I had a hard time going back home from Hawai’i. during my second week of vacation, I would count how many days left I had before taking off. The closer the departure would get, the sadder I was getting. On the way to the airport I had this feeling I was going the wrong way and when my friend dropped me in the departure area, I couldn’t help but bursting into tears. I know it doesn’t’ make much sense, after all, I was going back to Tahiti, not some freezing cold town located in the middle of nowhere. I tried to calm down, wiped off my face and headed to the departure gates trying to think about something else.

This feeling of sadness stayed with me for a whole week…. And I believe the rain didn’t really help getting over it. I would wake up every day feeling miserable and sorry for myself. I was wondering what I was doing in Tahiti in the middle the rainy season and thinking maybe I should buy my tix to go back to Hawai’I right away, where the wind and the swell were up.

The sun finally came back one Monday morning and while I was lying in my bed checking the forecast (just like every day) I got this phone call from one of my good friends, asking him if I wanted to join him for a surfing session at my favorite break. “Are you sure it’s good? I asked. – Yes, guaranteed, I’m leaving the marina in 30 min, be there! he replied. I jumped off my bed, packed food and water for the day, grabbed my board and met him at the marina right on time.

It took us 45 minutes to reach the other island and get to my beloved break. The sun was out, the waves looked fun so we didn’t wait for too long before jumping into the water. Most of my friends were there and it felt good to see them after being away from the surf for nearly 6 months. That’s when I could feel it again: this joy to be in the water with people you love, this joy to tell jokes and laugh between sets, this joy of just being home again. I had to adjust to the crowd and find myself a good spot to catch more waves, but honestly, on that day, one wave was enough to make my day because everything was so perfect. At least, to me, it was, even if I ended up butt first on the reef. Let’s just say it was my “Welcome Home” present.

-Vainui

Billabong surfer Felicity Palmateer is 19 years old and currently ranked no. 19 on the World Qualifying Series. Her Dad noticed her determination to surf at the age of four. Her passion hasn’t faded.

Like any professional sportsperson she is constantly trying to keep her competitive edge – juggling constant travel for contests, training and representing a brand – all in the media spotlight. It’s not easy.

So It Goes explores these pressures through Felicity’s thoughts and gives viewers a little insight into the mind of an elite athlete, what they have to deal with and how they manage to keep on keeping on.

Shop Billabong at KillerDana.com

The Superkini is a technically advanced new bikini by O’Neill Girls. The bikini will empower you to hit the beach this summer with the utmost confidence no matter what the ocean waves bring your way. A revolutionary and super comfortable material called NANOFRONT, with 200% more grip then standard lycra, works its magic for the Superkini by generating even greater frictional force when wet. This will ensure minimal bikini slippage and movement in rough seas. Pure summer styole and total peace of mind never felt so good!

Shop our Superkinis at KillerDana.com

THE ISLE is a new web series by Matt Meola & Albee Layer. Stay tuned for the first episode coming soon from Rockstar.

Please welcome our newest Brand of the Month, Rusty! Known for the signature R-Dot, their insignia is recognized around the world as an icon in contemporary surf culture. Despite its size, Rusty is a brand that is incredibly grassroots- one that is adamant in reminding everyone that its heart and soul lies firmly in the custom, hand-shaped surfboard.

Before 1984, no one had ever seen or heard of the “R-dot”—though they probably should have. At that time Rusty Preisendorfer was shaping surfboards under the Canyon label for 10 of the top 16 surfers in the world, including Occy and Shaun Tomson. Creating the simple yet powerful R-dot didn’t cross his mind until one of his riders, former world champion Peter Townend, suggested he develop his own, independent label. Every other sought-after shaper in the world had a logo, so Rusty figured PT had a point. And the rest, shall we say, is history.

