The Cleanest Line

Dirtbag Diaries: Three Eighths to Eternity

The Dirtbag Diaries descend from the mountains today and shove off into the vastness of the Pacific Ocean with former Surfer's Journal associate editor Christian Beamish. As always, show host Fitz Cahall is here to set the stage:

“The planks of my boat are three eighths of an inch thick. Three eighths – this is the distance between myself and the depths,” writes surfer and adventurer Christian Beamish. Two years ago, Beamish crafted an 18-foot-long sailboat in his San Clemente garage. His obsession with sailboat-assisted surfing began with small week-long voyages and evolved into a preposterous idea – sail the entire length of Baja looking for waves. It would be a solo mission. The proposed trip left his friends questioning his mental state and his mother in tears. It would require big, open-water crossings in rough seas, and in the end it would leave Beamish changed. How far would you go to find the physical and mental limits of human endurance? How raw does your soul have to get before you find peace?

Listen to "Three Eighths to Eternity"
(mp3 - 34:25 - right-click to download)

Visit dirtbagdiaries.com for links and more information on the music in today's podcast. You can subscribe to the show via iTunes and RSS, or connect with Fitz on Facebook and Twitter.

Launching an Outdoor Career Against the Odds

We’re pleased to share some good news today about a young friend who offers a rare bright spot in what has been a tough year for the outdoor industry. Trevor Clark picked an interesting time to start his outdoor adventure photography business – May of 2008. A lot has changed, for Trevor and for the economy, in the year since he first launched his venture.

The stats from this past year’s economic fallout need not be revisited, though they make Trevor’s story all the more worth telling. He’s a young man with an uncanny knack for sparking inspiration through storytelling. While photos are his medium of choice, he’s more than capable when it comes to wielding his words. Take this introductory snippet from his new website: www.trevorclarkphoto.com

My adventure began in Curitiba, Brazil where I was born to an American mother and a father who called Australia and New Zealand his "homes." The two sides of my family were on two different continents, and my beginning was on a third. Going to see family meant big trips, with expedition-quality logistics for my mother, three siblings and I to make (and miss) Indiana-Jones-style plane connections. . . . I loved it. I loved running through airports clinging to

Tales of the Ventura River

On Friday, we asked Ventura residents to Be a Steelhead Advocate, Report Illegal Fishing in the Ventura River. As a follow-up to that post we're pleased to share this 2007 video from the Matilija Coalition. It's pretty long but the stories within paint a vivid picture of what the river was like before factors like the Matilija Dam existed and southern steelhead were placed on the Endangered Species list. For those of you who live elsewhere, I think you'll find the video to be a neat slice-of-life from our little beach town -- and a good example for other dam-removal projects currently being debated around the country.

[Video courtesy of the Matilija Coalition, via Ventura River Ecosystem. With thanks to Paul Jenkin and everyone featured in the video.]

The Voodoo Bike

Sometime in the late '80s, my bike mechanic friend John finally agreed to sell me his 1972 British-made Raleigh bicycle. I handed him $150 dollars in cash and a cold, six-pack of beer. He cracked open two brews, handed one back to me, and we both took long swigs, saluting the voodoo bike. I asked John where the bike’s name came from and he had no idea. He did request that I bring the voodoo in for maintenance every now and then. We shook hands, and then I wheeled the faded red single-speed out the bike shop’s door toward Chicago’s lakefront.

Editor's note: Today's story comes from yoga instructor, daily bike commuter and Patagonia editor, Craig Holloway.

The voodoo is one of the last production bicycles made by Raleigh before it was sold to an Asian manufacturer. The bicycle’s most elegant feature is the headlamp post, with its engraved phoenix situated in front of the handlebars. Children notice the phoenix right away and like to rub its metal beak. The voodoo also features old-fashioned, cable-rod lever brakes, brazed-on pump pegs, and a nifty foldout basket attached to the rear fender. The frame’s geometry makes for an aristocratic upright ride, and eccentric viewing for drivers and passers-by.

