SwellWomen is a proud member of the Surfrider Foundation which is a foundation that is dedicated to the protection and preservation of our world’s oceans, waves and beaches

The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit grassroots and founded in 1984 by a handful of visionary surfers. The Surfrider Foundation now maintains over 50,000 members and 60 chapters across the United States and Puerto Rico, with international affiliates in Australia, Europe, Japan and Brazil.

JAWS at night?

On Jan. 20th, 2011, professional big wave surfer Mark Visser made history by achieving a night ride on waves measuring 30-40 foot faces off the shores of Maui with specially engineered LED lights built into a buoyancy vest and modified into the surfboard. The lighting technologies were created especially for the project by Solus Corporation using ground breaking NASA submarine lighting to ensure the wave and board were lit in the right places, at the right time and illuminated the wave without hindering the vision of Visser, the jet ski drivers and the helicopter pilots.

A true world first – no one has attempted to ride and capture big waves at Jaws, Maui before in total darkness quite like this. With the help of his team overhead in a helicopter, Visser was towed in by jet-ski as he entered the infamous big wave break just prior to the peak of the swell, completely illuminated.

Information and Image form Surfer’s Desk.

Enjoy a vacation with your sister.

By Ellen Barone

Is traveling with your sister on vacation a recipe for disaster? It doesn’t have to be as long as you lay down some ground rules first. Here are a few travel-tested truths for keeping peace in the sister hood.
1) Leave the baggage at home: Sibling relationships can be fraught with the peril of childhood roles, divergent interests and unspoken resentments. So, no matter if you’re the big sis used to being in charge or the baby accustomed to being indulged, leave the birth-order baggage at home.
2) Privatize: Allow for private time in your itinerary.
3) Get thee to chocolate: If you start to get snarky, or she does, take two chocolates and another in the morning. If symptoms escalate, wine is also recommended.
4) Play well with others. Say please and thank you a lot. Show respect, admit your mistakes and never be a tattletale.
5) Money, money, money. Be sure to discuss in advance your expectations for sharing costs, the level of accommodation or how paying for meals is to be handled.

For the complete story visit HERE.

Pearling-
Problem: When the nose of the surfboard gets buried in the water and you pitch forward.

Solution: You may be too far forward. Try lying a little further back on your board.
As the wave starts to take you, arch your back a little to put more weight on your legs / thighs.

The wave passes you by or you miss the wave-
Problem: You aren’t catching any waves.

Solution: You may be too far back on the board. Try shifting your weight a little farther forward (but watch out for pearling). It may take a bit of time to find the sweet spot on your board, not too far forward or too far back. You only want the nose of your board a couple of inches out of the water.
Start paddling earlier so you have more speed when the wave reaches you.
Paddle faster and keep paddling until the wave has passed.

Pictured- Soft Top boards with a protection fin

A great indicator of what your first board purchase should be, has a lot to do with how often you will be surfing. Soft tops or foamies (pictured above) are ideal for never-ever’s or beginners. They are easy to surf, buoyant and you won’t get discouraged as you will be catching a lot of waves (even on your very first day!). However, soft tops aren’t ideal for an adult who has fallen in love with the sport and wishes to do it more than once or twice a year. Typically, an adult would outgrow their  soft top surfboard. This brings us to epoxy boards which make an excellent board for a newbie. Epoxy boards are in between a Soft Top and a Fiber Glass board with a thick coating of foam around the fiberglass. Not only are these boards virtually indestructible, they are also a great training board to take a complete beginner to an intermediate level. After you graduate from an epoxy board, your next board purchase will be a fiber glass board. These certainly get dinged up easily and are not buoyant like the soft top or epoxy board. Fiber glass boards are recommended for intermediate surfers and higher. Hope this helps! Catch a wave today, even if only in your mind.

Soft Tops are the best surfboards to learn on.

The Surfboard

The surfboard is the essential piece of surfing equipment. You can’t surf without it. But what is the real difference between a soft top surfboard and a fiberglass board (or hard top)?

If you’ve ever had surfing lessons with a surf school, you already have a good idea of what a soft surfboard is. Pictured above, think of a soft, pliable foam that is similar to a boogie board but long like a surfboard. Soft Tops are incredibly buoyant and helps beginners catch waves more easily.

The difference between a traditional fiberglass board and a soft top surfboard is that the regular fiberglass has a hard outer shell unlike the foamy shell soft tops have. You also need wax for a fiberglass board to maintain traction while surfing.

Check out next week’s post: What kind of Surfboard should I buy?

Why do surfers lover surfing SOOOO MUCH??? Read this book to find out why.

Saltwater Buddha by Jaimal Yogis is a book about so many different topics related to surfing that is delivered in a clear, light and often humorous way. This book will help you to understand why surfer’s love surfing so much and it’s also perfect for those who love the ocean as well. It describes how surfing is a spiritual practice and provides Jaimal’s personal accounts of the lessons learned in the water. It truly is a must read for those about to embark upon surfing or veteran surfers.

Gidget the movie was released in 1959, and the TV series in 1965. However, did you know that there are actually records of female surfers in Hawaii dating back to the 1600′s? Back then, apparently the females and males were all equally fond of surfing and there was no discrimination between the genders while out in the waves.

The first famous female surfer was considered a Polynesian demi-god, or kupua. This extraordinary surfer was known as Mamala, and she was recognized as being a fantastic and brave surfer in the wildest of waves. Mamala could appear as many creatures including a great shark, gigantic lizard, and not the least, as a beautiful female. Beautiful and fearless, sounds much like the latest crop of contemporary female surfers, doesn’t it?

In 1905, a surfboard dating back to the 1600′s belonging to Princess Kaneamuna of Hawaii, was found in her burial cave. Centuries before Gidget! There are also many traditional Hawaiian chants about female surfers.

Mary Ann Hawkins was a famous female surfer in California in the 1920′s. Faye Baird Fraser was the first female to surf in San Diego.

The first person to surf in Australia was a 15 year old girl called Isabel Letham. She was famously chosen by Duke Kahanamoku to surf tandem with him in 1914 at Freshwater Beach, just around the headland from the world famous Manly Beach.

By the late 1970′s the A.S.P. annual circuit had a division for females. In this era, female surfers like Rell Sunn, Linda Merrill, and Jericho Poppler came to fame for their surfing prowess.

Surfing for girls didn’t really seriously take off until the late 1980′s. Prior to this, girls were expected to be decorative on the sand in their bikinis, working on their suntans. Their boyfriends surfed and the girls watched. That’s just the way it was. Until this time surfing was considered by many to be a male’s sport. In many surf breaks girls were not welcome. Their place was on the sand, or possibly on a boogie board or surf mat out of the way, closer to the shore with the kiddies.

Check out tomorrow for Part 2 of 2.

We are excited to announce that SwellWomen has been published in WellBella Magazine!!  Click HERE for the full story.

Here is a little info about the cool magazine WellBella- As the exclusive health and wellness magazine for GNC, WellBella is a monthly publication dedicated to educating, motivating and inspiring contemporary women of all ages to reach for the highest vision of themselves through the transformational power of health and beauty. Written by top health and fitness experts, every issue is a go-to guide, featuring the latest news, advice, hot products, workouts and an exclusive cover story interview with a high-profile female celebrity who has an inspirational health message.  WellBella puts a fresh—and sexy—spin on every woman’s wellness.

We hope you can check it out!