4th cramikfest

Last year, for cramikfest 3, we really got lucky scoring waves at both Baker and Lefts.  Feeling that the lucky streak would continue, and due to early season scouting reports from Deebo and others that displayed a nice slope return to Limantour, we decided to go back to the source just like Mo.  Limantour was the site of cramikfest 1 & 2 and, although they were a lot of fun, the waves weren’t the greatest.  It’s always a bit of a crap shoot to go to Limantour as it’s a solid 45 minutes to an hour from ANYTHING.  After going out there on Wednesday with the Three Wheel Fenster, we saw that we should be in decent shape for the Saturday event.

Saturday morning I arrived around 9 to find the Fenster finishing his fishing expedition, empty handed which was weird because on Wednesday the fish were going nuts.  In any event, Deebo had already arrived, suited, and was skimming about a mile down the beach.  Directly in front it looked low-ish and weak – but not awful.  Josh, Daver, Efrin, Neddy Bumbo, & Will arrived and we decided to get in.  We headed down to where Deebo was skimming earlier and scored the better waves of the day.  The beach was much higher and steeper down at the east end and we were soon joined by 57, Ozzy, and a multitude of others.  A good fun session was had down there till about noon when the tide started to drop and the dub kicked up enough to make it sloppy.

The usual afternoon activities then began as more people started to arrive and wait for the tide to come back in which was scheduled for 8:20.  We hoped to start the event (this is not a contest) around 6:00.  In the meantime, we held the long drive contest and everyone got involved.  Fenster started it off with a bomb, but he took himself out of the running to judge, though he would have easily won the event in all likelihood.  Many of the skimmers had trouble with this sport and it was fun to see all the whiffs.  Making it to the finals with some solid bombs were Ben Hagar, Dad (aka DAK), Patrick (Manchild), Tom (Ozzy) & Daver with Manchild taking top honors (we think! – it’s kind of a blur) and a Richard Cranium t-shirt.  Much thanks go out to Richard Cranium for their donation of some zillion sick t-shirts to the event.

Although there was already a substantial crew already on hand, at around 3 o’clock there began a steady stream of skimmers showing up.  Bike Mike showed up to donate his traditional beer prizes, and then a bunch of skimmers showed from Santa Cruz including Corey, Ben, Geoff, BH, Ryan, Gary, Skyler, Skimkook (Timmy C) & Cole’s BBQ among others.  Ryan Parola donated some of his Riding Brainwaves DVD’s and a megaphone which proved to be a lot of fun for me, and a lot of pain for others to endure.  We decided to run the event at 6:30 and after much discussion and argument, decided to run the traditional Mega Heat – another cramik tradition.  In cramik’s view, we don’t like to harm the environment, so we always try to run a non-paper event.  This means no judges sheets, and no way could we have  an organized heat table of any sort.  After all, this is not a contest.  The mega heat was just completely insane.  It was virtually impossible to count how many skimmers there were packed into roughly a 40 yard wide area.  We guess there were probably around 35-40, could be less, could be more. The closer set waves would yield no less than 15 guys at a time.  The larger outside set waves would yield about 4-6.  Ryan Parola dominated the Mega Heat with his drift daddies reaching and making most of the furthest out set waves that Limantour had to offer.  Mariani was also very solid in the first heat on the smaller closer waves continually getting the best of the crowd on countless frontsides and backsides. David stole the 2nd half of the mega heat with a number of solid wraps.

The Mega Heat was 30 minutes long and it seemed to go by in about 1.  The crowd was pumped and even the tiniest ripple couldn’t get by without being thoroughly molested.  The waves weren’t great, but they weren’t bad either, with set waves in the 2-3 foot range.  When the Mega Heat was over, these were the 11 guys left standing (we had planned to make the cut at 10 but it was too hard):

Parola

David

Mariani

Corey

Skyler

Cole’s BBQ

Ben K

Deebo

Gary

Paul

Erick

The semi final provided more of the same craziness.  There’s a reason that normal competitions run only 4 guys at a time.  With 10 going at once, it was still major pandemonium with 57 (a judge) growing and moaning about how difficult the 4 & 5 positions were going to be determined since it was so close.  It also proved that you cannot run Mega Heats with a standard judging system – it would be impossible.  You would never have enough time to write scores down.  The judges judged on the basis of “overall impression” – another cramik staple.  Ryan continued to dominate the semi’s and had it ended there, he would have taken home 1st.  Ben was also coming alive and tearing the poor little Limantour waves in ways that it had never seen in it’s lifetime.  Corey, the consummate joker, killed with a fluid style and nonchalance that makes it appear as though he’s not even trying – truly one of the most enjoyable skimmers to watch. Skyler was killing throughout the Mega Heat and the semi’s but was equally matched by Deebo.  In the end, it was a horribly hard decision to make.  I personally thought Deebo got more good waves in the semis, but Skyler had more in the Mega Heat (not just more than Deebo, but more than most of the guys who made the semis).  Although there was some sentiment towards Skyler because he had come from so far away, we had to discard that and be impartial and after a judges vote of 3 to 2, Deebo was in and Skyler was out.  This was by far the hardest judging decision to ever face the cramik.

As darkness approached, everyone was fired up for the finals.  The tide was still pushing in and the set waves were getting a bit bigger and a tad closer.  Deebo re-boosted his energy a bit and had many solid rides to slide him into the 3rd position in front of Parola.  I think the long drive and the long drifts from the first heat had tired Ryan out a little.  Ben decided to continue his murder rampage and left several people wondering where the cops were to put a stop to his behavior.  Corey stepped it up HUGE in the finals and took advantage of the set waves and scored many barrels on the west side and some sick frontside liners and Beak-style frontside 180 wraps.

1. Corey Ryan

2. Ben K

3. Dustin Boone

4. Ryan Parola

At the end, prize packs were disseminated that featured 57’s unbelievable trophies – for the last 2 years these have been the highlight of the skimfest.  Also included were some sick custom shirts designed by Baker Daver and some custom shirts by Colin that were donated by Rancid.  Also handed out were some cramik t-shirts, long sleeve t’s, a stein, stickers, and truckers hats donated by cramik and Craig Kay.  To finish it off were the DVD’s from Ryan Parola, and a cramik thong to Matt for best wipeout for his numerous attempts at a kickflip during the mega heat.

All in all, it seemed everyone had a good time time way out in west Marin.  A HUGE THANKS GOES OUT TO CRAIG KAY (aka 3WF) for all his help in organizing the vent and for his generous donations of gear.  Thanks to everyone for making the super long drive (some as long at 5 hours!).  Each cramikfest seems to get better and better and we look forward to seeing you all out there next year!