This Ocean Life Podcast

Bobby Twitchell -- Maui life underwater, spearfishing, freediving, sustainability

In Episode 88 I sit down with Bobby Twitchell, a man born and bred in the waters of West Maui. Bobby shares stories of fishing and spearing from the age of 4 through today where he runs Maui Spearfishing Academy, a thriving local business introducing people to free diving and spearfishing with a major focus on education and sustainability. We hear stories of Bobby teaching himself the ways of hunting underwater and the continual progression of his free diving education and skill. Bobby shares his perspective on college life in Arizona then returning to Maui and building his business, stories of pursuing big fish and dealing with sharks and other natural challenges in the waters of Maui, and what Bobby's familiarity with the local reefs and fish of Maui means to him. We hear of Bobby's formal freedive training and his natural breath holding ability (which I am admittedly envious of) and his great perspective on competitive freediving versus doing it for the love of the hunt. And we open up by recounting a tale of Bobby and I being way to close to the path of a speeding boat during a dive on the Napili coast :)
Thanks for sharing Bobby's ocean life with us. Be sure to check out photos and videos of Bobby on Instagram and his Maui Spearfishing Academy website. You can also find fun stuff on the ThisOceanLife.TV Instagram and Facebook pages. We are on Twitter ranting about anything cool happening in the ocean.
 

Johnny Kahakaloha -- water life on Maui, enduring Molokai 2 Oahu

In episode 87 I speak with Johnny Kahakaloha, a man who has found his calling on land and the water of Maui. Johhny talks story of moving to Maui and immersing himself in local Hawaiian culture within the town of Kahakuloa where he learned how to live off of the land and be in harmony with the natural world around him, all while remotely running a highly successful record label company. Johnny tells the story of his entry into the world of paddling starting with the outrigger canoe and moving to the SUP where today Johnny is a regular in the waves and downwind courses on Maui. We hear of the strong community of Maui board paddlers and people who have influenced Johnny to take on one of the biggest paddle challenges on the planet, Molokai 2 Oahu. Johnny shares his story of deciding to paddle M2O in 2019 three weeks before the race and his intense training he went through to prepare, and shares a super heavy story of being stuck in 30-knot wind less than 2-miles from the M2O finish line. Throughout, we hear a great perspective from Johnny on finding and pursuing passion in life.
Thanks for sharing Johnny's ocean life with us. Be sure to check out photos and videos of Johnny on Instagram. You can also find fun stuff on the ThisOceanLife.TV Instagram and Facebook pages. We are on Twitter ranting about anything cool happening in the ocean.

Stoked Grom Stories: Bobo Gallagher -- SUP foiling, surfing, downwinding

In this episode of Stoked Grom Stories I talk with Bobo Gallagher, a young man who is loving his life in the waters of Maui. Bobo shares stories of getting hooked on surfing after riding his first wave, the first time he picked up a paddle and surfed SUP, and his discovery of downwinding. We hear about the great support Bobo has from his family and crew of friends in the water who help him train and learn the ocean. Bobo talks about his love for foiling in the surf and downwind and shares his thoughts on the new foil wing and what it's like downwinding in the Hood River Gorge in Oregon. Bobo does a great job answering the lightning round of questions and shows a lot of great character and passion for his ocean life. 
Thanks for sharing Bobo's ocean life with us. You can find pictures of him ripping on Instagram and more good stuff on the ThisOceanLife.TV Instagram and Facebook pages. We are on Twitter ranting about anything cool happening in the ocean.

Amanda Calabrese -- decade of surf lifesaving, world competitor, empowering women in sport

In episode 86 we continue on the theme of competitive surf lifesaving and hear stories of Amanda Calabrese, a world-class competitor in the sport. Amanda takes us through her early days in Montauk, New York as a Junior Lifeguard, finding her passion for competing at a high level, and her path leading to the US National Surf Lifesaving Team. We talk about the fringe nature, supportive community of competitors, and gender equality natural to surf lifesaving with Amanda sharing stories of her mentors who have helped push her along the way and her philosophy toward the mental aspect of competition. Amanda shares her love for training the next generation of Jr Guard groms (including my own daughters!) and balancing her own training for both prone board racing and beach flags while building her start-up, Tempo, that's driving to empower women through higher performance feminine products. We hear of Amanda's training with the Australian elite, competing on the world stage, and connection with Buell Surf and Rescue, to help push the sport forward with innovative new equipment design and grom training.
Thanks for sharing Amanda's ocean life with us. Be sure to check out photos and videos of Amanda on Instagram and her new company, Tempo. You can also find fun stuff on the ThisOceanLife.TV Instagram and Facebook pages. We are on Twitter ranting about anything cool happening in the ocean.

