A Visit to Fletcher Chouinard Designs

For more from Fletcher Chouinard Designs >>
www.youtube.com/fcdsurfboards

Shaka!



(B.T.W. Mr Presidente Barack Obama, why have you lifted bans on offshore oil drilling in direct violation of your campaign promises?)

¡Fuerza Chile!

Friday night was a fundraiser at Brushfire Records in Los Angeles with great musicians - Jackson Browne, Andrew Bird, White Buffalo, Jon Swift and Dawes. Read about it and view photos here at savethewaves.blogspot.com

Jon Swift opened the night's music with heart, and harmonica.

White Buffalo closed the night with his roots voice hollerin' and acoustic fire meltin'.

Thanks to all the artists, musicians, friends, surfers and fans who attended and donated their time and money. 100% of all proceeds raised go directly to fund Chile earthquake & tsunami relief on the Chilean coast. www.savethewaves.org

An article about the evening and more photos here >> savethewaves.blogspot.com
and more coverage at:
>> ESPN Surfing Blog

Thanks to Chile Relief Supporters

Support for our Chile earthquake-tsunami relief work is deep. Special thanks goes to all the anonymous people who gave so much and ask for little more than the warmth of doing good.

Thank you very much to:

Malinda & Yvon Chouinard
Patagonia
The Malloys
Jackson Browne
Jon Swift
Andrew Bird
Dawes
Jesse Faen
Emmett Malloy

White Buffalo
Kohl Christensen
Greg Long
Ramon Navarro
Rob Machado
Hurley
Quiksilver
Billabong
Insight
Tyler Breuer
Jeff Johnson
Kelly Slater



Angel Marin
Save The Waves staff, board members, volunteers
PerroRata Productions
Dean LaTourrette
Volcom
Derco
Great Wall trucks
Skull Candy
Fiscalia del Medio Ambiente
Nixon
Thomas Campbell
Wolfgang Bloch
Geoffrey Ragatz
Paul Naude
Jack Johnson
Brushfire Records
Woodshed Films

Chris & Cristina Evans
Carlos Ferrer
Carolyn Jaeger
Carol Nyhoff
Rodrigo del la 'O Guerrero
Larry Bonner
Maule Wear
Dan Daniel
Quinn Campbell
Josh Seime
Pichilemu Language Institute
Chris & Val Wilcox
Numerous anonymous foundations
The Chilean People



Anonymous Firefighters & Paramedics
REACT Worldwide
Paul Walker
Lucas Wimer
Surfline.com
Marcus Sanders
Philip Muller
Rodrigo Farias
Rod Ferrer
Marcos Baumann
Johannes
Manam
Surfer's Paradise Surf Shop Chile
George Ordenes
Cristian "Macha" Acevedo
Los Morros Surf Shop

Waves For Water
Jon & Jack Rose
Refugio Del Mar, Curanipe
La Joya Del Mar, Buchupureo
Hans Hagen
William Maher
Tom Elkins
Mick Fanning
Neil Lazarow
Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast
Lewis Samuels
Pocha
Metallica

After Effect

Read my new Chile tsunami aid article at Surfline:

>>> Working in the field coordinating Save The Waves Coalition's Chile tsunami relief effort, environmental director Josh Berry was in the hardest-hit coastal disaster areas of Chile working from sunrise to sunset for 18 days straight... > > > Continue reading...

Cheers,

JB

Photo 1: post - tsunami pulp mill.

Photo 2: STW Army.

Post Tsunami Stress Disorder

After 14 days of relief work in central Chile's tsunami- and earthquake- devastated coastline, I'm convinced that the worst destruction was emotional. The locals are terrified and heartbroken. The tsunami was devastating both physically and mentally - it makes one feel so powerless. I look at the ocean in a very different way now, constantly judging quick escape routes to higher ground.

