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!

A new video uploaded of Laird Hamilton from the Hurricane Marie swell.

"Life goes on in Venice Beach everybody enjoys himself roller blading skating ,dancing skateboarding ,playing football or just enjoying a nice sunny day on the beach."

Another quick video from Mike, aka German in Venice, showing daily life in Venice Beach.

On Thursday, at 12:15PM, beach-goers near Tower 28 in Ocean Park spotted a man with what appeared to be a handgun in his belt.

The Santa Monica Police were called and showed up to apprehended him.

He was walking towards Lifeguard Tower 28 when the cops approached him. "I didn't do anything...let me go." and "I'm gettin' outta this town, I don't like these fuckin' liberals." are among some of the things he yelled to the police as they drew their guns on him and instructed him to get down.

He was placed in cuffs fairly quickly, while yelling, "Blue lives matter!" among other ramblings.

He shouted "You better get back to work and stop protesting in the street..you understand me!" to all the on-lookers who were watching him and his fancy hat being escorted off the sand to the police vehicles parked in the lot.

While getting placed in the police vehicle, he gets heckled by the dude from the nearby surf school to which he responds by threatening to come back and kill him.

The guy's VW car was parked on Bernard Way in front of Ocean View Park. It had Ohio Army Veteran plates on it, and inside the car was several large knives and a small axe. During the police search of the vehicle, they also found a sleeping bag in the back seat, and in the truck was clothing, food, a laptop, pots & pans, and more household items.

No word on this from the SMPD yet, but according to the surf school dude's heckling, the man will be spending the next 5 years having anal sex.

The complete uncut video from our Instagram Story is below:

Classic longboard surfing at its finest filmed by Andrea Coleman.

Mike, aka German in Venice, heads up to Dogtown to check out the Friday night car meet.

SurfAid has just uploaded a video from their 2018 SurfAid Cup event in Malibu. Perfect timing, due to the Coronavirus closures, we haven't had any recent events to feature.

On September 8, the SurfAid Cup Malibu 2018 saw super-fun waves roll down first point, and competitors took full advantage. Over $74,000 was raised for SurfAid's Mother and Child Health Programs, which make a huge difference to the lives of people in communities connected to us through surfing. SurfAid

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.

Hawaiian big wave surfer Koa Rothman heads to Lowers and then to a crowded Malibu on his Cali trip.

Nothing like a Saturday in the summer in Malibu.

Filmed by @brianbehrens on June 6th, 2020.

Groovy California and Hawaii 70's surfing at Malibu, Pipeline, Honolua Bay, Haleiwa, Oxnard, Moss Landing featuring surfers Jeff Hakman, Rolf Aurness, J. Riddle, Brad Mc Call, Angie Reno, Andy Davis, David Nuuhiwa, Greg Elterman, and more of the "Cosmic Children".

Join Bobby Hundreds on Venice Beach in Los Angeles as he starts his day with a ritualistic solo surf session. Amongst all the noise and distractions, his morning routine gives him pause for thought and a moment to catch his breath in preparation for the day ahead; remaining driven by what lays out of view, beyond the horizon.

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.

Video and text by David Malana

#Colorthewater

The death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many more is absolutely unacceptable, and I can't sit idle or away anymore. Protests are continuing to make real change, and I am all for it (please stay healthy y'all!) I am 100% down with it as long as it lasts, but when it dies down, I am hoping everyone involved, including myself, can find ways to take the motivation and community we find in it and move it into our daily lives, that uncomfortable place where we all need to have it to be able to shift the paradigm. Policy changing is important too, this is not to downplay any of it... but the personal life change I think is where we as individuals can really dispel the lies created to keep us divided. So, as we plan to try and incorporate that kind of change into our daily lives, here is mine.

I want there to be more equity in the water. One thing noticeable in the paddle outs that I have been going to is that most people there are white. That's great that people are showing up, but it's also a really good indicator of the demographic of surfing. Surfing is something I think could really help a lot of people... it's really helped me, and there are so many barriers that BIPOC have to break through to make it happen. So I am hoping to help remedy that by offering FREE surf lessons and surf media to any BIPOC interested in learning. I also call on all my surfers out there to do the same, and help me close this gap between people and the ocean.

This video of a brave man that I met while surfing. He was teaching himself in really tough conditions and he was able to learn as fast as anyone I had ever met. Now, he is my friend, Winston, and I am happy to introduce you all to him.

ps. It's also Prince's Birthday that I made this in commemoration of, which is why I have the song lyrics and font that I do. He would have never guessed, but maybe he always knew that it would be in Minneapolis that the revolution would start.

Video and text by David Malana

In honor of George Floyd, we paddled out to pay respects in Santa Monica. One thing you notice more than anything is that the surfing community is predominantly white. A sport created by people of color (ancient Polynesians) banned by white colonizers who proclaimed it an act of evil, reintroduced to the world by a Hawaiian, and then taken over again by vast majority white people who now make billions off of a surf industry that uses people and places of color as decoration for events, videos, movies, and photos. It's a bit of an irony that as a Filipino man, I often feel out of place. My challenge to surfers is to practice the concept of equity in their surf lives by sharing our love for the ocean and its waves with people and communities that didn't inherit the wealth you did, didn't have learning to swim or going to the beach as a birthright, and who now are represented by a brave few that paddled out with us that day, as a small somber amidst a crowd of generally jovial surfers enjoying their unintentionally closed communities. If you would like to find a hopeful surfer of color who wants to experience what we so readily enjoy, please let me know and I can help. That is one way we can do our part moving forward. Take the feels you get from these things, and do more to get BIPOCs back in the water where they once so naturally belonged.

Travel along the California coast to surf Big Malibu as Dewey Weber, Miki Dora, Lance Carson and the local boyz strut their stuff on the wave they all claimed, that stretch of sand along Pacific Coast highway called Surfrider Beach. Hear a new original score that will take you back to a time when the beaches were pure and the waves were always breaking- surf music that makes you long for the Rendezvous’ Ballroom, laying down the line for the “Surfer’s Stomp!”

Surfing bioluminescent waves at Venice Beach during May 2020. Filmed By Cameron Chacker