ISSUE 01 THE

TRESTLES

THE SPORT OF OF SPORT THE ISSUE 20 TRESTLES

ISSUE 01 SEPT.2016 THE 26 TRESTLES ISSUE

CONTENTS

04 A NEW BEGINNING An Oral History of ’s First Pro Victory 12 04 11 HOW TRESTLES WORKS By Dr. Falk Feddersen 12 GREAT MOMENTS COVER AND MAP ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALVAR SIRLIN AT TRESTLES Illustrations by Alvar Sirlin EDITOR’S NOTE 16 A TREK THROUGH Roughly 50 miles north of is an expanse of ocean in his distinctive style. Perhaps the most notable is the rst TRESTLES front, sand and cobblestones named after a railroad bridge. pro victory for an 18-year-old Kelly Slater. We compiled an 16 By photographer Chris Ortiz How did this spot, called “Trestles,” become the most oral history of Slater’s 1990 Trestles win with help from the important place to surf in the continental United States? 11-time world champion. 22 TWENTY REASONS We thought it would be fun to explore that question in this Trestles today stands as a rare example of what the To Be Fired Up About debut of Twenty, a magazine for anyone curious about the California coast looked like in the early part of the 20th the Hurley Pro sport of sur ng. century, when sur ng was a new import from and It begins with the 37th President of the United States, not yet a widespread part of American culture. Photographer 24 ONSHORE WORKOUT , who owned a compound just steps from Chris Ortiz offers a visual guide to this iconic place, and By Kevyn Dean Trestles while he was in the White House. One “beautiful oceanographer Falk Feddersen explains why Trestles’ waves sunny day,” as Nixon’s aide John Ehrlichman remembered got so good in the rst place. Dr. Feddersen, who has surfed 25 THE PHYSICAL DEMANDS it, the President walked along a stretch of sand controlled Trestles roughly 10 times, can con rm the site lives up to by the U.S. military and suggested the “clean ocean water” its reputation. OF TRESTLES By Dr. Oliver Farley should be open to the public. Exactly why remains a bit of We hope this issue gets you excited for the start of a mystery, as writer Alex Roth explains: “Like many stories Trestles’ Hurley Pro and Swatch Women’s Pro, which start involving the only U.S. president to resign from of ce, this 26 SURFER IN CHIEF on September 7th and offer a chance to see how the best Why Richard Nixon Is 24 11 one involves political calculations, feelings of betrayal and surfers attack one of the world’s best waves. You can watch possible ulterior motives.” Responsible for One of the heats live at worldsur eague.com. We started Twenty, the World’s Greatest Waves Nixon’s decision had a signi cant impact on sur ng around which stands for the highest score one can achieve in a By Alex Roth the world. Trestles’ clean, consistent waves provided a round of competitive sur ng, because we believe all surfers canvas for athletes to test what was possible on a deserve a publication to call their own. The pursuit of excel- and broaden the sport’s appeal in the coming decades. lence belongs to everyone as we enter the water for the rst Illustrator Alvar Sirlin captures some of those moments time and embrace the power of trying something new.

Dan Fitzpatrick, editor © 2016 Dan Fitzpatrick

2 TWENTY MAGAZINE ISSUE 01 SEPT.2016 RECOUNTED BY: RICHARD: They ended up successfully FIG: When that place is on there is SURFERS KELLY SLATER, THE NEW KID signing Kelly. I was right in the middle no better wave in California. BUD LLAMAS AND PAT BUD: Slater was the new kid. of all the action. I had certain duties to PAT: Trestles back then that was the O’CONNELL, FORMER LOS help with here and there, go on photo KELLY: I had turned pro that summer. Holy Grail. Most of the events happened shoots and travel with him. At the time ANGELES TIMES WRITER I had been sur ng pro contests for in parking lots with bad waves. If you were I was thinking well gosh it would be fun MIKE REILLEY, FILM eight years since I was 12. I had the to look across what professional sur ng to have a little video project with Kelly. DIRECTOR AND experience. I felt like I was looking at the was at the time it was big city beach, A college friend of mine from Pepperdine, FOUNDER RICHARD wave a little differently than the standard bikini show. It had nothing to do with Jon Freeman, was making little surf WOOLCOTT, TOUR ANNOUNCER sur ng of the time. My con dence was actually trying to nd better conditions movies during college and I thought well ROCKIN’ FIG, BODY getting bigger and bigger.1 and create an actual sporting event. gosh Jon could help me work on this lm. Trestles was the one event where when GLOVE CO-OWNER AND PAT: I knew he was going to be a world It was really a small side project. What you did actually lose you stayed and TOUR DIRECTOR RONNIE champion the rst time I saw him. was interesting is that one of the rst big watched all day. For that reason I am sure MEISTRELL, AND PRIME MIKE R.: There was all this mystique shoots was the contest. Kelly wanted to win there super bad. TICKET TV COMMENTATORS about him, this kid from . It was KELLY: I just narrowly made it into the PT TOWNEND AND MIKE an interesting time for sur ng. The cutline for the number of guys to surf at CHAMBERLIN. Aussies were very dominant and Tom the Trestles contest. I want to say I was WHY IS HE SLEEPING Curren was about to take a year off from in 90th place on the tour and 100 guys ON THE FLOOR? * We also used a Prime Ticket sur ng and was getting a little long in could surf.3 broadcast of the event to recreate the tooth.2 They needed a bright young RICHARD: I was living in Newport Beach5 FIG: We already knew he was pretty the words of TV commentator star to come in and carry the torch for and I had some roommates. Kelly was Mike Chamberlin, who said he much red hot. He had done well on the sport. coming to town and we’re making this could not remember speci cs, events throughout the season. But movie so let’s all hang out together and dialogue from Woolcott’s RICHARD: was going after Kelly. heading down to Trestles you are looking 1991 lm ‘Kelly Slater In Black and we will shoot some footage. Every They wanted him to be the next face at one of the best waves on the coast. And White.’ Interviews conducted morning the objective was to get up early of their brand. I was in the marketing If anybody is going to show their stuff that by Dan Fitzpatrick. (Hint: the and get Kelly down to the contest so he voices are color coded.) department at that time and I remember is where they need to be ready to go off. all of the negotiations. He is supposed had plenty of time to warm up and get to be the next guy that takes sur ng into comfortable. I was probably the most the future and to break down barriers and 30 GRAND nervous because deep down I thought he win multiple world titles. So he has a lot could win this event but I didn’t want to of pressure on him to live up to those RONNIE: I ran the contest. I set it up and put pressure on him. expectations. I hired all the people, did all the spon- KELLY: It was hard to disregard that. sorships. Body Glove wanted to have the KELLY: Quiksilver had reservations Richard’s whole program was to make a richest rst place prize money ever given about signing me I only found out later movie on me. I guess they are making to any surfer anywhere on tour.4 on, because I had not won a world ama- this movie on me in the rst place teur event in three times trying. I felt like BUD: It was 30 grand for rst place because they trust I surf well and can they were spending a lot of money and which then was a lot of money. I knew I do my job but at the same time I literally A was coming to the end of my career and signed my contract on the beach at that time and effort to promote who I was. I NEW winning that 30 grand would have been a contest and they wanted me to have felt like it was really important for me to deliver. That puts a lot of pressure on a way to go out. a big coming out. It is hard to shut all those things out and focus on the goal in young guy. RICHARD: That prize purse was huge BEGINNING the moment. We’re lming every single back then. PAT: Everyone was making a bid at him. session. I remember him having a little bit of fun KELLY: I grew up in a small town in a KELLY SLATER IS THE MOST ACCOMPLISHED PROFESSIONAL SURFER RICHARD: We lmed everything. We lmed with it. Never being stressed out. You relatively poor family. Just that money IN THE WORLD, AN 11 -TIME WORLD CHAMPION. IT IS DIFFICULT at my house when I woke him up in the kind of felt like things would work out for right there would have been more than morning. We tried to document everything NOW TO IMAGINE HIM AS AN UNPROVEN 18-YEAR-OLD IN SEARCH him. He doesn’t do any drugs; he doesn’t enough to pay off the house we lost we could. I know lots of people are still OF HIS FIRST PRO VICTORY. BUT THAT’S WHO SLATER WAS IN have the demons that some other people when I was younger. SEPTEMBER 1990 AS THE COCOA BEACH, FLA., HIGH SCHOOL who are in that situation do. I felt like he “why is he sleeping on the  oor?” Back RONNIE: I was expecting a high caliber had it under control. Maybe he felt differ- then it wasn’t a big issue. I had room- SENIOR TRAVELED TO CALIFORNIA’S LOWER TRESTLES TO COMPETE of sur ng. Lower Trestles is such a high ent. It’s always easy to look at someone mates and he was my guest at my house FOR WHAT WAS THEN THE RICHEST FIRST PLACE PRIZE AT THE quality wave and they were forecasting six 6 else’s life and feel like they have it and so that is where he slept. BODY GLOVE SURF BOUT III. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT FOREVER to eight foot surf for rst three days and gured out. ALTERED THE SPORT OF SURFING. then bigger sets on fourth, fth and sixth day. I was going “are you kidding?”

