The World Stone Skimming Championships (WSSC), an annual international tournament for long-distance rock skimming, or skipping, is marred by a scandal after organizers said that multiple competitors admitted to cheating during the 2025 competition.

Organizers of the event, which was held on September 6 on Easdale Island, Scotland, that numerous participants admitted to breaking the rules.

鈥淭he competitors in question have been contacted, they have admitted their transgression, and have been disqualified,” officials from the competition wrote. The New York Times, 400 people participated in the 2025 event. Event organizers have not divulged how many people cheated, or the identities of the accused rulebreakers.

How, exactly, does one cheat at rock skimming? By doctoring their stones, of course.

Per the rules of the competition, participants are allotted three attempts to skim their stone as far as possible. Their rock听of choice must be 鈥渘aturally formed Easdale slate stones鈥� found on the island, not measuring 鈥渨ider than 3 inches at their widest point.鈥�

Easdale is a small, sparsely populated island off the western coast of Scotland鈥攊t鈥檚 also home to the international rock skimming competition every September.

The rules explicitly forbid anyone from using a rock that was brought from another locale. And when someone does bring in foreign rocks, scandal ensues.

“The stones were specifically shaped to fit the measurer, which is not allowed,” event coordinator and official toss master Kyle Matthews told听国产吃瓜黑料. “The organizers were alerted to [the modification] by other competitors.”

The WSSC’s online post kicked off a flurry of international coverage of the cheating scandal, with stories appearing in the BBC, New York Times,听and even the听.听Dr. Kyle Mathews, one of the event’s organizers, that the cheaters “held their hands up” and apologized after being caught.

The WSSC added that for many competitors, selecting their own skimming stones before the event is one of the highlights. If organizers become aware of stone doctoring in future competitions, they 鈥渨ill be forced to insist all skimmers use stones pre-selected by the WSSC.鈥�

To participate in the annual stone skimming contest, competitors must stand with both feet flat in a fixed position鈥攏o running or throwing is allowed. For a skim to count, the stone 鈥渕ust bounce at least twice on the water鈥檚 surface.鈥� The distance of the skim is measured to the point where the stone sinks below the water. The distances of these three attempts are added together for a cumulative total, which is used to determine the winner in six categories: adults, teens, children, elderly, teams, and locals. Beyond this, the r.

After the cheaters鈥� disqualification, the event proceeded without issue. American Jonathan Jennings achieved the , skimming his three stones a total of 580 feet. Jennings is the first American to win the WSSC, but he鈥檚 far from the only American stone skimming legend.

Since 2013, Kurt Steiner has held the Guinness World Record for the most consecutive skims (not distance), with a staggering 88 skims. Steiner, also known as “Mountain Man,” once even taught 国产吃瓜黑料 how to skim stones like a professional.

Although the first formal WSSC occurred in 1983, stone skimming has been a local pastime for generations. Easdale was the hub of Scotland鈥檚 slate mining industry for much of the 1700s and 1800s, and a wealth of prime skimming stones lies around the island鈥檚 defunct, and in some cases, flooded quarries.

After the initial competition in 1983, there was a hiatus, but since 1997, the WSSC has been held regularly, drawing in hundreds of competitors from around the world every September.

The post Here鈥檚 How to Cheat at an International Stone Skimming Championship appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

It was supposed to be our short day. Just four miles downstream would take us from Kolb Camp, a scenic cliff-side beach in western Colorado, to听Rippling Brook, our next campsite. To our surprise鈥攐ur backs aching, hands torn, and noses sunburned鈥攖he day would be spent unpinning a very stuck听12-foot raft in a precarious, potentially deadly rapid.

I thought I was prepared for this trip, having completed three multi-week rafting adventures听down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, totaling more than 70 days collectively. But this was my first trip down its sister river, the Green. We targeted the famed Gates of Lodore, a 43-mile whitewater stretch on the Green River, that carves through dramatic canyon walls and is surrounded by mountains soaring skyward to 9,000 feet in elevation. It spans , beginning in Colorado and ending in Utah.

In August, I spent five nights on this section with 19 other boaters鈥攁nd we spent too many hours unpinning boats. Despite the carnage, I found this stretch of the Gates of Lodore to be a perfect adventure for would-be canyon boaters.

New to Canyon Boating? Gates of Lodore is a Perfect Entry

If you鈥檙e intimidated by the long, multi-week aspect of a Grand Canyon rafting trip, and the extremes that a desert river trip entails, the Gates of Lodore is a perfect introduction to whitewater. Whereas a private Grand Canyon rafting trip encompasses 277 miles, spanning up to 26 days, the Gates of Lodore is comparatively short. Completing the full stretch takes anywhere from three to five days.

