~photo by stiv
In 1816 the new Bourbon government of France sent a small fleet to officially receive the British handover of the port of Saint-Louis in Senegal to France. The fleet consisted of four ships; the storeship Loire, the brig Argus, the corvette Echo and the frigate Medusa. Medusa was to carry the passengers, including the appointed French governor of Senegal , Colonel Julien-Désire Schmaltz and his wife Reine Schmaltz. In addition there were a total of 400 passengers, including 160 of the crew.
The French Ministry of the Marine made the mistake of appointing inexperienced Frigate-Captain Hugues Duroy de Chaumereys to lead the fleet. He had mainly worked as a customs officer more than twenty years previously and had worked against Napoleon. His crew did not particularly appreciate him, because they had served with Napoleon during his reign.
The fleet left Port de Rochefort on June 17. Medusa sailed quickly away before the rest of the fleet. On July 17, Captain de Chaumereys ran the ship aground in shallow water off the west coast of Africa.
At first the crew tried to release her by throwing heavy items overboard, but de Chaumereys stopped the effort. Eventually he decided to abandon ship. Because there were only six lifeboats, he made a raft out of masts and crossbeams to carry the rest of the crew. Dignitaries – 250 of them – took the lifeboats and attempted to tow the raft. The raft was too flimsy to keep all the rest (149 men and one woman) afloat. Seventeen men decided to stay on Medusa. The rest were left with no food and water to speak of.
Those in lifeboats soon noticed that the idea of towing the raft was impractical. De Chaumereys decided to cut the rope and leave the rest of the crew to its fate, four miles (6 km) off shore. (According to other sources it was Governor Schmaltz's boat that was first to drop the tow line to the raft.)
On the raft, the situation deteriorated rapidly. Men began to throw wine and flour out of spite and fight among themselves. On the first night 20 men – whites and Africans, soldiers and officers – were killed or committed suicide. Rations dwindled ever more rapidly and on the fourth day some on the raft resorted to cannibalism. On the eighth day, the fittest began throwing the weak and wounded overboard. By that time only fifteen men remained, all of whom survived until their rescue a
week later.[1]
When the dreams about surf do come...inevitably they're right before waking...and I want nothing more than to leave the waking world and dive back into the dream...sometimes you make it...sometimes you don't...alot like surfing I suppose...in a dream though you can stay in the barrel as long as you want...and you can surf well beyond your ability...and hell, in surf dreams, this wave might be reeling right off your front porch.
These dreamy wave shots are from photographer Trent Mitchell...check him out.
NW WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT. W SWELL 7 FT AT 12 SECONDS.
An original surf star of the 60’s…
Flamboyant, intelligent and stylish…
A bearded bohemian surf icon…
Influential in surfboard design...
And the progression of surfing…
Speedoed noseperching stylist...
A singular soul that shines on…
As 60’s longboards lost their luster...
And balsa cores went by the wayside…
Quickly seen as obsolete and of little value…
Cooper rescued them from oblivion…
Perhaps surfing's first board collector…
Then the foam blower for the Hawk…
Blew off the overblown Cali scene…
Seeking permanent peace down under in ’66…
Settling into the Manly surf scene…
Coop simplified his life by selling it all…
Including his unreal log collection…
To a reluctant Surfer Mag’s Severson…
Who said “I don’t want it”, but…
Bought it all for $350 anyway…
It passed to For Better Living Inc. in '69…
With Pezman was their proud protector…
Went to Peterson Publictions in the 90’s…
Where George shined ‘em up and rode them…
Much to Pez’s dismay and disdain…
And added to the Metz collection in '02…
Bob Cooper has never seen his old boards…
Local Report:
Lumpy messy crappy with the odd decent wave. Lost 2" of height that I can't afford landing a long float. In other words you will probably read here soon about how Gaz had a perfect day. ~sooloo
Lumpy and messy is fair to say but there were several decent waves at Oregon's primo lefty. Had it all alone for over three hours. It looked like sheit from the lot but better up close. The wind was coming from the wrong direction and it would section every so often but the combination of longer-than-usual-board-for-the-spot, total lack of company except for a bald eagle, and a decent swell to period ratio made for a rather enjoyable mid-day session today on the North Coast. ~tatonka
We do not commonly live our life out and full; we do not fill all our pores with our blood; we do not inspire and expire fully and entirely enough , so that the wave, the comber, of each inspiration shall break on our extremest shores, rolling 'til it meets the sand which bounds us, and the sound of the surf comes back to us. Might not a bellows assist us to breathe? That our breathing should create a wind on a calm day We live but a fraction of our life. Why do we not let on the flood, raise the gates, and set all our wheels in motion? He that has ears to hear, let him hear.~Thoreau
S WIND RISING TO 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT...BUILDING TO 6 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 10 SECONDS...BUILDING TO 7 FT AT 10 SECONDS.
I traversed this entire section of coastline and more over the last 2 days...sadly, I did more driving than surfing since the reason for the drive was work related rather than surf driven. But I did surf a spot I hadn't in almost 10 years...and it was, then as now, empty aside from myself and an alarmingly active amount of sealife. While I can appreciate the majestic beauty of whales, sealions and swarming fish...I can't actually say that it was comforting sitting in the midst of the mix. Rather, after a half dozen decent waves and an inability to keep my head swiveling at each and every ripple around me...I called it a session and headed further south in search of some other rubberized companionship. I found it at a south central jetty, but a stiff wind and handful of individuals struggling in mediocre onshores made reentry into a cold and soaking wetsuit less than appealling.
Heading back north this morning, I found the wind had dropped along with the swell. I checked a few more spots that haven't been surfable most winter and spring due to heavy wind and swell. Unfortunately, the two that looked the best would have required yet another solo session...and one was the site of a not unrecent shark bite. So I opted for a mini session further north with some friends. The waves were pretty mediocre, but in many ways more enjoyable than the day before.
I snapped some pics of the Day one spot...I'll post them once I download them.
Local Reports:
Surfed with Slothie this morning and we were the only 2 out. Most peaks were waist to shoulder with an occasional overhead set. Some were really clean, top to bottom drops with a nice shoulder to work. The best part was, he owed me money and that equates to me calling him off waves and burning him constantly. I burned him so often this morning, he should be called Dr. Singe. ~finger
Small and glassy fun start to the month. Whales and birds around and a busy sealion fishing. Left a member of the medical profession in the water when I got cold and the swell seemed to have turned off. ~gaz
In the water by 7:30am...low tide, fairly clean compared to all the others spots I checked on the way. 8 others on it early, went down the beach 100 yards and had a consistent peak A framing for two hours all to myself. I couldn't believe no one came down as I watched them battling for slop. Used the LB and practiced the cross-stepping untill it started kicking up a little then traded in for the 6'8" single and had some great fast down the line rides. ~deca
