Tom Jones : photo Shawn Alladio
Paddle News
California Paddle:Tom Jones
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 15 September, 2007 : - - Launch day the journey began on August 8, 2007; over a month later Tom Jones is in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary on the ‘California Paddle’. Tom is paddling a Surftech Laird Hamilton design 14 ‘ stand up paddle board from the Oregon Border, South through California to the Mexican border in support of gaining global awareness and change from plastic pollution in our oceans. He is now heading south to his target, the Border of California and Mexico.
A United Nations Environmental Report estimates that more than 5.76 million tons of plastic is in the world's oceans. That translates to enough plastic to put two-thirds of the Golden State of California in a plastic bag, according to information furnished by California Paddle 2007.
"At the current plastic usage acceleration rate of 5 percent per year, according to the Resin Review published by the American Plastic Council, we could cover the entire state of California in plastic by 2014 and every landmass on Earth by the year 2042," an event flier states.
What Inspired the California Paddle?
What inspired me was I had just done all this world class running coming out of 120 marathons in a row, then I also went back and took another run at a Thai boxing world title 2 years ago and both of those sports are instant gratification sports. You train; fight and good luck, because it’s over quick.
Prevail or be disappointed, you can run a marathon and crap out and not finish, but not with the California Paddle. I wanted to do something different, so I fought 10 times in a row and got my world titles up to level; got myself on track with a global impression, I wanted to help change the world.
Before I wanted to get ‘instant gratification’, (something that happens in a moment), surfing provided me with something different, its fun and I do it again, and again, the next wave, it’s always different! I decided I’ll go pursue this surfing passion that I have. So, I hired Danny Misken to teach me how to surf. My family and I live in Orange County in Huntington Beach.
Tom Jones : photo Shawn Alladio
I’m paddling and noticing this debris in Huntington Beach waters, this filth, literally garbage. About 2 ½ years ago I took notice while training, while surfing, because I’m trying to get stronger in the water, so I’m paddle boarding the place and it is inundated with trash. I ask myself ‘isn’t anyone doing anything about this?’
I meet up with Jericho Poppler, a great surfer, a respected waterwoman. She says she is friends with this scientist, Charles Moore from the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, who would have answers. I was interested in this issue, she says ‘talk to him, he’ll tell you’. The more I heard from Charles, the more facts I was given, the issue became clear and more solid.
I peeled the onion back and I cried harder and harder. I had done so much cause related events in the past, donated my wins and support money to worthy issues. I kept saying ‘is anyone bringing any awareness to plastic in the ocean?’ He said ‘not really’. I came up with the idea for paddle boarding because I had run the west coast 3 times prior on land, the oceanic plastic pollution issue is so legitimate it’s solid, I decided to take positive action.
Then people like Shawn Alladio grab a hold of it, passing the ball in the game so to speak, the Shawn Alladio’s of the world I thought I could do something extraordinary, get corporate Americans attention, the everyday person, everywhere, we all become partners. The problem is severe, it’s legitimate, and also show the world, ‘the hope, it’s not all bad, it’s not all dirty, it’s not all the bad of the world if we become aware and make changes.’
Let’s take a look at some core truth: We have recorded time, historical timelines, less than one minute to react to turn the world as caretakers in this timeline, instead of abusers. Half of my struggle is honestly trying to comprehend this truth, I kept researching. The crutch became more apparent: we are going to cross a line in our near future.
Imagine a 24 hour period of recorded time within a cycle, with the longest time in the sand written behind us, and now, we have one minute to react, it’s like we have a bus coming at a car, what are we going to do? How are we going to react to save our lives?
I thought if I could go out and do this awareness campaign, (that nobody believed we could do originally), a person like me who doesn’t have all the water experience in the world, but a strong driven passion, that this passion would rub off on the world? I believe in this.
Who the hell are you?
I have been called an enigma several times, the first time I heard that I said ‘did they call me a name?’ The explanation I received: ‘You are the unexplainable.’ I am unexplainable? I am a guy that wants to honestly help other people. I keep that as my fundamental principle, its simple.
