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This weekend, Pleasure Point slipped into a time warp.
By Leo Maxam
Sentinel correspondent
This weekend, Pleasure Point slipped into a time warp.
Gone were the hordes of surfers that normally pepper the lineup on a sunny weekend. Instead, a small handful of surfers greeted the clean, waist- to shoulder-high peaks rolling through First Peak. The surfers rode large, unwieldy boards with big single fins, much as surfers used to do some 40 years ago. At times they would glide along the waves, gracefully perched at the tip of the nose. At other times they might cross-step back to the tail of the board, dropping their knee to redirect the massive board back toward the foam.
On land, classic surf music pulsed through the air and vintage longboards from such legendary shapers as Yater, Hobie and Stewart leaned along the railing of East Cliff Drive.
Such was the scene at this year's Big Stick Logjam Surf Contest, which looked more like a scene out of "Endless Summer" than a modern-day surf contest.
"It's more about the old boards, the nostalgia, and people from all the surf clubs getting together and having a good time," said Big Stick Surfing Association President Gioni Pasquinelli.
As the longest-running classic longboard surf contest in the world, the Big Stick Logjam drew more than 100 competitors from the top Coalition of Surfing Clubs on the West Coast. Longboarders from as far south as San Diego and as far north as Washington state competed in this year's event.
The logjam requires that all surfers ride boards shaped prior to 1970 and weighing a minimum of 20 pounds. Competitors are also restricted from using leashes. The result is a fun, laid-back contest that helps keep the spirit and history of surfing's golden age alive and well.
Nobody enjoyed the trip back in time more than Marciano "Chango" Cruz, who couldn't wipe the smile off his face after riding his self-painted 1966 Stewart longboard to victory in the Masters Division.
For his third logjam, Cruz decided to paint a green feathered serpent flying through a fiery orange sky on the underside of his board. Near the nose of the board, above the serpent's head, is the symbol of the Aztec calendar.
"The feathered serpent represents a guardian in the Aztec culture," explained Cruz. It appeared as though Cruz had a higher force watching over him in his Masters final, as he caught all the best set waves that rolled through and topped a talented field that included fellow Santa Cruzan Matt Micuda and Malibu standout Ray King.
"Where I'm from, in Oaxaca, Mexico, it's tradition to decorate everything for festivals and celebrations," said Cruz of his board art. "And to me, [the Logjam] is an important celebration"
This year's celebration was dedicated to the memory of Mike Locatelli, a favorite son of the Eastside surfing community and a longtime supporter of the BSSA who died this year after a long battle with brain cancer.
A portion of the proceeds from the Logjam's raffle and merchandise sales will be donated to the Locatelli Family Fund, to benefit Locatelli's wife and daughter. BSSA "raffle-meister" Gary Silbertein estimated that more than $4,000 was raised during the weekend for the Logjam beneficiaries, which also include the Surfrider Foundation, the Junior Lifeguards, the Ride a Wave Foundation and the Big Stick Scholarship Fund.
"The BSSA's motto is 'friendship and camaraderie in and out of the water,' and that's the idea behind our raffle," said Silbertein.
With the tide dropping throughout the day, the waves began to speed up and surprise surfers with the occasional close-out section, resulting in some lost boards and long swims.
Steve Farwell, competing with Blackies Classics Surf Club out of Newport Beach, had one of the biggest wipeouts of the day after unsuccessfully trying to race past a shallow section in the reef on one of the larger sets.
"It bowled up on me and bounced me off my board," said Farwell, who finished second in the Masters Final. "I got to take a nice refreshing swim with the sea otters"
Rym Partridge of the Santa Cruz Longboard Union didn't seem to mind losing his board in the semifinals of the Grand Masters.
"Life's more than fair," said Partridge, who pearled on his first wave in the semifinals and lost his board. "I managed to swim back out to it and catch a couple good ones and wound up in first place"
After his heat, Partridge had to quickly paddle in to shore so his daughter Sierra could use the Rick Irons-shaped longboard in her heat, which immediately followed.
Sierra Partridge, surfing in her first Logjam, wasn't used to having to wait around on the beach for a board to start her heat.
"Sharing my board with my dad, I probably lost five minutes on my heat," she said. She ended up finishing fourth in the Junior Women's division final.
Like many of the younger contestants, she also had to get used to the older equipment.
"It's cool to see all the old boards," she said.
"It's definitely a challenge to ride them, but it gives you an appreciation of how surfing used to be"
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Logjam winners
PADDLE: Anthony Daddario
JUNIOR MEN'S: Woody Robinson
MASTERS: Marciano 'Chongo' Cruz
JUNIOR WOMEN'S: Carla Rowland
MEN'S: Cody Craig
GRANDMASTERS: Mario Quiros
WOMEN'S: Chris Chiechi
SENIOR MEN'S: Shylo Steinthal
TEAM: Big Stick Surfing Association
For full results, see Scoreboard on Page B4
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