Posts filed under '2010 P4R'
Fluid Juice Surfboards
(. . . . . and that man Adrian Phillips!)
Fluid Juice Surfboards & Arugam Bay Surf Club
Paddle4Relief Founder, Tim Tanton, headed across the border, to Cornwall, to find another true gent of a man, Adrian Phillips. Adrian has been monumental in helping Tim provide the top surfers in Arugam Bay with competition level surfboards. Tim picked up three surfboards only hours before his last trip to the tropical isle, earlier this summer, and whilst Tim was out there, Adrian sent a further three more out with some of the crew who were competing in the UK Pro Tour Event. The boards were a donation to the surfers of Arugam Bay who had been proving their surfing skills to Tim for some years. With the ASP WQS 6 Star and UK Pro Surf Tour Events in Arugam Bay this summer, there was a need for the local talent to have some quality boards to help them with their quest against some of the worlds finest surfing talent. Both the Sri Lankan Wild cards for the main WQS Event were Arugam bay surfers using Paddle4Relief donated surfboards. Adrian, whose step son, Toby Donachie, is one of the UK’s finest surfing talents, and for the second year running, was out in Abay competing in the UK Pro Surf Tour Champion of Champions contest, also provided the Arugam Bay surfers with a handful of leashes as well. Tim cannot thank Adrian enough for his speedy response to the young Arugam Bay surfers needs. And to cap it all, Adrian had to suffer his Paypal account being suspended. Tim’s payment from Sri Lanka had been flagged up as a possible security breach! Fortunately for Adrian, and for Tim, the internet access in Arugam Bay was on a good run and Tim was able to access his emails daily. He soon picked up the distress email from Adrian, and was on the phone to Paypal quick smart, even with being put on hold and running out of credit on two occasions! Thanks must also go to the surfboard mules, Toby Donachie, Tony Plant, Dave Renyard and Phil Williams.
November 20th, 2010
Appledore School
(In celebration of Mrs Freeman from Appledore School)
Paddle4Relief would like to say a huge thank to the staff and children at Appledore School for their very kind donation of £228, which funded the restoration of a polluted and disused well in the village of Komari, Sri Lanka.
What started as an email enquiry to P4R Founder, Tim Tanton, from Emma Dennis (Parent Governer) and Annemarie Bettiss (School Bursar) resulted in nine Hindu families benefiting from a well providing them with safe drinking water. The well also provides the families with water for cooking, washing and general chores.
Previously Disused Well.
The donation was a result of the children from the school raising the money and deciding that they wanted to build a well, as a thank you to Mrs Freeman, the schools Head Mistress, who was leaving the school after fourteen years of service. They wanted something in which to remember her by, and for her to remember them.The well, situated on the eastern side of the village, close to the beach, has seen thirty-five villagers including fifteen children and six elders, benefit from the completion of the project.
Komari is situated approximately 20km’s north of the popular surfing destination of Arugam Bay, on the south-east coast of Sri Lanka. It is an extremely poor area with the average wage less than $2 a day. The community are primarily involved in farming and fishing.
The village was totally destroyed in the 2004 Asian Tsunami with only the church left standing. It is also an area that was severely affected by the civil war, and an area that was not safe to be out in during the hours of darkness during that time.
Now it is a place where recovery has been slow. Paddle4relief had researched the area and found that there were two wells that could be renovated.
Komari Community Social Well
The donation enabled P4R to increase the height of the well by more than a metre, and build a wide apron around the well, with a run off to ensure that waste water does not run/drain directly back into the clean well water. The interior of the well was re-rendered and the well itself pumped out and cleaned.
The second well was funded by Paddle4Relief. It is located on the west side of the village and now provides fifteen Hindu families with safe drinking water. Of the fourty-seven individuals making up the families, twenty-three are children and nine are elders. They again are predominantly involved in fishing and farming.
