Friday, December 31, 2021

New Year’s Resolution to Protect Planet

 

Two Generations – One Common Goal

 


Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

Different generations often don't feel that they have much in common. But, when it comes to trash on the beach, one 70-year-old and two teens – 8,000 miles apart – agreed it was time to do something about it.    

Pat Smith, a grandmother from Cornwall, England, became a woman on a mission – to clean 52 beaches in Cornwall and Devon. After seeing so much trash on the beach, in 2018 she made a New Year's resolution to clean one beach every week for 52 weeks. 

 


Armed with bags, rubber gloves and a litter pick, she worked her way along the coast gathering trash at beach spots from Coverack, Cornwall, to Blackpool Sands, Devon. 


After completing her task, Smith didn’t want to stop. Saying, "The beaches need me," she founded an environmental group Final Straw Cornwall to get people involved and now they are cleaning even more beaches. 

 


Some 8,000 miles away, in Bali, Melati and Isabel Wijsen are equally focused on combating beach and ocean pollution. In 2013, when they were 12 and 10, the two sisters began lobbying the government to ban plastic bags on the island.

 


In 2019 they succeeded in getting single-use plastic bags, plastic straws and Styrofoam containers banned in Bali. They also started the non-profit environmental organization Bye Bye Plastic Bags, which is active in 30 countries.

 

And to get more young people on board, Melati launched Youthtopia to come up with local solutions to fight pollution.  

 


With environmental advocates like these, who knows what Smith's next New Year's resolution or the Wijsens' projects will do for the planet...and to inspire generations of all ages. What’s your resolution?


SurfWriter Girls

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine 

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.

 

Sunday, December 19, 2021

Surf City Splash for Surfrider Foundation

 

Splash In the New Year!

  


Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

Make a splash in the New Year on January 1, 2022, at the Huntington Beach Surf City Splash event benefiting the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation's Huntington/Seal Beach Chapter. 


Get ready to ring in the New Year with a pancake breakfast at 9 a.m. and an invigorating plunge in the Pacific Ocean at the HB Pier at high noon! 


Catch up with friends and find treasures at the silent auction and opportunity drawings while you explore the Winter Vendor Village. Or swap your surfboard for skates at the Winter Wonderland Ice Skating Rink.

 


KC Fockler and Roberta Wynashe, the H/SB Chapter co-chairs, have been working with Surfrider’s sponsors to make this a special New Year’s Day in Surf City USA.  

 


This is the biggest fundraising event of the year for the chapter and helps enable it to carry out its mission of supporting the community and protecting the world's oceans, waves, and beaches.

Tony Soriano, the chapter advisor, told SurfWriter Girls Sunny and Patti that everyone is welcome and invited to "Refresh life and friendship with a vigorous Splash in the New Year." 

 


So put the Splash on your New Year's resolutions list and have fun at the beach while making the world a better place.

 

SurfWriter Girls

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.

 

Sunday, December 5, 2021

Celebrate the Holidays with Leonard!

 

Carlie Sorosiak Book Touches Your Heart

 


Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

During the holidays SurfWriter Girls always like to share our favorite book suggestions for gift-giving or to enjoy yourself. Adventure, surfing, mysteries, thrillers, and more. This year, though, we have just one book to share that we think is purrfect for you and everyone on your list – Leonard (My Life as a Cat) by Carlie Sorosiak. 

 


It's suspenseful and uplifting. Most of all, it's a tale about friendship between a young girl and the cat she rescues, who is not what he appears to be. "While no cat can be called ordinary, Leonard is definitely no ordinary cat. In fact, he is an alien, sent on an earthly sabbatical and mistakenly given the body of a rather scruffy stray."  

 


And so, the story begins. A story about Leonard, a galactic traveler who came to Earth on a beam of light planning to spend a month as a Yellowstone Park ranger and instead ends up in the body of a cat. It's a story that will change the life of Olive, the girl who befriends Leonard, and teach Leonard more about what it means to be human than he could have imagined.

SurfWriter Girls loved every page of this charming book and were excited to see what would happen. How would Leonard communicate? What experiences would he have? How would he get to his rendezvous point to go home?

 


A fun, surprising and kind read for children and adults, Leonard (My Life as a Cat) shows that friends can come in all forms and that the most powerful force in the universe is love.



SurfWriter Girls

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.

Sunday, November 14, 2021

Surfer Rocky McKinnon Shares Waves



Thankful to Get People Onboard




Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel


During this time of Thanksgiving Rocky McKinnon is thankful to be able to surf everyday and to teach others to learn to surf. The professional surfer, board shaper and Huntington Beach surfing instructor would like to see everyone experience the joys of surfing.



And with his new invention – a chair board – which he unveiled at the Huntington Beach Pier October 22nd, he has created a surfboard that enables those with mobility issues to get onboard and enjoy the waves.