[The voodoo rests against a tree at the Patagonia campus. Ventura, California. All photos: Craig Holloway]

TSJ | POV - Dan Malloy & Dane Reynolds Board Swap

It's the first day back after a long weekend and I'm on about pitch four of the email mountain. With that in mind, I'll keep today's post short and let our friends at The Surfer's Journal take the lead. I like this vid because it highlights two professional surfers from two generations, both of whom grew up surfing the breaks in and around Ventura. Locals will undoubtedly notice certain landmarks and those of you who live afar will get a glimpse at one of the beaches near Patagonia HQ.

If any of you aren't on-board with The Surfer's Journal yet, please refer to The Undeniable Logic of Subscribing. For more video content from TSJ, check out their excellent DVD series.

[Video: TSJ | POV - "Dan Malloy & Dane Reynolds Board Swap" from The Surfer's Journal on Vimeo].

Invoking Summer with The Dirtbag Diaries

Do you have a ritual or a tradition for welcoming in summer? Dirtbag Diaries host Fitz Cahall shares his on today's podcast. Here's Fitz:

Up in the Northwest, we say that summer doesn’t actually start until July 4th. Right now, we’re experiencing our annual June gloom. So I thought it was time to invoke blue skies and warmer temps. A season’s worth of summits, single track and lounging on the riverbank is just around the corner. It’s time for me to do my part in the changing of the seasons.

Listen to The Shorts -- Summer Invocation
(mp3 - 7:00 - right-click to download)

In between full-length episodes of The Dirtbag Diaries, listeners like you have the chance to narrate your own story on the show -- these are the Shorts. To submit your story for consideration, visit The Dirtbag Diaries and look for the Story Suggestions? link in the sidebar. You can subscribe to the show via iTunes and RSS, or connect with Fitz via Facebook and Twitter.

Happy Independence Day everyone. Hope you all have a great long weekend.

[With thanks to New Belgium Brewing for supporting the show.]

Yoga in the Park + Fitness World = Sushi

If you are visiting Squamish this summer and you enjoy a refreshing session of conscious-breathing and tension-releasing exercises, then go to The Yoga Studio on 2nd Ave any day of the week. But if you are here only for a Sunday, then you gotta check out “yoga in the park.” My girlfriend Lydia taught yesterday's class and there will be a different teacher there each week, as there have been different teachers in weeks prior. The fee is by donation only, so whatever you can afford. But imagine this...

…unfolding your mat onto a perfectly cut lawn of green grass and three-leaf clovers at 9am in the morning. The sun filters through the tall trees, warming your skin and illuminating the park. 25 people in a circle wrapped around the teacher, with a gentle breeze behind your ears and the occasional cyclist riding by. The ground beneath you is not a hardwood floor, but the earth itself; you can feel the subtle bumps under your toes, but it makes you smile. The class is rhythm and flow, a constant state of moving, bending and twisting, lunging and holding -- all the stuff we know we should be doing but just can’t seem to make the time for. Then, after about an hour and fifteen minutes, the heart rate comes back down slowly. You invert into a shoulder stand, headstand, whatever you like, and feel the rush of newly oxygenated blood surging through the stream. The abdomen releases, the tension disappears, you are weightless and calm and the sound of each chirping bird in the distance falls quiet. The sound of your breath is the only thing you hear. You take a deep inhale of the freshest mountain air and unwind into corpse pose, eyes closed, hovering above the ground until the electricity in your body is reduced to nothing more than light waves of energy scanning over you. Ten minutes pass -- it may as well be a lifetime. Your lids open tenderly and look up to see the bubbling white clouds taking shape. You are now ready to begin your day. Your perfect day.

