It’s always a weird feeling at the end. Familiar faces dwindle as the contest circuit slowly fades out of the North Shore. Right on Cue, the waves leave with it and the Kona Winds arrive. You can feel the end in the air.

With the end comes reflection though and despite the literal ups and downs of Triple Crown swells, this season offered up quite a bit to reflect on.

After the local hero won the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa, the rest of pack followed Joel Centeio to Sunset Beach for the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing.

So began two weeks of some of the most interesting swell conditions I have ever seen. 20 foot close outs would greet us one morning while the very next day flattened out for lay day after lay day. In between the tricky conditions, competition continued to impress the hundreds of spectators on the beach.

The highlight of the event would definitely go to the Gudauskas brothers. While Pat already qualified for the tour, younger brother Tanner had a chance to join him if with a solid result at Sunset.

After a very impressive display of back hand surfing in huge, all over the place Sunset, Tanner made his way through the event until it came down to one more heat. Lucky for him, the heat he needed to make also held both of his brothers. Needless to say, Tanner made the heat and qualified for the WCT next year.

On the last day of the two week waiting period, Joel Parkinson took down Mick Fanning and Sunny Garcia for the win in the best surf of the event.

Sunny’s final appearance put him as the front runner for the triple crown title headed into Pipe.

The biggest swell of the winter would delay the Pipe showdown for a few days and allow the prestigious Eddie Aikau memorial contest to take place at Waimea Bay. 20-25 foot Waimea is always an amazing sight, especially when the best big wave surfers in the world are all battling for one of the most coveted trophies in surfing.

After Kelly Slater’s near perfect score in an early morning heat, no one thought he could be touched as the day went on. Mother Nature decided to make things interesting though, and the later afternoon heats saw the biggest most consistent surf of the day. Greg Long was in the right spot for some of the bigger drops of the day and took the win.

After seeing the thousands of spectators lining Kam Highway for the Eddie, the Pipe Masters almost lost some flair. Luckily the world title was still on the line and the race for the Triple Crown was heated.

The opening rounds were greeted with 4-5 foot barrels and some solid surfing as the “pipe specialists” impressed the packed beach. Drama hit the beach hard when Sunny Garcia turned up about 5 minutes too late for his heat. Torrey Meister was paddling out as his replacement as Sunny raced to check in.

Although he was placed as the first alternate, Sunny never got his chance to secure the Triple Crown that seemed to be his for the taking. The waves took over the show as the second day of competition saw some of the best waves the tour has seen in a long time.

Pipe and Backdoor lit up all day as a handful of ten point rides went down while running the dual heat format. Everyone seemed to enjoy having four surfers in the water at a time.

Parko needed to advance through his third round heat in order to keep his title hopes alive, but as Gavin Gillette was spat out of one of the better Pipeline waves of the day, Joel’s crushing collapse was finally over and Mick Fanning became the 2009 world champion.

Parko’s results were good enough to earn him the Triple Crown title and Taj Burrows made his way through pumping Pipe to take down Kelly Slater in a lackluster final.

The event couldn’t have ended soon enough as the winds and the waves got worse and worse over the rest of the waiting period.

After a few days of celebration, the end of it all really hits. Most of the QS guys are long gone and the lack of waves sent a lot of the CT guys out of here as well. Work continues for a select few as the final touches of a successful webcast are finalized.

With a little more free time and less waves, things like skydiving and hiking through bamboo forests become way more appealing (as if they weren’t enough in the first place).

The amazing lifestyle of our sport is in full effect here and will continue to be long after the last Triple Crown straggler leaves the island. What may be the end for the Triple Crown season is the beginning for the best part of the year for the locals.

Last month we gave out free Quiksilver Hats to anyone who told us about a rad surf charity that they supported. Our friend Mike Chambers told us about Surf for the Cause. The mission of Surf For The Cause is a simple one: surf, and change the world.

“My favorite charity is without any question Surf For the Cause, which was started by a very close friend of mine, and local (New England) surf legend, Will Kinnane. Surf for the Cause is a group committed to joyfully serving the poor in third-world coastal communities where surfers in particular are drawn because of the waves. Our focus is on devoting our energy and time as surfers to alleviate suffering, bring emotional uplift, restore joy, encourage and exemplify goodwill and love, all while traveling the world in search of the perfect wave.

