“Thanks to an El Nino weather pattern, this has been one of the most dramatic big-wave surf seasons on record”, said Doug Acton, Mavericks Veteran Lensmen.

Now Eric Nelson and Curt Myers of Powerlines Productions have come on board to bring the gallery images to life by presenting both water and cliff-angle video of the Mavericks contest, won by South Africa’s Chris Bertish in the biggest waves ever ridden in a paddle-surf contest.

The Mavericks crew will transform the Longboard Vineyards tasting room into a virtual caldron of 50-foot drops, glory rides and heinous wipeouts. As you stand under the colorful Tibetan Prayer flags, tasting some of Longboard Vineyards’ libations, you’ll be hard-pressed not to become immersed in the real-life drama, energy and stoke that surrounds the surfers and photographers every time they head out to the lineup.

Longtime big-wave surfer Mark (Doc) Renneker put it best when he said, “Every time you leave the shore, you head out into the wildnerness.”

“We’re coming off one of the most phenomenal big-wave seasons to date,” said Quirarte, the longtime Mavericks lifeguard and master lensman. “This season we witnessed so many great rides by so many different surfers from so many different countries. Mavericks is still the No. 1 all-around spot in the world for big-wave surfing.”

Oded Shakked, a longtime surfer who founded Longboard Vineyards, will be on hand at the reception to unveil the latest release in his Mavericks Signature Series, the Ken “Skindog” Collins Syrah.

Veteran waterman Ken “Skindog” Collins (Santa Cruz, CA) is hands down one of the most recognized and respected big wave surfers today. With his recent trip to the podium at the 2010 Mavericks Surf Contest or his epic twenty-foot Puerto Escondido barrel that earned him top honors at the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards. Collins has traveled the world mentoring up and coming crop of big wave chargers — and has himself pioneered and ridden the biggest waves on the planet.

“I can’t think of a better person to honor with our next Mavericks label than Kenny Collins,” said Shakked. “A true icon of the sport.”

Oded Shakked, along with the featured photographers, videographers, surfboard shapers and wine makers will be on hand at the Longboard Vineyards Tasting room in beautiful Healdsburg California for the Saturday night reception on May 22nd The reception will begin at 5pm and run until roughly 9pm.

“Everest of the Seas” was launched in the summer of 2009, with the idea of bringing together the most memorable photos from Mavericks’ best sessions. It drew large crowds and an enthusiastic response in its debut at the Coastal Arts League Gallery in Half Moon Bay, then moved on to successful runs at San Francisco’s world-class SFMOMA Museum and Gallery, The Fillmore, The Half Moon Bay Big Wave Surfing Festival and Longboard Vineyards.

Healdsburg CA
Are you getting sick of us talking about this event? It’s going to be awesome. And it just got awesomer: Rosso Pizzeria is bringing their wood fire trailer on Friday night (October 23); they’ll be selling hot crisp pizza straight from their Italian stone oven. Which will be perfect with the Dakine Syrah we’ll be pouring.

And did we mention the Mavericks Cabernet Sauvignon we’ll be pouring? Everyone who’s tasted this elixir is raving about it. Created by Oded Shakked and guest vintner Peter Mel. You don’t want to miss this new blend.

Update: 10/07/09
Half Moon Bay Ca
The team have been gathering up as much memorabilia as they can get their hands on. This event will have images spanning the entire history of Mavericks, along with many of the actual boards used in the Photographs (We will have most, if not all of the 1st place contest Boards on display along with many others). We will also have other historical memorabilia…

Come late October Sonoma County will not only welcome a new crop of world class wines, but the award winning photography of some of Action Sports best lensmen. “ Mavericks – Everest of the Seas” comes alive again just in time to set the stage for another epic Big Wave Season.

Sept 9th 2009
Half Moon Bay, Ca
Mix two of Northern California’s finest institutions – big wave surfing and the wine country – and you have what promises to be an amazing weekend at the Longboard Vineyards Tasting Room in Healdsburg October 23 – 25.

