Kaenon Polarized

SURF – PUERTO ESCONDIDO, MEXICO

Jamie Sterling spends his days chasing the biggest swells he can find. Coming straight from a trip to Chile, he’s been down in Main Land Mexico. He managed, as he always does to paddle into a few bombs, check out the shots and Jamie’s breakdown of the trip. Jamie wears Calais Matte Black.

“Puerto Escondido is my favorite place to travel to. It offers me the quality of life I’m looking for in a surf destination. I get more tubes here then I do traveling the whole world in the summer and the 6 months I spend every year in Hawaii. That speaks volumes for a guy who loves tube riding. Rusty Long and I were in Chile when we saw this last big swell going to Puerto. Immediately we booked our tickets anticipating a large swell. Rusty and I have a deep passion for this place. We both have had some career waves out here in the past. We were super amped to get down to Puerto and charge the big swell. I thought the swell would be 10-12ft, but I was wrong! We were gifted with a solid 15-20ft swell that was bigger then any of my longest paddle boards could handle. I had to borrow a 9′6 from Noel Robinson to even have a chance at catching a set wave. The evening before I paddled out on my 8′6 with Greg Long, and the 8′6 that usually handles anything Puerto throws at me felt like a short board. We were dealing with serious southern hemisphere juice!”

“The morning of the big day I walked down to the beach and was lucky to get a ride out on Tim West’s jet ski. Coco Nogales and Tim West had their skis in the water and were towing. All of us paddle surfers were stoked they were there to help us and make the session safe. Paddling out would have been next to impossible on that gordo 9′6. Right as I got dropped off out the back I was in position for my fist big wave of the day. Here I was on a borrowed 9′6 I’d never ridden before trying to ride the biggest waves I’d seen in 2009. I turned and paddled for a huge right with all my strength, grabbed my rail as I was dropping in, and hoped for the best. I ended up wearing a 30ft wave to the head. I surfaced for air feeling dizzy and rattled from the lip crushing me into the dark churning water. I was super lucky to be in one piece. I quickly regained my breath and thanked my guardian angel for protecting me on such a bad wipeout. Probably the worst wipeout I’ve ever had at Zicatela! The rest of the session went ok. I caught 5 waves in 5 hours. It was very hard to position yourself in the right spot at the right time to ride one of these beastly waves. I wish I had my Jet ski and would have preferred to be doing step offs. I saw thousands of huge hollow waves go by unridden. Some of the best waves I’ve ever seen! The swells were moving so fast, that dreamy day even Noels 9′6 didn’t have chance at catching them.”

“It was a learning lesson for all of us that day. I learned that you either want a really thick magic 9′6 gun or better yet, my jet ski, a good drive/partner and my trusty Rusty 5′8 step off board. I’m looking forward to another chance to catch the wave of my life here in Puerto Escondido. I love the Mexican Pipeline! July 25th, 2009 will be a day I remember forever!” - From Jamie’s blog.

SURF – HAWAII

Just a few shots of Paige Alms late spring on the island of Maui. Paige wears a variety of Kaenon’s women’s sunglasses including Georgia, Eden and Calais.

A great update from Jamie Sterling on one of his many recent adventures. Read his blog posting to find out about his leg burning rides in Southern Chile. Jamie wears Arlo, Gauge, Calais and Jetty.

July 15, 2009
It’s been a month spent in Chile. We arrived June 18 and will be departing back to CA on July 17. We surfed various spots in the South from being fogged in at Matanza to carving it up at Buchipureo’s forgiving long left point.

I had one day of giant surf or semi big surf. Punta De Lobos in Pichilemu got as big as 15 Ft one evening. Too bad the conditions were so haggard from a strong 30 knot north wind. We went out to Punta De Lobos for a gander. It was super bumpy and challenging. I caught some super scary rides and was going so fast over the choppy surf. Mark Visser flew over from Aus to surf with me. Hats off to him for his effort. One of these days we will score together. It was another great Chinese fire drill and more training for the two of us.

At the moment I have that surf stoked/surf out feeling going. It will probably be 2 weeks before I surf any kind of real waves again. We had been staying in Mando’s cabin in Buchipureo for a week, but now we are staying at his apartment in Santiago. It’s awesome hanging out with Mando! He’s a super mellow older guy who surfs with a goofy-foot smooth style. He has traveled all over Chile surfing and is probably one of the most knowledgeable surfers in the country. As well as the coolest!

