Here's a recap of surf photos we got from a bunch of days at differentlocal spots.

Below is the list of Surf Spots with the days we got photos for during the entire month of August. Each link will take you to the page with a few surf photos and at the bottom of those photos there will be a link to that photographer's gallery where you can find all the surf photos for that day (many times there's well over 100 photos to check out). Most of these photographers offer high-res downloads and prints for sale.

Leo Carrillo

Leo Carrillo - Monday 8-10-2020 Photo Gallery
Leo Carrillo - Tuesday 8-11-2020 Photo Gallery
Leo Carrillo - Wednesday 8-12-2020 Photo Gallery


Zeros

Zeros - Monday 8-10-2020 Photo Gallery
Zeros - Tuesday 8-11-2020 Photo Gallery
Zero's - Tuesday 8-18-2020 Photo Gallery
Zero's - Wednesday 8-19-2020 Photo Gallery
Zero's - sunnday 8-23-2020 Photo Gallery
Zero's - Saturday 8-29-2020 Photo Gallery
Zero's - Sunday 8-30-2020 Photo Gallery


Topanga

Topanga - Monday 8-17-2020 Photo Gallery
Topanga - Saturday 8-22-2020 Photo Gallery
Topanga - Saturday 8-29-2020 Photo Gallery


Sunset

Sunset - Sunday 8-23-2020 Photo Gallery

Taro Watanabe makes a run to Mexico to get some waves during the pandemic.

Meet Lou Porter. A California Native, who loves the beach, surfing and sharing her stories and experiences everyone she encounters. Lou has been coming to Topanga Beach, just north of Los Angeles for years. She takes photos and videos of people surfing and posts them to Instagram and Facebook. Although not a surfer herself she has become a staple in many people's daily routines greeting them as they go in and out to surf.

Lou is committed, she follows the surf charts and on days when there is surf, makes her way from Chatsworth to the beach, a 20 mile commute over the Santa Monica mountains but when the surf is up Lou is there.

A couple of us surfers want to support Lou to get her an upgrade. We are looking to get people from the community to pool together to get her a new camera with a zoom and tripod, to support her. Most of all we want to share our appreciation and enthusiasm for her dedication to the beaches we surf at most.

Please donate!.

With the sad news this weekend that ZJ Boarding House is closing, we dug up this 6 year old documentary about the shop.

"ZJ Boarding House is a true story about two surfers, Mikke Pierson and Todd Roberts and journey running a surf shop in Santa Monica, CA. An inside look at the surf culture through the lens of a business while they balance surfing, employees and community outreach to create a collective vision. A feel good adventure with lots of heart."

A skate battle of epic proportions at Ocean Park. Rivals crews duke it out on boards while the affections of some bodacious babes hang in the balance!

July started off good, and we got a ton of surf photos from a bunch of days at different spots, from Venice up to County Line.

Below is the list of Surf Spots with the days we got photos for during the entire month of July. Each link will take you to the page with a few surf photos and at the bottom of those photos there will be a link to that photographer's gallery where you can find all the surf photos for that day (many times there's well over 100 photos to check out). Most of these photographers offer high-res downloads and prints for sale.

County Line

County Line - Saturday 7-4-2020 Photo Gallery


Leo Carrillo

Leo Carrillo - Friday 7-3-2020 Photo Gallery


Zeros

Zeros - Wednesday 7-1-2020 Photo Gallery
Zeros - Thursday 7-2-2020 Photo Gallery
Zeros - Sunday 7-5-2020 Photo Gallery
Zeros - Monday 7-6-2020 Photo Gallery


Malibu

Malibu - Monday 7-28-2020 Photo Gallery


Topanga

Topanga -Sunday 7-5-2020 Photo Gallery


Sunset

Sunset - Wednesday 7-1-2020 - Part 1 Photo Gallery
Sunset - Wednesday 7-1-2020 - Part 2 Photo Gallery
Sunset - Saturday 7-4-2020 Photo Gallery
Sunset - Sunday 7-5-2020 Photo Gallery
Sunset - Sunday 7-26-2020 Photo Gallery


Venice Breakwater

Venice Breakwater - Wednesday 7-26-2020 Photo Gallery
Venice Breakwater - Friday 7-31-2020 Photo Gallery

Athletes, coaches, and long time friends Ryan Schafer and Tully Chapman discuss a broad range of health and fitness related topics on their Bourbon And Balance Podcast

This week they interview Solo Scott from Venice Beach, California. Solo tells us his story about growing up in California, skateboarding and surfing, and eventually touring the world as a professional surfer. Listen to the podcast in the player below:

As we all know, the Santa Monica Police ignored all the warnings about the upcoming looting attack on the city, and their incompetence led to the looting of over 100 stores in the Downtown Santa Monica.

