About a month ago, a San Mateo, California, judge made it pretty clear that a trespassing case against five surfers who tried to access Martin’s Beach, about halfway between Monterey and San Francisco, wasn’t just wrong, but that the road to the beach must be open to the public and the trespassing charge was 100 [ more... ]

Bonfires on the sands of Southern California are as much a part of the beach culture as sunsets and groms on potato chip-sized surfboards, but in Newport Beach the city and residents are tussling over whether to keep them — the city says no, locals say yes. And while the California Coastal Commission, which rules [ more... ]

For the past several weeks illegal commercial fishermen in the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia have been fishing with dynamite. They throw the explosives overboard and then pick up the dead fish to sell on the mainland 100 miles away. These are not subsistence villagers, they are people from outside the local communities looking to make [ more... ]

There will be no 12th world title for Kelly Slater this year: In a battle that came down to the wire in the last event of the season, Joel Parkinson survived to win the Billabong Pipe Masters, taking the Pipeline event and surfing’s world title, both for the first time. It was a moment of [ more... ]

A new website, Female Wolfpack, is designed to help elevate the status of pro and amateur female athletes who are doing things cooler than all of us. In their own words, “We hope to be a source for both face-melting and inspiration.” Based on the first trailer, it looks like they’re off to a good start.

via the Ski Journal

World champion pro surfer Kelly Slater may have to appear in a California courtroom over a trademark dispute involving him and surfwear company Quiksilver. Rival New York apparel maker World Marketing alleges Slater’s brand, VSTR, which launched in January, violates a trademark it had for its Visitor apparel line. Quiksilver has claimed VSTR was based [ more... ]

Surf brand Billabong has been circling the drain for awhile now, losing $275.6 million (Australia) in its 2011-12 fiscal years and then being spurned by both suitors, TPG and Bain Capital. TPG recently yanked its $700 million offer, about twice the current stock price, after taking a close look. Well maybe U.S. president Paul Naude [ more... ]

Sunday was not a good day to be in the water in Hawaii. On Kauai a surfer was attacked by what is estimated to be an eight- to 10-foot tiger shark — it took a big bite out of the back of the surfer’s board but didn’t pursue him. It probably helped that he was [ more... ]

The fight over one of the world’s preeminent big wave contest has been a soap opera, but the Mavericks Invitational is back on, after a chase for sponsorship last year fizzled (and shooting the Chasing Mavericks movie made timing more challenging). This year’s comp officially starts November 9 thanks to GoPro, which stepped up with [ more... ]

The crew from Patagonia goes on the road for an exploratory surf and sailing trip along the coast of British Columbia to get a look at the area that would be threatened if the Northern Gateway tar sands oil pipeline is built. The Chris Malloy film Groundswell is on the road now making their way down the left coast. Stop by if you’re nearby, you can always know these events will have the best beer.