The Top Ten List

Last weekend, Julie and I headed down the shore to catch the lingering effects of a recent swell. I've come to judge the Surfline report with some skepticism - as a rating of fair to good was given the Rincon surf while Julie and I were in Puerto Rico. I thought the waves were huge that day. On many occasions, Surfline reports flat - poor conditions for the waves of OCNJ and upon arrival I find some really fun little waves to ride. Well, its pretty rare to find a Surfline report of fair to good for OCNJ and when I saw a positive rating for the Jersey Shore last week, I told Julie we had to get down there. We left Saturday morning at 10 AM and started out on the 1.5 hour drive from Narberth to 44th and West on the island. After cruising along to some morning tunes, Julie and I got to talking about surfing. She started to list the reasons whey she loves surfing and I told her to check out my last post - our lists were eerily similar. Then I told her about my favorited surfers - my top ten list. This is a list of the surfers who I think are the best.

10. Phil Edwards - He makes the list because his book You Should Have Been Here An Hour Ago was the first surfer's autobiography I ever read. As a young boy growing up in Oceanside, Edwards was part of the California surfing boom of the 1950s and later became a pioneer big wave surfer at Hawaii's Bonzai Pipline. Edwards is the epitome of Surfer Cool.

9. Rob Machado - I don't know too much about Rob, but in the film Step into Liquid Rob seems like a super cool guy hanging out with his buddy who broke his back while surfing.

8. Occy - Wild Austrailian needs to be on this list. North Shore cast member.

7. Laird Hamilton - Mind, Body, Spirit beefcake. North Shore cast member - that costume?

6. Shaun Tomson - South African tube rider, documentarian, super cool.

5. Kelly Slater - maybe the best?

4. George Freeth - Irish and Hawaiian, first white man to really popularize the sport.

3. Mark Richards - MR rocks!














2. Eddie Aikau - World's Greatest Waterman, not only a masterful big wave rider but an amazing life guard and a hero.

















1. Duke Kahanamoku - the father of modern surfing!


Sorry no women made the list -
Honorable Mention - Louise Southerden - Her book Surf's Up: The Girl's Guide to Surfing gave me the courage to get over myself and PLF!