[That is the best way I can describe yoga in the park to you -- that’s what it was for me. Here’s what it looks like when you look up into the leaves. Photo © Sonnie Trotter]

The Present – Final US Tour Show and DVD Release Party at Patagonia Cardiff

On Saturday, June 13, Thomas Campbell's latest (and last?) surf film, The Present, came to Patagonia Cardiff, completing its journey of screenings around the U.S. and culminating with the release of the film on DVD. About 550 folks filled in to watch the free screening. The filmmaker and some surfers and shapers from the film were there – Thomas, Dan Malloy, Danny Hess, Devon Howard, Jon Wegener – along with one of the bands from the soundtrack, Ray Barbee & the Mattson 2. Jon Wegener gave away an alaia surfboard to surf trivia winner Whitney Gould. And Richard Kenvin presented a new trailer for his Hydrodynamica project, lining up all of the boards featured in the film which represents 60 years of San Diego based surfboard design all stemming from Bob Simmons. 

If you weren't able to make any of the screenings, The Present DVD is now available for mail order through Patagonia Cardiff (call 760-634-9886 or email: store_cardiff@patagonia.com) and Woodshed Films. You can also purchase the DVD at select Patagonia Retail Stores: Austin, Boston, Boulder, Cardiff, Chicago, Freeport, Portland, Reno, Santa Cruz, Seattle, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Soho, Upper West Side and Ventura (picked mine up yesterday). Please call first for availability. The Present soundtrack is available on iTunes.

From hints of the alaia footage in the movie, to the first hi-res trailer, to recaps from the Encinitas and Ventura screenings, to the new trailer, we've tried to take you along for as much of this journey as possible.  Thanks for coming, it's been a fun ride. For alerts on future events at Patagonia Cardiff, tune in to their Twitter feed. See you in the water.

[With thanks to Thomas Campbell, Woodshed Films, Surfing Magazine, Devon Howard, Dan Malloy and everyone involved with the film and the tour. Video by Tough Pug Pictures.] 

Backyard Adventures: Toiyabe Trails - Part 3

Today, we've got the final installment in Old School's Toiyabe Trails series (previous posts: Part 1, Part 2).

We personally believe any trail story is best served up with a cuppa steamy brew (or a frosty barley pop, your discretion) and the right music. Find your trail traveling theme music right here, courtesy of the Risky Biscuit Hayseed Hoot's weekly podcast.
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The morning after our unplanned layover day dawned clear and sunny, and while there was still a stiff breeze, it was nothing like the howling winds of the day before so we packed up and headed north. The TCT is split neatly in half by the Ophir Creek Road and the three of us have been backpacking long enough to never pass up the chance to lighten our load – we took advantage of the road to drop a food cache at the top of the pass before starting our hike. By lunch we were at the cache and by dinner we were enjoying cold beer and hamburgers.

[Flat spots are a rare treat along the northern stretch of the trail. Photo: OldSchool]

Empty Nesters

Kim Stroud, who manages our sample room here at Patagonia HQ in Ventura, came walking in the other morning with one of those cardboard boxes used to carry live things. In her "spare" time, Kim is executive director of the nonprofit Ojai Raptor Center, so she's always nurturing some kind of critter, not just raptors. I've seen her with possums, sea gulls, pelicans. But she says she's also cared for bobcats, fawns, even a couple of coyotes. She also deals with dead critters. Fish & Game and the Sheriff's department often call her when they find freshly car-killed deer. She dresses the carcasses and feeds the meat to her eagles.

This time Kim had baby swallows in the box. Seems the fellows at a Ventura business (which shall go unnamed) decided the bird's mud nests were a little messy. So they had their workers turn the hose on them (hey isn't there a drought in Southern Cal?), washing down about 55 birds that were just five days from being able to fly. One of the biologists who works for the business stopped the hosing when she saw all the baby swallows lying on the ground, many of them in puddles of water.

[Kim Stroud, Patagonia sample room manager and executive director of the Ojai Raptor Center, hand-feeds a baby swallow, one of 55 hosed out of their nests. All photos: Jim Little]