4 TWENTY MAGAZINE PHOTOS: BODY GLOVE/ ISSUE 01 SEPT.2016 MIKE BALZER KELLY: The camera part wasn’t normal. Brown, an up and coming surfer from I shaped the other rail and they came PT: The fog rolled in. We had to put the surf them with a radical approach but he It came down to the wire of Kelly needed Sleeping on the  oor was. For years after Santa Barbara. You had Bud Llamas who out completely different. We used to event on hold for awhile until it burned also had to nish the waves the right one really good wave to cement a win. that there were still plenty of  oors I slept was the local favorite and kind of the old make these ice plant boards, almost like off. But it was a bonus when it’s like that. way and had to utilize the whole wave Going into the last minutes of that nal on and couches I slept on. guy in the crowd. a sand dune board. They had these huge When you get that fog bank that sits from start to nish. it was close. Everybody was standing, dunes at his house in Santa Barbara and around all day it keeps everything calm. everybody was screaming. We were out RICHARD: Kelly likes to sleep in. He is FIG: Bud was winding down on his career. FIG: [Slater] wasn’t holding back; he was of our minds. not going to be the rst one up. You have Still surfed really well. His turns were they were covered by ice plants. So we That is why conditions were so good going for maneuvers right off the bat. For to wake him up and make sure you got already really solid and when he hit the would make these wooden boards with going into the nals. The conditions a kid you wouldn’t expect that. Just all PAT: Kelly had to get a couple waves to everything and get him there. For me that lip he de nitely threw a lot of water. He straps on them and try to ride them down were magic. style, big, giant fan of water, and throwing come back in the heat. these ice plant hills in the summer when was the big responsibility. It’s interesting was kind of a power guy. Chris Brown was MIKE R.: The offshore breeze came from a lot of power. His lip bashes were more MIKE C.: You are looking at the big- what he says when I go ‘it’s the morning the new phenomenon. Just a beautiful we were bored. Chris and I had a lot of behind us and blew all those clouds vertical than what we had been seeing. fun together. gest set of the afternoon here at Lower of the nals.’ He goes ‘no, it’s the style, super quick. I say he was the man out and the waves just went completely He was super quick, style was great, Trestles. This could be as big as an 9 morning of the quarter nals.’ to beat from that time era. [Charlie] PAT: Chris Brown was probably the guy glassy. Some of the nicest waves I have super tight little cutbacks. 8 foot wave set pulling through right Kuhn was a veteran for a long, long time. that at that time was closest to Kelly as ever seen in . KELLY: My mom raised me to be very RICHARD: Kelly was riding different now. Out the back let’s see who is going humble. Saying the “morning of the nal” He had to do what he had to do to get far as ability level. You tend to be closest PAT: We sat there until noon or 1 o’clock boards. They were narrower and they to pick it off. It’s Bud Llamas. He’ll go 7 I am thinking it sounds pretty silly for me through heats. with the person who is the tightest until we started sur ng. I lost in the quar- had more rocker.10 You can see it in his backside, look at the size of this wave! to say that if I don’t make the nal. BUD: You want to beat the young guys competition. I used to think Chris would ter nal. The heat before the quarter nal, sur ng, how quick he is coming off the Well over his head. Big slash! He has and the young guys want to beat the be the favorite to win every event; I just I nally got a good wave and I remember bottom and going straight up into the still got a lot of open ocean to work with. older guys who have been doing it for thought he was that good. hearing the crowd screaming. I want to pocket and how sharp those turns are A big wave, it is still forming up nicely THE BIGGEST THREAT: a long time. throw my hands up, like “look I did it.” in the pocket to come back and rebound for him. So he has had two big slashes. Luckily I didn’t because I turned around off the whitewash. It was allowing him to The backsider is just ripping this wave to A GOOD FRIEND KELLY: Chris and I were on the same A DREAMY DAY 11 side of the draw. To me Chris was the and there was Kelly on the wave behind slide that tail and blow those ns out. shreds. Whitewater  ying everywhere. He MIKE R.: I always remember parking the guy who was the biggest threat even RONNIE: We had fog delays. This little me and I realized everybody was scream- So you have this really talented surfer on ends it all with an elevator  oater. That’s car and climbing over a little wedge there 13 though Charlie and Bud probably had girl worked for us; her dad lived on a ing for what he was doing. It had nothing a very futuristic or forward thinking surf- a high scoring wave. and it was nothing but hard core surf more experience than either of us. He golf course. She brought us bags of golf to do with me. It was a pretty sobering board that allowed him to surf in different BUD: Wow, yeah, I remember that. Just so fans. You didn’t have 50,000 people on and I were really good friends. I used balls and we were hitting drivers out into moment. parts of the wave that guys weren’t dreamy you know? That ride of mine, that the beach. It was people who really loved really approaching before. to stay with him in Santa Barbara, surf the bushes. Kelly Slater came up and he BUD: The water was warm, the weather was one of my more memorable ones. and cared about sur ng who were there with him a lot. He and I shaped one of our couldn’t hit the ball. He whiffed it. Then was great. It was just a dreamy day. KELLY: I had been riding that board for mainly to watch Kelly. But also you had MIKE R.: Bud Llamas I thought has the rst if not our rst surfboard together he would hit one and it would be a shank. When we all went out together for the awhile. I believe that board already had all these great story lines. You had Chris best wave of the day and just surfed out I still have the club in my garage.8 in his backyard. He shaped one rail and nals we were all laughing and smiling a buckle and crease across the top. That of his mind and, boom, Kelly comes in KELLY: I think I whiffed like 10 times in a and having a good time. We were going was a board Al Merrick and I had come right behind. 12 row. Not even exaggerating. Really funny. out there to beat each other but we were up with. It was narrower and had more PT: Slater has gone back out there. Embarrassing actually. just saying how cool it was, how good the rocker than what most guys were riding waves were. Everybody in that heat was at the time and probably a bit thinner as Here he is. He got away from the other FIG: It wasn’t like [Slater] was all a great surfer. I felt I could win but it’s all well. We were trying to get the volumes guys. Oh, veeeertical, straight up! Drops stressed out. They were hitting golf balls about who gets the right waves. of the boards down and get the rocker up down to the bottom, squares it off again, out into the marsh. and the idea was to trade maneuverabil- an open faced snap! He sets up again, PAT: I was really interested to watch RICHARD: Oh gosh I probably was a little drives down the line, comes off the the nal because I thought Chris actually ity. That was the rst step in the evolution nervous with that, like come on Kelly top. Sets up for the inside, goes off the had a chance. It was an uphill chance of where we were going with boards at don’t use your energy. I’m sure I was the time and boards tended to all go in bottom,  oats over that whitewater and a but i thought he had a chance. He had 13 running around going “hey man let’s make big snap on the inside. won one of the heats over Kelly earlier that direction for a few years. sure you stay warm.” Anytime those condi- in the day. PAT: At that point he was just a lot faster, MIKE R.: Rockin’ Fig did the play by tions are changing like that, that can be a he was sharper. play from loudspeakers and he was just distraction and throw you off. Maybe that PT: I was expecting Kelly to win it. screaming bloody murder. is why he was hitting golf balls. Just to RICHARD: We were on pins and needles FIG: Everybody was screaming because keep his mind off it. Not to get nervous. the entire heat. Everybody is getting OH, VEEEERTICAL good waves and Chris was sur ng really the level of sur ng was so incredible. STRAIGHT UP! good. Kelly would get a good wave and MIKE R.: What he was doing and where then we would feel really good and then he was doing it on the wave really ele- RICHARD: In the nal he really had to be Chris would get a good wave and oh my vated sur ng. He would go vertical right careful because he had to make all those gosh Chris got a good one. Back then at top of the wave. It was unbelievable waves. He didn’t really have the luxury you didn’t know what the scores were. how quickly he could turn that board Kelly exits the water at the Body Glove of just doing one big giant air. He had to We’re going “who had the better wave?” around. At Trestles I saw it that day. Surf Bout III in September 1990.