Relive heroic battles between man and wave as seen through the eyes of the cutting-edge photojournalists who risk life and limb to document the wave’s intense man-against-the-sea drama and obsessive lifestyle of Maverick’s elite riders.

Oded Shakked, a longtime surfer who founded Longboard Vineyards, will be unveiling his latest release, The Peter Mel/Mavericks Cabernet Sauvignon. This signature wine will be blended by not only Shakked but guest vintner, Peter Mel.

Mel, one of the most respected names in Big Wave Surfing is known as perhaps the most skillful surfer ever to ride Mavericks. The famed spot off the Half Moon Bay. In October of 1998 he was whipped into to what is now considered the biggest wave ever ridden… Mel along with the featured photographers, surfboard shapers and wine makers will be on hand for the Friday night reception. The reception will begin at 5pm and run until roughly 9pm.

(after party tbd)

Longboard Vineyard has always had a soft spot for surfers. It’s a place where you can hangout at a redwood-surfboard bar, or sample one of its award winning wines while kicking back on a comfortable sofa watching surf movies. For this harvest weekend event Shakked has enlisted “Mavericks: Everest of the Seas,” the heralded collection of Mavericks surf photography from Frank Quirarte, Doug Acton, Seth Migdail and Ed Grant.

“Everest of the Seas” first made its debut recently at the Coastal Arts League Gallery in Half Moon Bay, drawing large crowds and an enthusiastic response. It just finished a one-month highly successful run at San Francisco’s world class Museum and Gallery, SFMOMA.

“Everyone who sees the exhibit is just blown away,” said Grant, the curator of the Coastal Arts League Gallery. “Both surfers and non-surfers can’t help but get caught up in the energy and stoke that surrounds Maverick’s, the surfers and photographers who put it on the line every time they go out there.”

The event also represents a high point in the career of Oded Shakked, who was born in Israel and grew up near a beach just north of Tel Aviv. Immersed in surfing from the start, he made several trips around Europe’s Atlantic coast while discovering, to his delight, that “it was easier, cheaper and safer to drink good red wine than bottled water.” His twin loves of surfing and wine brought him to California, where he studied winemaking at UC Davis and became enamored with the people, climate and rich soil of Sonoma County. He founded Longboard Vineyards with the motto “Wine, waves and soul,” making it a highly unique fixture in wine country.

The October 23-25 weekend will also feature the sale of surfboards and memorabilia, along with Acton’s acclaimed book, “Inside Maverick’s.” Admission is free.

Opening reception sponsored by Maverick Events and Longboard VIneyards

From the spirit of Jay Moriarity to women’s surfing to the powerful presence of Greg Noll, surfing fans are in for a treat June 17-20 when the first annual Half Moon Bay Big-Wave Surfing Film Festival takes place at the Oceano Hotel in Princeton Harbor. Just a stone’s throw away from the Big Wave Surfing Mecca known as Maverick’s.

The Bull (Greg Noll), legendary for his pioneering performances in Hawaii, will be present on the red carpet opening Wednesday night for his film, “Search For Surf,” in which he teamed with storied filmmaker Bruce Brown to recall their experiences in California and Hawaii.

“What better way to open an event like this, then to have one of the sports most legendary and inspirational icons on hand…” said Grant Washburn, Mavericks Surfer and Event organizer.

The following night will be a tribute to the late Jay Moriarity, who died on a free-diving expedition off the coast of India in 2001. Moriarity was one of the best surfers ever to ride Maverick’s, and is held close to the hearts of the Maverick’s and Big Wave Community. The featured films that Thursday night will be “Whipped” and “Ride On,” each produced by Eric Nelson and Curt Myers of Powerlines Productions.

“We’re beyond excited to host an event that features Big Wave Surfing, the filmmakers and the surfers themselves”, said Katherine Clark, Event Organizer. “This is just the beginning of what will become a great tradition in the Big-Wave off season.”

Seldom, if ever, have so many highly regarded surf films been on display over such a short time. The event will be held inside the new Harbor Villages shopping center at Princeton, in the shadow of Maverick’s, and visitors are likely to see a number of big-wave superstars in attendance.