We just returned from an epic trip to Nicaragua where we sponsored the construction of a home for a family of nine, in addition to packing up several school buses with impoverished inner city children and bringing them to the beach for the first time in their lives.”

This is just the beginning for Surf for the Cause (SFC), and their movement is catching on. Grassroots Films covered some of their work in their 2008 Maui and Sedona Film Festival winning documentary, “The Human Experience”.

To get a better understanding for what Surf for the Cause is all about, check out this Q&A with SFC founder William Kinnane.

When is your next trip? And can anyone travel and volunteer with you guys?

Our next Surf for the Cause (SFC) trip is planned for February 12- 20,2010. We’ll be returning to Nicaragua.
Another trip is in the works for April 2010.

Anyone can come and volunteer, you don’t even have to be a surfer… just want to make a difference or impact in another persons life.

Is there anything that people can donate, other then money?!

Definitely!! (though money helps) but what SFC really looks for is peoples talents and gifts! in the past we have had Artist,musicians,photographers,film companies, web designers etc etc… offer their services.

Also people donate toys,books, medical supplies, stuff like that (my grandma is famous for loading us with the candy and stuffed animals).

Do you have “Street Teams” or organized groups in different places in the U.S.? What about in Southern CA?

Nothing in Southern CA, at least not yet! it’s all really just been word of mouth.

SFC was recently featured in the film “The Human Exprience” by Grassroots films, a New York based company.
We have been getting global exposure through them and the film.

Always looking to build relationships and expand.

Is Surf for the Cause religious based? Are you encouraging a specific religion while traveling and helping…

No. We’re just promoting Peace,Love,Hope,Surfing, and trying to better the lives of those in need.

When will you choose your next “cause of the year”?

Right now we’re really focusing our efforts in Nicaragua.
We are building another two homes there this year, and hopefully more to come.

I’m willing and always looking for new places and people to help
I envision one day to be able to have the opportunity to travel the world and work with many “causes”.

SFC always has new creative ideas and projects in the works.

Is anyone in the surf industry supporting or sponsoring Surf for the Cause?

Surprisingly no, though sponsoring SFC would be an ideal move for any major company…… We’re young, using our talents, thinking outside of the box, pushing ourselves to the next level, and promoting a positive image.

What’s amazing to me is that SFC is exactly what they say they are, guys (and gals) in their mid-20’s just out there to save the world one wave at a time.  It’s hard for me to believe that SFC isn’t funded by some religious group, or out there doing this for alternative motives. They’re just out there making things actually happen. It makes me immensely happy and I’m so proud of them! I can’t wait to get more involved, and hope to go on a trip with them sometime within the year!

Thanks Mike for telling us about this great charity,

-Kacee

To learn more, here is a link their website and Facebook Group page:
www.surfforthecause.com
Facebook Group

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In case any of you are wondering where our other Killer Dana blog contributor has gone, little Drew has been busy on the North Shore of Oahu doing camera work at the Triple Crown and sipping tootie fruitie cocktails… Hard work.

Last we heard he was slaving day and night on the ‘best blog ever‘… but as we see here he’s NOT. Gotcha DREW!!! Get to work!!! The people want their blogs!

Just joking Drew we love you, keep up the good work and enjoy your new status as Killer Dana’s favorite ‘D’ list celeb.

Thanks to Surfline.com for posting the photos in “Life We Love: North Shore Edition”

Congradulations to Taj Burrow (now $90,000 richer)  for an amazing performance at the Billabong Pipeline Masters!

Check out the full article on Surfline.com

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Tee And Hoodie Blowout! We marked down lots of tees and hoodies just before the holiday season. Get the most popular styles before they run out. Remember, we are still offering free shipping* on orders over $49 so take advantage of this money saving offer now >>

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KD team rider Nate Yeomans spotted in Hawaii surf spot Banzai, and featured in Rusty video Banzai and Babes! Check it:

Banzai an Babe’s from RUSTY on Vimeo.

Check out more videos like this one on Rusty’s blog!