By Phillip Syers

For the most part the second annual “Skim Jam” in Long Beach Island, New Jersey was like most contests. Beaker won while everyone else battled it up for second place, the locals were welcoming, people “grinded” to tacky techno music at the local discothèque each night, the announcers on the beach said ridiculous things, desperate measures were taken ‘out the back’ in the last few seconds of each heat, the waves sucked, and Steve Taylor was there trying his damn’dest.

Bill earned enough points and jockeyed his competitors so intensely in his first heat that he should have been allowed to take the rest of the weekend off. None of that was out of the ordinary, but how he managed to wrench points out of each mushy wind swell definitely was. His hyper-energy and beaker-knack earned him first in each of his heats and the $_____ check on Sunday, even though the waves eventually cleaned up a bit and gave everyone else more of  a chance to do something other than jibs and spins.

Paulo P made the best of mediocre waves with clean wraps and longer rides than most. He seemed to have a shot in the final until Bill sealed it in the last five minutes with a few more frontside cracks to switch barrels than he could match. His second place and $____ check was never really challenged.  
George Bryan in third was a surprise considering he usually isn’t a contender in small/no-wave contests. He took his time and found the right waves for east coast trickery—-cramming in shuvits, surface spins to wraps, and postures in the barrel—-and trailed his teammate by a few points throughout the final.  

Drew Daniello skimmed well but never made it out of fourth place. He shuved and spun as much as George but never on large or clean enough waves.

Jason Wilson, at fifth, was on and off all weekend, had he been on more often he easily would have placed well in the final. Bill Baxter come out of the woodwork and cavemaned his way into sixth.

Grady Archbold, freshly returned from school to fulltime skimming, was riding solidly after a few bad slams in his first heat. Unfortunately, he was shunted out of the standings  when the contest organizer ran his consolation heat at 10:30 after telling him it would run at 11:30 in front of at least six people, myself included.     

Overall, what the waves lacked the environment made up for. Everyone seemed happy and entertained. The locals were hospitable and parties were thrown up and down the island. At one in particular, at some guy named Ed Money’s house, were perhaps the most stunning maneuvers performed all weekend during a spontaneous “Men’s Freestyle Pissing Contest.” Dude’s were grabbing stale-fish, pissin switch, you name it. Ryan Watcher drew the curtain with a one-handed handstand pee-pee into the bowl, sending the crowd gathered about the john into hysterics louder then anything heard during the day at the contest.

It was a good time. See you all next year.

Phil.

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