Rusty believes it is his insistence on communication and rider feedback that has led the surfing world to consider his work the Mercedes Benz of surfboards. And more importantly, this approach and reputation has given Rusty International the opportunity to embrace innovation. From the traditional blank to Surf CAD to Surf Tech, Aviso and Salomon, Rusty and his team of world-class shapers have accelerated the evolution of surfboard design infinitely. The result is consistent custom surfboards precisely crafted to each surfer’s needs—down to the thousandths of an inch.

1953

Rusty is born on June 13, 1953 and spends the first 12 years of his life in inland San Diego.

1966

Rusty moves to La Jolla and discovers surfing while body surfing at the Shores Beach. He then walks to a little spot called Blacks, not too far from his home. It becomes his and a few select others’ favorite spot.

1969/70

Rusty shapes his first board that winter.

1971

Graduates La Jolla High in June and attends the University of California San Diego that same fall. That October, the World Contest is held in San Diego and Rusty meets a young Australian pro named Peter Townend. He’s inspired to create his first label for his shapes. He decides on Starlight Surfboards. His work is influenced by Dick Brewer, Mike Diffenderfer and especially Endless Summer co-star Mike Hynson.

1972

That summer Rusty begins shaping and riding for G&S Surfboards and decides to take a break from college life at UCSD and focus on surfing and shaping. His decision allows him to travel, shape G&S team boards and appear in ads and editorials in two up-and-coming surf magazines called Surfer and Surfing.

1973

While working and learning alongside legendary shapers Skip Frye and Mike Eaton at G&S, Rusty experiments with Kevlar/epoxy as board-building alternatives.

1974

He travels to Australia for the first time that spring and hangs with Townend and his mate Rabbit Bartholomew. Rab, who is the newly crowned Queensland Jr. Champ, likes Rusty’s work and buys a board from him.

1975

Rusty comes back from Australia stoked on the progression of his shaping skills and decides to split from G&S and begin his own, new label. He decides on Music! Surfboards. While working on his own and freelance shaping for other labels, he figures he should get back into school, so he returns to UCSD and pursues an Art degree.

1977-1978

San Diego’s Canyon Glassing, who does all of the glassing for his Music! Boards, hires Rusty to shape Canyon Surfboards. The Music! Label ceases. Randy Laine and his little brother Wes join the Canyon team. Wes quickly blazes into the Top 16 and puts Canyon on the map.

1979

The first Stubbies Trials is held at Blacks Beach and Canyon rider Richard Kenvin takes down many of California’s top riders, including Dave Parmenter, Dan Flecky, Matt and Sam George. That spring, Rusty travels to Hawaii to shape with Bill Barnfield. Rusty’s popularity spreads and he is invited to judge several IPS/ASP and California events including the Pipe Masters and the last two Duke events. Rusty’s buddy PT, who had since been crowned surfing’s first World Champion in ’76, begins getting boards from him along with another hot Australian surfer by the name of Ian Cairns. That same year Laguna Niguel, California’s 18-year-old and leading surfboard blank producer Clark Foam works with Rusty on designing and building dozens of master plugs for mass production. They could be recognized by the “R” stamped on the raw blank.

1981

The Canyon team is becoming more successful and continues to take on more talent, including South African phenomenon Shaun Tomson.

1982

Rusty continues experimenting with materials. Canyon includes custom eps/epoxy boards in their production.

1983

Shaper and pro surfer Dave Parmenter joins Canyon and commences to win six straight Californina events on his first board shaped by Rusty. More pros begin taking notice of Rusty’s work. He then goes to West Oz to shape “Rusty” models for Santosha Surfboards. Later that year, Australian ripper Mitch Thorson gets the cover of Surfing Magazine on one of Rusty’s shapes.

1984

A fiery goofyfoot niknamed “Occy” becomes Pro Junior champion and begins taking competitive surfing by storm. Soon after, he is riding Rusty’s boards. Rusty decides to include his own logo along with the Canyon label on all of his shapes. By the end of ’84 more than half of the Top 16 is getting boards from Rusty.

