`Life-isms : Surf Lessons, Part IV

‘Endless Summer’ is simply of one of my favorite adventure tales. I love the idea of putting aside all responsibility, condensing my worldly possessions into a travel bag and buying a one way ticket to somewhere I have never been then improvising the rest as I go. Embracing more of, rather than just fantasizing about, this no return ticket mentality is what this whole journey I am on is about.

So, when the opportunity to meet one of the surfers from ‘Endless Summer’, I knew I had to go for it and I was not disappointed.

For those of you not familiar, ‘Endless Summer’ is THE quintessential surfing documentary. Two surfers and their cameraman/director/filmmaker pack up their stuff and travel around the world. The premise of the trip was to travel planet to find the best waves while following the summer season as it progresses around the globe. Along the way, the threesome travels to what was then some of the world’s most remote stretches of beach and surf. They meet indigenous people. They get lost. They improvise. And, they surf and surf and surf. The entire film is narrated with the fun documentary voice of the filmmaker and the surfers don’t speak once. I have seen the movie many, many times, but, for some reason, the names of the surfers, Robert August and Michael Hynson, never stuck in my head. Perhaps I was busily daydreaming about running off to travel the world during those moments.

I may not have known their names, but their infamy and that movie lead me to my surfing destination in Costa Rica. When searching for a learn-to-surf package, places were offering lots of attractive options – among them, daily yoga classes, included massages, luxurious accommodations and exciting add-on adventures. But, only one was offering the chance to watch their surf board shaper shape a board during the week. That surf board shaper was none other than Robert August himself. No yoga classes could top that opportunity. I occurred to me he might be only loosely affiliated with the surf shop as a promotional sort of figure. Maybe he only makes an appearance once in a while to keep up appearances. Hell, it was still worth a shot. I booked a trip to Costa Rica and a week long stay at Witch’s Rock Surf Camp in case he happened to show up.

To my delight, Robert lives in Tamarindo with his daughter and frequents the surf shop, restaurant and other places around the town. Despite his local celebrity status, he is also approachable, friendly, funny and a great storyteller. Seriously, I sat at a bar having beers and shooting the shit with Robert August while learning to surf in Costa Rica after he gave a ‘History of Surfing’ talk. How freaking cool is that?

Oh the life lessons I learned from a man who spent his life on a one way ticket.

Every week, Robert gives the ‘History of Surfing’ talk and shapes a board in his shop for participants in the surf camp. I could have watched him shape a board over and over again. It is mesmerizing to watch a true craftsman at work. He started shaping boards shortly after returning from that ‘Endless Summer’ trip in 1966. As of my trip, he has shaped more than 34,000 boards by hand.

As Robert shapes a board, he shows off so many endearing quarks and he tells stories. Board shaping starts out with a big foam blank. It is an oversized piece of foam with dimensions in ballpark of the final board with a stiffening piece of wood in it called a stringer. Basically, if its a long board, it is a bigger piece of foam and if it is a short board, it is a smaller piece of foam and it has a piece of stiffening wood in it from nose to tail. As he starts rough shaping, Robert first pulls out a CD and loads up some Michael Jackson. Then, he takes out a saw, a regular old hand saw and starts going to town. Following the hand saw, he uses a large hand sander to rough out the shape. With a few swift hacks and passes with a sander, the board becomes trimmed piece of foam. He also has a way of slapping the sanding screen on his shorts leg that just embodied the enjoyment and pleasure he took in making this work of art. And he was an artist.

This all happens in about the same amount of time it took to read that paragraph, which leaves lots of time for storytelling. So, when Robert returned from that epic trip around the world, he was seriously considering becoming a dentist. Yeah, you heard me right, a dentist. There is no way I can do his story telling justice here on this post. Between sanding, shaving, flipping and examining, Robert told us, as I am sure he has told thousands of other visitors, that he seriously considered going into dentistry.  Then, he visited his dentist.  His dentist’s advice, and I am paraphrasing here, ‘People love to go to their surf shop, they love their board shaper, they are happy to see you. People aren’t happy to see their dentist.’ On that advice, Robert asked a friend if he could join his shop and shape boards. He was 18 or 19 years old.

Granted, ‘Endless Summer’, was just out and Robert was quickly becoming a surf hero and ultimately, a surf legend. He had been surfing since he was a kid. He was shaping boards with his dad nearly as long. A filmmaker didn’t ask him to sell his car and go on a trip around the world with him out of the simple good ness of his heart. Robert was a skilled surfer and a skilled surfboard shaper. Although being a dentist was probably a good idea, he was not a skilled dentist. Perhaps he could have become an awesome dentist, but the world will never know.

I wasn’t exactly faced with a similar dilemma when I was 18 years old. Reflecting back, I don’t really recall being faced with a decision between engineering or. . . hmmmmm. . . come to think of it, actually, I was really into this thing.. . . this thing I am doing right here. Writing. I was once really into doing just this. I decided to go into engineering it was secure. It was safe. I got an education. I got a job. Then, I was set for a nice, steady life.  Except, somewhere down the road it quit feeling steady and started feeling tedious.

I met Robert August after my early, mid-life crisis started, but it made me profoundly happy for reasons beyond meeting a celebrity of ‘Endless Summer’. With every perfect saw cut and leg slap quark, you could feel his energy . He was happy.  He loves what he does.   He’s still living that endless summer.  He’s got that nice, steady life afterall.

Oh, to be faced with the dilemma of shaping boards or being a dentist.  Go the direction where it is secure and safe. Get an education, then get a job, then be set for a nice steady life. Or, go the direction where it’s a little less well mapped out. Ask a friend for job. Go for it and have a nice, steady life anyway.

I guess, in the end, it is a false dilemma.  No return ticket.

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Check out Part I, Part II and Part III of the “Life-isms : Surf Lessons” series (they don’t even have to be read in order!) and see the related post on Witch’s Rock Surf Camp’s Website.