• Current Issue
  • About Surfing Medicine
    • History
    • About
    • Team
    • Submissions
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • A Call for Submissions
  • Surfer’s Medical Association
  • Archive (1987-2011)

The Second Annual SMA Galapagos Conference March 17-31, 2013

Oct 30, 2013 ~ Author Surfing Medicine Staff

In 1988, SMA member Greg Raymond (RIP) suggested having a Galapagos conference, this attempt was never consummated due to lack of interest and money. However three SMA members, Mark Renneker, Bill Heick and Nelson Swartly decided at the last minute to do a boat trip, and rented a trimaran The Windshadow, captained by Ricardo Nunez, spent 2 weeks in the area of San Cristobal surfing and exploring. Subsequent SMA conference attempts never happened until 2012.

Dr. “Mr. Bill” Outer Reef, Tongos, 2012

Dr. “Mr. Bill” Outer Reef, Tongos, 2012

Conference Report
Dr. Geoff Booth and Bill Jones

Dr. Geoff and Dr. Lady Di came all the way from down under and Geoff connected with old time founding members, Rym Partridge and SMA CFO, Tom Kever. The quotes in the rest of the story are from Geoff’s report on the conference. Geoff related that the conference “was absolutely superb and definitely one of the best I’ve been to.” Geoff has been to a lot of SMA events and conferences since 1985 and the organizers appreciate his appraisal.

Geoff writes, “The crew were fantastic folk and I must thank them so much for letting me get my three waves/session including a couple of really long rides at Tongos. I really struggled with the combo of stuffed knees and peripheral neuropathy but received great encouragement from all (and some good advice from Rym)” As older founding and charter members age there will be a lot more on surfing and aging articles.

Geoff has always been an astute observer and had an eye all the attendees and commented on surfing styles. “Kit Sheffridge was such a go-to-it young guy and wasn’t fazed by the surf even though he’d just started to learn. Also a great thinking/creative mind and I hope he really gets into surfing as a way to keep his mind fresh and open.”

Dr. Rym Partridge and Geoff behaved themselves, even though they have a tainted past at SMA conferences. Rym, Tom and Frank Ono were excellent organizers in during the first week and master of ceremonies for the first week. Bruce Olson, Rym’s room-mate, was an excellent guy to have as he kept him honest and also was not fazed by Rym’s poo-works. Bruce also caught a lot of good waves.

Boothie relates that, “it was a great pleasure to meet Greg Linder for the first time. He’s got a prodigious memory for old surf films and it was very pleasant learning some facts about the Ranch and seeing his great pics. Greg very generously gave out some goodies: thanks Greg for the Ranch cap and the great T-shirt that Di proudly wears. “ Greg is a Carmel/Pebble Beach realtor who is a Ranch veteran and knows Gary “Wombat” Groth-Marnat.

“Mike and Marilyn Whitcomb from Monterey were great company”. Both Marilyn and Mirela (Joaquim’s partner) snapped off a great bunch of pics (both surf and land) and were really into the environmental side of the Galapagos. I learnt a lot from them. Mike’s talk on his THR (total hip replacement) trials was most inspiring. Again, I learnt a lot from him for which I’m most grateful.”

Drs. Joaquin Havens and Glenn Valaire were the stand-out surfers, really ripping. Glen was on his way to World Surfing Master at Montanita, Ecuador, so the Galapagos provide and super training ground for him. Joaquin’s talk on the Haitian Earthquake was most sobering.

Boothie also related that he’d “also like to thank Jade, Jye and Jemma Valaire for showing me how to use my new Go-Pro. Thanks guys, and it was great to see Jye and Jade surfing so well. Jade & Jemma also gave a fantastic talk re their Tavarua experiences.”

As mentioned before, it had been a while since Geoff had seen Rym and Tom. “It was great to catch up with Tom after nearly 30 years. He’s still a guts-up surfer and caught the biggest waves I saw at Loberia. His mate, Frank, was also going for it despite significant weakness in his L arm. You would have been very proud of these guys.”

Mary Showstark, was a late entry into the conference, but made it just under the wire, Geoff related that Mary “was a great chick to have in the party. She had a lot of great stories and clearly is a very talented person who is not afraid to get out and about by herself. Very impressive.”

“Talking of great chicks, Marsha Wulff delivered a very interesting and passionate talk about her experiences in financing developing economies and her template for assessing projects. She and Kent Nagle were a loving couple and it was amazing to see how many exciting things they had done over the previous 6 months (marriage, house sales, job changes, house buy, interstate moves, etc)”

Dr. Neal Harris (Bill’s personal ER doc) performed an excellent job of MC during the second week. Neal and Geoff paddled around the outside Harbour reef one day but didn’t catch any worthwhile waves.

The attendees are thankful to Eddie Salazar, the Galapagos fixer, who can do most anything or get you what you want. Finally a big thanks to Henry Morales and Wavehunters for the extra efforts. The SMA 2014 Conference will be happening next year mid March.

