Well designed for good flow, the ballroom was comfortably filled at all times and with qualified participants (brides!), that all got ample opportunity to truly connect with each vendor. Emails are flowing in from both a number of vendors saying that they booked 2, 3 and 4 jobs from the day as well as from brides stating that it was “the best wedding show” they had ever been to – and even named particular vendors they intend to work with! The participating high quality vendors were the perfect combination to cover each area of wedding planning.

Escorted in from the load-in dock by Oceano staff, the vendors all began arriving at 8 am and transformed the ballroom on time and with virtually no stress. Eschewing traditional pipe and drape, selections of gorgeous chocolate brown sateen and crushed organza linens created a truly elegant foundation for each booth space. Opening the doors at noon, attendees were greeted with excellent live music in the lobby right at registration. Floral, rental and lighting work were also on display in additional spaces within the hotel including the Montara and Mirada Rooms. A fashion show with gowns from Maggie Sottero was held in the adjacent Galleria complete with champagne and a VP from Maggie Sottero head offices to MC the affair. The staff at the Oceano are truly looking forward to hosting another bridal expo soon!

November 25, 2008 - Save The Waves Coalition announces a groundbreaking new event, “The Value of Waves Roundtable,” taking place Friday, December 5th, 2008, in Half Moon Bay, CA. The first-ever event will be at brand-new Oceano Hotel & Spa at Pillar Point Harbor, in the shadow of the word-famous big-wave break “Mavericks.” The Roundtable will bring together thought leaders and experts from multiple fields to discuss wave and coastal protection within the context of Save The Waves’ new global initiative, the World Wave Sites Program.
“We’re extremely excited to be hosting a gathering of experts of this magnitude,” says Dean LaTourrette, executive director for Save The Waves. “These individuals are at the top of their respective fields, coming together to discuss the value of waves and coastal zones, and how to protect them. This is what Save The Waves is all about.”
Participants are coming from as far as Australia, Hawaii, and from throughout the U.S., and range from environmentalists such as the Sierra Club’s Mark Massara and Surfrider Foundation’s Chad Nelsen, to business leaders like Reef founder and International Surfing Association president Fernando Aguerre, to writers and surf culture experts such as The Surfer’s Path’s Drew Kampion and author and editor Steve Hawk.
The one-day gathering will focus on a variety of topics, including the Aesthetic, Historic and Cultural Value of Waves, the Economic Value of Waves, Coastal Laws, Public Policy and Politics, Management and Conservation of Natural Surfing Resources, and the Sport of Surfing.
A full list of Guest Participants includes:
J. Nichols, Ocean Revolution
Chad Nelsen, Surfrider Foundation
Len Materman, Stanford University’s Center for Ecotourism and Sustainable Dev. (CESD)
Brad Farmer, National Surfing Reserves (NSR)
Mark Massara, Sierra Club
Drew Kampion, The Surfer’s Path
Ben Finney, University of Hawaii
Steve Hawk, Action Sports Group
Will Henry, Save The Waves Coalition
Chris LaFranchi, Natural Equity
Fernando Aguerre, ISA/SIMA/Surfrider Argentina
Jim Moriarty, Surfrider Foundation
Wayne Bartholomew (honorary, contributing statement)
Please note: “The Value of Waves Roundtable” is closed to the public and media attendance is by advance invitation only. For more information please contact program manager João De Macedo, 415-518-4747, joao@savethewaves.org.

Over 40 vintage automobiles traveled the famed Pacific Coast Highway 1 to visit Oceano Hotel and Spa, Half Moon Bay’s newest luxury hotel.  

 Many of the sexiest and high performance cars ever built covered a route of approximately 75 miles over lush hills and scenic valleys along the California Coast.  Oceano Hotel and Spa provided the perfect background for a great photo pit stop to the tour.  The half hour regrouping provided many of the hotel’s guests and visitors to see some classic and nostalgic autos from a by-gone era.

 It was a memorable experience for all involved and an ideal opportunity for our eco-luxury hotel to make the event the first eco-friendly Hillsborough Tour of Cars.  Oceano Hotel and Spa purchased carbon offset credits to prevent the environmental equivalent of 3,660 pounds of Co2 from entering the atmosphere, which is the same as driving 40 automobiles100 miles each. 

 It is no doubt a fantastic feeling driving one of these vintage automobiles.  For the Oceano Hotel and Spa, it is perhaps equally rewarding to be the first eco-luxury hotel involved with the event. We are proud to help with such a revolutionary concept using carbon offsets during this great parade of classic cars.  