That is why I am able to do extraordinary things, it is a gift from God; this has nothing to do with me. I choose to use my gift to benefit other people, motivate, educate and inspire other people, do what? To be better than what they were before they woke up this morning? If it means you go out and do something environmentally friendly, then you do that, if it means something and everything we do should have meaning.
I’m inspiring you to do your 20 miles paddle today with me, even if you are not on the water by my side, does it mean not hitting your kid, being a better parent, paying your child support on time, not taking drugs? You choose. I’m showing you every day what you ought to do, its basic. You ought to go outside of your little bubble and go far outside of your bubble and do something, something good, something better.
My whole life I was removed from my parents due to violence. I have every reason every excuse to do bad things, I have justification, but I am showing that we have a choice, all the way down to that, we have a choice we can save ourselves and we can save our human race, we just have to do it. It begins with you.
There is a line in the sand that says the human race is going to get kicked out of the drivers seat, we are no longer going to be the landlord of the planet Earth. When I look at Shawn’s 3 year old daughter Shaniah Oceania; or my own children Noah 6, and Wyatt 3, or my 23-year-old daughter, Brittney, I cry when I look at her, at them, I cry for their future, for my kids future, for yours.
I have done my research, I know that those poor little kids are going to be facing some serious crap if we don’t pull our heads out of our collective ass; it’s our reality we’re creating. I’m so scared, let’s face it, I’m a human being, 2 things motivate me, ‘fear and greed’, I’m afraid. I’m a world Champ killing machine and I’m scared for my kids and your kids. The research I’ve done clearly indicates there is an end to our Earth bubble, and our oceans health is going to be the biggest issue.
What is your primary role for your California Paddle Team?
To keep everything together, and to keep going south! Honestly, the paddling is the minority share of what I do. The majority share is handling 5 personalities living daily within a 34’ confided area of a traveling motor home, working with people outside of their personal element, trying to step up individually and come full circle as a team.
They have families, lives and crisis that happen daily while we are in the field sending out this global environmental message, but we still have our own lives to try our best to manage along with the California Paddle.
So my role is to try to inspire everyone to stay rock solid ‘by example’. I have a wife, kids, my own life problems, my phone calls every day. It’s a matter of keeping focused, the goal of moving south no matter what. Whatever ‘it’ is we’re going south! They’ve all stepped up! They are going to have to do stuff that is extraordinary by their own standards.
How was the inaugural launch day for the California Paddle?
It was great, it was a total of 7 miles, it was peaceful, it was fun, then progressively this trip became more difficult after that. The first day was glassy, a positive omen. We experienced an uneventful launch out of the Smith River, we went out 500 yards north to make sure I was across the border, did a turn south and have been heading down the coast ever since. Rhyn Noll has been instrumental in the California Paddle, we didn’t know anything about navigating, he dialed in our safety aspects and GPS coordinates, he was our pro, he understands ocean movement.
Mickey Munoz has been behind the California Paddle from the start, he stepped up and got Rhyn onboard, Mickey has been a great support to us, then Rhyn committed to the California Paddle after his first session, he was originally going to do only do a few days, but he stuck with us all the way to Santa Cruz County, then he had to go home just yesterday. Without him I would be screwed from the start.
Who is NIT?
Nit Warrarath, he has been with me for 12 years, he taught me everything I know about athletic discipline and martial arts training. He’s been with me for 7 major Thailand (Thai) battles boxing, he feeds me, he coaches me, he is also a Buddhist monk, his family is the most famous family in Thai fighting. Nit lived with me for 4 years, worked with me for fights, he was my ‘Quarter Man’, he’s taught me a lot about life, Nit has helped me grow up. He’s Nit, he’s an integral vertebrae in the backbone of the organizing, he heals me daily. Nit is a healer at the Buddhist temple at home. He’s a true healer; he does his chanting during the massages, he’s an amazing being.
