories included a now tragically timely look at San Onofre, “Atomic Plant Casts a Pall on Paradise,” May 12, 2002. An interview with John Parodi, best friend of a victim of the Bali nightclub bombing, appeared in “Lives: The Last Wave,” New York Times Magazine, November 10, 2002. I described a XXL controversy over a French big wave discovery, “This French New Wave Finds Few U.S. Fans,” April 7, 2003. And visited Monterey’s deadly giant in “For Daring, Ghost Trees Is Ultimate Thrill Ride,” April 3, 2005.
7. A terrific piece on The Billabong Odyssey is by Steve Hawk, “Surf & Destroy,” Outside, April 2004 (http://outsideonline.com/outside/features/200404/surfing_billabong_odyssey_1.html)
8. I interviewed Dave Kalama for this chapter by phone in early 2011 after reading Susan Casey’s The Wave. I once interviewed Dave on Maui back in 2001for Surfer on the remarkable “foilboard” surfboard he and Laird had been testing. Kalama then took my future wife and me outrigger canoeing at a rainbow-laced surf break called “Thousand Peaks.” My wife still calls the experience among the tops in her life, and said to be sure I thanked Dave again.
9. Results for every XXL contest, including the K2 Big Wave Challenge, were provided by Bill Sharp, along with his “Odyssey” and “Project Neptune” press releases. He was interviewed in Transworld Business shortly after getting the go-ahead for the Odyssey, “Billabong Odyssey Offers $500K for 100-Foot Wave,” Transworld Business, July 10, 2001 (http://business.transworld.net/4676/uncategorized/billabong-odyssey-offers-500k-for-100-foot-wave/).
10. Other stories:
A. Evan Slater, “The Envelope Please…Just how will we pick a Swell/XXL grand-prize winner?” Surfline, February 2, 2001 (http://ads.surfline.com/mag/pulse/2001/feb/02_22_update.cfm).
B. Matt Walker, “60 (Foot) Minutes—Insider notes from the judges’ landmark meeting to decide the XXL Big Wave Awards,” Surfline, March 3, 2001 (http://el.surfline.com/mag/pulse/2001/mar/03_27_xxl_judging.cfm).
C. Evan Slater, Matt Walker, Marcus Sanders, and Steve Hawk, “Mike Parsons wins the Swell-Surfline XXL Big Wave Awards for his 66-foot bomb at Cortes Bank,” Surfline, March 3, 2001 (http://ads.surfline.com/mag/pulse/2001/mar/03_30_ceremony.cfm).
D. Mike Parsons as told to Chris Mauro, “Run Silent Run Deep: A Secret Mission to Cortes Bank Kicks off the 2003/2004 Big Wave Season,” Surfer, April 2004.
E. Pete Thomas, “Remote Surf Spot Draws Mob,” Los Angeles Times, January 20, 2004.
F. Marcus Sanders, “Cashing In: Six Surfers Tackle Giant Surf at the Cortes Bank,” Surfline, March 10, 2005 (http://www.surfline.com/surfnews/2005_03_10/cashing_in_story.cfm).
G. Brad Gerlach, “To Hell and Back,” Surfline, Feb 15, 2005 (http://www.surfline.com/ surfnews/2006_02_15_cortes.cfm).
H. Terry McCarthy, “When the Surf’s Way Up,” Time, July 19, 2004 (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,662800-2,00.html).
I. Susan Casey, “The Jaws Paradigm,” Sports Illustrated, August 7, 2006 (http://sportsillustrated .cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1105277/index.htm).
J. Motoko Rich, “Author and Surfer to Share in Proceeds of Waves Book,” The New York Times, May 9, 2007 (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/books/09surf.html).
CHAPTER 11
1. The first round of interviews for this chapter came as I was working on “Beneath the Waves,” Men’s Journal, March 2008. After Peter Davi died, I spent December 23, 2007, with Pete’s eighteen-year-old son Jake and Pete’s buddy Anthony Ruffo. Jake was unaware at the time that a toxicology report would show methamphetamine in Pete’s blood. I greatly appreciate Jake and Ruffo’s help with the story and hope that they feel that while I couldn’t overlook the report, I also didn’t overlook the fact that Pete was a fiercely intelligent, pioneering, and highly respected waterman.
2. A stellar play-by-play of the December 2007 swell appears in “Chasing Giants” by Greg Long and Mark Healey, Surfing, March 2008.