Because of its fame, obtaining a permit for the Grand Canyon is highly competitive. And on a Grand Canyon trip, challenging rapids can be found throughout most of the river stretch. High points on the Grand Canyon can span up to 8,000 feet in elevation鈥攎uch higher than the tallest peaks in the Gates of Lodore. Access points for emergency bail-outs can be much more difficult in a deeper canyon.

Boaters are less likely to encounter these hurdles in the Gates of Lodore.

鈥淕ates of Lodore is a fantastic stretch to do with a large group because all the difficult rapids are in the first ten or so miles, and then you have stunning scenery with easier water for the rest of your trip. Three pinned rafts in five miles is a great icebreaker for 20 mostly strangers,鈥� Greg Doctor, our trip leader, told 国产吃瓜黑料.听

Doctor said that despite our group’s setbacks and accidents, the only major disagreement our party had was what music to play.

鈥淚t was sort of a dream trip in that we had crystal clear water with fun rapids backed by giant desert sandstone walls, all with perfect weather,” he added.

While Indigenous groups have lived in the region for thousands of years, the river was largely introduced to the Western world when geographer John Wesley Powell ran his famed descent in 1869, shortly before becoming the first person to document rowing the Grand Canyon. A member of Powell鈥檚 group named the Gates of Lodore after the English poem, 鈥淭he Cataract of Lodore,鈥� originally written by Robert Southey in 1820. It reads:

And so never ending, but always descending
Sounds and motions for ever and ever are blending
All at once and all o’er, with a mighty uproar
And this way the water comes down at Lodore

鈥淧in It to Win It鈥� Quickly Became Our River Crew鈥檚 Motto

Although Gates of Lodore is a perfect introduction to canyon boating, this section is also rowdy and fun for experienced boaters. This became apparent after our group popped the floor of one of our rafts, which later resulted in multiple pins.

A 鈥減in鈥� happens when a raft gets physically trapped against an obstacle in the river, commonly a rock. Because the current is pushing directly against the boat, often thousands of cubic feet per second, the immense pressure makes it incredibly difficult to continue downstream.

How do you unpin a raft? The rescue system, often referred to as a pin kit or z-drag, is a complex arrangement of pulleys and lines that provides humans with a mechanical advantage against the force of the river.

During our five days boating through the Gates of Lodore, we encountered two major pinning locations: the Birth Canal at Triplet Falls, as well as Huggy Bear Rock at Hell鈥檚 Half Mile.

Rapids are based on a class system, with Class V being the hardest and most hazardous, often characterized by the most technical features. Rated a Class III, Triplet Falls is about 12 miles downstream of the put-in, and has been the site of . The rapid is surrounded by canyon walls rising 1,200 feet or more above the river and features an undercut wall that can easily trap a body.

So-named for the three large boulders that make the dangerous feature, Triplet Falls is one of the most technical rapids on this section. During a low water trip like ours, the rapid is a bony rock garden that could easily bump a raft off its line. After navigating it, boaters must face the Birth Canal, a narrow slot between two large, undercut boulders. All hands on deck and five hours later, we successfully got the raft unpinned.

Mikey Wrobel, a Colorado-based Class IV+ guide with seven years of experience, said his boat was pinned in large part because the raft鈥檚 floor popped on the first day. With little buoyancy and a heavier-than-usual load, moving dynamically through the current was difficult.

鈥淚 just kept telling myself that it鈥檚 not if I pin, but a matter of when鈥攁nd that day was my day. Three pins and a popped floor on the first day, I feel like most people would throw in the towel,鈥� Wrobel told 国产吃瓜黑料.

鈥淭he pin at Triplet Falls was mentally and physically straining, but everyone on this trip was amazing, and everything turned out okay,” he added.

Our second mishap happened at Hell鈥檚 Half Mile, a Class IV rapid close to a quarter-mile long. Large boulders clog the entrance of the rapid with a mid-stream rock named 鈥淟ucifer,鈥� notorious for pinning boats. Our wrap actually occurred at a much less devious-sounding feature鈥擧uggy Bear. It鈥檚 at the bottom of the rapid, right where you think you鈥檙e in the clear, and greeted one of our boats with open arms. This unpin took about an hour or so, and we were able to run the rest of the rapid鈥攁nd the river鈥攗nscathed.

We pinned, we partied, and we truly embraced all that this unique landscape had to offer.

A Duality of Intimacy and Isolation

The success of a trip depends on the capability of your team. Over the course of our multiple pins, our crew bonded and battled its way through the canyon.

We also made sure we adhered to the basic advice for running rivers. Make sure you’re equipped with the right gear and prepared to handle disaster should it strike. In rapids, always wear your personal floatation device (PFD) and helmet. Know how to use your gear, especially if you carry a throwbag, and practice humility. Rapids are potentially life-threatening situations and should be taken seriously.

