Two Quotes from my Miki Dora Book

Well, Im nearing the end of "All for a Few Perfect Waves" by David Rensin. The book has been opening my eyes to a surfing legend that who's life was previously unknown to me. I had heard the name but I did not understand who this person was. Miki Dora. A legend in his own.

Here are two quotes, well paragraphs, from the book that have moved me....

"To what avail the plough or sail, or love, or life -- if freedom fail? Freedom. Freedom to what? Escape, run, wonder turning your back on a cowed society that stutters, staggers, and satnates every man for himself and fuck you Jack I've got mine?
To be truly challenging, a voyage, like life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen, who play with their boats at sea --"cruising" it is called. Voyaging belongs to the sea men, and to the wonderers of the world who cannot or will not fit in.
Little has been said or written about the ways a man may blast himself free. Why? I don't know, unless the answer lies in our diseased values....Men are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security", and in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine--and before we know it our lives are gone.
What does a man really need --- really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in ---and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all --- in the material sense. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention from the sheer idiocy of the charade.
The years thunder by. The dreams of youth grow dim where they like caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.
Dedication to the sea is the symbol of migration and movement and wondering. It is the barbaric place and it stands opposed to society and it is a constant symbol in all of literature, too.
As Thomas Wolfe said, "It is the state of barbaric disorder out of which civilization has emerged and into which it is liable to return."
----Stearling Hayden, Wonderer, 1964


And now the famous paragraph from Miki Dora himself as seen in the movie "Surfers- The movie"

"My whole life is this escape; my whole life is this wave I drop into, set the whole thing up, pull off a bottom turn, pull up into it, and shoot for my life, going for broke man. And behind me all this shit goes over my back: the screaming parents, teachers, the police [laughs], priests, politicians, kneeboarders, windsurfers ---they're all going over the falls into the reef; headfirst into the motherfucking reef, and BWAH! And I'm shooting for my life. And when it starts to close out I pull out and go down the back, and catch another wave, and do the same goddamned thing again." -- Miki Dora

Native Americans, Cocaine and that Helpless Feeling that Im Getting Old

Interesting title no? I thought so myself.

Native Americans. Thats a term I have always liked because of its "correctness" against the "white man". I hate the term too because it sounds way to PC (politically correct for those not in the know) for me and it actually takes longer to say than just Indian. So basically what Im saying is that I prefer Native American but I use Indian to keep it short and sweet.

Well last night was interesting as hell. I went downtown to meet Jess for dinner and some drinks over at Cecil's on W. Grey and we were having a good night. We invited some fellow surfing friends up there and they came to hang out for a bit. Well, this Indian guy walks up and introduces himself, a pretty nice guy, and challenges for the pool table. No biggie, we wernt even playing. Dez, a friend of Jess and I, takes the offer. Anyways, lets just say some MAJOR miscommunication happens and next thing I know, they are seconds away from blows. The bouncers kick Dez out and I talk with the Indian guy. He is extreamly sorry and is very apologetic and I tell him no worries, it was both parties faults equally but Dez was letting his temper get to him.

Anyways, later that night, the Indian guy buys Jess and I a round for another apologee. As Im closing my tab, I buy him and his cousin a round as a good gesture. We are all shaking hands and thats when he slips me the little baggie of cocaine. Im literally like WTF? We hit the car and check it out, no small baggie either. Jess says street value maybe around $40 but says its a lot to just give someone. We toss it out the window...... YES WE TOSSED IT. I dont fuck with that stuff!

Anyways..... moving on.

I was just sitting here at my desk, thinking about last night, thinking about my future, thinking about Jess and girls in general and thinking about Mexico as I could see one of my pictures on my background. Damn.... Im getting old. Im getting complacent. Im starting to think, yeaaaa screw all that. Ill just stay here and buy a badass boat and maybe a house or something and just settle in, live that "normal" life. Then I think.... "DAVE RICH, WAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?????? QUIT YOUR JOB TOMORROW!!!! GET OUTA HERE! HIT THE ROADS! GO LIVE ON THE RANCH IN MONTANA WITH YOUR GRANDMA! GO SURF YOUR BRAINS OUT!". Im freaking out. .... Its safe to say..... Im feeling another small break down happening. Nothing serious. Ill drink heavily for a few weeks.....do something stupid..... probly get myself in some trouble lol. I dont know. I neeeeeeeed to get the fuck outa here. I only have 8 days of vacation, that SUCKS! I have been saving like crazy for next summer when I will have like 15 and I can take off for Mexico and go surf like a damn madman.

Girlfriends..... .wow. That is just a mess. I have been single for almost 2 yrs now and well.... I duno. Do I give up my freedom? My free weekends where I do whatever the hell I want, which is always sailing and having a good time? Ooooooo and what about money? Im almost debt free and I need to keep saving hard after Im out because I need to start racking that cash up to get outa here. Im proud of myself about getting out of debt so fast but truthfully, I could have done it faster but at the risk of possibly driving myself crazy trying. Its time to get serious...... I gotta get outa here before I loose my mind, my guts, and my freedom.

Some Sailing Videos

Sorry if these have been posted before.

Not much has been going on. I had a pretty uneventful weekend on the boat, mostly trying to catch up and get back in the maintenance when the heat is down. This weekend I lubed my winches and re bedded the bolts with 5200. They turn MUCH easier now!

Office Mishaps

Well... let me explain Jason. Jason is one of those people that disaster just follows him around wherever his presence may be. Kinda like pigpen with that cloud of dust from Charlie Brown.

Whether its his motorcycle spewing oil all over his pants, his truck tailights falling out on the road, or contantly spilling drinks on himself; he's a walking DISASTER! He provides our office with non stop entertainment, unfortunately for him it is all at his expense.

Today he topped the charts with this stunt. He was trying to replace his battery backup under his desk and we have these crazy complicated cubicle things. Anyways, he was trying to disconnect the upper desk part, with all of his things still on there, and WAMMMO. The entire desk piece flipped over and he was yelling for me to come and save his monitors. Sorry for the blurryness of the pics but we were just laughing too hard! Yes thats a coke on the ground and it got all over everything!!!!!!!!!!!

In the end, the battery backup didnt even plug into the wall socket that was behind all that! He did it for NOTHING! Gotta love it! This is for you Jason, I told you I would put it on my blog. hahahahah thanks for the non stop fun.