During his annual trip to the Portuguese island of Madeira, in 2003, Will Henry learned of a harbor project that threatened to bury one of Madeira’s iconic surf spots. In fact, he surfed the wave while bulldozers were removing boulders from the lineup. He returned to the US and spearheaded an online and print campaign to generate public outcry.
Will later returned to Madeira having formed Save The Waves, to represent surfers worldwide, and met with government officials, conservation organizations and local surfers. This began a full media blitz on the island to convince the local government to move the planned marina to another location, where it wouldn’t threaten a wave. One month later, the Madeiran government announced it would relocate the marina.
For more than 10 years, Save The Waves has maintained Will’s can-do attitude and focused on results. From the recent defeat of the Don Diego mining operation in Scorpion Bay to the latest news coming from Huanchaco, Peru, where the World Surfing Reserve won a hard-fought battle for federal protection of the break, to the Gold Coast World Surfing Reserve’s success in stopping a cruise ship terminal in Kirra, to the hundreds of thousands of dollars raised to protect Punta de Lobos in Chile. These are just a few of the recent wins, and why we are celebrating at our 10th annual Life is a Wave event.
We’ll also be celebrating the impact of some of our friends and partners in protecting what matters. That’s why we’re honoring Greg Long as our Wave Saver Athlete of the Year for all of his work in protecting the places he loves: from Harry’s to Trestles to Punta de Lobos. We’re also honoring Bureo Inc. for their impact in removing over 24,000 square feet of fishnets that would otherwise wind up in the ocean, creating lifestyle products we can all get behind. It is also why we’re honoring Dr. Charles Lester, former director of the Coastal Commission, for his 20 years of service in upholding the Coastal Act, and working on win-win solutions to protecting California’s greatest asset.
We invite you to come and celebrate these 10 years of impact with us at this year’s Life is a Wave, Saturday June 11, at Mezzanine in San Francisco.
Plus G.Love and Special sauce will be there!
Editor’s Note: The event will take place on Saturday, June 11th, with a VIP Gala dinner from 5:30-8:30PM and a general admission benefit concert from 8:30PM-12AM. Tickets are available to purchase at https://stwc.ejoinme.org/tickets2016
For more info visit the Save the Waves webiste or contact Save The Waves at: info@savethewaves.org