In addition to the films, a photo-and-surfboard gallery will be on display throughout the festival at the Oceano Hotel, inside Harbor Village. Photos include some of the best work from Frank Quirarte, Doug Acton, Don Montgomery, Ed Grant, Seth Midgall, and others who have shot Maverick’s over the years.

The complete schedule:

Wednesday, June 17, at ballroom of the Oceano Hotel:

Reception at 6 p.m, followed by 7 p.m. Greg Noll’s “Search for Surf,” with Noll a featured speaker, highlighting the early days of big-wave riding at Waimea Bay, Pipeline, Sunset Beach and Makaha.

8:30 p.m. “The Perfect 10” The story of Big Wave Africa 2008, the shocking event held at Dungeons last July which prompted Surfing Magazine’s Evan Slater to state “this is possibly the biggest paddle-in surf ever photographed”. Highlights include Maverick’s Champions Tazzy, Flea, Greg Long and Twiggy Baker, as well as regulars Matt Ambrose, Grant Washburn and Tyler Smith challenging the South Atlantic beast. Throw them in with international icons like Carlos Burle, Paul Patterson, Jamie Sterling, Ross Clark Jones and Mark Healey, add South Africa’s best surfers and most treacherous waves. Produced by Red Bull South Africa and Fixer Films
Directed by Neil Webster and assisted by Grant Washurn

Thursday, June 18, Harbor Villages Atrium, Princeton:
Reception at 6 p.m, followed by 7 p.m. “Whipped,” by Powerlines Productions, documenting Flea Virostko, Peter Mel, Grant Washburn, Jeff Clark and many others during the epic 2000-01 winter season at Maverick’s, as well as footage from Cortes Bank.

8:30 p.m. “Ride On,” the latest film from Powerlines, featuring the November 2008 swell described as one of the best ever at Maverick’s. Powerlines Productions, Eric Nelson and Curt Myers, has dedicated themselves to documenting the history of surf in the Half Moon Bay area for the past several decades.

Friday, June 19, Harbor Villages Atrium,
Reception at 6 p.m., followed by (1) 7 p.m. “Year of the Drag-In,” a film produced by Eric Nelson, Curt Myers and Frank Quirarte, featuring the Maverick’s crew and a cast of international stars as they took the tow-in revolution to new limits in waves up to 70 feet on the face.

8:30 p.m. “Mavericks, the Documentary” a film produced and narrated by Grant Washburn, written with Bruce Jenkins, chronicles the story behind what has become the legend of Mavericks.

Saturday, June 20, Harbor Villages Atrium: Reception at 6 p.m,
Followed by 7 p.m. “Finding Aloha,” by Hawaii-based surfer Dan Moore, a tribute to Hawaiian spirit, adventurous souls and the giant waves of Peahi, also known as “Jaws,” on the north shore of Maui.

“One Winter Story”. By Frank Films. The accomplished filmmakers Sally Lundburg and Elizabeth Pepin study the inspiring life of Santa Cruz surfer Sarah Gerhardt, the first woman to ride Maverick’s

For further information, contact: Katherine Kelly Clark@ katherinekellyclark@yahoo.com
Frank Quirarte @ frank@mavsurfer.com

Or go to: hmbbigwavefilmfest.com — bigwavefilmfest.mavsurfer.com

Admission is $10.00
Tickets may be purchased in advance at NorCal Surfshop in Pacifica — 5460 Coast Hwy, Pedro Point Pacifica, 650-738-9283, and the shops at Harbor Village, 280 Capistrano Rd, Princeton by the Sea (Half Moon Bay), CA

PRINCETON BY THE SEA — Two of four fishermen died Sunday after a boating accident near a famous big-wave surf spot near Half Moon Bay.

San Mateo County Sheriff’s Lt. Ray Lunny said the two fishermen, whose identities have not been released, died at Seton Medical Center in Daly City after a rescue near Mavericks notorious break.
The other two fishers are recovering at the hospital. Their identities have not been released either.
Around 12:30 p.m., rescue officers responded to reports of a 20-foot fishing boat that had capsized off the coast of Princeton by the Sea, an unincorportated part of San Mateo County.

