Ian Crane is Not "Stupid Man" from "Big Dumb Country"

ian-found-passport-photo-by-shaun-joubert.jpg

We know what Ian Crane did last summer. Like all good Young Americans on the world qualifying series, he did his time in Europe. And here's his story.

Six weeks, five countries, five contests. That was the plan for my first full European leg of the 'QS tour, or as it's so kindly called "The Grind". I went to England, to France, back to Virginia Beach, back to Spain and finished off in Portugal. I had no idea what to expect, but I was super stoked to get started. What it ended up being was a mixture of good times, bad times, great friends, good waves, fun parties, bad waves. Basically the best experience of my life!

Getting to the WQS contest in England means landing in London, then driving six hours to Fistral Beach. While driving with Derek Peters and Shaun Joubert, I somehow managed to lose my passport. So fu#king sketchy!! It was missing the entire time and just as I was planning on spending five hours in the U.S. Embassy I found it! Which left me enough time to go check out the Olympics happening in London.

The next stop was in France where I did terrible in the contest. But I wasn't bummed for too long because the waves were super fun and I was surfing eight hours a day. Plus the food was good and the women were beautiful. When it was time to catch our 6am flight back to Virginia Beach, I got to learn how to drive a stick because I was the only person sober enough to get us all to the airport.

During the flight the airlines somehow lost ALL my luggage, and I was left borrowing a friend's board to surf my heats in the Pro Jr … I also ended up wearing the same dirty outfit for my entire stay, and they never did find my clothes, so just before leaving back for Spain I was able to go buy a new wardrobe for the rest of my trip on Air France’s tab!!

When I arrived in Spain, once again my boards did'nt arrive with me. I showed up to the contest an hour before my heat with nothing, hoping they were’t going to run it, but no such luck. I end up grabbing a friend’s board and surfed my heat while wearing nothing but a jersey and my underwear. Needless to say I didn't advance. An hour later I got a call from the airport notifying me that my boardbag had finally arrived.

Lodging in Spain was one tiny little room I shared with Eric Geiselman, Evan Geiselman, photographer Tony Adams and all of our gear. While trying to work out better arrangements, I got yelled at by the manager for being a "stupid man" and for having a "big dumb country". This basically confirmed the feeling that everyone does hate Americans.

The last stop was Azores, Portugal and it was amazing. The surf was great with a super fun beach break, and the island itself was beautiful. I thought I got ripped off in the contest, but it’s all good.

My last surf of the trip was an all-day session of long, rippable, overhead lefts with the occasional barrel in warm crystal clear water. While heading home, Cory Arrambide and I had to sleep in our board bags overnight during a 10 hour layover at the Lisbon Airport. No better way to end this amazing trip.

There are so many good and bad things about being on "The Grind", but I totally feel like I grew as a person, learned a lot about myself and how to handle sticky situations on my own. I can't wait for this year!!

Voila!! Ian finds his passport! Photo: Shaun Joubert


Posted by: Ghetto JuiceGhetto Juice at: 12 Jun 2013 05:56




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We know what Ian Crane did last summer. Like all good Young Americans on the world qualifying series, he did his time in Europe. And here's his story.

Six weeks, five countries, five contests. That was the plan for my first full European leg of the 'QS tour, or as it's so kindly called "The Grind". I went to England, to France, back to Virginia Beach, back to Spain and finished off in Portugal. I had no idea what to expect, but I was super stoked to get started. What it ended up being was a mixture of good times, bad times, great friends, good waves, fun parties, bad waves. Basically the best experience of my life!

Getting to the WQS contest in England means landing in London, then driving six hours to Fistral Beach. While driving with Derek Peters and Shaun Joubert, I somehow managed to lose my passport. So fu#king sketchy!! It was missing the entire time and just as I was planning on spending five hours in the U.S. Embassy I found it! Which left me enough time to go check out the Olympics happening in London.

The next stop was in France where I did terrible in the contest. But I wasn't bummed for too long because the waves were super fun and I was surfing eight hours a day. Plus the food was good and the women were beautiful. When it was time to catch our 6am flight back to Virginia Beach, I got to learn how to drive a stick because I was the only person sober enough to get us all to the airport.

During the flight the airlines somehow lost ALL my luggage, and I was left borrowing a friend's board to surf my heats in the Pro Jr … I also ended up wearing the same dirty outfit for my entire stay, and they never did find my clothes, so just before leaving back for Spain I was able to go buy a new wardrobe for the rest of my trip on Air France’s tab!!

When I arrived in Spain, once again my boards did'nt arrive with me. I showed up to the contest an hour before my heat with nothing, hoping they were’t going to run it, but no such luck. I end up grabbing a friend’s board and surfed my heat while wearing nothing but a jersey and my underwear. Needless to say I didn't advance. An hour later I got a call from the airport notifying me that my boardbag had finally arrived.

Lodging in Spain was one tiny little room I shared with Eric Geiselman, Evan Geiselman, photographer Tony Adams and all of our gear. While trying to work out better arrangements, I got yelled at by the manager for being a "stupid man" and for having a "big dumb country". This basically confirmed the feeling that everyone does hate Americans.

The last stop was Azores, Portugal and it was amazing. The surf was great with a super fun beach break, and the island itself was beautiful. I thought I got ripped off in the contest, but it’s all good.

My last surf of the trip was an all-day session of long, rippable, overhead lefts with the occasional barrel in warm crystal clear water. While heading home, Cory Arrambide and I had to sleep in our board bags overnight during a 10 hour layover at the Lisbon Airport. No better way to end this amazing trip.

There are so many good and bad things about being on "The Grind", but I totally feel like I grew as a person, learned a lot about myself and how to handle sticky situations on my own. I can't wait for this year!!

Voila!! Ian finds his passport! Photo: Shaun Joubert

Image ian-found-passport-photo-by-shaun-joubert.jpg