6 TWENTY MAGAZINE ISSUE 01 SEPT.2016 KELLY: There was one wave I had that and to me that event signi ed all of that and I won six of my rounds going into RICHARD: What do you like about school? me only in the sense that I was a little holding events in crappy beach towns, coming together and on a public stage. the nal. In some weird, bizarre way bit sort of shy and nervous. I wasn’t erecting scaffolding up in these parking was the best wave of the nal. I rode it KELLY: Teachers. the right way and that really was the It was exciting for me. I realized at that I almost like that $600 more than the trying to send a message. I wasn’t trying lots, we get little to no media but some point of difference between Chris and I. moment that I had a full  edged career $30,000. That showed how much work RICHARD: What is your dog’s name? to promote something else. I wasn’t butts on the beach and that’s what we We didn’t have live scoring at the time where I would be able to make a living I put into each round. KELLY: Buddy. trying to sell a pair of trunks. There is an thought professional sur ng was. But all and do what I love.15 innocence about that time for me that of a sudden it’s like we can hold these so nobody knew where they stood in rela- FIG: He had to have been the RICHARD: Do you have a favorite board? tion to each other. It truly wasn’t going to MIKE R.: He walked up to us after- happiest guy in the world. felt really nice and refreshing and pure. things in decent waves. People will record be anyone knowing until we got on stage KELLY: I broke it. The other got stolen. I mean, shit, I would love to go back and it, they will lm it, it will get out into the wards and he is carrying the check and RICHARD: I was with him and we were and they read the results. I thought Chris I pointed down and said “what are you RICHARD: Do you like drugs? live that again right now. I would love to world. It’s way more enjoyable. Put the 14 all so stoked for him because years and go back to that time and those moments best guys out in water and it’s 4 to 5 foot and I were close but I thought I won. going to do with it?” He says “I’ll keep KELLY: No.19 years of work went into that win. From and experience those again, completely. at Trestles and you see all sorts of RICHARD: You can see he is pretty it.”16 He said it with a wink in his eye. there that opened the door of ok, you can KELLY: When I see that, I see myself great stuff. nervous standing on stage. He has He smiled. It was just a lot of money to do it, and now let’s go after that world unaffected by a history of things in my PAT: It was a moment in time that some- got his head down and he is just going an 18 year old kid in early . Kelly tour and potential world titles. It was a life. I am aware of the camera being on thing for the sport of sur ng happened. FIG: It was the start of a new beginning. ‘man please did I win this.’ didn’t grow up poor but he didn’t grow big deal. People went wait a second we have been  up rich either. That money really meant something to him and his family. That KELLY: I think that single event I can I’LL KEEP IT was when I felt he really grew up. And I probably look back and argue that was think that is why he was so excited about the most signi cant event for me maybe PT: Slater’s rst big win, boy is he happy the check, he was realizing “damn I in my life. Because Chris Brown was the about it. I would be too, $30,000. He is a really am a professional now.” next guy really. He was a little older than happy young man.13 me. A little more re ned; he had already KELLY: It was between half and a third MIKE C.: You get the feeling this is the won more events. I think had he won that of what I would make a whole year on my rst of many checks to come for this contest it would have elevated his [Quiksilver] contract. I think I was making 17 young man out of Florida.13 game quicker. 75 to 100 grand on my contract. In the KELLY: I was overcome with emotion. matter of a couple of days, seven rounds RICHARD: After the contest we said wow I felt like I delivered what I had to. I of sur ng I make half that much money, we have to build on this. Let’s schedule always had this belief in myself from the pretty cool. It was actually $30,600. The some trips and start making a sur ng 18 time I was a little kid. I was always really reason that was signi cant was because movie. Like really get serious about it. good with sports and I had this real belief if you won a heat you would get an extra Sometime in late December or early that I was going to be great at something 100 bucks and there were seven rounds January the guys at Quiksilver came to me and said how is that project going with Kelly? Can you give us a nished product for an upcoming trade show in a couple weeks? I haven’t done any of the interviews. Kelly is in Hawaii so I had to  y him to California. He came back to the same house he stayed at for the contest and we did all the interviews in one take. I did that all in the kitchen and the backyard. RICHARD: What do you do when you are not sur ng? KELLY: Homework. RICHARD: Do you like school? KELLY: Sometimes.