Now, two of the looters who hit REI and VANS have been arrested.

According to their press release, Detectives with the Santa Monica Police Department scoured hours of security video and social media posts. A suspect vehicle was identified by searching social media videos of the civil unrest. It showed a vehicle license plate with two suspects loading various items from REI. After reviewing REI security video, the two subjects were identified inside the store removing thousands of dollars of merchandise. During the investigation one of individuals was also identified as the suspect of an assault on a police officer.

The Manhattan Beach Police Department stopped the wanted vehicle and notified Santa Monica Police Department Detectives. The occupants of the vehicle were determined to be the two outstanding suspects and were subsequently arrested.

A search of the suspect vehicle pursuant to a search warrant led to the recovery of several stolen items from both the REI and the VANS store.

Suspect #1 is Sebastian Martinez (2/22/1996) of El Segundo, CA. Suspect #2 is Christopher Gutierrez (11/5/2000) of Los Angeles. Both now in SMPD custody.

These arrests still do not excuse the fact that the Santa Monica Police allowed this to happen in the first place, and the fact that the Santa Monica Police Chief and several city council members blatantly lied about what happened.

For more of our coverage of the protests and looting in our beach communities, CLICK HERE

Photographer, Timothy White, takes you behind the lens on his shoot with N.W.A. following the release of their break album, Straight Outta Compton. Timothy recounts his experience riding in Dr. Dre's Mercedes, the moment the surfer walked into the frame that Timothy just barely captured as Dre was making a phone call. An incredible set of photos of an iconic group by a young photographer that would go on to make a name for himself in the world of celebrity photography.

Originally posted by Ross Furukawa on the Santa Monica Daily Press

Local entrepreneur, extreme sportsman and original Dogtown local Mike Vaughan passed away suddenly on June 18th. He was 48 years old.

A third generation Santa Monican, Mike attended Grant Elementary, John Adams Middle School and Santa Monica High School. Many locals knew the Vaughan family, they owned DSJ Printers on Pico Blvd for many years.



Mike started his printing career at DSJ, then launched his own printing company, Positive Existence Printing. Mike built Positive Existence to become an industry leader, printing movie posters, point of purchase displays and many of the billboards you see throughout Los Angeles.

Mike served on the boards of the Boys and Girls Clubs council and the Santa Monica YMCA.

In 2005, Mike started Pro Sup Shop with his then-partner Nikki Von Reisen, Ross Furukawa and his father, Mike Vaughan Sr. Through insight, hard work and a long term vision, Pro Sup Shop became the largest Santa Up Paddle board business in LA County, operating at Mother’s Beach in Marina Del Rey.

Mike touched the lives of many through Pro Sup Shop. He introduced thousands of people to his love of the ocean through this accessible water sport, and was always generous with his time, resources and skills with anyone who showed interest.

He was instrumental in facilitating and building Stand Up Paddleboarding as a team building, social activity, and found it a great way to network with everyone on the water.



Mike played a huge role in starting the Santa Monica Pier Paddle and Ocean Festival, one of the largest water sports events on the West Coast.

A true waterman, Mike competed on a national level in Stand Up Paddleboard racing, eventually cracking the top 5 in his class. He would jump off his board to try to catch sharks with his bare hands. He paddled from San Pedro to Catalina, ran a marathon, then paddled back. He competed in the San Diego Bay to Bay 20 mile race in 10 ft swells during a winter storm. He never quit.

Mike was always the first to go out and the last to come in. He was always the guy who caught the biggest wave, surfed closest to the rock, and got stuffed in the deepest tube.



Most of all, he had a passion for sharing his love of sports and this infected everyone around him.

Mike Vaughan is survived by his wife Jennifer, son Cole, father Mike Vaughn Sr, mother Linda, brother Matt and sisters Diana, Christine and many nieces and nephews.

June was a good month for waves at our local spots and we got a ton of surf photos from a bunch of days at different spots, from Venice up to County Line.

