Pure grace in motion. Check out the rest of the nominees for Surfer Mag's 2009 photo of the year.

Firewire and Arbor share philosophy and good wood

Big fan man Chuy Renyer examines his aquatic footprint on a prototype Koa Dominator.

Excerpt rom SurfersPath.com

When top pro and Firewire rider Taj Burrows says he’s broken only 3 boards this year instead of the usual 30 he used to break in his PU days, you know there’s something ‘green’ about his boards. Firewire have now hooked up with Arbor, the snow and skate world’s finest purveyors of natural material products, to make a new line of greener, woodier boards this spring.

“For a long time we’ve looked for the right way to take our technology and create something original for the surf hardgoods market,” says Arbor co-founder, Bob Carlson. “If you know us or our products, it’s pretty clear that a fair share of our roots and large part of our lives are based in surf. Surfboards have always been the obvious brand extension. Now, with the rise of Firewire and the opportunity created by this collaboration, I think the timing and manner are right for Arbor to enter the surfboard market in the most positive and unique possible way.”

The new Koa and Wasteland Dominator surfboards will be available in April of 2010.

#53 Surf at night.

The surfer's bucket list

Excerp from SurferMag.com, without permission.

Other people have hobbies. Surfers have lives. For us, it's not some once-a-month, do-it-on-the-weekend mode of practice that keeps us going, but rather a constantly vigilant application that demands that we always have surfing on our minds, continually know what the ocean is doing, forever planning our next session, scheming for our next retreat. Though it's as demanding as it is rewarding, we wouldn't have it any other way, because it's the dedication that's required that makes the lifestyle that much sweeter. We know that it's a big wide surf world out there, and today surfers have more options than ever before, but there are some things that need to be done at least once in a surf life, no questions asked. It's not meant to be accomplished in a month or a year, but rather over a lifetime, and it's the process of accomplishing that will keep you living to surf. The list.....

Water quality advisories (a.k.a. the poo factor)

Sample results detected higher thannormal fecal bacteria levels at the following locations:

No advisories at this time.

The Oregon Beach Monitoring Program (OBMP) monitors the waters along Oregon's coastline for the presence of fecal bacteria, and reports elevated levels to the public. For information on advisories, testing sites, and the program in general, follow this link.

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The state of our beaches

Oregon began to implement a statewide beach water quality monitoring program in 2003. An on-line Costal Atlas is now available that provides a wealth of information on coastal resources. Beach access information and status is exceptional due to Oregon's longstanding "Beach Bill", with greater than one access site per mile of shoreline.