April O'Gorman -- competitive surf lifesaving, US National Team, iron woman

In episode 85 I speak with April O'Gorman, a world-class competitor in the sport of surf life saving. April shares her stories of discovering surf life saving competition later in life than most of her peers, finding her competitive strengths, and learning the skills and techniques for success. We hear of her mentors in the sport that have helped April progress from the regional to national then world stage of surf life saving competition, her time in Australia training with legends of the sport, and great stories of competing on the US National Team. April shares her perspective on the community of surf lifesaving competitors, her approach to training and competing in her favorite events such as board paddling and The Iron, a multi-discipline event of board paddling, swimming, running, and surf ski paddling, that April today (Aug 2019) is set to defend her current national title at the upcoming US National event. April shares her enjoyment of providing back to the next generation of groms to help them grow their love of competitive surf lifesaving and find their own success in the sport, and her synergy with Buell Surf and Rescue, a California company pushing the sport forward with innovative new equipment design and grom training camps.
Thanks for sharing April's ocean life with us. Be sure to check out photos and videos of April on Instagram. You can also find fun stuff on the ThisOceanLife.TV Instagram and Facebook pages. We are on Twitter ranting about anything cool happening in the ocean.

Ryan Paroz and Ryan Buell -- two generations of competitive surf live saving

In episode 84 I sit down and talk story with two legends in the world of competitive surf lifesaving -- Ryan Paroz and Ryan Buell. We hear stories from Paroz about his competitive success today in both prone board and surf ski paddling events, his time on the US National Team, competing across the world, and crossing the Kaiwi Channel (Molokai to Oahu) six times on the surf ski. Buell takes us back into the 1980's and 90's where he competed on the world stage with major focus on prone board racing and beach flags, sharing a great history of the men and women of that era who have laid the foundation for competitive surf lifesaving of today. We talk equipment with both Ryan's sharing stories of the gear they've used and hear the story of Paroz's homemade prone sprint board that he's used for years and Buell's surf ski that he still has 25 years later. We hear of the synergy between Paroz and Buell in their mutual focus of growing the sport of surf lifesaving through bringing the best equipment to market and providing strong mentorship and coaching to the next generation of groms frothing to compete on the beach.
Thanks for sharing Paroz's and Buell's ocean life with us. Be sure to check out photos and videos of Paroz on Instagram and Facebook. Check out Buell Surf and Rescue on Instagram and Facebook, and Ryan Buell himself.
You can also find fun stuff on the ThisOceanLife.TV Instagram and Facebook pages. We are on Twitter ranting about anything cool happening in the ocean. And... reduce your use of plastic!!

Mick Slattery -- SureFire boards, surfing, SUP, water life in Sydney

In episode 83 we hear the stories of Mick Slattery around his world of surfing and running SureFire Boards in his home waters of Sydney, Australia. Mick takes us through his time as a grom being in the Nipper program (Jr Lifeguard), moving from the bodyboard to surfboard, leading to hollow barrels and epic waves in the Mentawis. We hear of Mick's first SUP session way back in 2009 that brought him to experimenting with SUP shaping and design which ultimately brought him to building his SureFire Board company. Mick talks philosophy behind his board design and the importance of delivering high quality to his customers. We hear stories of Mick interviewing and surfing with some of the biggest legends of the sport like Kai Lenny and Gerry Lopez and a fun tale of beating a brand new rental truck in the sand dunes with Laird Hamilton.
Thanks for sharing Mick's ocean life with us. Be sure to check out photos and videos of Mick on Instagram and Facebook. Vote for SureFire Boards to be SUP Brand of the Year!!
You can also find fun stuff on the ThisOceanLife.TV Instagram and Facebook pages. We are on Twitter ranting about anything cool happening in the ocean. And... reduce your use of plastic!!

Tony Rapacioli -- surf photography, Noosa longboarding

In episode 82 we hear stories from Tony Rapacioli on his life of longboarding and surf photography in the beautiful waters of Noosa, Australia. Tony shares his stories on learning to surf at Noosa, one of the most famous longboard surf communities in the world, and his perspective on the surfers and waves that make up this special place. We hear of Tony's positive approach to surfing, enjoying both the ocean and people around him in the water. Tony talks about rediscovering his love for photography through shooting surfers at Noosa and his approach to sharing photos within the community. We also hear of great perspective on introducing children to the ocean, the animals living in and around Noosa, and Zenhiser.com, a great music business that Tony has built. Images by Fenna de King
Thanks for sharing Tony's ocean life with us. Be sure to check out photos and videos of Tony on Instagram and Facebook. You can also find fun stuff on the ThisOceanLife.TV Instagram and Facebook pages. We are on Twitter ranting about anything cool happening in the ocean.