The new web site I designed for Liz Anah.

Liz Anah escaped from New Jersey at a young age, never looking back. Her spare, smoky vocal style and simple but unforgettable songs grew out of a journey that included stops in Michigan for school, a pilgrimage to an Ashram in India, and serious hard time teaching in the Oakland public schools. Liz Anah’s music has a kind of gritty innocence. Her songs are direct, potent stories of real-life heartache and shattered love, powered by an indomitable optimism that demands attention. (Excerpt from her website bio).

Liz's new CD realease 'Fade to Black' Photography by K.Stokes

I met Liz Anah through other local coastside musicians, namely Montara locals and good buddies Mark and Mike (The Fourth Street Experience). One night at Cafe Lucca open mike, Liz and I got talking after her set, she knew that I designed Mike McCalls CD ‘The Lone Cypress’ and worked with him on several photo-shoots. She told me that she had a new CD nearly ready for release and that she needed a design for the cover. We took it from there and agreed that I would shoot her for some promo shots and her CD cover and re-design her website to fit in with her new look. I’m really pleased with the result (so is Liz)! Visit the website www.lizanah.com it features several shots from the photo session taken one very cold day around the HMB boat yards. Liz wanted a gritty urban look, but also wanted to retain a feminine feel, I think we achieved what she was looking for. The final CD cover image was taken toward the end of the session in the afternoon light. ‘Fade to Black’ is Liz’s first CD release and you can get hold of a copy on her web site by clicking this link.

Coastal Cuisine. Gone.

Coming home from work last week hungry and too burnt to cook I decided to swing by The Mavericks Roadhouse and pick up one of their tasty burgers for me and the missus. Imagine my disappointment and frustration to find the place shut, or as the website puts it ‘Gone to the beach’ for the season (in this weather?). WTF? Why? This just says to me that they don’t give a monkeys ass about the local trade, tourists are all they care about. The main road sign has even been pasted over with another sign directing any hungry customers to the mothership HMB brewery. So I now have to wait for Spring for the place to reopen, maybe I’ll go to La Costanera instead, wait, it’s Monday they are shut to. Argh!

These shots were taken by me from the bluffs which are about a mile from the wave, thanks to the Canon 600 mm lens my buddy Michael has lent me I was able to get some half decent shots of some of the first heat waves. It’s great to see shots of the pit from a boat close up, but these distance shots really give you a sense of the scale and magnitude of these waves. The surfers truly are modern day gladiators! Enjoy my photos, by clicking the full screen viewer.

I saw this video on coastsider.com and had to share.

Montara Beach Report 2/9 from Kevin Stokes (Coastsider) on Vimeo.

A short video report showing the damage to the sandstone bluffs on Montara Beach sustained during the recent high tides and winter storms.

Here is the second installment on my ‘Waves and Riders’ surf photography series, this time the shots are mainly from sessions shot during the big storms that have been hitting the NorCal coast. I hope you enjoy (be sure to click on the ‘Fullscreen’ button in the middle of the image box to enjoy the work at full size).

Styrofoam covers a Pacifica Beach. Photo © Ian Butler

This problem just gets worse and worse, we must enforce a styrofoam ban NOW. Make your voice heard by clicking here. Take a look at John Mayburys Peninsula Coastside Blog entry by clicking here.

Surfer Bart WIllems attached a cam to the nose of his board and paddled out to catch some waves at Mavericks, great footage, and as close as most of us will ever get to riding one of the waves out there.

Jeff Clark. image ©yahoo.com

In June 2009, Jeff Clark, the man whose name is synonymous with the infamous big wave, ceased to be Contest Director of the Mavericks Surf Contest run by Mavericks Surf Ventures. The sad irony here is that the company he helped form in 2003 to promote and be an ambassador for the wave, the sport, the contest and Mr. Clark himself, seems to have turned on the man who started it all over 30 years ago. Since then Jeff has been very quiet on the subject hoping to settle his differences with Mavericks Surf Ventures and it’s CEO Keir Beidling in private.

Sadly, it seems that Jeff’s vision of keeping the Mavericks Surf Contest true to honoring his spirit and passion for surfing has failed in the face of corporate sponsorship dollars and broken promises. He now has to resort to a legal approach to settle the dispute.

The Mavericks Big Wave contest is still waiting to be called at the time of writing (the 24 competitors now call the start), huge swells hitting the coast promise an exciting competition if Mother Nature allows the right conditions. The question has to be asked, can corporate sponsorship demanding a return on their investment and the true spirt of big wave surfing ever live comfortably together? Personally I think not, especially when Mother Nature holds the ultimate trump card of game on, or not.

Good luck Jeff, I believe you have a solid case. And good luck and safe surfing to all the competitors in the 2010 Mavericks Surf Contest!

To read the man’s own words check out his blog Jeff Clark: My Word.

(If you happen to read this post Jeff drop me a line, I have 10 Montara Life questions for you!)

Check out the live weather, swell, and surf updates on the Mavs site, click here.

The big red jolly guy made a surprise visit for the kids at Montara Elementary School over the weekend, he dropped in for a visit riding a firetruck.

Volunteers gather for the briefing and split into teams.