3. By January 6, 2008, I was gawking at stupefying video footage alongside Greg Long, Twiggy, Snips, and Gerlach at Mike’s home in the wake of the January 5 mission to Cortes. Coverage began with:
A. “Eye of the Storm. Gerlach, Snips, Greg Long and Twiggy Score Huge at Cortes Bank” by Mike Parsons, Surfline, January 8, 2008. (http://www.surfline.com/surfnews/photo_bamp_html .cfm?id=13060&pic=2).
B. “Surfers Defy Giant Waves Awakened by Storm,” by Chris Dixon, The New York Times, January 9, 2008 (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/sports/othersports/09surf.html).
C. “The Next Sir Edmund Hillarys: Riders on the Storm” by Lawrence Downes, appearing on The Board: A Blog by the Editorial Writers of The New York Times, January 11, 2008 (http://theboard .blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/the-next-sir-edmund-hillarys-riders-on-the-storm/).
4. The funniest takes on the Cortes Mission came from Surfermag.com’s forum: “Parson’s XXXXXXXXL” (http://forum.surfermag.com/forum/showflat.php?Number=1299798).
5. The story of the great storm of 2008 came through a interviews with Leanne Lusk, command duty officer for the Coast Guard’s eleventh district, and Dr. Warren Blier, Chief Science and Operations Officer at NOAA in San Francisco.
6. Other sources:
A. NOAA meteorologist Scott Hazen Mueller provided day-by-day updates of the storm’s progress on the National Weather Service’s San Francisco office Web site. (http://groups.google.com/group/ba.weather/search?q=dec+31+2007+discussion&start=0&scoring=d&)
B. Jeffrey Lewitsky, Arlena Moses, and Robert Ruehl, “January 3–6, 2008 Storm Summary/Case Study,” NWS WFO Eureka, California, 2008 (www.wrh.noaa.gov/eka/local_studies/2008-Jan-3-6.pdf).
C. Jesse McKinley, “Ferocious Storm Punishes Northern California,” The New York Times, January 5, 2008.
D. Gary Klein, “Sausalito Diver Dies After Fall into Frigid Bay,” Marin Independent Journal, January 7, 2008.
E. “Public Information Statement,” National Weather Service, San Joaquin Valley, California, January 9, 2008 (www.wrh.noaa.gov/hnx/events/Jan042008rain.txt).
F. “Preliminary Local Storm Report…Summary,” National Weather Service, San Joaquin Valley, California, January 5, 2008 (www.wrh.noaa.gov/hnx/events/Jan042008wind.txt).
G. Douglas Le Comte, “Weather Highlights 2008,” Weatherwise, March–April 2009.
H. “Maximum Height Of Extreme Waves Up Dramatically In Pacific Northwest,” Oregon State University, January 25, 2010 (http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2010/jan/maximum-height-extreme-waves-dramatically-pacific-northwest).
7. “January 4–5, 2008 Winter Storm Summary,” National Weather Service, Hanford, Oregon, January 2008 (http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/hnx/jan042008winterstorm.php).
8. “2008 New Years Storms,” National Weather Service, San Francisco/Monterey Bay, January 2008 (http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mtr/jan4_storm.php).
9. “Top Weather Stories for the Decade, 2000–2009,” National Weather Service, Reno, Nevada, January 2009 (www.wrh.noaa.gov/rev/climate/decade00.php).
10. David R. Baker, “PG&E’s Blacked-Out Users During Storm Might Be 10-Year Record,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 8, 2008.
11. “Storms kill three in western US,” BBC, (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7173995.stm), January 6, 2008.
12. “Man Killed, Seven Injured on Icy Mountain Highway,” KVAL TV (http://www.katu.com/news/13486032.html), January 6, 2008.
In the wake of Larry “Flame” Moore’s death, Candace and Larry’s sister Celeste have formed the Follow the Light Foundation, which bestows grants on buddin
g surf lensmen (http://followthelightfoundation.org). I could not have properly told Flame’s part of this tale had his wife, Candace, not graciously invited me into her home and related a very difficult story of love and loss. Without Flame’s pioneering efforts, this book would have never been written, and I can only hope Flame would think it a worthy read.
Late into my work on this book, my own father was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer. I’m thankful he was able to read an early copy of this book before he passed. I’d like to dedicate the pages you’ve just read to my dear old dad, Richard Jobie Dixon, July 17, 1943–July 3, 2011.
Text copyright © 2011 by Chris Dixon.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.
Dixon, Chris, 1966-
Ghost wave : the discovery of Cortes bank and the biggest wave on earth/by Chris Dixon.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-4521-1009-7
1. Surfing--California. 2. Surfing--Pacific Area. 3. Ocean waves--California. 4. Ocean waves--Pacific Area. I. Title.
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