This trip has been great in learning about all the different point breaks in the South. It was my first time traveling in the South. I have a better understanding of the waves in Chile as a whole. I have previously been to Northern Chile 3 times before this trip, but I prefer Southern Chile. Its much more beautiful and quiet. The South of Chile is old world to the fullest still! The local fishermen still use two huge Ox to pull their authentic Chilean boats up the beach. It’s their equivalent two a modern quad motorcycle. You can find a variety of waves south of Santiago. I often surfed with no more then 5 guys out, sometimes by myself. The waves I rode were the longest leg burning rides of my life.

Next on my plate is getting my 15 Ft. enclosed trailer packed and ready to ship to Puerto Escondido. Ill be shipping my ski along with some of Balti’s things down to Puerto to permanently live there. I’ll be flying down to Puerto for a 2 month stay. Super excited! Plenty of warm water barrels await me and Ariel. Ariel will continue to document my surf sessions and create webisodes as well as collect footage to one day create a movie on my surf exploits.

July 18 ‘09 9 am mid flight from Dallas, Texas to LAX…
Small change in plans since I last wrote the previous blog. Upon departing from Chile yesterday, Rusty Long and I were monitoring a serious 19 second interval swell to hit Puerto Escondio on Fri July 24. After closely reviewing all our reliable weather forecasting sites we both booked tickets to fly down to Puerto Escondido on Tues July 21. It’s on!! Swell, period, and winds look perfect. For me it’s going to be a strike mission. I’ll fly down with Rusty and Ariel on Tues July 21 and fly back Fri afternoon July 24. Why so short? I have to be in Huntington Beach for the US open to sign Autographs for Invisalyn. It will all be worth it!! I forgot to mention as I write this I’m on my final flight segment from Chile via Texas to L.A.
Time to store the winter clothes, 4×3 wetsuits, booties,and bust out the board shorts. It’s going to feel awesome to warm up in Mexico after a month of chilly weather in Chile!

Stay tuned for the Puerto Escondido update!

Aloha,
Sterls

SURF
Matt Meola, young Maui goofyfoot sticks an ultra-smooth rotation in this 60 Seconds Surfline TV clip

Matt wears Kaenon’s men’s sunglasses in Calais, Jetty and Kabin

SURF – SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Lakey Peterson Wins!
National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Trestles, San Clemente, California

Lakey Peterson did it! She won the NSSA National Open Women’s Championship. Although she competed in several divisions and walked away with a second in the Explorer Girls, winning the Open Women’s had the most prestige. Lakey set the tone by scoring a 9.0 wave, where she completed a solid air. This maneuver had the fans on the beach and over the internet in a frenzy.

At age 14 Lakey is one of the youngest females to win this Division, which makes her the Women’s Jr National Champion. The competitors in this contest are the very best, many of whom are several years older than Lakey and come from all over the United States, including Hawaii. NSSA Nationals is the largest and most prestigious amateur competition in the U.S for surfers 18 and under. Lakey wears Burny Black G12.

The event was packed with spectators on Saturday. Lakey’s Coach Mike Lamm wearing Jetty Matte Black G12

Kaenon Team rider Chandler Parr surfed solid all the way to the Semi Finals where she just missed one of the set waves and finished the heat in 3rd and unfortunately did not advance to the final – but a spectacular finish nonetheless. Chandler wears Calais Tortoise C12.

Jesse Gugliemana, a new Kaenon Grom from Kauai, wearing Gauge. Kristy Gugliemana, Jesse’s mom is a big fan of Leila. Jesse just made the Quiksilver team and surfed solid through several rounds in the Open Juniors.

Some more familiar faces of Kaenon at the event:

Dane Gudauskas (Burny Black G12), WQS Surf, Elliot Leboe (Jetty Black G12), Kiteboarder and filmmaker, Theo Niarchos (Gauge Black G12), Surfer form Maui

FISHING – SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
One of the hottest areas of fishing these days incorporates the cross-over athletes / waterman, who are into hard core fishing. Whether it’s Will James in Hawaii pioneering big game marlin fishing off Kona on his retro-fit Jet Ski, or these guys, San Diego surfers Morgan Promnitz and Jared Lane kayak fishing off the Point Loma surfline in the kelp beds. Ripping surfers and well known in the San Diego scene for what they do on boards, they’re now making a name for themselves in the hottest sector of fishing – Kayak Fishing, by going after shark for the fight, or prized table fair, Yellow Tail and White Seabass. Kaenon Polarized is becoming the choice for sight fishing as this fast changing surf and fishing scene of California explodes.