An unidentified fishing boat rescued one man, who was still conscious. The other three, unconscious, were picked up by harbor master personnel on personal watercraft, Lunny said.
The overturned vessel was towed to Princeton by the Sea Harbor.

“The seas were pretty rough out there,” Lunny said.
Sunday’s weather forecast predicted partly cloudy skies, with winds at 5 to 10 mph. It is unclear if weather conditions contributed to the incident.

The events are still under investigation, Lunny said.
Tom Mattusch, owner of the Huli Cat fishing boat, had been working at the harbor for most of the day and overheard news of the rescue on his radio.

Earlier in the day, Mattusch walked his dogs and noticed big swells in the area where the fishers’s boat capsized.
“We heard reports of the swells and
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we chose not to go out,” Mattusch said.

(12-10) 20:38 PST PRINCETON BY THE SEA — Through a blanket of fog, it was a vision of death. Darryl Virostko, the big-wave surfer known as Flea, was taking what witnesses described as the worst-looking wipeout they ever saw. It was a gloomy day at Maverick’s last week, and a handful of riders were meeting the challenge of their lives.

The most-seasoned Maverick’s surfers have seen some epic disasters in their time. Jay Moriarity, who met his death years later while free-diving, took a well-publicized wipeout in 1994, just four days before the drowning of Hawaiian superstar Mark Foo. A Santa Cruz surfer named Neil Matthies took a fall on a giant peak in 1998 and was held under so long that a second wave passed over him before he came to the surface – about 45 seconds later, more than 100 yards inside the spot of impact.

Flea’s wipeout, though, entered an entirely new realm. That Tuesday, the waves were so big that paddle-surfing, the style featured in the upcoming Maverick’s competition, was out of the question. This was strictly for tow-surfing – the act of being whipped into a wave at high speed, water-ski style, by a partner aboard a personal watercraft. Grant Washburn, the Maverick’s standout who has meticulously chronicled every swell during the last 15 years, said some of the wave faces approached 80 feet in height.

“Probably the biggest day ever surfed at Maverick’s,” said Washburn. “A couple of other days are in the ballpark. But what really stood out was the performance level. Guys were turning, carving, snapping off the top, getting barreled like never before.”

Flea’s wave was his first of the day. He had a solid-looking ride in progress when, turning near the wave’s crest, he fell off. Swimming desperately to avoid being sucked down the back of the wave, he had no chance; he was going down like some crazy stuntman at Niagara Falls. As the wave began to break, Flea’s helpless body could be spotted inside the lip – absolutely the worst-case scenario.

“Definitely the worst wipeout I’ve seen,” said photographer Frank Quirarte, whose stunning still images (more on www.mavsurfer.com) captured a session not even visible for fog-shrouded spectators on land. “There was a lot of stoke in the air, guys hooting each other’s rides, but when Flea went down, everything just stopped. We all thought he was dead.”

Washburn, filming from close range, said he felt sick as he pondered the consequences. Grant “Twiggy” Baker, the South African who won the 2006 Maverick’s contest, called it unsurvivable.

“All I remember,” said Flea, “is taking a big breath, then seeing the sky fall. I don’t even know what happened after that. It was bad. But somehow, I popped up pretty quick (thanks in large part to a life vest, now a staple for big-wave tow-surfers).”

“The most amazing part,” said Peter Mel, Flea’s longtime contemporary from Santa Cruz, “is that he went right back to catch more waves. He actually took another hideous wipeout and popped up from that one, too. … That’s what separates him from just about everyone else.”

The waves at the upcoming Maverick’s contest – scheduled to take place on the first favorable swell that arrives between now and the end of March – won’t be as big as they were on that foggy, terrifying Tuesday. The contest is for paddle-surfing only, and contest director Jeff Clark (the man who pioneered Maverick’s in the mid-1970s) is looking for an open-ocean swell of 18 to 20 feet, which at Maverick’s can translate into wave faces up to 50 feet. Beyond that, everyone agrees, paddle-surfing is simply out of the question.

