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Main Stream or not, this one GOES.

2011-02-08T22:08:00.000-08:00

My Front Yard 11/12/11 (Boyle Photos)

2011-01-14T18:52:00.000-08:00

The "G-6"

2011-01-14T17:24:00.000-08:00

The winds have been East for about 2 weeks now, and there has been plenty of medium sized ground swell to generate some insane barrels. Shit, I even had a few fun days at the Maverick. Tuesday was one of those special days at Mavz, light off shore winds, not a drop of water out of place. The waves were in the 15-17 foot range with a few (about 5) sets hitting the 18 foot mark.

A MASSIVE storm is developing in the NPAC, and all 3 of the Northern Hemi Big Wave events are running out of time on their scheduled holding periods. After speaking to a number of people, the word on the street is that they are to hold all 3 events on the SAME SWELL! Has this ever been done before? A Tri-fecta? sounds gnarly. The top of the field have chased swells along the same path before...They seem to have the advantage. The Eddie, The Jay at Mavericks, and then finishing up at Todos. I feel bad for the winner of the Eddie, no after party? straight to the airport? Well actually I don't feel that bad.... Anyway, enough with the bull-shit. Keep your eyes on the horizon. looks like thing should get pretty interesting in the next few weeks.

Im excited because I get to surf in a Qualifying heat at the Jay. I believe the top 2 finishers are automatically invited to the 2011-12 event. Here is the qualifying heat to run in between the semi-finals, and Finals.

1. Tyler Fox
2. Josh Loya
3. Danilo Couto
4. Nic Lamb
5. Colin Dwyer
6. Travis Payne
7. Ion Banner
8. Shawn Rhodes

THE "G-6"
Inspired by the time I spent in the barrel the last couple weeks, I created the "G-6" Its the 2nd board I ever shaped. Its made just for getting shacked. 6'1/2" x 19 x 2 3/4 Quad. Looking forward to putting this one in the water. Hand shaped, none of that computer bull shit!!!

Winter so far.

2010-12-29T15:28:00.001-08:00

Wednesday 10:32 Am. Wind is 20+ knots from every direction other then off shore, and the ocean looks similar to that small nasty area you see behind the toilet at your local bar or pub. I coach Frank Solomon on the proper way to hold an Xbox 360 controller, and how to properly take out snot nosed little kids playing Call Of Duty online. At this time last year we had several good sessions under our belts at Mavericks. Story’s of bad wipe outs, and good rides were plentiful. This year we have had to replace the wipe outs with rough city night’s, and the good rides with small bar tabs.

The North Pacific has produced a decent amount of swell so far this year. The big wave season started some time in early October, with a few 12 – 15 foot swells and decent conditions. Things were starting to look even better as November came around. A monster popped up on the charts headed directly at Northern California and Oregon. They ran the Nellscot big wave invitational in Oregon on this swell. It was big, really big, off shore, and mean. A few of the Hawaiians were calling mini Peahi, and said it looked like 25 foot V-Land. Back at home the swell was a bit more organized, however scary long interval, and with a slight south bump in the face. Any sort of south wind out at Mavericks can make your worst fears come true very quickly, and any interval over 20 seconds will make your 10 foot gun feel like a 5’11’’ in a hurry. A few of the big wave elite, such as Greg Long, Twiggy, Healey and others ran a secret squirrel mission down to Cortez Bank that evening to tackle the same swell.

Things settled down after that, and never seemed to pick back up. It’s been about 2 months since we have had anything of real significant size hit California. Opening ceremonys were held for both The Jay Big Wave Invitational, (formerly known as the Mavericks Big wave invitational) and the Eddie Aikau.

As I type this the local swell forecaster posts “2 solid gales form off the coast of Japan” Maybe to hit January 1^st. Hoping this will jump - start the second half of the winter. As for now, keep your fingers crossed.

Travis Payne

Some of my photography

2010-12-29T14:48:00.000-08:00

Sleepless City

One of the first times I ever experimented with slow shutter speeds.

Twiggy showing Ian and Ryan how to take the high line.

Devils slide bridge work.

