Dawn breaks to the noise of whirlybirds, airplanes and bulldozers, all the kings men doing their post-storm post-mortem. Overhead, big Coast Guard 'guppies' make frequent passes, surveying damage as news choppers hunt for evening news 'keeper clips'. Below, the crews push the sticks and sand into organized piles.
Sometimes, it’s just too big. It’s rare. But it happens. Today was one of those days at Teahupoo as the Billabong Pro Tahiti called a lay day due to massive surf. A few of the bravest pros rolled the dice with a Teahupoo tow session, and judging by the photos, Bruce Irons snagged the beast of the day. Check out more photos and videos from the Billabong Pro Tahiti at billabongpro.com/tahiti.
Frederick Fernandez, a popular math teacher at New Smyrna Beach High School, was killed in a surfing accident just after 11 this morning. Tammy Marris, spokeswoman for the Volusia County Beach Patrol, said Fernandez was surfing near the 1000 North block of State Road A1A when he suffered a head laceration.
"Who the fuck tries something like that with that kinda speed?" someone asked, as Clay Marzo came unstuck and submerged. After stroking hard into a clean left-hander, drawing a high line and accelerating out of the power-source with speed, he'd pumped twice and hit the lip, grabbing with his left hand and throwing his fins above the section.