Morgan Promnitz in Klemm G12 with a Thresher Shark he will release. And White Seabass, below.

Jared Lane wearing Calais Matte Black with a couple of super tasty White Seabass

FREE SKIING – EUROPE
Julia Mancuso wearing Calais Tortoise C12 free climbing one of Europe’s Glaciers.

Taking her assortment of Kaenon’s women’s sunglasses along for the ride, Julia spends the off season mountain biking, surfing, stand up paddling, hiking and wake surfing as seen in this video

Here’s an update from her blog posted June 17, 2009 –

“Its been a crazy few weeks, with lots of friends and teammates in town! I guess the word is out that Maui is the place to be!!! Keely Kelleher, Megan McJames, and Hailey Duke were cruising around Maui causing trouble only as skiers can! Also my coach Chris, and dryland coach Ernie came by to check out our setup here.

There is just so much to explore even close to home. We took a little trip to Lanai the other day, which is Maui’s neighboring island, and we felt worlds away. It was so peaceful and the water was so clear and blue! Its so easy too: Just hop on the ferry and you’re there in 45 minutes!

We brought our Stand-up paddle boards and cruised around, though we were hoping for some surf, i guess the swell didn’t hit yet! Anyway it was fun fun fun! Enjoy some of my favorite pictures.”

- Jules

MOUNTAIN BIKE – CALIFORNIA
Tragedy strikes even the best of riders. Yuri Hauswald one of Kaenon’s beloved went down hard breaking his hand and thumb during a training ride on Whittier Bluff Road near Tomales. As a world class mountain biking competitor, Hauswald was preparing for the upcoming B.C. Bike Run when he hit a bump traveling between 25 and 30 miles per hour. Bouncing his hands off the handlebars, Yuri flipped to the ground. hitting his head, bruising his ribs and breaking his hand. Luckily, Yuri was wearing a helmet – however the hand injury required surgery that left him with with no choice but to cancel his planned trip to Canada and participation in the rugged B.C. Bike Run, a seven-stage race of some 250 miles that includes more than 30,000 feet of climbing. Read the full article here.

Yuri – pre-break – in Kore Silver clear sport sunglasses.

Yuri – in and out of the hospital, wearing Calais Matte Black Men’s Sunglasses.

FRESH PRESS
In the June 2009 issue of Marie Claire’s Celebrity Lifestyle section, “Danica Patrick’s Essentials”

Danica Patrick: “I Can’t Get Through August Without My…” – Among Danica’s must have essentials, are Danica Patrick’s Sunglasses of choice, Kaenon Polarized Sunglasses. Featured here and worn frequently by Danica, is Burny in Tortoise C12.

Danica also wears Georgia, Calais, Eden and Kabin.

SURF/PADDLE

JAMIE MITCHELL – LATE APRIL ‘09 IN AUSTRALIA
Who says Stand Up Paddlers don’t charge? Jamie Mitchell at his home break in Australia charging a secret slab. Jamie wears Gauge Abalone G12.

KITEBOARD

Here are some lifestyle shots for the girls and some good action shots for the guys. Moehau Goold at the latest Hinano clothing shoot. Moehau wears Calais Matte Black G12.

SKIING

Julia Mancuso is Top American at St. Moritz World Cup

Don’t call it a comeback! US Ski Team member and Kaenon Polarized skier, Julia Mancuso (Leila, Calais, and Eden) led the women’s U.S. Ski Team this past weekend in the women’s FIS World Cup Super G in St. Moritz, Switzerland finishing 13th overall – her best result in the speed events this season. This strong finish indicates a comeback of sorts for Julia, who missed crucial time on snow this summer due to hip and back injuries. Nonetheless, Julia charged the challenging course that had been shortened because of fog, laying down a solid line through the tough section to maintain her speed at the bottom. “This is another good step in her little comeback of sorts,” said Women’s Alpine Head Coach Jim Tracy. “Julia took advantage of an early start number when the track was possibly a little bit smoother, she executed her line really well and charged it.” To get the latest updates on Julia’s progress, visit Julia’s blog at
http://juliamancuso.com/