Mark with the wave of the swell at Puerto.

Cool lights, New moon.

Cold water. Oregon

Tree's are cool?

Derek Dunfee

Nothing better in 100 degree Mex, after a long day of barrels.

Our view from out hotel in Oregon, prior to the first Nellscot contest.

HWY 1

Love this shot. HWY 1

Night before the Nellscot event.

A FEW SHOTS FROM OREGON

2010-11-06T21:27:00.001-07:00

RUN DANILLO!

Lone soldier in the bowl. I think Tim West. No he is not sitting inside either. This thing will back off then reform with 20 second energy.

NOVEMBER LIGHTS UP EARLY

2010-11-06T20:45:00.000-07:00

2010 Nelscott Event

With an invite to the Nelscott Contest, and a young, green big wave career (if you want to call it that) It wasnt a hard choice to head up the coast away from Mavs. 13 hours later we pull into a stormy, wet, and windy Lincoln City Oregon. After the contest meeting it was one last look at the buoys and lights out.
Contest morning was damp, and hazey from the ocean's energy. No one could see the reef, but from the washed out launch ramp, and 15 foot slabs on the beach, we all knew it was big. After navigating through the beach break we get to the line up first. Even though the tide was maxed out, it still looked to be 18 foot with a few bigger.
As the day went on the swell filled in untill about 11 o'clock when it finally peaked in the 20 to 22 foot range (30 - 45 foot faces). I surfed in the 3rd heat and was able to get one smaller wave in the 18 foot range before taking a 25 foot slab to the head, resulting in a broken leash and no board. For some reason my back up board never made it to the buoy, so I was stuck riding a 9'0 Brewer, that felt more like a 6'8''. I wasn't able to get another wave in the remaining 30 minutes.
I figured my day was done, but apparently Tim West suffered a pretty bad wipeout that took him out of the event. I was the next highest score, so it pushed me through to the semi's STOKED!
The Semi final was mental, low tide and 20 second energy flooding the reef. The view from the take off zone looking out is a little intimidating. Waves capped on the 3rd reef and steam rolled into a double up (that was the take off zone).
In the End it was Kohl Christensen who took the Event! He was rushing it the whole day, and is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet!!!
Standouts included
Pete Mel, Rusty Long, Dave Wassell, Kealii Mamala, Anthony Tashnick, Jamie Sterling, Carlos Burle, and Chris Bertish.

RIP ANDY IRONS, Always one of my favorite surfers. He will be missed greatly!!!

4 SHOTS FROM LAST SEASON

2010-06-26T18:38:00.000-07:00

This one was from Thanksgiving. Great swell, everyone was getting bombs.
Photo: Don Montgomery

The day after the 2010 Mavericks contest. Completely humbled by mother nature- yet again.
Photo: Rob Brown

Oregon. Caught this one 5 minutes before my heat started.
Photo: Rich Hallman

First trip to Todos Santos. Great trip, and fun waves.
Photo: B.O.

MEX

2010-06-10T06:31:00.000-07:00

On our way back from right hand point perfection!

Dinner with the crew at Dan's

A FEW FROM THE LAST SWELL @ PUERTO

2010-06-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

ESPN LINK

http://espn.go.com/action/surfing/gallery?id=5225398&image=11

Running

Setting up

2010-05-29T08:17:00.000-07:00

\\\\\GROMS/////

A few shot from the last swell at Puerto

2010-05-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

PHOTOS FROM MEXICO

2010-05-15T11:48:00.000-07:00

Puerto Escondido
(Far Bar)
May 14th 2010
The view is from the top of our place. The wave is bigger then you think.

Put the camera out the window
for this one. Got lucky.

ROAD TO PUERTO

2010-05-13T14:19:00.000-07:00

Road to Puerto

By: Travis Payne

Day 1 (0800) - Awoke from a pillow being flung at my head. Buzzed and fuzzy on how I ended up on the floor of a suit in San Clemente. It was the XXL awards, and the crowning of the first ever big wave world champion Carlos Burle no doubt. Two days of mayhem, and celebration.