Slater is second from left, broadcaster Kelly Slater sur ng Lower Trestles during the 1990 Body Glove Surf Bout III. “It is a real Mike Chamberlin in middle and broadcaster user friendly wave. It has got a nice shape and speed to it. The right amount of speed and PT Townend on far right. “You get the feeling curvature to do pretty much any kind of maneuver.” this is the rst of many checks for this young man out of Florida.”

8 TWENTY MAGAZINE ISSUE 01 SEPT.2016 BELOW THE SURFACE: FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO GO DEEPER ON KELLY’S FIRST WIN AS PRO

1. Kelly attributed some of his optimism to a 8. Ronnie had a long history with Kelly. He said week of sur ng in Southern California… HOW TRESTLES WORKS recent third-place nish against his sur ng idol the rst time he saw Kelly surf was in 1987 When asked what he would do with Tom Curren in . where Kelly “got pummeled in the water” by his prize money, Slater said: “Keep It.” other top amateurs in Texas. In 1989 he said 2. Tom, from Santa Barbara, Calif., was the 17. Kelly, referring to his friend Chris, also had According to Dr. Falk Feddersen, WE ASKED DR. FEDDERSEN TO EXPLAIN he watched Kelly miss a heat during a fog delay dominant surfer of the 1980s. He won the this to say: “I think that event was maybe a in San Francisco and get eliminated from the professor of oceanography at WHY LOWER TRESTLES IS ONE OF THE world tour three times. little bit of a heartbreaker for him and a huge contest as a result. “Kelly’s mother called me propellant for my career and I have wondered Scripps Institution of Oceanography, WORLD’S GREAT WAVES. HERE ARE 8 3. A strange chain of events that landed Kelly and was very upset,” he said. “She threatened over the years what would have happened had in the contest began earlier that summer when me with ‘maybe I will just send him to you so he UC San Diego. REASONS WHY. Chris won that contest and I got second? Would his friend Pat O’Connell kicked Kelly and a has to be at the contest all day’ and I laughed that have changed our lives or our careers in group of other kids out of his parents’ house in about that.” Laguna. Kelly ended up at a pool party where any way?” Chris Brown could not be reached he and a surf photographer collided in midair 9. Watch footage of the nal here: but had this to say to the Los Angeles Times THE CALIFORNIA COASTLINE as they both jumped in the water. Kelly stayed https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zGbWrbn2BmI. after Slater’s win in 1990: “I think he’s a future THE with another friend in San Clemente and 10. Rocker is a reference to the bottom curve world champion.” This portion of coastline in southern California bends WINDS discovered the next morning that a contest was of the surfboard. 18. Kelly and the lm crew traveled to to the east, creating a geological point that is ideal The winds at Trestles scheduled to start a few blocks away. “I bor- 11. “The tail slide became my thing during that and Hawaii in late 1990 so Kelly could for sur ng. Lower Trestles, as a result, breaks both in OCEAN rowed a board and…I ended up getting fth in period of time,” Kelly said. prove to the rest of the sur ng world that he left and right directions. are typically much light- that event,” Kelly said. That one result boosted “It wasn’t a maneuver that was really seen a lot could surf bigger waves. er than they are just his rank high enough to make the cut for the before then. When you release a n like that 19. From the 1991 lm “Kelly Slater In Black 20 miles to the south, FLOOR Body Glove Surf Bout III. you are not in control but you are getting the And White.” Richard said the lm succeeded Dr. Feddersen said.“ It 4. Body Glove, a surf apparel company con- board to a certain place in order to maintain on many fronts. Young surfers still quote lines COBBLESTONES has some sort of a bless- Beneath the surface trolled by the Meistrell family, created the U.S. control again. That was something I had been from the movie, he said, and at one time it sold Bud Surf Tour out of the Professional Sur ng working on for four years at the time.” at least 100,000 VHS units. “It really helped The waves break evenly over a rocky seabed of cobble- ing.” Conditions are best of the water lies an for sur ng when any winds underwater point that is Association of America. Ronnie said he and his 12. The board had blue, yellow and orange launch my career. I went on after that to start stones. Rains wash these stones, which can be six or brother convinced Prime Ticket, which is now striping. Its dimensions were Volcom and my rst big successful project was eight inches long, down from the San Mateo Creek. This arrive from the northeast. 200 feet deep. This part of Fox Sports, to broadcast their 10 annual 3 3 3 Kelly Slater In Black And White.” 6'0 x 11 ⁄8 x 17 ⁄4 x 14 ⁄8, with a thickness  ow of stones keeps the geological point intact. concentrates the wave contests. Ronnie said he convinced the state of 1 of about 2 ⁄4, according to a post of Channel energy as a magnifying California to allow Body Glove to stage one of Island’s web site. Al Merrick was the founder of their contests at Lower Trestles. glass does with the sun. Channel Islands . STORMS A smaller underwater 5. Richard, a former amateur surfer, lived near 13. From Prime Ticket broadcast of the 1990 a popular surf spot known as River Jetties and Trestles is best this time of point that extends just Body Glove Surf Bout III a surf shop called the Frog House. The house year because it’s winter in a few hundred yards 14. Richard said when Kelly exited the water was “a pretty far drive” from where the contest the Southern Hemisphere out “concentrates the that day he asked: “How does it feel buddy to would be held. wave energy again,” he win 30 grand?” Kelly’s response: “sshhhh.” and storms are pushing 6. Kelly once told an interviewer that he That exchange became part of Richard’s lm. up from Antarctica, New said, and “that is the remembered “cat poop everywhere” on the Zealand and Tahiti. “They reason the waves get  oor. Woolcott does not recall it being that bad. 15. “The funny thing when I watch that back so good there.” “I had a little cat and maybe Chris or Charlie on stage is trying to give me KELPA kelp bed can be found offshore at Lower Trestles. When send waves all the way the cat pooped on the  oor and there a high ve and shake my hand after I won,” choppy waves move through kelp “it cleans them up a bit across the equator.” Kelly said. “I am so caught in the moment was a little bit of dried cat poop. But I don’t and removes the chop, which is also better for sur ng.” know about all over the  oor. I am and handing me the check that I completely a pretty clean guy.” disregard them.” LEVEL OF COMPETITION 7. The surfers who survived enough heats to 16. Mike knew immediately how he would start take on Slater in the nal were Chris Brown, his story for the Los Angeles Times. He wrote it On any given weekend “you are literally sur ng with the Charlie Kuhn and Bud Llamas. Chris was from while sitting in his car and sent it to the paper CONSISTENCY best people, the highest percentile of sur ng expertise via a nearby pay phone: “Later this week, Kelly Santa Barbara, Bud was from Huntington in the world. The people who are out there, even the Beach, Calif., and Charlie was from Slater’s Slater will nish a day of classes at Cocoa This time of year Lowers is rarely without rideable waves. little kids, are really good. If you are a weekend tennis hometown of Cocoa Beach, Fla. Beach (Fla.) High School, stop by his bank and It “is just automatic in the summer time or early fall. or golf player you can’t go play with Roger Federer or deposit a check for $30,600. Not bad for a You don’t even have to question. You just go.” Tiger Woods. But for sur ng, at Trestles, one can.”