Crystal Clear Drinking Water
November 7th, 2010
Arugam Bay Surf Club suggests
Arugam Bay Surf Club with the support of Paddle4relief have produced a Code of Conduct for all surfers visiting Arugam Bay. The members of the club, the local surfers, recognise the importance of highlighting the need for safety in the water. They realise the value of respecting everyone’s desire to enjoy the waves. This season has seen an increase in surfers visiting this top quality right point break. it has also seen a number of anti-social incidents every day in the water. Incidents materialising from a minority of surfers who feel it necessary to paddle for, and take every wave! Many of these surfers, can’t surf, and ruin it for those that can, and those that respect their fellow surfers around them, and that acknowledge etiquette in the water. Arugam Bay Surf Club members are promoting safety in the water and respect for ones fellow surfers. If a small group of surfers from a third world country that have suffered a civil war and a massive natural disaster can stand up and be counted for the safety of others then why cant the travelling surfer respect their peers also? Wake up everyone. Look at what a small group of youngsters have done and please share the waves with a smile! They are prepared to share their home break with all that come to enjoy the waves. Please be prepared to come and share the waves to. No-one is greater than the other. If you can surf, then you know the buzz, the fire, the feeling! Sit back, shout someone else into the next set wave, and enjoy their joy! Smile and hoot with them. Chill in the line-up, be mellow, and wait your turn for one of mother natures heavenly walls of blue/green glass throwing out it’s curtain of white water. Hats off to the local surfers of Arugam Bay for they truely walk the walk!
Walking the walk!
September 5th, 2010
Youngsters from Arugam Bay swap fishing for surfing
From fighting the waves to riding them
By M Naushad Amit
Sri Lanka has some excellent up-and-coming professionals in the sports field who are making a name for themselves as players, trainers and coaches. Cricket and rugby top the list while many in the track and field sports have also come into the limelight recently. Strangely a bunch of youngsters from Arugam Bay are on the verge of swapping their traditional profession of fishing to take up to surfing, an internationally popular sport hitherto alien to Sri Lanka and confined mainly to occasional glimpses of foreign events on television.
The Arugam Bay surfing break which was recognised by the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP), the global governing body in surfing has now developed to be a popular destination for international surfers. Many in Arugam Bay who were battered by the ethnic war and the raging tsunami are now gradually picking up the threads of their shattered lives and moving on by taking to surfing along with the unceasing number of international surfers who come here on training or holiday.
To cater the demands of the tourists who come to stay in Arugam Bay for long periods, a young set of surfing enthusiasts took the initiative of forming the Arugam Bay Surf Club (ABSC) seven years ago. At the beginning these youngsters only knew to balance their body weight on a surfing board with their natural talent to swim. But during this period the ABSC has grown to become a dominant force in surfing in Sri Lanka.
“When we began seven years ago we knew nothing on surfing. We had only ten members then who knew to swim well but had no idea of how to handle a surf board. As years passed by our boys learned a great deal on surfing through the huge number of international surfers who came down to Arugam Bay. Now our membership has grown to 35 and all are equally talented,” Krishantha Ariyasena the secretary of ABSC told The Nation.
The ABSC were further boosted by a group from England who had come down to uplift the living standards of the people of Arugam Bay after the devastating tsunami. The group ‘Paddle for Relief’ headed by Tim Tanton consisting great surfing enthusiasts promoted Arugam Bay to the outside world as an ideal surfing destination while engaging in social welfare work. The local surfers who used to train on borrowed surfers were presented two brand new surf boards by Tanton’s Group.
“Tim and his group were really behind our efforts in promoting surfing among the local youngsters here. Over the years they helped us in many ways and we also came to know a lot of foreign friends through them,” Krishantha added.
The ABSC who are now affiliated to the Surfing Federation of Sri Lanka has become a leading club in the sport by holding many locally organised events throughout the country. But their greatest break in surfing came during late June with the SriLankan Airlines Pro Surfing 2010, a six-star event recognised and organised by the ASP. Sri Lanka was presented two wild card entries and through a qualifying championship the local surfers from Arugam Bay won the slots to represent Sri Lanka along with over 100 professional and international surfers. The ASP officials were really impressed by the local talent who competed without less technical knowledge.