1985

In July, Huntington Beach’s Op Pro sees a fierce rivalry mature between Occy and young Californian Tom Curren–and beneath the surface a quiet, respectful rivalry develops out of the famed Occy/Curren duels, one between their shapers Rusty and Al Merrick. That year Occy finally takes out Curren to capture his first Op Pro victory. The publicity helps Rusty’s popularity soar and he decides to leave Canyon and start his own surfboard company. Old friend and Surfing Magazine advertising director Peter Townend helps Rusty develop his new logo. PT suggests simply “Rusty” and the R-dot is born.

1986

Rusty incorporates tee-shirts into his new business and they sell like hotcakes along with his already acclaimed surfboards.

1987

Rusty apparel is introduced at the January Surf Expo and the R-dot quickly becomes a well-known logo in the surf world.

1988

Innovation continues to flourish from Rusty’s hands as he experiments with 4lb. eps/carbon/epoxy boards for his team. Meanwhile, the brand grows and expands globally.

1989

Another forward-thinking surfboard shaper by the name of Randy French works with Rusty on designing and shaping eps/sandwiched prototypes—French works over the next few years with this concept, eventually introducing Tuflite technology and Surftech surfboards in 1992.

1990′s

New School leaders like Todd Chesser, Kalani Robb, Shane Beschen, Dino Andino, Matt Archbold, Pat O’Connell, Taylor Knox, Chris Ward and the Weatherly brothers all become Rusty team riders and icons for a new, mainstream era in surfing. They are dubbed the ‘New School’. In that time Rusty becomes one of the first surf companies to extend into skate, snow and wakeboarding, supporting such athletes as Tony Hawk and Willy Santos. While staying busy building his company into a global brand, Rusty continues shaping around four boards a day for a long list of pros and others.

1999-200

Rusty introduces the C-5 Challenge and the Anything But 3 contest. Rusty’s C-5 design and the contests are a further testament of his commitment to the evolution surfing.

2001

Rusty has its first World Champ: 22-year-old CJ Hobgood from Satellite Beach, Florida—who had been drafted as a Super Grom by Rusty early on in his NSSA/ESA amateur days at the age of 14.

2005-Present

On December 5 of ’05, Clark Foam closes its doors on the surfboard industry forever, initiating one of the most tragic days in the history of the sport. Rusty along with hundreds of other global surfboard builders take quite a hit but find optimism in what will surely be coming years full of innovation.

In spite of the dark cloud hung over us all by the Clark Closure, the Rusty brand takes a fresh look at the youth market it has remained a leader of for so long and finds its mission for 2006: All About Surfing and All About the Beach. By the end of January (’06), Hawaiian phenom Jamie O’Brien signed on and commenced to blow up harder than ever before with four magazine covers in the month April. Along with Jamie “The Freak” O’Brien, San Clemente, California’s Nate Yeomons joins the team and begins his assault on the WQS and focuses on making the Dream Tour in the coming years. And while the team solidifies, innovation in surfboard construction and design flourishes in many directions, confirming that the show will indeed go on and that life without Clark isn’t so bad after all.

Today the signature R-dot is one of the most powerful surfing insignias recognized around the world. Rusty International has become an icon in contemporary surf culture. Despite its size, however, Rusty is a brand that is incredibly grassroots—one that is adamant in reminding everyone that its heart and soul lies firmly in the custom, hand-shaped surfboard.

Rusty believes it is his insistence on communication and rider feedback that has led the surfing world to consider his work the Mercedes Benz of surfboards. And more importantly, this approach and reputation has given Rusty International the opportunity to embrace innovation. From the traditional blank to Surf CAD to Surf Tech, Aviso and Salomon, Rusty and his team of world-class shapers have accelerated the evolution of surfboard design infinitely. The result is consistent custom surfboards precisely crafted to each surfer’s needs—down to the thousandths of an inch.

Stay tuned this month for Rusty giveaways, more behind the scenes blogs and free stickers!!

