Kids are epic.
We hosted a Father’s Day inspired Early & Often Surf Club event on Saturday morning, and it might be my favorite event we’ve ever done.
The morning started off looking a little bleak. Luke and I got to the beach early to set up, make sure we got fins in boards, and stake out our spot. Which gave us plenty of time to stare at the grey, windy, low tide surf that awaited us.
I’m all for making the most of the conditions that are available but the waves were looking pretty dismal. The self doubt of whether this was going to be a worthwhile event started to creep in.
And then the kids showed up.
Families started rolling in around 7:45 and guess who wasn’t the least bit deterred by the conditions? The kids.
Kids bring the full enthusiasm and stoke.
Before I knew it I was suited up and paddling out to a crowded lineup of friends, kids, neighbors, and two foot wave enthusiasts.
The playfulness and joy was contagious. Some dads had littles on the nose of their board. Other dads pushed bigger kids into their own waves. And the biggest kids paddled into their own waves unassisted. Hooting and hollering commenced.
We have several finalists for the “Dad & Kid Best Shared Wave” contest.
Then lineup was full and the enthusiasm was all-time.
I was just happy to get a few while my kids played on the beach.
By the time we were ready to wrap up and head back to the shop for part II of the event, the sun was out, the wind laid down, and the surf had totally cleaned up. I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to get all of the boards back that we had lent out. But eventually we gathered sandy surfboards and migrated back to Almond for the board raffle, much-needed coffee, and snacks.
My assessment from the morning is kids are awesome. I think we stumbled into a new formula for making the most of small waves: just bring an army of kids.
Huge thank you to Perfect Bar for sponsoring the event; and to Mezcla Coffee and Sambazon for providing the refreshments. And to Jeffrey Allee and Jake Lutz for capturing some of the best moments.
P.S. I teased this a bit last week but we do have a brand new board model coming very soon. It’s designed specifically with surf dads and stoked groms in mind.
