Archive for category: News

Check out the recent Surfline.com coverage of Seaside Reef in Cardiff, California. Local Pat Millin and Matuse Family Member narrates and gives some insight to the personalities that frequent this surf break. Seaside is a proving ground and stage for many San Diego surf pros and aspiring pro surfers. Click Here to check it out.

photo: b. watts

From the Travel Diary of Matuse Family Member Zach Plopper.

I made it to Wales from London, Heathrow with no issues other than I was exhausted and starving and I had to pee badly. The only thing I could do to rinse off the travel grime and relieve my bursting bladder was to go for my first surf of the trip. Wales isn’t the typical place of pilgrimage, but I have a home away from home there in the tiny town of Llantwit Major. Llantwit is home to some sick waves and my good friend, Wales’ best surfer, Nathan Phillips. On my first visit to the Welsh coastline in 2005, I spent a solid three weeks in little Llantwit. The Welsh are the nicest people on earth and I had no problem making loads of friends and getting to know and love the Welsh way of life. It was a fitting spot to start off my recent euro-tour.

I brought some southern California sun with me to a notoriously dreary corner of the world and was greeted by a decent ground swell and a good forecast. The first few days of my stay were blessed with warm air and epic conditions and Nathan and the Llantwit crew and I scored some of the secret slabs in the area. I quickly adjusted to the greasy Welsh breakfasts, driving on the left, liver-taxing evenings and the good cheer of Wales. Everyone smiles, everyone says hi and everyone is interested in who you are, where you came from and what the hell you are doing there. They thought I was out of my tree when I told them I was there to surf. “But doesn’t California have good waves?” they’d ask. “Yeah,” I’d reply, “…and girls and sunshine and just about anything you can dream of.”

California has just about everything that Wales doesn’t. But Wales has heaps of stuff you’ll never find at home. There is no grass greener than grass in Wales (I’m talking about the kind you walk on). And when the sun shines everything goes into Technicolor. It doesn’t stay dry for very long there so everything glistens with just a dash of sunlight. Against the verdant backdrop of forests and meadows are crumbling reminders of long ago. Everywhere you turn there is a castle or a church or a pub that dates back to when our country was not even a faint conception in European’s minds. My favorite historic site in Wales is the Plough and Harrow Inn in Monknash. The 14th century monastery is now a pub…it has been for a few hundred years. Inn its fire-lit, cozy ambiance, you get lost amongst the stories of the local old farmers that come in every night to “try a few,” while sipping 11% ale and watching a bass cook in the fireplace. When you walk out of the Plough you are ready to hop in the carriage with a beer swigging friar and ride off to visit the king. To the locals in Wales the eons of history and its reminders are completely common place. But I was fascinated. I couldn’t drive a mile without pulling over and snapping a dozen or so pictures of a graveyard or ancient church or a crumbling pile of rocks. We don’t get that stuff at home.

A few days into my stay the swell ran out of steam and the weather became more typical. The sun went into its 8 month hibernation and the sky began to produce a steady flow of annoying drizzle. After a few days of swishing windshield wipers and sleeping in to 10am I decided it was time to depart my friends and the town of Llantwit Major and move on. Late-fall magic was waiting for me in Spain and Portugal. A story to be told another day.

Check out Todd Glaser’s online portfolio for Surfline.com. Todd shows off some of his photos from around San Diego.

Todd is a native San Diegan and a Matuse family member who recently earned a degree in Commercial Advertising from the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara in April, 2008. Then in October he won the Follow the Light Foundation Grant for his diverse surf photography portfolio. Click Here to read the full story. Glaser’s hard work and talent has earned him a deserved reputation of delivering the goods when the surf turns on. Todd always seems to put himself in the perfect spot to capture the best image for every surf session that goes down. His ability as a waterman gets him into those critical spots on the wave allowing him to deliver unique and powerful images.

We are stoked to see Todd get the recognition he deserves. He is a great friend and phototgrapher. We’re all proud of him here at Matuse and can’t wait to see what he delivers in the years to come. Check out the online portfolio by Clicking Here.

Check out all the videos on RedBull.com that chronicle Jamie Sterling’s summer spent down in Puerto Escondido with his Magnum Mobile Wave Chaser. Sterls purchased a van and a trailer and drove it down to Puerto Escondido. The trailer was loaded up with the Red Bull jet ski, surfboards, SUP boards and all kinds of equipment. This set up allows Jamie to carry all his equipment and friends to chase the biggest waves he can find each season. He has now brought the Magnum Mobile Wave Chaser back to the states where he’ll be housing it in Northern California. This will allow Jamie to land and chase the biggest swells this winter in Northern California at a moments notice. Click Here to see the videos Jamie made while down in Puerto this summer. Some epic bombs!

Jamie is now back in Hawaii eagerly anticipating the upcoming winter. Click Here to check out his words on what he hopes will be an especially big North Shore season!