“THE BREAK ALLOWS YOU TO SURF YOUR BEST."

10 TWENTY MAGAZINE ISSUE 01 SEPT.2016 GREAT MOMENTS AT

TRESTLES

Many of pro surfi ng’s greatest moments occurred at Trestles. Illustrator Alvar Sirlin brings four to life.

1989 CHRISTIAN 1982 TOM CURREN FLETCHER BODY GLOVE CALIFORNIA SURF BOUT STUBBIES TRIALS An aerial display from this San Clemente surfer marked Before this Santa Barbara surfer a critical transition in pro sur ng launched his pro career in 1982, as competitors began tossing Australians dominated the world their boards above the lip of a tour. His win at Trestles provided wave. Play-by-play announcer a glimpse of what was possible Rockin’ Fig, who was on the beach for the future 3-time world that day, said “I remember three champion and preeminent surfer airs on one wave, just like of the 1980s. Another former world ‘oh my god.’” champion, PT Townend, said: “That was the springboard and launch for his professional career, just like it was for Slater at the end of that decade in 1990.” ISSUE 01 SEPT.2016 2012 NIKE LOWERS PRO Medina was not the rst Brazilian to win a major event at Trestles (Miguel Pupo in 2011) but his performance at this event in 2012 served as his introduction to the wider sur ng world. Two years later he would become the rst-ever Brazilian world champion and lead- ing representative of a new wave of talented South American surfers dubbed “the Brazilian storm.”

1990 KELLY SLATER BODY GLOVE SURF BOUT An 18-year-old Kelly Slater was exuberant as he hoisted the winner’s check on Sept. 9, 1990. It was Slater’s rst pro victory, and the beginning of the greatest professional career in the history of the sport. “I can probably look back and argue that was the most signi cant event for me maybe in my life,” Slater said. 14 TWENTY MAGAZINE ISSUE 01 SEPT.2016 A TREK THROUGH TRESTLES

THOUSANDS TRAVEL TO TRESTLES EACH YEAR TO SURF ITS WORLD-CLASS WAVES AND EXPERIENCE ONE OF THE LAST UNTOUCHED SECTIONS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COASTLINE. WE ASKED PHOTOGRAPHER CHRIS ORTIZ TO TAKE A VISUAL TOUR OF Trestles occupies a piece of the California coastline skateboard as a way of accelerating a journey that offers THIS ICONIC AMERICAN PLACE. between Los Angeles and San Diego. Everyday surfers reminders of when the U.S. military once occupied this land typically park along Cristianitos Road after exiting and signs that urban life is never that far away. One greeting Interstate 5 and prepare for a walk to the sand that scrawled into the path appears to be both a compliment and PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS ORTIZ can take 30 minutes or more. Some hop on a bike or a complaint: “The Surf Is Good But The Crowd Isn’t.”

16 TWENTY MAGAZINE ISSUE 01 SEPT.2016 The railroad bridge that gives Trestles its name went up in 2012, replacing a timber structure that had been there since the early part of the 20th century. Surfers pass underneath the bridge to get to the water. The bridge’s concrete pillars spell out TRESTLES as a welcome sign for arriving surfers.

18 TWENTY MAGAZINE ISSUE 01 SEPT.2016 EVEN AT TRESTLES, URBAN LIFE IS NEVER THAT FAR AWAY.

There are days when hundreds of surfers are in the water at Trestles. As they backtrack to their cars they can see a set of train tracks receding into the distance. Some choose to leave their mark on the back of a sign or an underpass serving as a graf ti canvas. Back at the parking lot a man and his cigarette survey the scene.

