These Two Gentlemen Will Join Kelly Slater At The Surf Ranch

Yesterday Bede Durbidge made a trip up to Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch for a session. He then beelined it down south in time for the evening glass-off at Lowers. Not a bad day. But two guys had a decidedly better day. Do the names Rob W. and Palmer G. ring a bell?

Of course they don’t, but our guess is you’re going to be seeing a lot of them shortly. Just announced, Rob and Palmer have won the “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to surf Kelly’s wave. In other words, they got the golden tickets that Kelly Wonka has been dangling so diligently the last couple months. As part of a fundraiser for the charity organisation Omaze, Rob, from Encinitas, California, and Palmer, from Queensland, Australia, were selected at random for the all-inclusive strike mission to Lemoore.

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“He’s the best ever,” said Palmer of Kelly, getting a little misty-eyed upon hearing the news.

The hard part now is deciding who to bring. In true Wonka fashion, each of them gets to bring a friend along. Think they’ve gotten a few text messages in the last 24 hours?

“I don’t think I’m going to be able to focus on work the rest of the day,” said Rob in the understatement of the year.

Meanwhile, even with a 12th world title on the line and all of his rivals already congregating in France for the Quik Pro, last night Kelly was rubbing elbows with the beautiful people in Venice, where he hosted a preview for an art exhibit called “Apolitical Process” with RVCA founder and Purps partner Pat Tenore. The show featured the works of Kevin Ancell, Todd Glaser and Bruce Reynolds. And, crooner Matt Costa provided the ambience.

For those that didn’t win a golden ticket, well, maybe there’s some redemption in the lessons learned in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Keep in mind, four out of the five kids that toured Wonka’s factory ended up getting seriously jacked up. Mike TV’s never been the same, Violet’s still violet and lord knows what Veruca Salt does with herself these days.