Any interesting coastal impressions?
The whole coast has been breathtaking! Obviously Cape Mendocino, Shelter Cove, Klamath River, around Point Arena, they have all their own special intricacies and personalities and beauty. There is so much trash and rubbish collected along the coves and cliffs where people cannot go and do the beach cleanups. It’s a double edged sword, I witness trash drifting by, along the most beautiful and dangerous coast, it’s an emotional roller coaster. All this beauty strikes me; and I’ll turn to our camera and say ‘how can we do this, how can we dump garbage without realizing the impact?’
How can we destroy this, how can we allow this trash to find its way to the Ocean? There are so many different emotions bundled up in the trip I don’t know whether to freak or go blind with the beauty. The problem is such that is must be dealt with, not delayed; not given to the next generation to manage. That is the message I am trying to get out to people. This is a desperate ‘Hail Mary’ pass, everyone needs to get in the game, and I chuck the ball to the next in line, I’ve carried my pass, its your turn. It’s legitimately crazy, I’ve done this before, and I know what I’m talking about.
Any inspiring marine life?
I saw a dolphin born, then an Orca made a run at me, then the white shark encounter, and 100 pilot whales at one time in the Lost Coast.
Imagine; I saw a dolphin literally born right in front of me! Watching the seals drop off the rocks to come chase me away, everything is impressive as I’m passing through. I get exhilarated and depressed, how come we would give blind permission to desecrate this? It’s an emotional roller coaster. All I can do is keep on paddling. I take it one paddle stroke at a time. If I don’t do that it won’t work, one paddle stroke at a time, one paddle stroke, the next, then the next.
Today I had to take a day off, I had to get the Jet Skis support boats serviced, the crew needed to see family; we had to catch up with ourselves, so we can prepare for the next leg.
Tomorrow we begin again by leaving Santa Cruz harbor, then we motor up 11 miles and paddle back into the Harbor. We’re usually launching at 7:30am and paddling around 8:30, some days are harder than others, each day the plastic pollution increases, we see it all around, we’re witnesses for you.
What does the California Paddle Mean to your overall vision?
Honestly, this is going to sound strange, it means I’m hoping this is the first domino or a major domino that will start a ‘change reaction’. You and I Shawn, if we do this right we will never know, or others who support this worthwhile project, getting educated is the start, then action; if we do this right we will never know what good we did, but the human race will go on and on, they can benefit from what we do, what we change, what we encourage.
Humans struggle to get their arms around the truth, struggling with the acceptance, getting people to see the legitimacy to this; we better do something, before it’s over. Do what you are always afraid to do, smell the coffee, get on the ball and let’s go tackle this. Or just die, accept it and be happy with it, because this is it.
Little Shaniah, Noah and Wyatt will be the last generation. We cannot catch up to a game that is impossible to play. We have a greater enemy than terrorism; it is the survival of the human race. We have scientific data to prove it, what else do we need? What do we need for people to work together? That is what the paddle means to me. Bringing awareness to this human crisis so we can do something with the time clock, we can’t put it off till tomorrow anymore.
What has been the greatest hardship for you?
Being away from my family hands down is the hardest part of this. I miss my wife Brandi and kids so much, my kids crying for me, the hardship on my family, my oldest lost his first tooth, I missed that, it’s heavy for me, for them. The hardship has to do with my heart, I’m strong physically, but I miss my family. My wife having to manage problems with out me is tough. My family has invested so much into this, we’re all sacrificing.
Biggest setback so far?
I had to get help fast, I lost my board. I had to get another board in a hurry. I called Laird Hamilton; he had his manager call me back in 8 hours. Surftech sent me a board the next day. I took a regular surfboard around Point Arena, because I didn’t have my paddle board. It was blowing with a 25 mph side wind, now I’m on a regular surfboard trying to paddle around the point, it sucked. This was truly brutal. We did it and they all got us the board the next day; that was a miracle.