No one who surfed “The Big Ugly,” as that Tuesday is being called, will soon forget it. Mel, long regarded as the most smooth-flowing performer at Maverick’s, had three great rides but also a “train-wreck” wipeout that found him having to go under two vicious waves that broke directly in front of him.

“That was the thickest, meanest swell we’ve ever had, really an extreme direction from the west,” said Mel. “Most of the good ones are sort of inviting, like it’s our destiny to go out and catch a few. This was a crazy, angry swell; it did not feel welcome. Right about the time I was really getting worried, my partner (Ryan Augenstein) came into the cauldron on his jet-ski. I don’t know how he did it. The whitewater was like Level Five rapids, and at one point the ski was completely submerged.

“Somehow, we got out of there. I’m not a religious person, but I had ti leaves on my ski – a ritual a lot of the guys follow for blessing in Hawaii. I was spiritually trying to connect to a higher power. After a while I reached the point where I knew it was too dangerous, that I had to get out of there.”

Mel, Flea, Washburn and many others shared their stories at the Maverick’s contest’s opening-ceremony party, held recently near Princeton Harbor. The atmosphere inside that room was electric; impressionable visitors knew they were walking through a veritable hall of fame of big-wave surfing.

The Santa Cruz crew showed up in full force: Mel, Virostko, Kenny “Skindog” Collins, Josh Loya, Zach Wormhoudt, Shane Desmond, Anthony Tashnick and the Smith brothers, Russell and Tyler. Matt Ambrose and Shawn Rhodes upheld the pride of Pacifica, and Washburn, Randy Cone and Ryan Seelbach represented San Francisco’s Ocean Beach. Baker and John Whittle (who missed the party) are main-list invitees from South Africa. Brazilians Carlos Burle, Danilo Couto and Rodrigo Resende were on hand.

Considering that the sport is held on the coastside – technically, the eight-mile stretch between Half Moon Bay and Montara – it was strange to see so few true locals. Then again, in any given high school in a surf-crazed area, you’d be lucky to find one kid ready to consistently tackle giant surf with a passion. Clark came out of Half Moon Bay, followed a few years later by Ion Banner, and now there’s El Granada’s Tim West, who proved his mettle by tow-surfing the massive Dec. 4 swell with confidence and aplomb, calling it “the best day of my life.”

(To say the least, the 27-year-old West has paid some dues. Two years ago, paddling out to Maverick’s, he and his board were lifted 2 feet out of the water by a rampaging great white shark. West was unharmed, left to ponder an enormous tooth mark in his board.)

Perhaps most fascinating was a look at the Hawaiian crew. Aside from Garrett McNamara, Keali’i Mamala and Jamie Sterling, three of the most fearless, well-traveled big-wave surfers on the planet, there was a white, blond kid who looked vaguely familiar. It turned out to be “John John” Florence, just 15 years old but a fixture in surf magazines since he began riding substantial waves as a tiny second-grader.

set Beach on the north shore of Oahu, Florence isn’t quite ready for Maverick’s. But he wanted to see the place, hitching a ride on the back of McNamara’s ski to get a first-hand look. That’s dedication and a fine example of the generous spirit shared by hard-core members of the Hawaiian surfing community.

Inevitably, there would be talk of Peter Davi, the 45-year-old Monterey surfer who died that same Tuesday at Ghost Trees, the notoriously dangerous spot near Pebble Beach. As much respect as Davi had earned through years of experience around the world, no one could fathom the idea of him trying to paddle-surf Ghost Trees – which had served up the biggest waves ever ridden there – instead of finding a tow partner.

Don Curry, who pioneered Ghost Trees and had one of the best sessions of his life that day, was at the Maverick’s party. At one point, I asked him what happened to Davi.

“He paddled out,” said Curry. “Machismo. He didn’t listen to his inner self.”
No other words seemed necessary. It’s not like big-wave surfers to dwell on the negative. Theirs is a world of pure survival.

Video of the big wave day
E-mail Bruce Jenkins at bjenkins@sfchronicle.com.