鈥淔ind mentors, take a swiftwater rescue course, and never forget that humans cannot breathe underwater. Be humble鈥攔iver running is for fun; it is not a bicep measuring contest,鈥� said Doctor, who is also an emergency physician with special interests in wilderness medicine and drowning resuscitation.

Both intimate and isolating, a multi-day river trip allows for a deeper connection to the surrounding environment while offering near-complete isolation from the external world. This dynamic of connectedness and disconnectedness on the river has stood the test of time.

During his journey down the Green River, Powell described the special light unique to a canyon, writing that 鈥渁t noon the sun shines in splendor on vermilion walls鈥� and the canyon opens, like a beautiful portal, to a region of glory.鈥�

鈥淭his evening, as I write, the sun is going down and the shadows are settling in the canyon鈥� and now it is a dark portal to a region of gloom, the gateway through which we are to enter on our voyage of exploration tomorrow, what shall we find?鈥� he continued.

That intrigue and mysteriousness still rest in the canyon walls today. As any boater can attest, a river trip is one of those truly primitive experiences where one can completely disconnect from the world and enjoy the presence of those around in a largely inaccessible, yet breathtaking, landscape. For some, it鈥檚 a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For others, it鈥檚 a way of life. It鈥檚 up to you to choose.

The post Can鈥檛 Commit to a Month Rafting the Grand Canyon? Meet Its Sister River. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

In June, Tanner Mansell, a diving guide and shark photographer who lives in Jupiter, Florida, was piloting his boat back to shore when he spotted two bright red objects floating in the water. As Mansell, 32, got closer, he realized they were gasoline cans, and he could smell the fuel dripping into the ocean.

His crew suggested they drag the containers onto the boat, to prevent more toxic liquid from dripping into the sea, but Mansell stopped, petrified by a panic attack.

His mind raced through unlikely scenarios: What if the cans were full of drugs? What if they belonged to someone important? What if doing the right thing put him on the wrong side of the law?

鈥淟ogically, I鈥檓 thinking, 鈥榊eah, there’s gas leaking into the ocean right in front of us, we should get these cans out of the water,'” he told 国产吃瓜黑料. “But another part of me is like, 鈥業 don’t want to touch anything out here ever again.鈥欌��

Mansell鈥檚 bizarre reaction is the product of the last five years of his life, during which he was declared a felon by the federal government for doing something that, at the time, he believed was the right thing to do.

A legal case drained him of his resources and energy. For several years he lost many of the rights everyday Americans enjoy. And, despite a presidential pardon which restored his freedom, Mansell now worries that doing the right thing could have devastating consequences.

Doing the Right Thing Turned Out to Be Wrong

The date was August 10, 2020. Mansell, who specializes in diving tours to spot sharks, and his charter boat captain, John Moore Jr., were taking a group of six tourists to the clear waters off the Florida coast. About three miles off the Jupiter Inlet, where two rivers spill into the ocean, they came across a red buoy, which was a marker for a longline fishing operation.

Longlining is a fishing method that entails attaching bait to hooks strewn out at intervals along a single fishing line that stretches up to 20 miles across the ocean. It is banned in many areas, and heavily regulated in the waters off the coastal U.S.

Mansell and Moore examined the longline鈥攃aught on it were 19 sharks of various species as well as a goliath grouper, a protected fish. 鈥淭here were great hammerheads, tiger sharks, lemon sharks, nurse sharks,鈥� Mansell said.

Mansell said that some of the species of sharks caught in the line were also protected by law. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the thing about a long line,鈥� Mansell explained. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 control who shows up and bites it.鈥�

No other boats were in sight, he said, and he and Moore were unsure of what to do with the trapped animals. Mansell said the two called law enforcement to seek advice: the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), which patrols state waters, and then, through an employee of Mansell鈥檚 dive company on shore, a hotline for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the federal agency in charge of, among other things, protecting marine ecosystems.

NOAA declined to comment for this story, and the FWC did not respond to requests for an interview. In a 2022 press release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida acknowledged that Moore and Mansell called law enforcement, but said the men failed to mention that the line was attached to “a properly marked buoy.鈥�

Mansell told 国产吃瓜黑料 that the advice he received from the government was, at best, opaque. So he and Moore freed the sharks, cut the line, and hauled three miles of it into their boat, as their clients captured the ordeal on their smartphones.

As it turned out, the longline had been set by a seafood distributor that possessed a rare, highly-coveted 鈥渘o limits鈥� research permit from NOAA to use a longline to catch sharks. According to the federal register, in 2024 NOAA granted only three no-limits permits to fishermen.

鈥淭here are only a handful of them given out in the entire continental U.S. because of how destructive it can be when people are killing sharks indiscriminately,鈥� Mansell said.

