SQUATTER'S RIGHTS SQUATTER'S LEFT

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Is it just a coincidence that an influx of Squatters to this spot has spiked along with the plummeting economy and housing foreclosure crisis? Whatever the case, their local uprising is welcome.
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Squatter's left— one wave sequence:
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Claiming possession...First cut...Second cut....

Squatter's Rights/Adverse Possession law dates back 600 years to Europe. The idea is that society is best served if someone makes use of productive land rather than allowing the landowner to leave it fallow. This is typically applied to farming, but the concept has been carried forward and is still on the books in every state.

In general, to qualify for adverse possession, a person must be squatting on the property in an open manner and, in some cases, be paying taxes on it. How long the person must have invested varies. California has the shortest requirement, five years.

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International Squatter's Symbol
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LINEUP KILLING SPREE!

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If the elusive Pterodactyl, that's rumored to still be in existence, finally decided to stop evading cryptozoologists and go ahead and 'live a little' by joining the modern lineup for its easy pickins, would it be labeled "RETRO BIRD"?
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WORD!

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THE LINEUP IS LIKE A STAGE OF MUPPETS...

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...Ya never know what you're gonna get (Yes, even Forest Gump surfs now and has modified his mantra).
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It takes all kinds... Everyone's marching towards the salt lick to a different drum.
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I'M TIGHT, YOU'RE TIGHT, WE ALL WEAR TIGHT TIGHTS

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CROUCH

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Elias Crouch of Crouch Craft surfboards in Northern California...
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Knows when to get weird...
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Knows when to get fruity...
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And knows when to keep it real...
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All photos snagged from the Crouch Craft website and flickr photostream.
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TOP SHELF

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Of all four boards in the back of the truck, the White Pony proved to be a perfect choice. Big ups to the Coinstar Crew.
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MIRAGE/FINALLY

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Funny how you can be beckoned into the lineup by a few good ones— the likes of which remain elusive all session... perpetually evaporating just one sandbar away. Regardless of the cat and mouse game, good to finally get wet with a little energy in the water after such a long parched stretch of nothin'.
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BLACK PEAK

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How many times have I ended up the only one out in the dusk lineup because I told myself, "Just one more," and paddled back out after a perfectly good wave to end on... And how many of those times have I paddled back out just in time for a lull in the sets... And how many of those lulls have I spent sitting alone with mind starting to wander as I watch the sky darken behind the black land mass of Palos Verdes... And how many of those times have I asked myself, "What if P.V. was a giant wave lumbering towards me?"
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Usually, the next thing I ask myself is, "Would I go right or left? But, before I can answer the absurdity of that proposition, I always move on to... "Forget that... What would I do to survive?" The immediate fight or flight scenarios imagined are: "Scratch for the shoulder?" Or, "Paddle to the beach and run for higher ground?" No matter the decision, a of wave of that size and proximity would outrun and prove either attempt futile. Still, you picture yourself surviving, somehow...
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BLUE MEADOW

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Between swells.
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ALL DEPENDS ON HOW YOU LOOK AT IT

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Gouache on grain ridges of driftwood, 2008.
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TITS BOARD

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When I jokingly posted the "Sunny Disposition" Happy New Year's boob, I had no idea it would truly be a good omen...
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I was on the injured list the entire month of December— so dry... vital organs verging on leather. Finally pulled myself off the bench at dark o'clock last Sunday morn for my first surf of 2009. Phone rang while getting my shit together to leave the house. Voice on the other end said, "V-1 will be waiting for you on the beach." I've been itchin' for a go on the Fineline 'V-1'— Displacement Hull with hard edge in tail and pulled in nose. A board model that Brian Hilbers still considers to be in the pubescent stages of design development— not ready for sales reproduction until it gets some more fine tuning.
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Made it to the stomping grounds, and there she lay in the brisk mornin' air, faithfully waiting to heat things up between the cold sheets of winter surf:
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Center box options and bamboo love handles.
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Deceivingly dressed an innocent baby blue, but to ride her reveals a vixen... fast, loose, and easy.
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After about 2 hours together, I'd say the board is closer to the developmental stage of, say, "barely legal" than pubescent— It could easily fool any man of its immaturity. First sesh impression... She has the feeling of a D.Hull down the line, round turns off the top with the ease of a Planing Hull, and will let you throw some weight into her tail... if you're into that sort of thing...
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...!
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JONATHAN LIVINGSTON COPPER DOVE

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A lovely little quote from the book, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, "Begin by knowing you have already arrived." Below, Jeff "Copper Dove" Beck travels to the desired destination as he makes his way out on ancient beginnings...
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...and arrives at the highly revered level of Pelecanus occidentalis. When the ancients shaped the first surfboard, did they realize they were building a time machine? Time flies...
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Alaia pictured, shaped by Copper Dove from Wegener paulownia blank.
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JONATHAN LIVINGSTON WARM JET

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WJ, taking some body/mind/spirit shit to the 'Nth level:
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Disciplined pre-session stretch to release inner rainbow...
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...and he instantaneously transcends time and space, Jonathan Livingston Seagull style, to a higher plane of existence at the other end.
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"higher plane of existence" source photo from: Daily Bread
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Magic Sessions for Dummies link.
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SUNNY DISPOSITION #2

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And on a more heartfelt note, may 2009 be a time to...
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heal any wounds of yesteryear:
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HAPPY NEW yEAR!!!
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SUNNY DISPOSITION

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
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And...
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Original beach photo courtesy of the French Tourist Office
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Description from the official Tourist Office website, "Hossegor... Peaceful site among pines, oak trees, and mimosas..."
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