The tsunami destruction in Chile is unbelievable - words can't describe it. In some areas, uninterrupted 10-mile stretches of coastline were completely erased. Nothing left behind, not even a building foundation. A 200-mile swath of coastline was badly damaged by the tsunami. And the locals are deeply traumatized. Some of our most meaningful work was the trauma healing done by our team of cranio-sacral therapists, psychologists and osteopaths.

After a week on the ground in Chile, I began to realize that our most meaningful contribution to the relief effort is to give the local people hope, inspiration, and leadership. Shell-shocked coastal residents were powerless in the days after the quake, and if we are able to help lift them up so they can help themselves, then our mission is accomplished. Water filters and medical attention is valuable, but then we leave and they are again left alone. Leaving behind deep wells of hope and positive inspiration is the most valuable of tools.

Learn more about our post-tsunami efforts in Chile and support our efforts: www.savethewaves.org




All photos this post by Lucas Wimer.

Exhausting Adventures in Chile Tsunami Zone

After 14 days of tsunami relief aid for coastal tsunami and earthquake victims in Chile, I'm writing this while on my way back home to California. What an intense, inspiring and difficult time! My heart is broken from seeing my favorite places completely demolished by the double-knockout punch of an 8.8 earthquake with a direct tsunami hit. My friends and colleagues lost everything. But we're there with solid relief and support and it's lit a fire under my arse to help like never before!



With an awesome team of doctors and fearless coastal warriors we distributed a ton of aid and support for the victims of this epic disaster. We directly reached over 500 people with our diverse medical aid, and distributed enough water filters for 10,000 people to drink clean local water. There is so much work left to do - it will take years of hard work to lift the region back up. The tsunami-quake combo punch severely hit hundreds of miles of coastline.

Strangely and unexpectedly, Hollywood heart throb Paul "Caminante" Walker showed up to help with his team of first-response disaster medics. The media ate it up and this helped us garner media and public support for our hard work in the field. Paul's team kicked ass, helped a lot of people, and Paul proved his chops beyond Hollywood by getting down and dirty in the grittiest tsunami wastelands of Constitucion City. Below is a photo of us with a couple of locals in a refugee camp where we gave much-needed medical attention and water filters for clean, healthy water. Done!



We'll be back in Chile ASAP with a lot more aid and a big shot of inspiration and hope for the tough locals to pick themselves up. ¡Grande, Chile!

Below photos: free medical attention in the hardest hit neighborhoods of Constitucion City, and a group photo of our Chile disaster relief team.

Tsunami Report

I traveled to my favorite place in Chile last week for earthquake and tsunami relief - the area is devastated and the local people are really freaked out, living in the hills in refugee camps. Here are some photos from our relief work today, bringing filtered water and other supplies to the most hurt areas of coastal Chile. I hope the photo upload works from here in most rural devastated Chile. Can`t write more, I have to upload with this internet link before it fails again.



The good news is that refugees are returning to their broken homes, and normalcy is slowly seeping back into the area. It`s tough here, but so are these coastal Chileans.

Chile Earthquake in Surf Zone

> Help our humanitarian aid mission <



Saturday's earthquake and tsunami in Chile was huge. Its epicenter was about 5 km from where all of our environmental work is based, in the Cobquecura - Curanipe region of the Maule and Bio Bio Regions.

The surf towns and coastal areas of Pichilemu, Curanipe, Buchupureo and Cobquecura are all severely damaged, but so far loss of life has been minimal because the gradual start of the shaking allowed many people to escape to higher ground.

However, the Chilean news is now reporting that official fatalities will dramatically rise because many people are missing in the coastal areas hit hardest by the tsunami. Information is very slow to come from this hardest hit remote coastal region due to the magnitude of the damages and complete lack of communications.

Save The Waves is sending me to this devastated region to deliver medical supplies and 1,000 water filters. We tentatively have a local helicopter arranged to drop supplies and get doctors to the region ASAP. It might take me a while to get there via roads but we're trying. Gas, water, food, clothing, housing and other basics are very low.

Please donate to our humanitarian aid efforts here:

WWW.SAVETHEWAVES.ORG