“This was the greatest moment for us at ABSC. AH Milan and WL Asanka from our club won the wild card slots for the event. The officials of ASP identified our talent and they were good enough to share their experience. We never requested them for financial support or surfing boards. All we asked was their advice and guidance. In reply to our humble request they conducted special workshops, training sessions by top professionals and even used our boys as beach marshals and for ground operational activities. They appointed one of their coaches to stay back for two weeks after the championship and conducted coaching camps. They were keen to uplift our standards and bring us to a level where we can conduct our own events,” said thrilled Krishan.
The ASP tour manager for Australasia, Dane Jordan who commented on the talent of Arugam Bay surfers emphasised that they had the ability to spread the sport among other locals who were interested. “The surfers of Arugam Bay are really impressive. They have the potential of becoming professionals but what they lacked was the technical aspects of the sport. Otherwise they had the in-born talent.”
Arugam Bay surfers who battle the sea for their bread and butter for six months of the year are now amateurs in surfing. Professionally they are fishermen but during the off season they find ample time to take part in local tournaments and earn an extra buck by helping tourist surfers. The area itself had become dependant on tourism and more than half the population are engaged in tourism in one way or the other.
“Even during the war Arugam Bay had tourists coming down throughout the year. Tourism has become the main source of income for people around here. Our surfers too are part of it but still we continue our traditional profession and our fishing harvest is efficient enough to supply the local hotels. But with what we have learnt during the past seven years we want to move full-time into surfing. There’s a lot of potential in that,” Krishan went on to say.
After the training programmes conducted by the ASP, the Arugam Bay surfers are now eligible to obtain coaching licenses in surfing. This will give them hopes of becoming full-time professionals in the sport. As a start the ASP presented them with two brand new professional surfing boards during the awards ceremony of the SriLankan Airline Pro Surfing 2010. “With the demand we see here for surfing, it will be timely to begin a surfing school for beginners. We have the blessings from the ASP and it will also help out locals from all parts of the country to learn surfing. Our surfers have the talent but we lacked the technique and teaching methods. But after the workshops, coaching camps and experience with ASP, they said we can now start teaching the newcomers. It’s a major turning point for Arugam Bay surfers and ours will be the very first surfing school in Sri Lanka,” Krishantha said.
July 19th, 2010
‘a massive thanks to Glenn Harris and SURFED OUT for their extreme generosity of a Bear Bonza 6′ 8″ (red) surfboard.’
The Red One!
so please everyone, dip in your pockets and purchase a few of those 50p raffle tickets and you could be winning a brand new shiny red surfboard!
all monies going to Projects in Sri Lanka and to The Haiti Earthquake appeal.
May 26th, 2010
Paddle4Relief continue to promote the surfing talent of Sri Lanka. In particular P4R provide support, advice and sponsorship to the Arugam Bay Surf Club and it’s talented members. 2009 saw young surfer, Milan, show off his potential during the UK Pro Surf Tour Champion of Champions competition. Milan initially showed off his natural talent as a junior in 2005/2006.
Here we can see Milan trying out the 5′10″ Rusty Aido given to him by P4R Founder, Tim Tanton.
Milan still has a little way to go before he can overcome the super talented Asanka - Sri Lanka’s No.1 surfer.
Arugam Bay’s other top surfers Sril and Pranith complete the villages top four, but keep an eye out for the up and coming talent of Atha. These young surfers will be putting their skills to the test during the WQS Sri Lanka Trials Event to be held on 16th/17th June 2010, ahead of the WQS 6 Star Main Event that starts on 18th June. The trials event will determine the top 8 surfers from Sri Lanka, who will go thro to compete on Day 1 of the main WQS event to establish Sri Lanka’s 2 Wild card entries.