The Palm Beach Post, in the weeks before the line was cut, the fisherman who placed it had announced his intentions intentions to set a longline off of Jupiter in a Facebook post.

Even though Mansell and Moore didn鈥檛 remove the entire longline鈥攚hich prosecutors said was worth around $1,300鈥攂ecause they had tampered with it and freed the sharks, the two were charged with the theft of commercial fishing gear in federal waters, a felony.

Mansell said the events caught him off-guard. He thought that freeing the sharks had been the right thing to do. But since they were hooked on a line belonging to the distributor, prosecutors accused them of theft. 鈥淏ecause we let them go, that was stealing,” he said. 鈥淚 found myself in this political mess.鈥�

听the Miami Herald, prosecutors argued that Mansell and Moore knew that the longline was legal, yet cut it and freed the sharks.

Moore, a former commercial fisherman, told the听Miami Herald听that if the duo had believed the fishing line to be legal, they would have left it alone.

鈥淭hey tried to paint me as like some environmental terrorist,鈥� Moore told the newspaper. 鈥淎nd, I鈥檓 far from it.鈥�

On December 6, 2022, a federal jury in the Southern District of Florida found Mansell and Moore guilty of theft of property.

The Impact of a Felony Conviction

The felony conviction changed Mansell’s life. In February 2023, he and Moore were sentenced to one year of probation. And instead of the $250,000 they could have been charged, the men were ordered to pay $3,343 in restitution, to compensate for the lost line and the freed sharks.

But Mansell’s public record was forever tarnished. As a dive guide, he made much of his living traveling internationally, taking tourists on trips to the Caribbean, South Pacific, and other far-flung locales. It became incredibly difficult for him to travel outside of the United States, he said, because applying for most foreign visas requires disclosure of criminal history. State-by-state, convicted felons also face restrictions in a slew of other areas, including voting rights, firearm rights, parental rights, and a variety of public social benefits.

鈥淭his conviction led to years of my life not being able to travel for work,鈥� Mansell said. 鈥淭raveling and guiding is what I did for a living. Basically, my entire job got taken away from me.鈥�

Mansell and Moore spent the next two years battling to clear their names. Their legal fees soared, and a GoFundMe page eventually raised $28,000 to defer costs of lawyers and appeals.

Both men filed appeals to the conviction in 2023, and a district court in Florida heard their appeals case in June 2024. But the court ruled against them. In her conclusion, however, the district judge indicated that the two had successfully proven their point鈥攖hat they believed they were doing the right thing.

“They are the only felons I have ever encountered, in 18 years on the bench and three years as a federal prosecutor, who called law enforcement to report what they were seeing and what actions they were taking in real time,” Barbara Lagoa, the circuit judge, wrote in her conclusion. “They are felons who derived no benefit, and in fact never sought to derive any benefit, from the conduct that now stands between them and exercising the fundamental rights from which they, are disenfranchised.”

A Surprise Pardon

On May 28, 2025, nearly five years after he cut the longlines, Mansell got good news.

He鈥檇 just boarded an airplane when, out of the blue, he received a call from his lawyer. “He said ‘You just got a full pardon from the President of the United States,” Mansell said.

鈥淚 couldn’t even speak,鈥� Mansell added. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know what to say. I just sat there in shock and silence. It was probably the best news I had ever heard in my life.鈥�

Mansell and Moore were among 16 other criminals pardoned by Trump.

Mansell said his legal team never reached out to the White House seeking a pardon. Instead, lawyers from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, included Mansell’s story while about over-criminalization. In December, 2024, the Cato Institute with the district court鈥攁n official request鈥攖o overturn the conviction.

While Mansell was overjoyed at the presidential pardon, his excitement was tempered by the realization that his crimes haven鈥檛 technically been erased.

鈥淭echnically, it鈥檚 still on the record, which is a bit of a buzzkill,鈥� Mansell explained. He still has a criminal history, and is required to disclose his record any time he travels.

鈥淣ew Zealand, Australia鈥� All these places I guide require on your travel visa to mark if you have a criminal history鈥攁nd I do,” he added. “If you mark that, you get put in a different section, and have different hoops and bounds to go through.”

But other rights have been restored. He can vote, own firearms, access public housing, and apply for federal or state grants, for example.

鈥淪till, it鈥檚 pretty epic. I’m stoked,” he said. “I can do all the normal things an ordinary citizen can do.鈥�

Although he鈥檚 mostly back to his normal life as a dive guide, Mansell told 国产吃瓜黑料 that things still aren鈥檛 quite the same for him. He’s become fearful of accidentally breaking the law during his diving trips鈥攁 fear he had to overcome when his crew saw the gasoline cans bobbing in the waves this past June.

