Joe Curren Photography | Blog

Here’s a link to a story my wife wrote along with some of my about our trip to Chile.

driftsurfing.com

Pictured is Eli Andersen of Portland, Oregon, with a 15’ redwood paddleboard. Eli makes his own paddleboards and kayaks on which he does long, solo paddling adventures. This board was made from wood salvaged from his mom’s deck. It weighs about 50 pounds. Eli made it for a solo circumnavigation of Haida Gwaii in British Columbia that he will attempt this summer. He will paddle about ten miles a day. At this pace Eli will complete his trip in two and half months, his window being June 1st to August 15th.

Eli has already paddled the entire Oregon Coast – which also took him a full summer to complete – and solo kayaked the length of the inside passage from southeast Alaska to Washington. On his Oregon coast trip he paddled about fifteen miles a day, carrying four or five days of supplies and camping gear. Then he would hitch hike back to his truck, drive back to his board, camp for the night and re–supply and then do it all over again. There are very few roads in Haida Gwaii, so he will have to talk fishermen into dropping off supply packs at various locations on the islands.

Eli says he gets in rhythm when he is paddling about two miles from shore. There’s less current out there and it seems to be where he gets his best glide. He said that whales, dolphins and birds seem to prefer traveling along this watery thoroughfare as well. Eli does these paddling adventures for no other reasons than to see a place. No cause, no fanfare – he just really loves being out there.

One more shot of Gerry with his hand planer.

In early April I was lucky enough to be snowboarding Mt. Bachelor when the best snow of year arrived. While I was there I took these portraits of Bend resident and dedicated snowboarder Gerry Lopez at his shaping bay. He’s such a nice guy. He showed me his Clark Foam blanks, of which he probably has the largest stock pile left. Gerry’s surfing, positive attitude and dedication to healthy living has always been a big inspiration for me. I also find it very interesting that he moved from Hawaii to Central Oregon and started a new life. He’s seen so many changes in surfing, but instead of becoming jaded with crowded lineups he realized there are new places and experiences left to discover. I boarded a couple runs with him. He rips!

In the latest issue (May) of Surfer Magazine there is an article on a trip I took in January to frozen northern Japan. The beach was covered in snow and the ocean was 32 degrees, but we rode some fun right point breaks in one of the most scenic parts of the country. The photos in the article were taken by Brian Nevins. Here are a few photos I took. I will be putting together more words and a gallery with more photos for my portfolio website soon.

Todd Glaser photograph of me taken earlier this year halfway into a 16–mile round trip hike in search of surf and isolation in the Southern Hemisphere.