“Time to hit the road” - says pillow triggerman Tim West.

We are headed south, like way south. Puerto Escondido will be our final destination. We will spend a month, maybe two in search of perfect barrels. The drive should take about 8 days. From San Clemente we will head east to Tucson, Arizona. From there we will head south.

Day 1 (20:00) – Tucson Arizona was hot, dry, and flat. Ate at an IHOP and slept at an over priced motel 6. None of our boards got stolen, and the jet ski remained locked to our rig. That’s about all we could ask for.

Day 2 (10:00) – Made it to Nogales, the AZ, and Mexico boarder. Crossing it was uneventful which is by all means a good thing. The registration for the vehicle and ski however did not go as smooth. We spent five hours in the Mexico equivalent DMV. We learned that you are required to cancel your registration when you leave Mexico. Won’t make that mistake twice.

Day 3 (08:30) – we pulled into Guaymas last night about sunset. We know better then to risk driving at night. You might be lucky enough to get past the suicidal cows, and banditos, but hitting a tope at 100kph is almost a sure thing.

Day 5 (10:30) – After a solid day and a half of driving and nearly 200 U.S. dollars in tolls, we have made it to Guadalajara, “the junction point”. Turn right and we could be getting shacked at Pascuales, however we also would have to deal with two- way oncoming traffic, and an extra days worth of driving to reach our final destination. On the other hand we could proceed straight south, continue at 100kph, and have a straight shot to Puerto. We would even be there a day earlier. I think it took a solid twenty maybe even thirty seconds for the decision to be made. Neither one of us could take another day of 104 degree dessert hell. We needed to get in the water. We turned right.

Day 5 (18:00)- After sobering up from the road hangover with a few bites of papaya from a local fruit stand we were finally surfing. I almost forgot how. The sun was just disappearing on the horizon, and the winds were more or less on shore. Tim somehow ended up surfing the shallowest sand bar on the beach to eventually find himself standing with two half’s of a board. Looking at him standing on the beach, I decided the risk wasn’t worth the reward and decided its time for a beer, and to meet some new people at Paco’s (the beach front hostel were we would stay the night).

Day 5 (23:00)- I think I ate too much. Was it the fish? Was it the single beer and the one shot of “we made it” tequila? Whatever it was we both had it, and bad. Duets all night long, first me, then Tim, then me again, and then Tim. After about the 18^th trip to the bathroom it almost became humorous.

“Say RALF! When you puke ” -Tim says chuckling as im hugging the toilet.

It’s all right, soon enough it will be his turn.

Day 7 (09:00)- Day 6 was a day I would rather forget. The only time we got out of bed was to tease ourselves by looking at the surf. And of course it was 6-foot, hard offshore, and “cooking” as you would say in South Africa. But today we managed to work up enough energy to surf, however the waves looked like shit. It was still 6-foot, still off-shore, but due to a mix of north west wind swell it shut down any chance of being spit out of the barrel. The guys ripping through the crowded line up doing “step-offs” on the Jet Ski seemed to be the only ones finding corners. Cool dudes, but that’s another story. We surfed it until the wind eventually came up as it does everyday. We were both pretty stoked just to be surfing again, and out of that dam car. We stayed another night in hopes it might be better tomorrow.

Day 8 (09:00)- We awoke to the same crossed up and cold wind swell, and the same 2 cool dudes ripping through the line up as the day before. We decided that this would be our final day here, and we would head south as far as possible after we had a few waves.

Day 8 (10:30)- A little sour from being sprayed by the ski all day and not spending much time in the “green room” we did out best to keep positive as this was just a pit stop.

“Going to go grab a few waters for the drive”- Tim calls out.

No worries, I’m stoked to get out of here. Get on the road again, one step closer to Puerto. Tim comes back.

“Were not going anywhere” – Tim says as he throws me a beer.

The decision to get a 6 pack instead of water will become crystal clear at the end of what you are about to hear.

Four surfers, 3 Americans, and 1 Mexican, were traveling from Pascuallies to Rio Nexpa. Rio Nexpa is about 3 hours south from were we are. The road is very mountainous and unpopulated. The State is Michoacán, when you think Michoacán, think drugs, think corrupt paid off cops, think the worst.