State Parks Chet Bardo helps dig a post hole

Around twenty volunteers from Montara Dog Walkers, the Coastside Horse Council, Montara Mountain Chain and Sprocket Society and The Montara Beach Coalition joined State Park Rangers to work on various trail maintenance projects this Saturday morning for the first of the rejuvenated ‘Montara Mountain Trail Volunteer Day” meets. After rallying the wife to get up at 7.30 a.m. we walked across the open space to the meeting point by the Martini Creek Bridge. An enthusiastic crowd was gathering ready to get to work. [Read more →]

One of Montara Mountains many trails. Photo ©KStokes 09

I’m passing on a message from Gary of the Montara Mountain Trail Volunteers, please help if you can.

“In the face of budget cuts and their resulting threats to parkland, several people are floating the idea of resurrecting Trail Day (TD). You’ll recall this local effort to put in a few hours, one Saturday morning each month, to help repair the trails, clean up brush and do whatever needs to be done to help maintain McNee Ranch. TD was a terrific community effort and great fun.”

“If you use this incredible resource to hike, bike, walk dogs, ride horses why not give a few hours of easy labor each month to help maintain it?  Even if you don’t use McNee often but value its capacity to preserve nature and give wildlife a place to thrive, please join us. In a real sense, McNee is our commons—we all benefit from it.  How about giving back just a little and getting a lot in return.”

Since then, representatives of the Montara Dog Walkers, the Coastside Horse Council, and the Montara Mountain Chain and Sprocket Society, along with park officials, have met and put together a plan. The consensus is to meet on the first Saturday of each month to join in a community effort to maintain the trails, facilities and other resources at McNee.  With the state’s crushing budget shorfalls, few funds remain to keep the parks from ruin.  We need to step in here if we hope to enjoy continued use of McNee, a valuable community resource for all to enjoy.

Details for the first Trail Day

Date: Saturday, December 5, 2009
Time: 8:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Place: McNee Ranch by the pump house (next to the trail bridge over Martini Creek behind the horse ranch)
What to bring: A thermos of coffee and work gloves
What will be supplied:  Coordinators, tools
What we’ll work on: 1) Trail prep for the rains 2)  Signs – installation and restoration
Transportation: The gate to Hwy 1 will be unlocked, you can drive in and park or better yet, hike or ride a bike

Questions: Contact Gary at poteenspa@gmail.com

We also will have a brief discussion about meeting times and coffee/lunch options for future TD sessions.

Please help if you can, Montara Mountain needs you!

Nancy Korbet's web site, mindbodywardrobe.com

“The way we experience life is directly related to how we see ourselves. Learn how to forgive the flaws and flaunt the fabulous! Discover your personal style and express it with confidence.” –Nancy Korbet

Nancy Korbet was an apparel-marketing professional for over 25 years, she recently founded www.mindbodywardrobe.com to help empower women feel better about themselves and look their best no matter what their body shape, size or age. Nancy has a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Millikin University and lives in Montara with her husband and two fashionably furry friends. But right now she needs to take a break from being a style guru and answer these 10 MontaraLife.com questions:

What inspired you to start your own business?

I started this business while I was still working full time out of a need to do something more meaningful, and it grew from there.

Why mind/body/wardrobe, what’s the link between the three?

The goal of Mind Body Wardrobe is to help women see themselves in a positive light. The mind is the most powerful part of this equation. The mind creates the chatter, “I’m too old, too fat, too wrinkled”, etc. The body is what all the chatter is about. When you get the wardrobe right, you can dissipate the chatter. It doesn’t mean you have to have an extensive collection of clothes, you can do it with a simple, easy wardrobe. The key is to recognize, focus and accentuate your assets. When you get that right, you look in the mirror and see your body in a whole new way, the mind then starts down the positive road of ”Girl… you look Great!”  That is powerful! [Read more →]

Photo ©Yelp.com 2009

My wife and I were excited to see another eatery open on the coast and we got the opportunity to try it out last night. We often meet on our way home from work to eat out when we can’t be bothered to cook at home. The High Tide Restaurant Cafe and Creperie seemed like the sort of place that you could drop in on and get a reasonably price meal without dropping too much coin. The place was busy and full at 6.40pm, obviously the early dinner crowd, we ordered from the menu and took a number, the lady taking orders seemed a little grumpy. The whole place is covered in this wild acid trip painting style, [Read more →]

Stop stealing them!

This time of year is my favorite time to enjoy the beach. Warm(ish), blustery and fresh all at the same time. The surf looks like gigantic wild white horses galloping toward shore as I take my stroll North up the beach, the large swell has the tow-in crowd at Mavericks getting all the pre-competition practice they can. The beach is real steep at the surf line, carved out deep by the relentless pounding waves. This combination of a steep shore and big surf can be lethal (the tragic loss of the Mother and daughter is still fresh in my mind) yet some  parents still foolishly allow their children to play in or near the surf line, choosing to ignore the posted warnings at the foot of the stairs.

As the day wears on the light becomes so beautiful I can’t resist going home to get my camera check out some of the shots in the gallery section. I know these are black and white but I’ll get around to posting the color ones soon.

After the tragic loss by drowning of a Mother and daughter several months ago at Montara State Beach an anonymous person donated two life Rings with 60ft rope tethers to be used in the event of a water rescue at Montara. The two rings were mounted on the back of the dangerous surf warning sign. A couple of months back one of these potential lifesavers went missing, presumed stolen. It was immediately replaced by the donor, now it’s happened again. I hope that who ever is removing these rescue devices is never put in the situation where themselves or a member of their friends or family could have been saved by one of the missing life rings. If anyone sees any safety equipment being stolen please call the sheriff, it could save a life.

Premiere tonight at La Costanera 6-11.00pm movie starts at 7.00pm, no cover. Come and support our local film makers.