Eventually, Mansell’s crew convinced him to let them load the leaking gas cans onto his boat. They motored into shore having removed toxic fuel from the ecosystem. But for the rest of the day, Mansell expected the worst.

鈥淓very day I go out off the coast of Florida, there’s a touch of anxiety and distrust,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat joy that I used to have every time I went out there, it鈥檚 changed. It鈥檚 going to be a battle to overcome that.鈥�

The post After a Trump Pardon, This Shark Diver Is Putting His Life Back Together. It鈥檚 Not Easy. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

There鈥檚 a reason this听 was designated as America鈥檚 first National River in 1972. 国产吃瓜黑料 never ends when you’re floating down the scenic Buffalo National River. The freeflowing river is a playground for water lovers and a refuge for anyone who wants to experience a primal slice of Ozarks nature.

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Nearly 30 years spent meticulously building bamboo fly rods has an impact. Bill Oyster鈥檚 dedication to precision craftsmanship has turned his workshop in downtown Blue Ridge, Georgia, into a bit of a pilgrimage site for a certain type of angler. Go deeper into the craft of fly-fishing with Oyster and the other 听a group of one-of-a-kind visionaries who transform nature鈥檚 purest elements with time-honored traditions and cultivated experiences.

Since 1898, ABERFELDY has stood as testament to a tradition of whisky making that stretches back over generations. Found where Perthshire鈥檚 tallest mountain, deepest loch and longest glen meet, ABERFELDY is at the Heart of Scotland. Its complex yet approachable, smooth character is seen today as a Classic Highland Single Malt full of rich, round and indulgent flavors. ABERFELDY was born out of a set of ideas that remain invaluable today: respect for our craft, connection to the land, and the uncompromising pursuit of the highest quality Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Discover more at

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Ben Schuck spends most of his day in pain.

The aches in his hips, feet, and knees are caused by chronic arthritis, and Schuck, who will turn 80 next month, must avoid painkillers due to his history of kidney disease.

Instead, Schuck seeks treatment in a certain kind of homeopathy. Every day, Schuck drives from his home in Ventura, California, to the local beach, where he dons a wetsuit and steps into the Pacific Ocean with his kiteboarding gear. For an hour or two, he zips through the breaking waves, pulled along by the offshore breeze.

“I never think about the pain out there,” Schuck told听国产吃瓜黑料.听“I feel the presence of God Almighty when I’m in the water. I always have.”

Schuck speeds along the coastline, over whitecaps and sand bars. He then returns toward the shore and rides breakers as they tumble toward the beach. From the shoreline, you’d never guess that he was born during the final months of World War II.

“It’s exhilarating and it’s a bit scary,” he says. “So you get that pleasure that comes from doing things that are fast and also are a little bit dangerous.”

Schuck has no idea if he’s the oldest kiteboarder in California, but he’s pretty sure he’s the most senior rider in Ventura. Last year he retired from his longtime career as a real estate lawyer, and since then he’s been able to kiteboard four or five days a week, depending on conditions. Some of his kiteboarder buddies are in their mid-sixties, he says. Yep, they’re just whippersnappers.

He found the sport later in life, at the tender age of 68. Schuck grew up surfing, and spent 56 years riding waves along the California coast. But hip surgery and a shoulder replacement left him unable to paddle his board through the choppy water. After his shoulder operation, he spent several months feeling discouraged and depressed.

From the back window of his house, Schuck can gaze down at Ventura’s famed Surfer’s Point at Seaside Park. And on breezy days after his operation, he’d see kites flitting in the sky. He was intrigued by the scene, and spent a few afternoons at the beach, chatting up local kiteboarders. They told him that it was never too late to learn.

“Some were very encouraging to me,” Schuck says. “So in my late sixties I decided to take a lesson.”

It took Schuck a few months to get the hang of flying a kite, and a few years to feel confident riding a board. Over time, kiteboarding became his passion. He traveled to Maui, Mexico, Florida, and all across California to hunt for the best breeze.

The sport filled the void in Schuck’s life that was once taken up by surfing. kiteboarding, he says, has several advantages over surfing. You never have to wait for a ride, or deal with bad vibes in the lineup.

“When you go surfing, you’re competing with the other surfers for a wave. That sucks,” he says. “When you get old and there are young guys out there, the chances of you being able to compete with them for the waves gets a lot harder.”

“With kiteboarding you go fast the whole time,” he added.

He also learned that his new sport alleviated the aches in his hips and legs. When the flying kite tugs his body upward, it lessens the force of his body on his joints. The upward force鈥攚hen combined with the thrill of the ride鈥攎akes the daily discomfort melt into the background.

But flitting across the water on a kiteboard also brings dangers that are not present in surfing. Over the years, Schuck has crashed into sunken rocks and sandbars, and been dragged like a rag doll across the ocean. He’s yet to break a bone riding his kiteboard, but he also knows that a wrong move could lead to a hospital visit. Since his shoulder operation, he’s also had his back fused and had a knee replaced.

