The Body Glove crew (Matt Chernega, Scott Smith, Cheyne Magnusson, Mike Balzer and Matt Pagan) came in J.O.J (Just Off Jet) as Alex Gray charged gargantuous waves at Waimea Bay. Check out Surfline.com <http://www.Surfline.com> for all the coverage. Later that day, the crew got a call from Greg Browning informing us that Alex split his shin wide open to the bone, after his 2nd wave at Phatoms (Outer Reef V-land) and that he was brought in by a jet ski to the beach and waited for someone to pick him up ASAP. The crew then grabbed Alex and rushed him to Waihewa Hospital. After getting a huge numbing needle stuck in his leg, Alex received 22 stitches as Cheyne Mags and Scott Smith watched. And that was only Day 1.
The rest of the Body Glove crew (Matt Walls and Scott Daley) showed up as well a few retailers from surf shops who sell Body Glove for Day 2. This included Ron Abdelfattah from Jack Surfboards who brought his close friend Mike who was gracious enough to cook amazing meals every night and the twin Funk brothers (Andrew and Dave) from Surfers Supplies, Ocean City NJ.
We were all informed about "the Swell of the Century" that was coming and that we might need to sandbag the house. We were all prepped for the Eddie Invitational at Waimea.
Day 3 - December 7, 2009 - The Giant Swell has arrived and Waimea Bay is 30-40 ft. There were some sets that actually closed out the Bay. Due to the unfavorable winds and weather, the Eddie was postponed until Tuesday. The crew ended up surfing the West Side, scoring some fun waves while dodging heavy local vibes.
Day 4 - The Eddie is on! The crew went above Pupukea and shot the contest all day on the heiau. After watching some incredible surfing in some intense heat, the boys (Dalebone, Chewy, Cheyne Mags, Smith, and Pagan) go surf the East Side. We surfed "Daley's Bowl" and had a great time.
Day 6 - December 10, 2009 - The Pipe Masters begins. The BG crew films Dusty, Gabe Kling and Luke Stedman in early rounds at Pipe. We then went to Rocky Point and shot photos for boardshorts and wetsuit tops with Mike Balzer. Upset of the day, Jaimie O'Brien lost early as many of the other local contingent move on. Later on that night the BG crew headed down to the Pagan Compound and had an intense ping-pong tournament. We all fell victim to Erica's mean backhand... Yes she beat everyone.
Day 7 - Friday Dec. 11th - The BG crew headed to Rockies early to shoot boardshort/wetsuits top photos with Balzer. After hearing that Dusty was surfing Log Cabins, the crew left the scene and heads to Logs. After a great lunch at Ted's Bakery, the crew stepped outside as Erica Hosseini prepared for the Body Glove International Christmas Card shoot. She killed it while Scott Smith and Mike Balzer captured the act. Matt Pagan also provided amazing shade support for Balzer with a beach umbrella. We highly recommend a Body Glove beach umbrella for the boys! Later that night, we hit the jacuzzi and had another amazing dinner provided by Mike (Ron's friend).
Day 8 - Saturday Dec. 12th - The BG crew head to Log Cabins to shoot Erica in her new and fresh bikini while also shooting Matt Pagan and Cheyne Magnusson in the new 2010 spring suits. After shooting Logs and nailing some shots with Smith and Balzer, the crew heads to Rocky Point to meet up with Dusty Payne. Dalebone, Chewy, Mags, Dusty and Pagan had a blast in some of the best Rocky Point we had ever seen. The boys were stoked and the boys got some shots! After a long morning of insane surf, we dodged the traffic heading to the pipe event and grinded some Ted's Bakery. Later that day, Scott Smith and Mike Balzer organized an insane photo shoot with Erica at sunset for the bikinis while the rest of the boys headed back to Rockies to snag a few green rooms before nightfall. We then headed back to the Body Glove headquarters and had our last meal with all the retailers (Ron, Andrew, Dave and Mike). It was great!
Day 9 - Sunday Dec. 13th - The waves have dropped. Chewy, Dales, Matt Walls and Pagan head to Rocky Point to shoot with Balzer. The waves were no were near how yesterday was, but there were still waves to be had. Pagan was flipped upside down during a duck dive as his head and shoulder were skidded across the reef. Although he was bummed, the session went on and was made up for with some Ted's Bakery. The redemption session was out at Backyards/Sunset Point area as Daley and Matt Walls stole the show. Smith, Matt Grote and Pagan were ripping as well. The night was topped off with some Mai Tais at Turtle Bay and a tasty grilled Ahi dinner. Shoots!
