Gary Linden, the patriarch of West Coast big-wave riding, stood in front of the California Surfing Museum in Oceanside last Friday night, greeting attendees at a VIP party that was one of numerous events in the museum’s annual surf film festival. It was Big Wave Film Night, with screenings of Derek Dunfee’s Down With The Ship, footage from the last winter’s Big Wave World Tour event at Todos Santos, and a roundup of the best rides of the 2009-2010 Northern Hemisphere season. In short, it was an evening to celebrate what was the best winter of big waves for a long, long time.
Speaking of long…the Long brothers were there, as well as Reno Abillera, looking dapper in a tie, with the air of a champion about him. Set at the California Surfing Museum, the backdrop included the “Women on Waves†exhibit—a display that … Details