“I know that if I fall and tear up my knee, that’s the end of kiteboarding for me,” he says. “I have to be extremely careful.”

So Schuck lives by a rigid set of guidelines that govern his kiteboarding. He goes out around midday, before the after-work crowds hit the ocean. If the surf is pounding, he stays home. He rarely attempts to jump when riding his board.

He lifts weights every day to strengthen his core muscles and legs. He maintains a strict diet, and tries to keep his body weight around 150 pounds. When wind speed surpass 25 miles per hour, he watches other riders from the safety of the beach.

“Other guys love it when the wind is that strong,” he says. “It might be great for them.”

And Schuck never takes a single ride for granted. Toward the end of each kiteboarding session, the aches and paints听return to his feet and legs. That’s when he knows it’s time to get out of the water, peel off of his wetsuit, and head home. Sometimes, Schuck says, he’s so sore at the end of a ride that he can barely walk out of the ocean.

“I don’t care,” he says. “I know it was worth it.”

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When he was 18 years old,听听had a friend who gifted him his first fly rod. He鈥檚 been hooked ever since. Now, the Bend, Oregon鈥揵ased angler is paying it forward by introducing his favorite pastime to roommate and friend听. A college student by day and DJ by night, Pasternak rarely gets time to spend in the great outdoors. It doesn鈥檛 take much convincing to lure him on a fishing trip to the Owens River, which snakes along the majestic foot of the Eastern Sierra.

While the escape from daily stressors is one thing, fishing together in such grandeur is another. Braving the elements, encouraging one another, and celebrating each other鈥檚 success makes this often solitary pursuit into a team sport, which adds a new dimension to their friendship.

鈥淲e get to bond in a new way,鈥� Leonard says. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 not like we鈥檙e bonding over music or something else. It鈥檚 something I鈥檓 truly passionate about and get to share with him.鈥�

For Pasternak, the experience reignites a love for nature鈥攐ne he plans to prioritize more frequently鈥攚hile echoing Leonard鈥檚 perspective on a day that helps the duo 鈥渟low things down a little while, just get on the water and take a breath of fresh air.鈥�

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Matthew Bryce went surfing alone. Would he die alone, too? As he was riding waves, Bryce got blown out to sea. He had a wetsuit and a surfboard, and nothing else. No way to call for help, or signal to the rescuers that he could see searching for him in a helicopter. Alone and freezing in the ocean, how do you keep from giving up?

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Gary Kristensen dipped his double-bladed paddle into the Columbia River and pulled as hard as he could. The effort felt fruitless鈥攊t was like he was paddling through peanut butter. Kristensen, 46, had expected a gentle tailwind for his boating journey, but gusts were cresting 35 miles per hour, sending waves splashing onto him. Next to Kristensen, a support kayak was having to paddle backward just to keep even with his sluggish pace.

Kristensen’s journey would have been easier, of course, if not for his chosen watercraft: a 950-pound pumpkin.

From October 12 to 13, Kristensen, a real estate appraiser from Happy Valley, Oregon, spent 26 hours paddling his enormous gourd down the Columbia River. He completed 45.67 miles, which the as the new record for a category titled “longest journey by pumpkin.” Kristensen told 国产吃瓜黑料 that the arduous journey was a true test for any paddler鈥攅specially when gusting winds kicked up.

鈥淲ater was coming over the top constantly,” Kristensen told 国产吃瓜黑料. “It was like paddling a bowl of soup.”

Kristensen is no stranger to using enormous gourds as boats鈥攈e’s been growing massive pumpkins since 2011 and paddling them since 2013. He鈥檚 raced pumpkins in the West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta, an annual festival for seaworthy gourds held in the coastal town of Tualatin, every year since 2013, and has won the event four times since 2018.

Until this year, the standing record for longest pumpkin paddle was 39 miles, set last October on the Missouri River by Steve Kueny and his pumpkin, Huckleberry. But as he watched his own pumpkins grow this season, Kristensen thought he might have one that could rival Huckleberry. He dubbed this challenger 鈥淭he Punky Loafster,鈥� partly as an ode to the eighties sitcom, but also because he鈥檇 jammed wooden boards next to the pumpkin as it formed, so that it would grow in long and skinny, like a loaf of bread.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to race a pumpkin, you want a smaller pumpkin, like around 700 or 800 pounds,” Kristensen said.

Growing pumpkin watercraft is a science, Kristensen explained. For a long distance paddle, on a river like the Columbia, with boat traffic, wind, and waves, you want a larger gourd, to give yourself more space to stretch, and more room to take on water without sinking. You also want the pumpkin to be as long and symmetrical as possible, with a flat bottom and smooth skin.