Below is the list of Surf Spots with the days we got photos for during the entire month of May. Each link will take you to the page with a few surf photos and at the bottom of those photos there will be a link to that photographer's gallery where you can find all the surf photos for that day (many times there's well over 100 photos to check out). Most of these photographers offer high-res downloads and prints for sale.

County Line

County Line - Tuesday 6-9-2020 Photo Gallery


Leo Carrillo

Leo Carrillo - Thursday 6-4-2020 Photo Gallery
Leo Carrillo - Friday 6-5-2020 Photo Gallery
Leo Carrillo - Tuesday 6-9-2020 Photo Gallery
Leo Carrillo - Thursday 6-11- 2020 Photo Gallery
Leo Carrillo - Friday 6-12-2020 Photo Gallery
Leo Carrillo - Monday 6-22-2020 Photo Gallery
Leo Carrillo - Monday 6-29-2020 Photo Gallery
Leo Carrillo - Tuesday 6-30-2020 Photo Gallery


Zeros

Zeros - Wednesday 6-3-2020 Photo Gallery
Zeros - Thursday 6-4-2020 Photo Gallery
Zeros - Friday 6-5-2020 Photo Gallery
Zeros - Saturday 6-6-2020 Photo Gallery
Zeros - Monday 6-8-2020 Photo Gallery
Zero's - Tuesday 6-30-2020 Photo Gallery



Zuma

Zuma - Monday 6-8-2020 Photo Gallery


Sunset

Sunset - Wednesday 6-24-2020 Photo Gallery
Sunset - Sunday 6-28-2020 Photo Gallery
Sunset - Monday 6-29-2020 Photo Gallery
Sunset - Tuesday 6-30-2020 Photo Gallery


Venice Breakwater

Venice Breakwater - Wednesday 6-3-2020 Photo Gallery
Venice Breakwater - Sunday 6-7-2020 Photo Gallery

The County of Los Angeles just announced all that they are closing all Los Angeles beaches this upcoming weekend. Here's part of their press release:



The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is ordering L.A. County beaches closed from July 3 through July 6 at 5:00 a.m. to prevent dangerous crowding that results in the spread of deadly COVID-19.

For that same reason, the department is also prohibiting fireworks displays in the County this July 4th holiday weekend.

A modified Health Officer Order will be issued today.

During the holiday weekend, beaches will be totally closed to all recreational activities. Beach parking lots will be closed, as well.

All public beaches, piers, public beach parking lots, beach bike paths that traverse that sanded portion of the beach, and beach access points will be temporarily closed to the public as of 12:01 a.m. on July 3, 2020, until 5 a.m. on July 6, 2020. Long Beach has its own health department and this announcement does not apply to that city, at this time.

It is reported that this new order makes it illegal to trespass at these locations and is punishable by law to include, but not limited to, a $1000 fine.

L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has told reporters that he will NOT enforce the beach closure order for 4th of July weekend. Says LASD was not consulted, and they'll only enforce closing parking lots/traffic on PCH.

BREAKING: L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva tells me he will NOT enforce the beach closure order for 4th of July weekend. Says LASD was not consulted, and they'll only enforce closing parking lots/traffic on PCH. Says "We are Care First, Jail Last" in shot at county. @FOXLA

— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) June 30, 2020

The Lost Hills Sheriffs Department, which patrols Malibu made this announcement via their Facebook:
"Today, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors announced the closure of our beaches, piers, beach bike paths, and beach access points beginning 7/3/2020 through 7/6/2020. The Malibu/Lost Hills Station Beach Team will be patrolling the beaches throughout the weekend and late into the evening. This new order makes it illegal to trespass at these locations and is punishable by law to include, but not limited to, a $1000 fine."

And just a reminder, those mystical $1,000 surfing tickets that you heard a friend of a friend of another friend say someone got, or that you read about on some bullshit Surfline or lame Inertia article, there were none given out.



For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

On June 11th, 2020, a surfer's vehicle was stolen from 18th Ave at Venice Beach. The car thief took the keys that were hidden under the fender and stole the vehicle.

It appears he may have been watching the driver the whole time, he walks right up to the car, looks back and then goes right to where the keys were hidden. As of the time of publishing this video, this thief has not been caught, LAPD has done nothing yet.

Thieves have been targeting surfers' vehicles in the Los Angeles area. Watching for them to hide the keys and go out into the water, then using the keys and either stealing items from the vehicle, or as in this case, driving off with the vehicle. So don't hide your keys at your vehicle. At the very least, use a lock box, do something to not make yourself an easy target. While, lock boxes are not 100% theft prove, they are a good deterrent. Most of the car burglaries and thefts we have heard about have involved keys that were hidden on or near the vehicle.