(10AM)- As the car of surfers rounded one of the many sharp corners on the road they are faced with a road- block. AK-47’s drawn, and pointed at point blank range. Banditos coming out of the hills banging on the glass and the hood of their car with assault rifles.

Maybe worst case scenario they are force out of the car and left on the side of the road? Think again. Instead of forcing them out, they piled in. Guns pointed and caulked, just like the movies. They were forced to take dirt roads 4 hours up into the hills. At one point one of the banditos told them that they were all going to die. They went on to claim they had 5 bodies in a ditch already.

Once deep into the Michoacán hills, the 3 Americans were bound with duct tape. They sent the Mexican back north to Pascuales were he was told to gather all the money he could among other things. They kept his passport with his home address on it for collateral. They said if you don’t come back we will find you. The Mexican informed his friends of the situation and gathered a crew consisting of the Marines, Federalies, and anyone willing to attempt to save the 3 hostages.

They proceeded to the hill in attempt to resolve the situation. What they didn’t know was that the Americans that were being held hostage had some how managed to escape. They ran barefoot through the woods for hours until they were finally able to flag down a car on the main road.

The Mexican and his army arrived to find no one. Not his friends, banditos, not a soul. They feared the worse. They didn’t find out until hours later that their friends, minus a few layers of skin on their feet, were generally unharmed.

Once reports were made, the four were brought back to Pascuales. Shaken and in tears, they cross paths with Tim. They share the last 24 hours of their lives with him.

We spent the next few hours contemplating what we should do. Do we assume that there are an overload of police, and military now in the area? Or are they all in on it too? Should we backtrack an entire day to the toll roads? The last 2 years of my life vaguely flashes before my eyes. All the time I put into Paramedic school, to get killed and throw it all away?

Day 8 (15:00)- The locals seemed confident that now would be a safe time to make the drive. Mostly due to the fact it just happened, and there would be a strong police presence in the area. We crammed our 9-foot boards inside the rig and removed the California license plates off our rig. We drank the rest of our beer, and made a run for it. As we enter the hills I began to feel my heart beat faster and faster. Not much, if anything was said for the next 3 hours. I franticly dig through my Ipod to find the most hard-core death metal possible to keep us pumped up. We kept our speed through the turns, ready to demolish whatever or whoever was on the other end of the corner. One sweaty hand on my machete and one on my last half empty warm beer. I can hear our bald tires squeaking as we round the turns. We did not see one Federally, military, or police car, let alone any other car for the last 2 hours. The villages that are normally crowded with people are empty. This isn’t looking good.

Day 8 (18:00) –Were nearly out of the hills. We have seen a few cars pass the opposite way by now. Starting to get my heart rate under control. Looks like we only have a few kilometers left according to our map. We are talking a little more now, almost felt like we won the lottery. We then turn a corner and see two groups of people one on each side of the road. They have a chain that that runs perpendicular across to the road. They pull the chain firm on both ends raising it in the middle. Someone is also standing in the middle of the road holding something but I cant make it our yet. My heart hits my stomach. Tim hammers it. I almost feel bad for the people we are about to take out. We build speed, this is it, go time. We get closer and closer. I start to make out the faces.

“KIDS!” - I yell!

We slam on the breaks. It’s the Salvation Army trying to collect pesos. I know what your thinking, and no we don’t stop. We came this far we wont fall for a trap. We both laugh at the past 3 hours of the drive and continue on. We pull into Rio Nexpa, and tell our story. A few don’t believe us, a few might have decided to stay in Nexpa rather then try and score waves up north. Either way, we made it and I didn’t really care what anyone thought. We only have 2 more days of driving.

Day 10 (18:00)- We pull into Puerto around sunset. Check into our room, and enjoy the best tasting beer of the trip. On the roof of our place, Agua Azul, you can see the entire beach. We watch an 8 foot set come in and bend, almost in a complete horseshoe shape. The wave is engulfed by the spit, and disappears into the sunset. We made it.