FROM THE MIND OF MOREY
2-27-08
BY CORKY CARROLL

I have written about my friend Tom Morey here a few times in the past. Tom is the guy who invented the “Boogie Board.” He is also one of the true legends of surfing and one of the best people with one of the most cosmic minds that I have ever come across. We have been amigos for about 45 years and still communicate via email occasionally. I got the following email from him regarding the death of our mutual friend Mike Haley and I want to share it with you. It will give you another view of Mike and also a glimpse into the incredible mind of Morey. Here it is:

“I'm sure glad you're the guy who's covering surf news, translating it to the man on the street. Why? Because: A) You're the real deal, an actual bonafied surf guy who really was there and did that, and B) you're actually a pretty darn entertaining guy such that any number of my non surfing friends read and enjoy your regular piece in the OCReg.

In fact, I don't really get much surf news other than what, Lyle, the vibraphone player with our band, tells me he's just read in your column.

Lyle told me yesterday of your article on the three surfers who passed away, and as I read your write up on Mike... it kind of slid into the exploits of older brother, Jack. Stealing a train, etc. More news worthy items.

However, Mike being just like two years younger, traveled to the beat of a whole different drummer, slipped into an entirely different generation, the drug culture of the sixties. What his part was or wasn't in this, who can say, however, I know that one of his projects in later years was the writing of a book centered on a time, right in the middle of that era, him living with Mike Hynson and LSD advocate, Timothy Leary out in the Laguna Canyon. (I hope this writing comes to print one of these days.)

Anyhow, Mike and I had always been friendly, but we hooked up doubly back some 20 years when I was more or less marooned in the Seattle area and him way out in the boondocks of Oregon... both of us wondering what the heck we were doing this far from warm salt water!

So via the telephone, we became extra good friends. One of us would call the other every month or so and we'd chatter on and on... for sometimes an hour or two... about stuff. Stuff like how to prepare healthier foods, it being the center of his world,. Sure, older brother, Jack, had become a successful restaurateur, but Mike was the guy who was really into the content of foods, the various combinations and what vitamins and minerals were doing.

Also we'd talk surfboard designs and materials, this being the center of mine. And regardless of the topic, Mike was always thoughtful humorous and attentive... helping me to explore my thoughts.

Usually, regardless of the beginning, the topic would veer off to more spacey stuff... "Life After Death?".. and associated views such as why we're here.

I guess I would morn Mike's passing except, that as a result of these many conversations I conclude that I've never met anyone who was as well prepared mentally for passing on. His view being of an ancient and imperishable Being spread throughout the 'Throughoutness", Self buried in and acting As all things in all ways possible, you, him, me and all the rest of this stuff, merely waves, chop, and foam on the surface of this Sea of God's Pleasure.

So, were I to want to be in touch with Mike today or tomorrow, I need only mental dial him up and the conversation begins. Always a good conversation, because I would never be talking to an alien mind, rather, a tiny part in the ONE Great Mind, you own mind, his mind….each a part..

Anyhow, Mike was a chef and in one of our most recent conversations a few months before he passed, Mike goes, "But, you know what? I don't think it makes a whole lot of difference what the food IS. It's about HOW it is. And along that line, I bless every morsel I send out of the kitchen. No one knows this but me, and I don't speak a whole lot of words over the food per say, instead, just really GIVE IT my best feelings, you know."

"And", he went on to say, "I peek out sometimes through the order window and sure enough, can see the effect of love taking place."

 

ON YOUR KNEES
The Wave ~ 2-27-08
BY CORKY CARROLL

Years ago there was a lot of interest in “kneeboard” surfing. This is done on very small boards with the use of fins and obviously done on ones knees. I was thinking that that little side bar to surfing had all but faded into the sunset until I started getting emails and press releases from people asking me to do something on it. Its seems that it’s coming back.

More than fifty knee board surfers gathered at the north jetty in Oceanside recently to compete in a two-day KSUSA US Kneeboard Titles contest. Twelve junior surfers and three women also signed up to compete in the finals for those categories on Saturday.

The waves may have been small, chest high at best, but spirits were high as two groups of four men raced into the areas between the red or white contest flags to begin the twenty-minute heats in the Open division. Sixteen heats were used to break the participants into three main groups. The top two surfers from each heat continued in the Open division. The others went on to compete in AA or AAA divisions. Each man was guaranteed to surf in at least four heats before the finals.

KSUSA board members Don Harris, Tom Linn, Mark Robertson, and Jack Beresford organized the event, along with other KSUSA volunteers who set up the initial heats, did the rankings and ran the evening festivities at Hensley’s Pub in Carlsbad. Judging for the event was provided by Mary Lou Drummy and staff from the Western Surfing Association (WSA). This allowed the organizers and long time members of KSUSA to focus on competing and avoided any perception of bias during the judging.

This was the first time the Titles event was held in Southern California. The three previous US Titles, and the 2007 World Kneeboard Championships, were held at Santa Cruz, CA. Most participants this time were from the southern California area, but a strong contingent came from northern California, including John Mel, a respected shaper and the owner of Freeline Surfshop in Santa Cruz.

By all accounts, kneeboard surfing has been experiencing a resurgence in the last five years. A few of the men said they’d feared they might be the last surviving kneelo and are now thrilled to be part of a group that’s growing, sponsoring contests and introducing more young people to the sport.

Many are surfing more now than they have since their teens. Small groups routinely spend a couple mornings a week comparing notes up and down the local coast, gathering wherever the waves are best to get in a couple hours of surfing before work.

When asked why they chose kneeboarding instead of something else, the answers varied but had a common theme. When you’re on your knees on a board, you can maneuver more quickly to catch a wave and you can catch the “tube” more often. EQ, a long time kneelo and strong advocate of the sport, may have said it best “There’s an intimacy to kneeboarding that isn’t the same in any other form of surfing.” Many others agreed. You’re closer to the ocean on your knees. You see the water as it rushes by. You feel the spray on your face. You sense the power of the wave.

A big reason for the current resurgence is the web site www.KSUSA.org, created in early 2003, and the sense of community it provides kneeboarders. www.KSUSA.org is the brainchild of Don Harris, from Sausalito, California. Don started with a web-based newsletter to help share information among fellow kneelos. When generating content became too time intensive, Don set up the KSUSA web site, created ten log-ons, sent them to people he knew and asked them to go forth and post good information. A month later, twenty-five people had signed up, then fifty. Now there are nearly 1400 members listed on the site, with new people joining every week. Although the site was created to connect surfers in the US, the member list now includes kneeboarders and shapers from Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Brazil, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Since it’s hard to find kneeboard gear in most local surf shops, the web site also helps kneelos track down board shapers both locally and around the world. Much of the innovation in kneeboard design is coming out of Australia these days. Darcy Murphine, one of the women kneelos, ordered a board from a shaper in Australia that she found on the web site and is thrilled with the results. Others have sold or given away their old boards to help a young person get into kneeboarding for the first time at low cost.

More US contests are planned in 2008 and 2009, with World titles in New Zealand in 2009. Check out the web site for more detail.

For me I am gonna stick to standing up as long as I can still get to my feet. After that who knows?