 Over 40 participants and 100’s of onlookers were able to enjoy the tour without any environmental impact.

Bruce Jenkins

Special to Oceano Hotel & Spa

Sunday January,13 2008.

Shoreline visitors shared their usual Maverick’s lament on Saturday, unable to see much of the big-wave contest taking place so far out to sea. If they lingered awhile, though, they witnessed what separates surfing from so many other sports.

I can relate from experience that post-event interviews in professional baseball, football and basketball are intensely boring, too often characterized by wealthy, self-obsessed athletes who would rather avoid the media altogether.

But the Maverick’s contest ceremony, honoring 24-year-old champion Greg Long, was a testament to the brotherhood and camaraderie so prevalent among big-wave riders. After a while, as a few hundred spectators gathered for the awards ceremony, it was difficult to tell who had actually won.

It had been a day of glorious, relentless sunshine, placing everyone in a forgiving mood. That was fortunate, because this wasn’t Maverick’s at its best. The weather was sublime, but the waves were inconsistent, somewhat medium-size for Maverick’s (generally around 20 to 25 feet on the face) and disturbingly absent during the pair of semifinals.

About 10 minutes into the one-hour final, Long and his fellow competitors felt as if they were sitting on a lake. They started up a conversation. Before long, they were gathered in a circle, Long joining hands with Grant Washburn, Evan Slater, Tyler Smith, Grant “Twiggy” Baker and Jamie Sterling. Remarkably, they had agreed that no matter who came out on top, they would equally split the $57,000 prize money at their disposal. The gesture seemed to work, for a massive, seven-wave set arrived soon afterward, turning a relatively ordinary contest into something memorable.

Three waves in particular stood out. They came in rapid succession, each pushing 40 feet, heaving and detonating as only Maverick’s can. First there was Long, scoring a perfect 10 on a dazzling ride. The next wave found Slater, with perhaps the deepest and most challenging takeoff of the day, somehow making it through. And then Baker, the South African who won the 2006 Maverick’s event, took the titanic drop in triumph.

“Those three waves made the contest,” said one of the judges, Steve Dwyer, for years one of the Bay Area’s top big-wave riders. “It had been fairly pedestrian to that point. That set just lit up the day, totally legitimized the event. I’ll remember that as the most fun heat I’ve ever judged.”

Because spectator viewing is so limited, nobody on the beach had a clue about the surfers’ financial arrangement. It only came to light during the ceremony, and Long found himself in exceptional company.

Baker, who finished second, is one of Long’s best friends. Just last week, they embarked on a harrowing mission to Cortes Bank, an underwater shoal some 100 miles off the coast of San Diego. In that stark and remote setting, with no landmarks to guide them, Baker and Long (along with Mike Parsons and Brad Gerlach) rode waves surpassing 80 feet, a session believed to have produced the largest waves ever ridden. As they returned to civilization, all of them felt lucky to be alive.

Slater, while a fearless charger in the water, is also the mild-mannered editor of Surfing Magazine and a keen observer of the scene.

“I was just grateful to be out there with those guys,” said Slater, who had been shelved for a month with back problems. “I think it was Twiggy who brought it up, to split the money. We were all for it.”

So there was Long, holding up an oversize check signifying the winner, but feeling it belonged to everyone.

“That’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen in surfing,” said 45-year-old Dave Alexander, a longtime Half Moon Bay standout who teaches kids how to surf in summertime camps. “It’s amazing to me that a 24-year-old guy would think that way - and when you look at him, he could pass for 18. He’s so far from that ‘me all the way’ attitude you see in so many young surfers.”

Long, who grew up surfing the Southern California breaks near his home in San Clemente (Orange County), said he’d been studying and reading about Maverick’s - the wave, the geography, the personalities in the water - since he was 14. More than a few surfers have compared him to Jay Moriarity, the Santa Cruz surfer who died during a free-diving expedition off the coast of India in June 2001. Moriarity’s kindness and generosity were so evident, to everyone he ever met, that contest director Jeff Clark established the Jay Moriarity Award for the Maverick’s contest surfer who best exemplifies that spirit.

As he handed the 2008 Moriarity award to Sterling on the podium Saturday, Clark began speaking of Moriarity, his cherished friend and tow-in partner on countless days at maximum-size Maverick’s. He managed a few words, but he felt a lump in his throat. With tears welling up, Clark merely stepped aside. It was that kind of day at Maverick’s. In this little corner of the sporting world, ego is no match for humility.