Surfing the Amazon

by Willy Volk on

The pororoca is a Brazilian tidal bore boasting waves up to 12 feet high that roll as much as 8 miles up the Amazon River. Originating where the River meets the Atlantic Ocean, the phenomenon occurs in February and March. Though beautiful, the waves are dangerous, as they often carry with them lots of debris, including entire trees.

Not surprisingly, the wave action has become popular with surfers and kayakers. In fact, every year since 1999, an annual championship has been held in São Domingos do Capim. In 2003, Brazilian Picuruta Salazar won the event, riding an amazing 7.7 miles for 37 minutes. Basically, it went something like this:

If you want to learn more about surfing the Amazon, check out this stellar documentary or visit Fogonazos’ photo gallery of pororoca surfers.

[Via Neatorama]

The Surf is Dynamite!

by Iva Skoch on

Viral videos have gotten so good, it’s scary. Many folks (10 million hits at last count) were taken in by a recent youtube.com video which shows some kids dynamiting a city pond and then surfing the resulting waves.

On the grainy cellphone-cam footage, you can see kids quickly jumping into a city pond with a surfboard, while their friends run over a bridge, then light and toss dynamite into the water. The first guy then surfs the waves caused by the huge explosion.

It turns out it was a Quicksilver viral marketing campaign. Some pyrotechnics, a little movie magic, and the right government permits, and the Dronning Louise Bridge over Copenhagen’s Lake Sortedams became a surf heaven, for a while.

Maybe they’ll be trying this in Cleveland!

No Surf in Cleveland? Sure, There is!

by Iva Skoch on

Having spent a good amount of time in Cleveland, Ohio (but never having heard Eric Carmen and the Euclid Beach Band’s “There’s No Surf in Cleveland,” which I’m assured is a real song), I was surprised at today’s NY Times article, “Yes, You Can Surf in Cleveland.”

Apparently, groups of die-hard Clevelanders can’t wait for the start of winter because that’s high time for Lake Erie waves. They work night jobs, and, during the day, grab wetsuits and big boards (Lake Erie is, of course, freshwater). And sometimes, the waves hit almost…10 feet.

The only real drawback for these guys: the nearest surfboard shop is on the coast of Lake Michigan, 285 miles away.

Hawaii, eat your heart out!

Surf’s Up in Cali!

by Iva Skoch on

Californians, Oregonians, and Washingtonians had a brief tsunami scare this morning, if anyone was awake and noticed. Yes, the National Weather Service actually posted a tsunami advisory at 6:05 AM PST, before canceling it.

This was because of tsunami activity at multiple sites in Japan and even Shemya, Alaska. Now, granted, the wave height noticed was only 20cm (.65 ft.) above mean sea level in Alaska, but that, apparently, qualified as a tsunami. It was no joke in Japan, however, as some areas were evacuated.

We’re not sure how long the wave activity lasted, but it was probably not long enough to get out your board, and it was certainly not long enough for anybody to get through any TSA line.