Kristensen trained for his journey with daily runs, and long weekend paddling trips with pool noodles wrapped around his kayak, to simulate the drag he鈥檇 experience with the pumpkin. Punky Loafster鈥攚hich measured 14 feet around鈥攚eighed 1,224 pounds before Kristensen hollowed it out, and it still weighed in at a monstrous 950 pounds before he hopped into it and began paddling. Compare that to the average canoe or kayak, which might run anywhere from 30 to 50 pounds, and it鈥檚 easy to see why manning the Loafster was so arduous.听鈥淵ou paddle, and it just doesn鈥檛 move,鈥� he said.

When Kristensen hopped into the Loafster on October 12, he carried a small pump to bail water and a yoga mat to sit on. Aside from that, it was just him, a pumpkin, and a paddle.

Even by pumpkin paddling standards, Kristensen had a rough go. Previous record holder Kueny averaged around 3.5 mph on the Missouri River inside Huckleberry. Kristensen and Punky Loafster recorded an average speed around 1.7 mph. 鈥淚t was pathetic,鈥� he joked. 鈥淎t best we had a half mile per hour current. But at times I think the current was even flowing backward, because of the tide.鈥�

The strong winds, which began hammering him when he was only five miles down the river, made things particularly tough. 鈥淭hese were pretty big waves. They鈥檇 be a lot for any boat,鈥� he said.听 Kristensen tried to stop paddling to pump water, but battered by the waves, without his paddles to balance the pumpkin, he was at constant risk of capsizing. It took an hour for him to get to shore, drain his pumpkin, and let the winds die down, but he managed to do it without sinking.

That evening, disaster struck again. The electric lights strung up on his friend鈥檚 support pontoon boat caught fire and were destroyed. 鈥淲e were trying to use those lights to help us find a beach and a safe place to park the pumpkin,鈥� Kristensen explained. Without the lights, they continued paddling through the night鈥�17 hours of continuous paddling in total鈥攗ntil the sun rose and they could safely dock the pumpkin.

Finding a gentle beach, Kristensen moored his pumpkin and climbed out to take a nap. He woke an hour later to find tides had left the Loafster high and dry on the beach. 鈥淚 tried to get it back in the water, and I couldn鈥檛 budge it at all,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t would not move an inch.鈥� His friend, David, furiously began digging the pumpkin out, but the pair soon discovered that the beach had been used to moor barges, and there were large industrial cables underneath the ground. Gingerly rolling the 950-pound watercraft around this minefield of cables, it took three hours for Kristensen to get the Punky Loafster back in the water. Kristensen paddled the remainder of the day to finish out his 46-mile trip.

Despite all the obstacles, Kristensen didn鈥檛 didn鈥檛 end his paddle because his pumpkin sank or broke apart, or because he was too exhausted to continue. The Punky Loafster was still riverworthy, but as darkness fell on their second day of paddling, he and David decided to end their journey. It was Sunday, and they had to go back to work the following day. 鈥淚 felt strong,鈥� Kristensen said, 鈥渂ut we were running out of weekend.鈥�

Kristensen may have entered the annals of Guinness World Record fame, but there will be no floating off into the sunset for the Punky Loafster. Kristensen left his craft lying on the banks of the Columbia River next to the boat ramp where he put out. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure it rotted away long ago,鈥� he told me. He plans to return next year with another pumpkin, and see how much farther he can go.

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Professional surfer Keala Kennelly was sipping her morning cappuccino at home in Hawaii on October 13 when she received a text from a friend. The message said that the World Surf League, organizer of competitive surfing’s Championship Tour, was planning to hold a 2025 competition in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Kennelly, who came out as gay two decades ago, was outraged. UAE laws .

“I felt sick to my stomach,” Kennelly told 国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淗ow can WSL expect an LGBTQ+ athlete to travel and compete in a country where their very existence is illegal?鈥�

Kennelly, one of the most decorated women鈥檚 surfers ever, wrote a scathing note about the WSL鈥檚 decision and . She wrote that hosting events in countries that have documented human rights violations should be unacceptable. She expressed concern for Australian surfer , a two-time world champion, who is openly gay and is slated to compete in the WSL 2025 Championship Tour.

鈥淚 decided to make the post to raise awareness, hoping that using my social media platform would outrage people like hearing the news outraged me,鈥� Kennelly said. 鈥淚 also wanted to show support for Tyler so she knows she is not alone and that she has people backing her.鈥�

Kennelly wasn鈥檛 the only person from the surfing community to comment on the decision. While Wright did not comment, her wife, Lilli Wright, . 鈥淭yler has competed on this tour for over 14 years and has had the pride flag on her jersey since 2020,鈥� Lilli wrote. 鈥淓ven after winning 2 world titles she is still not valued enough by the WSL to be considered when they sold this event.鈥�

Lilli penned her note under a photo of Tyler 听jogging down the beach with a surfboard underarm, next to a pinned post of the couple鈥檚 striking wedding portraits from 2022. 鈥淲SL have the duty of care to their athletes to not put them in potentially life threatening circumstances like this,鈥� she added.