20 TWENTY MAGAZINE ISSUE 01 SEPT.2016 20 REASONS TO BE SOMETHING DON'T COUNT TO PROVE THEM OUT FREESTONE rookies and those veterans with SLATER trying to make the skill and their mark 30 experience to win 11 FIRED UP COFFIN WILSON ABOUT THE 2016 HURLEY PRO 66 FERREIRA 17 FANNING 15 LEADERS HOMETOWN 7 IBELLI fi ghting for a WILKINSON HEROES TOLEDO PARKINSON world title all live near San Clemente, California 8 77 41 IGARASHI 81 KERR

MEDINA ANDINO 50 84 BOUREZ BURROW FLORENCE 22 SMITH 10 9 99 12 23 ZIETZ

DE SOUZA 14 13 Country World ranking

Jack Freestone #29 Country World ranking Conner Coffi n USA #24 Kelly Slater USA #8

Country World ranking Country World ranking #9 Australia #5 Matt Wilkinson Australia #2 Felipe Toledo Brazil #17 Caio Ibelli Brazil #16 Australia #10 Gabriel Medina Brazil #3 USA #11 USA #21 Australia #14 USA #1 S. Africa #5 Fr. Polynesia #13 Joel Kerr Australia #14 Brazil #7 USA #12 Australia #35 22 TWENTY MAGAZINE ISSUE 01 SEPT.2016 ROTATING YOUR BODY “The biggest mistake beginners the physical demands PADDLING OUT AND ONSHORE WHILE MANEUVERING can make is to focus on building of surfi ng trestles CATCHING A WAVE strength, power, speed or quick- 1 3 YOUR SURFBOARD WORKOUT ness without establishing proper Basic Pushups Windshield wipers movement and stability rst. Surfers have a laid back reputation. But exercise physiologist By Kevyn Dean of DSC Keep your arms While lying  at Stability allows you to move from Oliver Farley, who has a PhD in the science of surfi ng, has Performance Physical in while doing on your back position to position with control.” documented the extreme physical demands of the sport by Therapy and Fitness these because with your arms studying what surfers do when they are out in the water. in San Clemente, Calif. while paddling outstretched, Demonstrated by on a board you raise your legs BALANCING ON surfer Alexa Ross. want to keep your arms as close to the as high as they can go. While holding them 4 YOUR BOARD board as possible. Do 10. together, slowly rotate your legs from side 20 MINUTES OF Kevyn Dean trains some to side in a controlled fashion. Use your Mountain COMPETITIVE SURFING: of the best surfers on the core to control your legs and keep your climbers professional world tour and back connected to the ground. If they are While in a pushup serves as medical director for too dif cult you can go side to side with TIME SPENT IN THE WATER: position slowly the USA Surf Team. We asked your knees bent. Do 10. bring each of your him to offer advice to begin- legs up and touch Paddling ners or casual surfers who Russian twists 45% your knee to your are entering the water for the Sit up and put elbow, contracting Sitting, waiting rst time. He advises estab- feet on ground. 40% your stomach muscles as you go. Do 10 lishing proper movement and Grab a heavy of each leg, or 20 in total. Duck diving, coming ashore, stability rst. Dean says you book or bring your 00:20:00 10% standing up on sandbar or reef, can do the following exer- hands together Frog Thrust swimming without a board cises at home or as a warm in front of you. While in a pushup up routine at the beach. Touch the ground on one side with the Sur ng waves position shoot 5% Each step is meant to approx- book or your hands and then do the same your legs forward imate different elements of on either side as you rotate back and so they land the sur ng experience. forth. If that’s too easy lift your feet in the Single Leg Stance In a single outside your air slightly as you rotate back and forth. leg stance, stand upright for Right before sur ng, do the arms. Keep your DISTANCE TRAVELED: Do 10. 30 seconds. Next stand on 800M TO 1KM entire circuit as one set. If it’s back  at. Do 10. one leg with your eyes closed (roughly half a mile) more of a midweek workout for 30 seconds. Then stand routine run through the cir- Pop Up Mountain climber Draw a line in the with rotation on one leg with eyes closed cuit three times every other CALORIES BURNED: and nodding your head. If you day. No weights or special sand or place a Get back in a 240–270 can do that for 30 seconds equipment are necessary. strip of tape along pushup position. the  oor, which Lift your right foot stand on a pillow or soft sand MAXIMUM SPEED will approximate off the ground and and repeat. Only progress to 15.5 – 21.7 MPH the “stringer” rotate your hips the next step if you can do the WHEN RIDING A WAVE: that runs down the middle of a surfboard. and twist your stomach muscles so that prior for 30 seconds. Then pop up into a surf stance, with your your right knee touches your left elbow. feet aligned over the makeshift stringer. Repeat with your other leg. Do ve on TOP HEART RATE: Keep your back  at. Do 10 of these. each side, or 10 total. 180 BEATS / MIN VISUALIZE 5 PERFECT SURFING Surfers need lots of arm strength and aerobic endurance to ESTABLISHING CORRECT Imagine For 45 seconds to perform repeated short powerful bouts of paddling as they 2 POSTURE ON A SURFBOARD 2 minutes imagine what you position themselves in the water and catch waves at a crucial will be doing out in the water take off point. They also need leg strength and power to perform Squats Take a broomstick, golf club or dowel and using either your right or left arm hold it and how it should look. turns or land on their board if they perform an aerial maneuver. against your back. Make sure it touches your glutes, the mid point of your back and your Dean says “If you tell your When they do hitch a ride, watch out. Expect to see surfers travel head simultaneously. Get into a surf stance, your feet over the stringer, and perform a squat body this is how I surf and more than 20 miles per hour on the fastest waves at Trestles. while keeping the stick or dowel connected to those three points on the body. The lower you this is perfect your body will can get on a board the more stability you will have. Do 10 squats. attempt to do that.” Dr. Oliver Farley, Auckland Pathway to Podium strength and conditioning

PHOTO CREDIT: TAYLOR CASEY provider for Aktive-Auckland Sport & Recreation in New Zealand 24 TWENTY MAGAZINE ISSUE 01 SEPT.2016 Why Richard Nixon Is Responsible for One of The World’s Greatest Waves SURFER BY ALEX ROTH