April 30th, 2010
In one of the brief moments I was actually awake from Columbo to Arugam Bay, we encountered a typical Sri Lankan RTA. As we atempted to weave through the carnage of buses and trucks we were met with the scream of an injured girl. Her mother cradleing her in her arms, we stopped transferred the girl quickly into our van and the driver accelerated away with more urgency than ever to get the girl to hospital. We were fortunate that the hospital was only about 15 mins away. In this time we were able to establish that the girls leg or knee was broken and that she had been hit by a lowloader on her way to school. Any attempt to calm the situation was met by panic. The poor girls screams continued drowning out any other noise and her leg continued to be thrown about. Unfortunately this kind of panic where people have accidents and are just picked up and thrown about unitl they reach a hospital, most likely a great distance away, is far too common. We were helpless in trying to improve the situation through our lack of fluent Sinhalese in a situation with this much panic.
Once we arrived at the hospital we were met by even more confusion and panic with the staff running around looking confused and dazed whilst mothers with their sick children came out to watch. Once the girl was safely inside the hospital we left to continue our trip wondering what the outcome would be for this poor girl.
April 14th, 2010
A wee article to read - snagged from Facebook!
Some of you may never have been on Facebook! There are times when i wish i never had! There is a reason for being on it - networking!
Today, that networking brought me to a stand still! A stand still that had me blabbing like a baby! Yep, Sri Lanka breaks me! It brings me to my knees and tears my heart open time and time again! With all its warts I am still drawn to it - the beauty, the innocence and tranquility, the power and grace of mother nature in this far off land.
Be sure that i am in this for the long haul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .probably to my death!
To Pete Robinson - Thank you for reminding me why i do it!
Support your local….
Today at 09:03 on Tuesday March 16th 2010
On May 30th this year there’s a charity paddle from Saunton to Croyde and back to raise funds for the forgotten victims in Sri Lanka of the devastating 2004 tsunami.
It’s run by local North Devon lad Tim Tanton who is one of British surfing’s remarkable characters.
By day a psychiatric nurse (full-on, huh?), and in his ’spare’ time keeps on pushing to raise much needed funds to help people rebuild their lives around the world class right hand point break at Arugam Bay on Sri Lanka’s east coast.
Tim goes out there every year to help with projects such as building fresh water wells, and now teaching the local kids to swim & get into surfing (and form their own national federation).
Check out - http://www.paddle4relief.co.uk
Paddle your heart out for Sri Lanka - poster by Rob Tibbles
You may wonder why, six years on, help is still needed - especially after such a massive international aid effort.
The answer is an awkward truth. Sadly much of that aid never made it to the people who needed it. And worse - allegations of land-grabs and scare tactics to move locals away from the coast and their lives as fishermen, only for the coastal land to be sold off to foreign developers.
As for the international community, sadly there’s always another disaster - Haiti, Chile - and so after an initial push it can be the case that the ‘foreign help’ soon moves on, and the public forgets as the media shifts its attention elsewhere.
But not with Tim and his volunteers, who have built a special bond with the Sri Lankan locals - this little charity is not just helping them rebuild after the tsunami (yes, it’s still needed), they’re helping them improve their lives in subtle, natural ways.
Yours truly surfing Sri Lanka 2005 - 1 year after the tsunami (Photo by Bee)
A year after the tsunami my wife and I travelled to Sri Lanka and saw first hand how little had been done by 2005 to help those who survived the devastation. We were shocked to see people still living in tents by the side of the road in makeshift villages, and talking to locals it seemed the Government just didn’t care.
We were shown nothing but friendship and smiles by a people who had been to hell and back.
The Museum of British Surfing has donated some t-shirts to take out to the Sri Lankan ‘groms’ and we’re working on a few ideas to help further.
I would urge you to support Tim, his volunteers and the Paddle4Relief charity - make a donation or enter the paddle on May 30th if you can.
You can see where the money’s going, and it is making a real difference to people’s lives.
March 16th, 2010