SHOP RUSTY: KILLERDANA.COM

If you read my blogs on a regular basis, you probably came across the interview of Derrick Ontiveros, my artist friend living on the North Shore of Oahu. I’ve known him for 12 years but it’s only a few years ago that I started thinking I would love to have some of his art on my walls. But for some weird reason, I never dared to ask, “Would you paint something for me ?”… until my latest trip to the North Shore.

That time, I watched his artwork with even more attention, taking a closer look at the lines, colors and details… and noticed I could see things I hadn’t seen before. I started asking him random questions and Derrick finally said, You know, I can paint something for you if you want.” I was caught off guard thinking, ok, this guy can read my mind. Not cool. I don’t really remember what I replied… probably something stupid like “No I’m just asking questions”. But later on I went back to him and admitted I’d like to get something from him. I love Hawaii deeply, those islands are in my heart just like my home is, and I wanted a painting that would take me back to Hawaii every time I would look at it. So I took a piece of paper, wrote a few words – Wind. Crystal-Clear Water. White sand beach. Turtles – and gave it to Derrick: ‘That’s what I want”, I said (don’t ask me why I wrote those words instead of just saying them, I have no idea).

Derrick was working on a few other paintings but put them aside to start mine because I was leaving soon. I didn’t want to see it before it was done but couldn’t help looking every now and then and saw an ever-changing piece of art, until that moment when my friend would say: “ I think it’s done”. Here is what I took back home with me… Backyards on a windy day:

I remember his first reaction when he read that piece of paper: “You want me to paint wind? I’ve never done this before.” And I love how, in the end, the wind is just everywhere: in the clouds, in the trees, on the ocean… and those two turtles: “That’s you and your daughter right here…” he said.

To me, there is no doubt his artwork is getting better over time. I’ve loved most of his paintings but the latest ones just blew my mind away. Like the one of this secret spot back home… I couldn’t believe my eyes when I first saw it because it looks so much like the real thing: the shape of the island in the background, the way the wave forms, the way it barrels and rolls onto the reef, this corner of the beach, every detail is there … with a few other ones: if you pay enough attention, you’ll probably see a dragon somewhere. And that’s the great thing about what he does: every time you look at his work you see something you swear wasn’t there before. Like Derrick says: “ It’s all about the details and eye candies ”.

Contact info
Facebook: Backyards808
Email: backyards808@hotmail.com

-Vainui

As the winter season in hawaii slowly but surely come to and end the people fade but the presence of essence is still here with late season swells that only the lucky will see!

Shop Billabong at KillerDana.com

I was really conflicted about leaving Maui to go to Oahu, thinking maybe I should cancel my tix and stay on the Valley Isle for another week. But by the end of my stay, the wind had died, so I thought, “Yeah, let’s just go to Oahu see what’s going on over there”. So there I was, in Kahului waiting for the inter-island flight, telling myself I had made the right decision to book this flight, and hoping to be able to surf: I hadn’t surfed in over 6 months – too busy kiteboarding, then too busy recovering from a broken leg – and the last thing I wanted to face was a huge swell. I wanted small and fun, not big and scary.

My friend Derrick (see blog FEATURED HAWAIIAN ARTIST: DERRICK ONTIVEROS) was there to pick me up in Honolulu. After loading my 63 lbs board bag in the back of his truck, we drove to the North Shore via the East side of the island, which I hadn’t seen in over 10 years, maybe more. Along the way, Derrick and I would chat about what had happened in our lives since we last saw each other a few months ago, while having a look at the different surf spots along the coast.

We reached the North Shore within 90 minutes, and as soon as we got there I was like: “Aaahhh, coooool”. Yes, that is a cool area. Really laid-back. Country style. People riding their cruisers along the bike path, girls doing their daily walk/jog on the beach, guys checking the surf from the sunset parking lot, and others walking with their boards to go surf wherever the waves are good. No stress.