IN CHIEFBack when Southern California’s best children, blah blah blah,’ Mardian, CNN, working with a group of Sur ng surf break was off limits to everyone 69, recalls. “They told him he wouldn’t Magazine editors, named Trestles the but the military, teenager Bob Mardian get the board back if it happened a 12th-best surf spot on the planet. and a friend were sur ng the spot second time. It was all very solemn Every September, the site plays host to when his buddy wiped out and lost and serious.” the Hurley Pro, one of the world’s most his board. One man ultimately ended these prestigious pro sur ng competitions. Marines waiting on the beach seized standoffs: Richard Nixon. What motivated Nixon to create the board when it washed up on shore, The 37th President of the United , opening up put it on a military vehicle and whisked States has many legacies, of course. Trestles to the world? Like many sto- it away. A particularly obscure one is his deci- ries involving the only U.S. president A few days later, Mardian, his sion to turn a small coastal section to resign from of ce, this one involves friend and his friend’s mother went of Camp Pendleton roughly 50 miles political calculations, feelings of to the Camp Pendleton Marine base north of San Diego into a state park. betrayal and possible ulterior motives. to retrieve the 10-foot Hobie, which As a result of his decision, the break If the military wasn’t happy was being held captive in a giant known as Lower Trestles — with its con- about Nixon’s decision — and they warehouse along with dozens of other sistent, peeling waves and occasional weren’t — there was another group boards that had been con scated over perfect barrel — has become one of the of people even less happy: The San the years. Both the kid and his mother world’s iconic surf spots. Onofre Sur ng Club, a private group were commanded to sign various No more need for surfers to sneak that had been granted exclusive of cial documents. to the ocean through head-high reeds access by the Marines to a section “He had to promise, ‘I’ll never surf while eluding military patrols. No of the beach 1.5 miles south of here again, I’ll sign away my future more con scated boards. In 2013, Lower Trestles.

ISSUE 01 SEPT.2016 ILLUSTRATION: YANG XIAOHUA (left) The Nixons at the “Western White Maybe that particular conversa- House.” Photo provided by the Richard tion happened exactly as Ehrlichman Few people realize how much Nixon Nixon Presidential Library and Museum; describes, maybe it didn’t. Either way, (facing) President Nixon receiving an honorary membership from the San Onofre what’s clear is that Nixon, even at this accomplished in this area, Nichter noted, Sur ng Club on Aug. 25, 1970. Photo early stage of his presidency, was look- partly because of “political fault lines provided by Bob Mardian Jr. ing to create a lasting domestic legacy. In a Jan. 14, 1971 memo on le both during Nixon’s time and today.” at Nixon’s presidential library in Yorba Linda, Ehrlichman declares that “the Then Nixon became president. expansion of park and recreation and environmental issues in general, issue” by positioning himself as a Upon taking of ce, he bought an areas” will be “one of the major objec- could have distinct electoral bene ts. “conservationist and beach lover.” oceanfront estate in San Clemente, tives of (Nixon’s) rst term.” In the Gibbons wound up serving on a task It wasn’t long before Nixon’s plan 40 miles from his birthplace of Yorba memo, Ehrlichman envisions a Nixon force whose mission, according to a came to the attention of the San Linda. He stayed at his new place legacy comparable to “the legacy of memo on le at the Nixon library, was Onofre Sur ng Club. As it so hap- frequently during his presidency and highways that President Eisenhower to “break loose excess federal lands pened, one of the club’s original mem- it became known as the Western left by initiating the Highway Trust Fund.” for parks.” bers, Robert Mardian Sr., was also White House. At the time, this endeavor also “Nixon saw the politics of it,” a lawyer in the Nixon administration, His new home was a short stroll made political sense, according to Gibbons recalled. “And I think that eventually serving as assistant attor- along the beach from Trestles. Boyd Gibbons, who served on Nixon’s Ehrlichman helped him see that.” ney general. (His son, Bob Jr., was the From the beginning, members of Council on Environmental Quality. The administration eventually one fond of sneaking into Trestles.) the San Onofre Sur ng Club found To this day, some members of the your board could  oat off into captiv- Gibbons, 78, who now lives in compiled a list of several dozen Mardian arranged a meeting Nixon’s presence an inconvenience. club speak in wistful tones about ity. Sometimes surfers would try to Spring Green, Wisconsin, noted that properties around the nation, many of between Nixon and some members His visits to the Western White House Nixon’s decision. retrieve their property from the base, large numbers of voters in both major them on military land, that should be of the club. That meeting took place meant extra security on the base along “Were we all upset that we had sometimes they wouldn’t bother. parties had become alarmed about converted to parks and open space. on Aug. 25, 1970 at the Western with Coast Guard cutters off shore, exclusive access to our beach and Exactly what happened to all the aban- the environment. In 1969, Ohio’s The Trestles beach was on the list White House, on a lawn with a spec- making it even more challenging for then suddenly we didn’t?” said Brian doned boards lining the walls of that Cuyahoga River caught re because from the very beginning — in part, tacular ocean view. Photographs were surfers to sneak to Trestles via land Ephraim, the club’s current president, cavernous military warehouse remains it was so polluted. That same year, perhaps because of local political con- taken. The event lasted only a few or sea, according to Mardian, who who was a kid during Nixon’s rst something of a mystery. one of the largest oil spills in the siderations as well. A 1971 issue of minutes, during which Nixon was pre- lives in Dana Point and owns several term. “Well, yeah. Wouldn’t you be?” For a few dozen lucky families, nation’s history, off the coast of Santa Surfer Magazine contends that Nixon sented with an honorary membership restaurants. San Onofre State Beach runs along however, membership in the private Barbara, had a cataclysmic impact on was trying to help the re-election pros- to the San Onofre club. And then Nixon, or someone close a 3.5-mile stretch of sand and ocean San Onofre Sur ng Club meant they marine life. pects of U.S. Senator George Murphy Today, members of the club who to him, came up with an idea that on the northern border of San Diego could still surf along a prime section Given the nation’s mood on this of California, a fellow Republican, who met Nixon that day have differing changed everything. County, from a spot now known as of beach just south of Trestles. In the topic, Nixon recognized that becoming could publicly champion the proposal recollections of what they hoped As recounted by John Ehrlichman, Upper Trestles to a section just south early 1950s, the Marines granted the a champion of open public space, and use it as “an ideal vote-getting to accomplish by making Nixon an one of Nixon’s closest advisors, he of the San Onofre nuclear power plant. club exclusive access to that section honorary member. (The senior and Nixon were taking a leisurely walk In 1942, during World War II, the of the beach in exchange for the club’s Mardian died in 2006.) along that stretch of sand one day Marines acquired 123,000 acres promise to maintain it. The sur ng in Denise Tkach, who was 17 at when Nixon, entranced by the beauty of land in that area — including that that area is good, but not Trestles- the time, is now a 63-year-old retired of the location, rst  oated the idea of stretch of beach — and created Camp level good. healthcare professional who still converting large swaths of federal land Pendleton, which remains the largest To get to Trestles, surfers who lives in Dana Point. into state parks. Marine base on the West Coast. weren’t members of the club would “They gave him an honorary “As we walked, he turned from other From then until Nixon’s presidency, often sneak to the beach via a series membership in hopes that he wouldn’t subjects to the beauty of the beach,” which began in 1969, the Upper and of well-worn makeshift paths con- make it public — that was the whole Ehrlichman said in a 1971 speech. Lower Trestles surf breaks were a for- cealed by tall reeds at the northern premise,” she recalled. “And then he “The clean ocean water and the bidden zone for surfers. Nonetheless, end of the base. Once you reached did it anyway. And we were all very fact that it was so close to a dense plenty of locals found it impossible the sand, you’d scan for any military disappointed.” population center. So accessible to to resist the lure of Trestles’ glorious patrols, then make a dash for the Tom Turner remembers things millions of people. He talked about waves. And so began a quarter century ocean with your board under your arm. differently. He says the club recognized other government-owned property he of cat-and-mouse battles between If you were a member of the club, at the time that its days of exclusive knew of that was under-utilized, and surfers and Marines. however, you could paddle the beach access were numbered. Even of the growing need for skillful and Back then, surfboards had no 1.5 miles from your private beach to before Nixon devised his plan, the club common-sense management of land leashes, so every bad wipe-out Trestles — still an illegal act but faced pressure from the local commu- as America’s population increases.” carried with it the potential that sometimes an easier mission. nity and some members of Congress to open up the beach.