I want to thank Laird and Surftech for the support for the 24 hour miracle. He’s been gracious and great to me, we really bonded, people don’t get what we go through on the water on a daily basis, people don’t want to give it up, give something of themselves. You have to give something back when nature gives so freely to us every second.
Laird’s been great, he and Kalama took me under their wing; he calls me all the time to check on me. Laird took me training on the PWC’s early on; he’s been cool and fun. He took me swimming in the impact zone in his swimming pool at Peahi (Jaws). He drove his cart through the pineapple fields, climbs down the cliff to the beach and into the impact zone. Amazing!
How does the team hold up spiritually, emotionally and physically?
That is like a graph you couldn’t track to save your soul, it’s the most erratic thing. Guys are menstrual. Here’s a humorous analogy: their menstrual cycles do not line up like women, one is online and the others aren’t. Everyone has a bushel of their own problems, immediate crisis, distractions from the mission, it’s tough. It’s a real life commitment. Truly, it’s a job, it’s what I wanted. I wanted to challenge myself to be more than what or who I was before I started this paddle.
I’m not telling you to do something I’m not willing to do myself. I’m way outside of my comfort zone. I’m the most hardcore driven person in the world, I have to find patience. The challenge is also about the team building aspect. I’m willing to step outside of my comfort zone, I have to win, or I’m discredited. I have to make it.
You don’t know what Mother Nature is going to give every day. That’s what I wanted, I’m getting everything lined up to challenge me and I’m not disappointed. This is what I wanted, I wanted to have to step up, a challenge is worthy of a good cause, and bringing light to the plastic in our oceans is more than worthy of all of us combined and our personal issues, we’ll rise above it.
Working on water is one of the toughest elements. Laird told me to “stop fighting the ocean, stop it! Flow with Mother Nature, she is a beautiful lady, work with her, she’ll help you out.” He is right.
What does it feel like to be in mid stride with the environmental paddle now?
It feels great, the pendulum is swinging the other way; people are believing and sharing this message. I’m going to make it, the cause is starting to get some air time it deserves, it’s about the levels of pollutions and the global impact. Every chance I get that this awareness message gets into the world I seize that moment, it will lead people back to the cause. The more successful the project is, the more opportunity I have to lead them to the cause: Stop pollution, stop plastic contributions in our oceans. Help me; help you; help the future.
The Personal Watercraft Prejudice Factor?
You know how I feel about that. I got to articulate that on a radio interview in Santa Cruz this morning. They asked me if I had any area of the coast not covered.
I told them about the 16 mile area around Point Reyes we couldn’t pass through because the NOAA Farallon Sanctuary ban against Personal Watercraft. Personal Watercraft are our chosen safety and support boats for this environmental cause. I found that ban to be insulting. When I looked on the nautical chart we are using for navigation, clearly listed on the chart is the Farallon Sanctuary nuclear dump sites, any citizen can see that for their self!
I’m incensed that NOAA and its Sanctuary management feels my Personal Watercraft is more of a hazard than nuclear waste, this is incredible! How does that add up scientifcally? My personal watercraft (PWC) have been discriminated against while they refuse to clean up this environmental disaster or even publicly address it as one of the most dire Sanctuary threats? I have to come back and pick up that 16 mile stretch because NOAA felt my PWC was more dangerous that 55,000 - 55 gallon drums of nuclear isotope waste, which is far more dangerous than our safety support boats, which happen to be PWC, some of the most environmentally clean boats that can be purchased today.
I can’t do that part of the coast now because my support boats are personal watercraft, the only boat that can provide us with all the necessary safety and lifesaving operations in such extreme situations. My own environmental community is against my boats, and government agencies, the National Parks Service (NPS), NOAA, ‘you can’t put those in the water’ they say, they were proactively looking for me all morning at one launch zone, ‘we’re going to fine you if you use personal watercraft.” They completely miss the message of the California Paddle.