And guess what? The surf was small!! Definitely what I needed to go back into the waves with a minimum amount of self-confidence. Backyards was only a few minutes walk from the house, so I decided to just surf there every day (looks like I’m getting lazy as I age). Right before my first session, Derrick asked me: “You know how to get to the peak, right? – well, I’ll just walk on the reef and figure it out” I said. He looked at me with a smile: “You don’t want to do that: there’s sea urchins everywhere”. – haha, silly me, just because I’m from a country where there’s razor-sharp reef everywhere, I think I can do anything – So he showed me how to reach the waves as safely as possible, which I believe saved me a lot of time as well as a few scratches.

Now I’m not going to lie: after 6 months without paddling into a wave, I surfed like a kook. Absolutely nothing to be proud of… every time I’d catch a wave I would think “I hope nobody is going to see this”. But of course, there’s always someone to see you surf shitty; and when you finally get a good one, no one is watching. But at least, I could surf and the leg I had broken a few months ago didn’t feel that bad, which was a nice surprise.

I had forgotten what it was like to paddle for a wave, to actually compete with the other guys to get the wave coming your way. I had forgotten what it was like to wait for 15, 20 minutes. And I would pretty much give up after an hour because I would wait for too long between waves… nothing like kitesurfing: you catch wave after wave after wave with no rest in between.

So no epic session for me on the North Shore of Oahu. But I still loved being there. I loved to reconnect with friends I hadn’t seen in a while. I loved to be in the water every day. I loved to check the different surf spots on my cruiser, even if I knew I’d end up surfing Backyards anyway. I loved to hang out with the guys. And that’s the weird thing: when I’m home, doing the exact same thing every day and not having a good day in the water drives me crazy. I get bored, irritated & grumpy; I always want more. Not in Hawai’i. Even if there was nothing exciting going on, I didn’t wish I was elsewhere. I was content, which rarely happens to me… and it felt good.

-Vainui

Ronnie Faisst has been on a long journey to the top of freestyle motocross. Aside from showing some insane skills on his bike, Faisst wanted Metal Mulisha fans to have a hint of his style with the Metal Mulisha Fizzle Sunglasses. It all began with Faisst’s concept, based off the old- school 80′s “wafer” vibe but he wanted a sturdy, solid high-end pair of glasses that don’t feel like plastic.

After visiting Metal Mulisha’s in-house workshop the designers got to work creating a handmade mold based on Ronnie’s final design decision.

After the finished product was done the 1st version of the hand crafted Fizzle’s were created and released world wide. Before Metal Mulisha knew it and with them selling so fast, they came out with a second edition of Ronnie’s signature glasses, the Fizzle 2. The 2nd version is the same slick style, but at a better price, fitted with a upgraded set of polycarbonate lens, injection molded TR90 polymide frame, with metal accents on front frame, and metal logo plaque.

With the all hype and fans pumped on both signature editions of the glasses, Faisst wanted to add one more touch of his style, topping it off with these gold tinted lens.

Mulisa found the right tint, the perfect glass, and created the third edition of the Ronnie’s signature shades, the Fizzle 2 ORO! With all three styles available Ronnie wanted his fans, along with Metal Mulisha fans to have a stylish range of shades that can be worn in any situation.

So make sure to pick up your pair today and visit our online shop and remember, never leave your crib without your Fizzle’s!

Malia is seen at the airport wearing our Astral sweater

MANLY, NSW/Australia – The Australian Open of Surfing at Manly Beach was presented by Hurley and Billabong and had some fun surf to offer. Despite some rainy days the event was full of great surfing and smiling faces as thousands gathered to see the world’s best surfers at one of Australia’s most famous beaches.

O’Neill Girls surf team rider Malia Manuel started off her 2012 campaign with a bang finishing with a semi final result in the first event of the year at the Australian Open of Surfing. Malia will have her sight set on her World Tour debut this week at the Roxy Pro.

Stay tuned for updates and follow Malia here:

Twitter.com/maliamanuel
Facebook.com/maliamanuel

Malia is seen wearing our Spring 2012 Caribbean Cooler tee while signing autographs with O’Neill Mens team rider Jordy Smith