国产吃瓜黑料 reached out to the WSL for comment, but we did not receive a response.

The Abu Dhabi leg of the Championship Tour will take place February 14-16, 2025 at the Surf Abu Dhabi artificial wave pool on Al Hudayriat Island, a stretch of sand just south of the city where officials have constructed a BMX park, road cycling track, and water park, among other attractions. According to the WSL鈥檚 press release, the surfing venue features groundbreaking wave-making technology from the Kelly Slater Wave Company and is home to the world’s largest and longest human-made wave.

The WSL is not alone in staging events in the UAE鈥攏or is it the only league to receive criticism for doing so. Every February, the world鈥檚 best cyclists line up for the UAE Tour, the opening event of the sport鈥檚 UCI WorldTour, the highest category of competition. Since 2009, auto racing league Formula One has staged the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at a state-of-the-art auto track. Abu Dhabi hosts some of the best tennis players of the year in an event called World League, and even the National Basketball Association stages an exhibition event in the UAE, called the Emirates NBA Cup. The UAE hosts other major international events for beach volleyball, soccer, and sailing.

Critics have called this practice 鈥渟portswashing鈥濃�攚hen repressive countries attract international sports to seem more in line with Western ideals. The New York Times recently reported on the murky ethics of holding sporting events like NBA preseason games in Abu Dhabi, citing Ben Freeman of the Quincy Institute: 鈥淲hen you think of the U.A.E., they want you thinking about tennis. They would love for you to think about the N.B.A. [. . .] much rather have you thinking about that than all the bad things that are also part of their reputation.鈥�

In her Instagram post, Kennelly specifically called out the UAE鈥檚 track record on human rights, specifically for LGBTQ+ people and women. 鈥淓mirati women live under male guardianship,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淗onor Killings can go unpunished, as the victim鈥檚 family can pardon the murderer.鈥�

According to Human Rights Watch, an advocacy and research group based in New York City, authorities in the UAE can also arrest people for a variety of vaguely defined 鈥渇lagrant indecent acts鈥� including 鈥減ublic displays of affection, gender nonconforming expressions, and campaigns promoting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.鈥�

On October 16, the Queer Surf Club, an international organization that coordinates meet-ups for like-minded surfers, to urge the WSL to remove Abu Dhabi from its World Championship tour calendar.

鈥淭he WSL have chosen to support a government that criminalizes LGBTQIA+ people and discriminates against women, and in doing so are choosing to place their athletes, support teams, and spectators at risk,鈥� reads the opening paragraph to the petition.

More than two-dozen organizations, ranging from London Surf Film Fest to Surf Queer Mexico to Trans Cyclist Collective, have taken up the cause, promoting it on their own social networks.

Kennelly told 国产吃瓜黑料 that she would 鈥淎bsolutely not鈥� travel to Abu Dhabi. 鈥淪ome of the comments on my post said things like “get over it, just don’t do gay things while you are there,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut even if I traveled there without my wife, I look like a lesbian. I have short hair, I don’t dress in feminine clothes. Even if I wasn’t physically harmed I can’t imagine how badly I would be treated in a place like that.鈥�

Kennelly retired from WSL competition in 2007, and she鈥檚 doubtful that Wright or other current competitors will speak up against the UAE event. Article 14.04 of the specifically prohibits athletes from making comments that cast the league, WSL management, judges, or its sponsors in a negative light. This rule extends to a surfer’s social media.

Lilli Wright declined to comment to 国产吃瓜黑料 when contacted. 鈥淚 definitely think it is a very important discussion to be had,鈥� she wrote in response to a request for an interview. 鈥淏ut at this stage I鈥檓 not comfortable saying anything further.鈥�

But she also wrote candidly about how uncomfortable she feels at the thought of Tyler competing in a place like Abu Dhabi, while at the same time recognizing how disadvantageous, career-wise, it would be for her to skip the event. 鈥淚 see how hard my wife works every day on her career and it鈥檚 unreasonable to expect her to just not go,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淗er life is worth more than one event, but I can鈥檛 not acknowledge that missing this event would put her career at a huge disadvantage.鈥�

Lilli ended her post by circling back to her frustration with the WSL: 鈥淎t the end of the day, WSL had absolutely no business selling this event to this location expecting their only openly queer athlete to go along quietly.鈥�

The post Pro Surfing Is Headed to Abu Dhabi. LGBTQ+ Athletes Are Outraged. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.