Below are two different lock boxes available on Amazon. Longtime surf photographer Randy Wright recommends the WordLock Key Lock Box both for it's security and for it's large capacity cylindrical container.

May was a good month for waves at our local spots and we got a ton of surf photos from a bunch of days at different spots, from Venice up to County Line.

Below is the list of Surf Spots with the days we got photos for during the entire month of May. Each link will take you to the page with a few surf photos and at the bottom of those photos there will be a link to that photographer's gallery where you can find all the surf photos for that day (many times there's well over 100 photos to check out). Most of these photographers offer high-res downloads and prints for sale.

County Line

County Line - Saturday 5-16-2020 Photo Gallery
County Line - Thursday 5-28-2020 Photo Gallery


Leo Carrillo

Leo Carrillo - Tuesday 5-19-2020 Photo Gallery
Leo Carrillo - Wednesday 5-20-2020 Photo Gallery
Leo Carrillo - Wednesday 5-27-2020 Photo Gallery
Leo Carrillo - Friday 5-29-2020 Photo Gallery
Leo Carrillo - Saturday 5-30-2020 Photo Gallery


Zeros

Zeros - Friday 5-29-2020 Photo Gallery
Zeros - Saturday 5-30-2020 Photo Gallery


Topanga

Topanga - Tuesday 5-19-2020 Photo Gallery
Topanga - Sunday 5-31-2020 Photo Gallery


Sunset

Sunset - Saturday 5-9-2020 Photo Gallery
Sunset - Sunday 5-10-2020 Photo Gallery
Sunset - Monday 5-11-2020 Photo Gallery
Sunset - Tuesday 5-12-2020 Photo Gallery
Sunset - Saturday 5-30-2020 Photo Gallery
Sunset - Sunday 5-31-2020 Photo Gallery


Venice Breakwater

Venice Pier - Saturday 5-2-2020 Photo Gallery
Venice Breakwater - Monday 5-4-2020 Photo Gallery
Venice Breakwater - Tuesday 5-5-2020 Photo Gallery
Venice Breakwater - Wednesday 5-20-2020 Photo Gallery


Venice Pier

Venice Pier - Tuesday 5-5-2020 Photo Gallery
Venice Pier - Wednesday 5-6-2020 Photo Gallery
Venice Pier - Saturday 5-16-2020 Photo Gallery

Venice Skate Park's Sergeant-At-Arms Peck and Venice Skateboarding Stuff got everyone together to clean out the skate park.

As seen on our Instagram Stories, the clean up started late Sunday afternoon, Peck rounding up shovels, brooms, and buckets, and the crew started removing most of the sand from the mini-bowl.


Sunday afternoon, mini-bowl almost cleared out and was skate-able.

Venice Skateboarding Stuff put the word out that skate park clean up will continue at 8am on Monday.

Clean up resumed early Monday with a few people, then it grew throughout the morning to a large number of people coming down to help out. More shovels and buckets were brought over. All ages pitched in, even the non-skaters jumped in and started shoveling out sand.


Peck in the completely buried snake run Monday morning.




There were all ages helping out.

No interruptions from Police or The Department Of Parks & Recreation. But a source said that Parks & Rec are just going to tell the workers to fill the skate park back up with sand again.


This kid was shoveling sand on Sunday and Monday morning, took a break from that to get some air over the hip.

@somasugiyama with sandals frontside airing a penny board.





By Sunday afternoon, the last bucket of sand was removed from the snake run. The mini-bowl was cleared of sand, and they were working on getting the last of the sand out of the pool. By late afternoon, everyone was skating the park again. But as seen in the photos, the city let the skate park get thrashed, there is graffiti everywhere, it has never been this badly tagged up before.


Venice Skateboarding Stuff , Peck, and all who helped get the skate park.

We'll have to wait till Tuesday morning when the Parks & Rec head honcho shows up to find out the fate of the park.

The city workers gave a heads up, that the park will just be refilled with sand. But Peck said, "We are prepare for that, we're ready for that, we prepared for that. But hey, let it be a battle. We gonna fight for what we believe in and our rights, cuz this skate park is our life and we're gonna fight for it."

Check out more photos of the clean up and skating in this gallery:

Venice Skatepark - May 2020 Photo Galley