The 15-foot chair board, equipped with a race car seat made of carbon fiber, provides the stability and maneuverability to let the surfer and instructor ride the waves together.

McKinnon thinks surfing should be accessible to all and is determined to enable those who have a desire to surf to achieve that. Seeing opportunities, not obstacles, he believes, “Success is the combination of having the right equipment and great coaching.”



An accomplished waterman, who has been ranked in the top ten in the nation for longboard surfing, McKinnon also has gained widespread recognition by appearing in television shows, commercials, and surf movies.



His company McKinnon Surf & SUP Lessons works with individuals, groups, and charitable organizations. Providing premium surf and stand-up paddle board lessons, it combines professional experience with quality equipment to ensure success.



McKinnon’s confident that during a lesson “everyone will have a successful enjoyable experience because they are provided with ergonomically correct equipment fit for body type and skill level and surrounded by a team that are professional and proficient.”



SurfWriter Girls met McKinnon at a Surfrider Foundation activity a few years ago and were excited to hear about all the things he is doing to expand the sport of surfing and to support the surfing community.


Now, with his new chair board, Rocky McKinnon can do even more – something to be thankful for.






SurfWriter Girls

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.



Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Beware the Bag Monsters!


Watch Out for Halloween Spooky Spirits!

 


Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

With Halloween almost here we need to watch out for scary monsters, ghosts and goblins that go bump in the night...especially the Bag Monsters.  

 


Bag Monsters are hideous creatures made up of all the discarded plastic bags people use and toss away. They roam about looking for their victims.  

Every year 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide, littering our streets, polluting our waterways and oceans and creating more Bag Monsters.

 


Stash Your Trash on Halloween

When you're dancing around the fire,

Watch out for goblins, ghosts and gyres.

It's nice to have a yummy treat.

Reese's Cups and candy corn to eat.


But don’t toss your trash on the beach

When recycling cans are in reach.

Remember Bag Monsters are always near.

You never know when they'll appear.

With bulging eyes and shark-like teeth to chew,

If you litter, they'll get you!


Happy Halloween!

 


SurfWriter Girls

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.


Sunday, October 10, 2021

Surf Artist Colleen Gnos

 

Creative Roots in CA's Central Coast


Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

Award-winning California surf artist Colleen Gnos is launching the fall/holiday season by opening her art studio on the Central Coast to the public for the first time in almost two years.

 


Gnos, who opened her doors to visitors starting on October 9th, said, "I can't wait to share my latest art projects with you. I hope guests will laugh, feel lighter and relate to being with another humble human who needs to create to feel normal and happy. I can't wait to welcome you to my world...even if it is masked up and six feet apart!"



Gnos, whose love of the ocean was inspired by her grandfather, a tugboat fisherman, is known for her vivid seascapes with surfers and divers and images of mermaids. 

 


In addition to her works on canvas, she also paints scenes on surfboards and has created murals on lifeguard stations in Avila Bay.

 


Gnos's paintings are also in galleries throughout the U.S. and Italy where she studied painting in Florence.

 


Gnos says that visitors to her art studio will get to see a "behind-the-scenes look" at how she creates her paintings from beginning to completion.  

 



SurfWriter Girls can't think of a better way to celebrate fall on California's Coast. We're always excited to see Colleen's latest paintings. 

 


SurfWriter Girls

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

 

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

WSL Surf Events – Four in Store!

 

Challenger Series Back on Board

 


Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

Surfers around the globe are excited to see the world's best surfers competing again in four World Surf League Challenger Series events from September to December 2021.

Starting with the return of the marque US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, CA, September 21–26, with Griffin Colapinto and Caitlin Simmers winning the competition, the series is off and running.


 The other surf spots on the roster are:

 MEO Pro Ericeira, Portugal, October 2-10.

 


Quiksilver/Roxy Pro, France, October 16-24.

 

Haleiwa Challenger, Hawaii, November 25-December 7.


World Surf League chief executive Erick Logan says, "We're very excited to bring the Challenger Series to life in 2021." He emphasized that the events "provide an enhanced showcase for up-and-coming surfers."

 


The number of competitors in the Challenger Series includes 96 men and 64 women in what the WSL calls “the ultimate battleground” for the surfers to display their talents.

Still stoked after the awesome (all in a single day) Ripcurl WSL Championship Finals at Trestles beach in San Clemente, CA, where Gabriel Medina and Carissa Moore took home the top honors September 14, surfers are hungry for more surfing action. 

 



With just the last quarter of the year left to make up for lost time, there isn't a minute to waste. "Surf's Up!" 

   


Photos by WSL, Ripcurl and Go Hawaii

 

SurfWriter Girls

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

 

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.