My friend Pierce Kavanagh grew up body womping La Jolla shorebreaks and has recently embarked on a journey making a documentary about sustainability in the surf industry called Manufacturing Stoke. He has been filming a ton of huge barrels with our handpanes and his GoPro HD's and has even included us in his film. (More on that later!)
The other day he called me up and it came out in the conversation that he was going to be hanging and filming with his friend Shayne McIntyre.
I have been a fan of Shayne and his wife Shannon since they started the Fuel TV hit OnSurfari back in 2004/2005. Alia was just born and the episodes of Shayne, Shannon and Banyan traveling the globe in search of surf inspired me. I ended up recording all of their shows and watching them over and over again during my daddy daycare days.
When I found out that Shayne was a big fan of bodysurfing I had to jump on the chance to get to meet him and get one of our handplanes in his hands.
When I showed up at the beach that day I really had no expectations. It was a rushed last minute event and I was simply stoked that I was able to get through traffic on a Valentines evening and to the beach before the sun set.
After we met and chatted I showed him a couple of handplanes and he picked one out. Pierce got his handplane and GoPro ready for some water shots and since I forgot my wetsuit in my rush I was the designated landlocked photog for the session.
When I met Shayne that day I have to say that he was one of the nicest most humble guys I've ever met. Since I really wasn't prepared for anything formal other then a hand off he sort of took over and directed me as to where we could get some shots of him with our handplanes. It was sort of surreal shooting photos of a TV personality/Quicksilver model on a sandy beach at sunset. I had dreams of this as a kid but frankly it was with Pam Anderson not Shayne. No offense Shayne you're good looking and all!
Once the beach shots where taken, Pierce, Shayne and Shayne's buddy Alex headed out to get a few waves. I've only seen Shayne surf so I really had no idea what to expect with Shayne bodysurfing let alone handplaning.
As I stared out at sea I actually got stunned as I watched a guy take off and get a great little left riding it all the way to the sand. As I watched the wave I never took a shot because I didn't think I knew the guy since I could tell it wasn't Pierce and I didn't expect Shayne to be that good on his first wave with a handplane! I just thought there was some other guy out there. At the end of the wave I saw Shayne stand up in the inside, look over and give me a big smile. It was his first wave and he was not only stoked on the handplane he was killing it! It was game on and I shot like crazy.
For the rest of the session I watched Shayne do under water take offs, rolls and get some barrels all in marginal sloppy surf. Then I watched as his buddy Alex who struggled with no fins and no handplane borrow Pierces handplane and catch his first wave and let out a scream of pure stoke. I couldn't believe what I was watching as everyone was having a great time with our handplanes.
At the end of the session as the sun was setting and everyone was stoked, Pierce and Shayne chatted about bodysurfing, plans for their next session, the movie and life. It was a very cool day indeed.
Thank you Pierce for such a great experience and thank you Shayne for all the inspiration over the years. I hope you enjoy your new handplane and bodysurfing career. *Enjoy
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