Nightglow Window

Liquid Nation Ball

Dr. Dave Jenkins got off the boat, and his life was altered forever.

In October of 1999, Jenkins came ashore from the chartered yacht he was staying on and ventured into village called Katiet in the Mentawai Islands -- a stone's throw from Lance's Right, a surf spot made world famous by the surf industry.

It caused a revelation he hardly expected--one that's literally saved hundreds of lives.

This M.D. from New Zealand had a cush job in Singapore. He was pulling down six figures. All he wanted were a few waves; a slice of the Mentawai dream that's been served up in heaping, sanitized portions by the surf industry for years.

He found something quite different instead.

"I always pack my medical bag when traveling and like to run impromptu clinics in the areas I visit," says Jenkins, "but when I sought out the chief of Katiet, I didn't think it would change my life -- I can't claim to have been that generous. But I was affected."

"We ran a clinic in this really grubby hot room. We were all sweating, and there was so much stuff going down that these burly surfers were turning green and had to leave. My girlfriend was crying. There was a person brought to me in a wheelbarrow who was semiconscious and dying. There were kids with malaria. There were people dying of tuberculosis who looked like cancer patients in their final stages of the disease. And it was just four or five steamy hours of despair."

Jenkins returned to the boat shaken and with questions like "Why?" "What's going on?" "Why aren't there any nurses?" "Who's trying to help?" running continuously through his mind.

The real world collided with the dream in a big way, and Jenkins couldn't look away.

It would have been so easy to flinch. After all, problems are everywhere. The world is a mess. What can one person do in the face of such wide-scale misery? Against diseases like malaria, which affect 300- to 500-million people a year? Forget it and go for a surf.

Except Jenkins couldn't.

Instead, he quit his job, sold his house in New Zealand, and used the proceeds to launch Surf Aid International (SAI), a grassroots nongovernmental aid organization free from political, religious, or racial agendas. Its mission is to significantly improve the health of the Mentawai people -- and encourage and coordinate support from the global surfing community.

Fortunately for the thousands of people who Surf Aid International has helped, Dr. Dave found some receptive ears and great partners in the surf industry -- none better than Santiago and Fernando Aguerre, founders of Reef.

The brothers did some serious arm-twisting on SAI's behalf, but they didn't stop there. Three years ago Fernando opened his house up to the surf industry for the Liquid Nation Ball, a fundraiser that's part party, part auction, and very fun and heartfelt -- at least in the past.

Tonight is the third annual event and it's gone a bit upscale. The brothers turned over control to SIMA earlier this year and the roster of beneficiaries was expanded -- although Surf Aid still appears first among equals in the minds of many.

Fernando's house is incredible and contains one of the best rare surfboard collections anywhere, along with some fantastic surf art. The party is capped at 350 people (a who's who list of bigwigs, CEOs, and then a few nobodies like me). It's a swank, but relatively low-key affair -- especially after Flogging Molly the night before. But that's okay because I'm running on empty.

Dr. Dave in Indo.

Fernando's House in La Jolla.

Andy and Megan Tompkins with Tee-Dub's Josh Hunter. Andy is the new trade show director for ASR and Megan edits Bicycle Retailer magazine.

Seven-time world champ Kelly Slater, the greatest surfer in history, is the honorary chairman of the Liquid Nation Ball.

Mikke Pierson and his son. Mikke is the co-owner of ZJ Boarding House in Santa Monica, a kick ass specialty store.

Fernando and Santiago auction off surf collectibles.

Can I go to sleep yet?