28 TWENTY MAGAZINE ISSUE 01 SEPT.2016 Turner, now an 85-year-old Palos Shultz, then the director of his bestseller The Nixon Tapes: 1971–72, Verdes real-estate investor, says the Of ce of Management and Budget. said Nixon was motivated by a combi- club simply hoped to maintain a good “We’re having problems with nation of shrewd political instincts and relationship with the president so they the Armed Services Committee in a genuine concern for environmental might have some input on some of the shaking some of this military land issues, a concern that predated his speci cs of his proposal. loose,” Ehrlichman says on the tape. presidency. “I suspect that those of us who “(Committee chair U.S. Rep. F. Edward) Few people realize how much Nixon were realists thought it was inevitable” Hebert’s giving us an unmitigated hard accomplished in this area, Nichter that the beach would become public, time on Camp Pendleton.” noted, partly because of “political he said. Ehrlichman goes on to mention fault lines both during Nixon’s time And they were right. Seven months that Herbert sternly told a member of and today.” later, Nixon issued a press release: the Nixon administration, “Don’t do it.” On. Aug. 9, 1974, Nixon became six miles of beach on Camp Pendleton, But Nixon went ahead and did it the rst U.S. president to resign from including Trestles and the San Onofre anyway. Under prodding from his of ce. Ehrlichman spent a year and Sur ng Club’s private spot, would be administration, the Marines soon a half in prison for his role in the transferred to the State of California leased the land to the State of Watergate scandal. for “public recreational use.” California for 50 years. Last year, an author named Even after that public announce- Today, Nixon’s work to create more Anthony Clark wrote a book claiming ment, however, Nixon faced resistance public recreation space — much of Nixon’s entire parks program was from the military, who disdained the it in or near urban areas — remains simply a cover for an illegal, if ulti- notion of surrendering any of its land. an admirable if little-remembered mately unsuccessful, plot to build an The Nixon administration eventually part of his legacy, as does his work ocean-view presidential library in San turned numerous military parcels from on behalf of other environmental Clemente. Prying that land loose from Oregon to Michigan to New Jersey into issues. It was Nixon who created the Camp Pendleton would help Nixon public parks — and “it was a bloody Environmental Protection Agency and accomplish this task, Clark’s book ght for every single one,” Gibbons the National Oceanic and Atmospheric argues. Several prominent Nixon his- recalled. Administration. It was Nixon who torians have dismissed Clark’s thesis, The famous Nixon tapes on le at successfully supported passage of the one labeling it “totally implausible.” his presidential library include a brief Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and The San Onofre Sur ng Club still discussion of this thorny topic during a the Endangered Species Act. exists. Its mission includes making May 20, 1971 Oval Of ce meeting that Texas A&M Prof. Luke Nichter, “responsible recommendations to the included Nixon, Ehrlichman and George co-author of the New York Times Department of Parks and Recreation pertaining to the operation and ILLUSTRATIONS BY NEIL FITZPATRICK development of the San Onofre Sur ng Beach, and to seek to retain the beach FOLLOW US AT SURFTWENTY.COM AND TELL US in its natural state.” The club has been remarkably WHAT YOU THINK AT [email protected] successful in its efforts. The parking lot remains unpaved. Still standing is an old shack built decades ago, Contributors: Thanks: its thatched roof made of woven Writing: Body Glove Ronnie Meistrell Don't miss: palm fronds. Dan Fitzpatrick, Colin Carlos Richard Nixon You can get to the beach, still Alex Roth Presidential Library Hurley Pro: leased by the State of California, by Taylor Casey September 7–8 Design: and Museum paying a $15 entrance fee at the guard George Crosland Imaginary Of ce Pat O’Connell Swatch Women's Pro: shack at the top of a small road that Dr. Oliver Farley (imaginaryof ce.com) Carrie Ellen Phillips September 7–18 winds down to surf breaks named Dr. Falk Feddersen Illustration: Jacie Prieto The Point, Old Man’s, and Dogpatch. Rockin’ Fig Watch all the heats live at: No private club membership badge Neil Fitzpatrick Mike Reilley worldsur eague.com Hurley required.  Alvar Sirlin Alexa Ross Yang Xiaohua Chad LaBass Kelly Slater Photos: Bud Llamas PT Townend (left) Nixon at San Clemente. Photo Chris Ortiz Bob Mardian Jr. provided by the Richard Nixon Presidential Richard Woolcott Library and Museum © Dan Fitzpatrick 30 TWENTY MAGAZINE ISSUE 01 SEPT.2016 Photo provided by the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

ISSUE 01 SEPTEMBER 2016 SURFTWENTY.COM

NIXON'S WHITE HOUSE DOGS LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT ISSUE.

32 TWENTY MAGAZINE