Pages: 1 2

Posted in Surfing Conferences - Tagged Conference Report
Similar posts
  • Tavarua 2013
→
Comments are disabled

Summer 2018 Issue #31 Table of Contents

  • Letter from the Editor
  • No Other Options (a true story)
  • Big Wave Surfing: A physician’s perspective
  • Origins of the Paddle Out Ceremony
  • Case Report: 63 y.o. male surfer “found down”
  • What Happened to Zika?
  • Orthopedic Injuries in Professional Surfers: A Retrospective Study at a Single Orthopedic Center

Summer/Fall 2017 Issue #30 Table of Contents

  • Letter from the Editor
  • Don’t Eat the Fish!
  • A Surfing Life
  • The SMA Barefoot Doctor Course
  • The Surfer Health Study
  • Terry Farrell Interview
  • Case Report: Eye Trauma from a Surfboard

Summer 2016 Issue #29 Table of Contents

  • Letter from the Editor
  • Catching Waves: Perspectives of Physicians Who Surf
  • Should you Frika about Zika?
  • Case Report: A 29-Year-Old Female Surfer with a Thigh Laceration
  • Case Report: Central Cord Syndrome in a Bodyboarder
  • Images from Surfing Medicine
  • Druku’s Life
  • Druku: SMA Remembers a Great Man
  • SMA Conference Report – Nicaragua 2016

Summer 2015 Issue #28 Table of Contents

  • Letter from the Editor: Surfing Medicine to the Extreme
  • Sun Protection for Surfers
  • Cold Water Surfing and Hypothermia
  • 2013 Triple Crown + HIC Pro Injury Report
  • Wanna pee on my Wana? Sea Urchin Injuries, a Literature Review
  • Larger Than Life, Don James, MD
  • Granny and Doc
  • SMA Nicaragua Conference Report, May 28 – June 4, 2015

Winter 2014-15 Issue #27 Table of Contents

  • Letter from the Editor
  • Beware the Devil Fish – “Don’t tread on me”
  • SURF: A Unified Surfing Competition Medical Reference Form
  • Surf Stronger, Paddle Longer
  • Sea Ulcers
  • The SMA Scholarship Program
  • Tavi 2014 Summary
  • ASLS Portugal Conference

Fall 2013 Issue #26 Table of Contents

  • A Message from the (new) Editor
  • Case Report: A Nicaraguan Stowaway
  • Knee Injuries in the Barrel: How Heavy and Deep Can You Go?
  • Concussions in Surfers
  • Surfer’s Ear – The Bane of Cold Water Surfers
  • Surfing Injuries – Literature Review
  • Keeping the Stoke: Dealing with Declining Competence in the Aging Surfer
  • Helping Vets to Feel the Healing Waters

Fall 2019 Issue #32 Table of Contents

  • Letter from the Editor
  • Surfing Injuries at the Pipe Masters 2013-2017
  • A Non-Healing Surf-Wound
  • Images in Surfing Medicine
  • Terry Farrell Tribute
  • Surfing USA, a Literature Review
  • The Baker: Archives of the SMA

Fall 2020 Issue #33 Table of Contents

  • Letter from the Editor
  • In the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Should Surfers Continue to Surf?
  • Improving Safety in Surfing
  • Case Report: Widespread Pruritic Papules after Bodyboarding in Long Island
  • Case Report: Severe Fin Laceration
  • Tourniquets and Hemorrhage Control

Fall 2022 Issue #35 Table of Contents

  • Message from the Editor, 2022
  • Life Rolls On
  • Beware the Leash: Seymour Fracture of the Finger
  • Bill Jones Ph.D, in Memoria
  • The Old Man and the Sea: Video on Surfiatrics from the 2022 World Congress on Extreme Sports Medicine
  • Common Surfing Injuries: Video on Surfing Injuries from the 2022 World Congress on Extreme Sports Medicine
  • Images in Surf Medicine
  • Literature Review: Is Surfer’s myelopathy an acute hyperextension-induced myelopathy? A systematic synthesis of case studies and proposed diagnostic criteria.
  • 2022 Magdalena Bay Conference Report

Fall 2021 Issue #34 Table of Contents

  • Letter from the Editor
  • Impact of SMA Conferences on Wellbeing
  • Surfing and Health in the Covid-19 Era: A Narrative Review
  • Case Report: Femur Fracture in a Kitesurfer
  • Images in Surfing Medicine
  • Characteristics of Surfers as Bystander Rescuers in Europe
  • Acute Injuries in Surfing: A Systematic Review
  • Mag Bay 2021

Browse by Category

  • Acute Surfing Injury (22)
  • Assorted Flotsam and Jetsam (6)
  • Case Report (13)
  • Chronic Surfing Injury (9)
  • Conference Report (1)
  • Conferences (2)
  • Environmental Injury (10)
  • History of Surfing Medicine (2)
  • Images in Surfing Medicine (2)
  • Infectious Disease (5)
  • Letter from the Editor (10)
  • Literature Review (9)
  • Original Research (6)
  • Other (4)
  • Rehabilitation (3)
  • Surfing Conferences (6)
  • Travel Medicine (5)
  • Uncategorized (1)

Tag Cloud

Abscess ACL repair Aging Auditory Exostosis Big Wave Surfing Botfly Central America Concussion Conference Report Dangerous Marine Animals Dermatobium Homonis Drowning Evacuation External Auditory Exostosis Femur fractur Head Injury injury kitesurfing Knee Injury Literature review: Surfing Injuries Marine Envenomations Message from Editor Nambila Paddle Out Ceremony Palliative Care Pro Surfing Rehabilitation Sea Ulcer Stingray Summer Surfer's Ear Surfing Surfing Death Surfing Injury Surfing Therapy Swimmer's Ear Tavarua Veterans Vets

Copyright Notice

All written content on this website is the copyright of the Surfer's Medical Association. Material may not be reproduced for commercial or non-commercial uses without express permission from editor. Contact the Editor to request the appropriate permission.

© 2022

Contact the Editor

Contact the editor at ANathanson@Lifespan.org.

Join SMA

Learn more about Surfer's Medical Association
Top