I’m risking my life every day doing what I’m doing and I have to deal with this? I’m not going to hide the fact I didn’t paddle that part of the coastline, I was blocked by discrimination of boat use. Our team was ready to serve, but we were blocked because of prejudice.
It gives me another opportunity all down the coastline to bring this PWC discrimination issue to light, but maybe I wasn’t supposed to be able to paddle through there for this very reason? Some things need to be uncovered. It’s just another opportunity to pick up the California Paddle and bring the prejudice up again, it will be like ’I’ve had to come back here, here I am, and I still can’t believe that you have that nuclear crap parked out there and I still can’t bring my personal watercraft out here’ Something is not right. The first thing an addict has to come to terms with is that there is a problem. Nuclear waste is more than a problem, but admitting there is a problem is the first step towards recovery.
Just like in surfing, respect is something that is individual gifted. You don’t punish all surfers because of the negative actions of a few. An entire community shouldn’t be discriminated against because a few people have a personal issue with a vessel. The behavior can be managed through laws and enforcement. There are far worse issues facing the sanctuary management such as the plastics that are floating through sanctuary waters, we are picking up and putting in our PWC’s and cleaning the ocean as we go. Maybe that is what needs to happen, NOAA needs some PWC’s to conduct ocean clean up days. Not a bad idea, problems are solved if we work together, not against one another.
Biggest hurdle so far?
Besides the blatant prejudice against personal watercraft not being environmentally friendly? The one coming up shortly: Point Sur. It embraces the same concerns I have about every point, its own personality, it’s set of circumstance, different from anything else before. It’s our next major hurdle. Each point has its deadly personality, we figured out: when you get there at that moment, we deal with the moment.
Paddle boarding is a different perspective than say boating, I don’t know what that means in terms of translating it, except it will be different, we move slowly, cautiously and with great purpose. It is an area of concern. Point Conception is the last big hurdle, excluding weather. These points get stronger with trickier winds, I’m on a board, there is no throttle, I can’t outrun the wave, I have to paddle with it. “Time dimensions are lot more delayed, slower response, it’s a slow motion reaction to the dance of liquid.”
How to donate?
Go to Californiapaddle.com It’s simple, It’s bolded on the homepage, it jumps at you on the website! I called my web designer and asked them if they could make it talk? I’m serious about this commitment, we need a team; we need you to support the cause. Get on board! Grab your paddleboard and join me!
Gratitude
I am grateful for all the help for what I’ve received and honestly for the negative people. Because it means that the word is getting out, if you are positive or negative at least the word gets out about California Paddle. You can see the claims I make are legitimate and something needs to be done. My mission is ‘notification’. The best I could do was try my best to get an awareness outreach process in action, by doing something unique, hence the California Paddle was born.
I don’t care if you are negative or positive just take a look at why I’m doing this, you can hate me or love me, I don’t care, the vision needs to be realized. The vision was to bring awareness to the idea to heal mother Earth starting with the oceans. We are not going to remain the caretakers of the world at this rate of neglect. The difference between us and the dinosaurs is we can reason, we can do something about it. We are supposed to be the ones that ‘can’ reason, we are not using the tools that gives us the permission to run the world, instead or ruin it.
I’m doing this for someone else, I have 300 things at home I need to do, I care about a good cause, I’m sacrificing for us, for you, our team is sacrificing. This is not for pay, it’s for our future. I’m a true do-gooder, that is all I want, that is why I want to help abused and battered children, women who were abused, those in need, helping humanity.
I’m passionate about this, to get on this paddle board in shark infested waters everyday, I need a good sense of humor and a good cause! What better one than this?
Shawn Alladio and K38 Water Safety are dedicated to the California Paddle. Won’t you join us is campaigning for a cleaner ocean? Know Before You Go and join the California Paddle as the team moves down the California coast. Check in with the website locator. One thing you can do to make a difference is use canvas shopping bags each time you visit your local stores. (714) 280 7274
www.TomJonesTV.com
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Shawn Alladio
Environment - Surfersvillage
