What is the dream job for a surfer?

 

When I was a teenager I really didn’t think about getting a job, well, actually in high school I had a job repairing and making surfboards.  I never thought of that as a job, it was something I did and it just happen to pay. 

 

10 months out of high school I landed a job shaping surfboards.  All the guys I worked with were surfers.  We made surfboards, talked about surfboards and surfing all day everyday and surfed everyday unless there just was no surf.  I guess that was a dream job.

 

Back then there were no pro surfers like today, at least the surf contests didn’t have cash prizes.  But there were a few guys that made money from being who they were.  Sort of the first sponsorship deals.  If you had a well known name from surfing really good and connected with a surfboard label and got a model made with your name on it you would get a few bucks for every board that was made with your name on it.

 

There were a few guys in the mid sixties that did ok with that.  Pretty much like being paid to surf. Now days there are plenty guys and gals that get sponsorship deals and pretty much get paid to surf.  For a surfer being paid to surf is the dream job for sure.

 

In the sixties and seventies and maybe to this day getting a restaurant gig was a good job for a surfer.  Best of course in an upscale place so the tips are good, and 4 to 6 hours at night… so your days are free for surfing.

 

I talked with a couple guys this week that had some pretty dream jobs for a surfer.  One was the wood shop teacher at the local middle school.  The school by the way is walking distance from the point in Ventura. 

 

The other guy is a lifeguard… his guard station?  First point Malibu.  We talked for a while, I was full of questions like, it must be nuts some days because of the crowds. He confessed they send a lot of surfers off to the hospital from surf accidents, of course.  Then I asked about the off season. We do get south swells in the off season and he confessed he does get days with good surf and no crowds. 

 

If you like to travel and like being on the go all the time then being a pro surfer would be your dream job. But if you’d rather have a regular routine and wanted to hang at home a guard station at first point Malibu is a good alternative for a dream job.

 

Did I mention that my shaping bay at the job I got 10 months out of high school had a view of the south peak at Ventura pier?  Back then the pier broke all the time and I could stop and look at it all day while on the job.  Pretty dreamy.

 

D.R.



 

 



One more month and summer will be officially here.  Summer means long sunny days and usually small to no surf around my local break.  But when there is a little surf it is usually fun.

Summer is for small wave surfboards.  Some guys don’t like it but long boards are great for small waves.  If you can’t ride a long board and always ride a short board then the alt boards that are wider and usually even shorter than the normal short board are a good ride too.

But, the traditional long board in my book is the ultimate small wave surfboard.  Catching waves is easy,  fading left go right or right go left, step up and trim, step back for a reset, step up for a nose ride,  step back and cut back, step up a reset again.  Unlike a short board where you move around on the wave face, on the long board you move around on the board itself.

When the waves are small there’s not much wave face to move around on. Moving around on a long board takes wave knowledge, timing, balance, coordination.  And to do it well.. style.  Riding a short board takes all the same stuff of course but, in small surf the long board is so much fun.

Maybe it’s just me and memories from days long gone.  But, warm summer days at the beach surfing, hanging on the beach and surfing some more… always on a long board because that’s all there was… is what I see as the ultimate for surfing during summer.

And sure, there are some summer swells that have some size, and depending on where you are can give you a good pounding.  But, for the most part summer is the laid back, take it easy, have fun kind of stuff all surfers enjoy.

D.R.