The Craigslist Free Surfboard and Wetsuit Essay Contest

Dan Chung - Free Surfboard and Wetsuit Essay Contest Entrant

Dan obviously has a worthy cause. Since I only had seven suits to give away I had to make some tough choices. Since Dan already had some gear, and because this was a school project that will probably have a decent time of getting more surf gear once the program get’s rolling, I decided to pass on his request. His motives were altruistic, which is a big plus, but some of the other entrants could receive a direct and quantifiable benefit from winning as opposed to Dan’s surf program where the results of a donated suit would be more abstract in nature. It was a tough call. Now on to his essay.

Hey there,

It’s very nice of you to offer these.

I can certainly use them. I am in the process of starting a surf team in Lincoln High School in San Francisco. If you’re not familiar with competitive surfing in high schools, you can check out isfsurfing.org - Interscholastic Surfing Federation. We’ll be competing against 7 schools in Santa Cruz, 1 in Half Moon Bay, and 1 in Menlo. I have a bunch of suits and stuff but definitely will be needing more especially dealing with city kids most of whom wanna learn it for the first time and can’t afford the gears. I’m in the process of collecting used suits and boards so your ad is exactly what I’ve been looking for.

As for myself, I’m a city local, been surfing Ocean Beach for 15 years, living on Great Highway near Taraval. I volunteer to mentor and befriend high school kids.

Hope you can help us.
Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks!

Dan Chung

Jim Cegelnik- Free Surfboard and Wetsuit Essay Contest Entrant

Is this for real? Does it matter? I emailed Jim to ask if it was true, as that would have a bearing on his chances of winning, but have yet to receive a response. Meanwhile enjoy his very creative -or- mearly biographical, essay.

Contest MC,

Hello, how are you? My name is Jim. I’m sure you’ve read your fair share of sob stories for why others should win your contest. Please listen to mine before making your ultimate decision on whom the lucky winner is. I know this is a weird story, but here me out:

At age 4 I lost all sense of taste. The doctors were not sure why this happened; they called it “a medical anomaly.” For two years I mustered down food that I could NOT even taste. My friends used to put kitten poo-bits in my sandwich at recess, then watch me eat it with a smile on my face at lunch-time. Anyways, around age 6, my taste buds started to change. I noticed that I could actually taste salt. From the day I found this out, I wanted to eat salty foods all day long, because it was the only thing that would bring me joy. One day when I was 9, I went surfing. I had a blast. After the session my father and I went to return our rental gear. Just prior to returning it, I noticed salt crystals on the foam board and wetsuit that had encrusted after being in our stale camper for the majority of the day. I quickly pounced on the gear, only to lick the crystals like an ant-eater slurping down defenseless black ants (you know, the ones that don’t sting?). Anyways, from that day on I was hooked on surfing…primarily to enjoy a salty dessert afterwards. Till this day, I’m the only person I know that actually drinks ocean water while surfing. The doctors tell me to stop, because it contributes to my high-blood pressure, but I can’t. This is an addiction that I can’t stop. I just broke my last board two weeks ago, and am strongly desiring the fresh organic ocean salt crystals once again. Please help me. Thank you.

Jan Piazza - Free Surfboard and Wetsuit Essay Contest Entrant

Jan’s love for her boyfriend is heartwarming to say the least. However, six wetsuits for a semi-retired adult so he can have a dry one every day of the week? It’s a beautiful thought, and I admire Jan’s passion and creativity, but there were just too many more deserving individuals ahead of her. Check out why Jan’s boyfriend is one lucky guy.

I would like to tell you why I’d like to have your surf board and suits.  My boyfriend is a surfer, grew up in Florida and has surfed his whole life.  He will be turning 50 in November.  His dream is to be semi-retired and live close enough to the beach to surf everyday!  We currently live “over the hill” and visit Santa Cruz as much as possible.  So if I had your 6 wetsuits (that happen to be his size) I would mark one for each day of the week (should i sew it on the butt?).  When he does retire (someday in the distant future), he could surf everyday and never have to put on a soggy wetsuit.  I could see him in a different wetsuit every day.  He looks GOOOOOOD in a wetsuit.  It could be a birthday gift for him along with the surfboard.  He could fix it up and have one more to choose from!!  He deserves it — and what a fun birthday gift.

Thanks

Jan

Kelly McDonald - Free Surfboard and Wetsuit Essay Contest Entrant

I really enjoyed Kelly’s mini-memoir. Her hearts in the right place, but considering her income level, her obvious drive, passion and resourcefulness, and that she wants to start giving lessons and transition to a career in the surf industry, I figured she pretty much had a handle on it and the suits would be better off in the hands of someone of more modest means and ambition. Enjoy her essay.

Aloha!

My name is Kelly McDonald and I hail from Indiana.  I am part of the first-born American generation in my family.  Both sides come from Ireland.  I grew up on our family farm.  We were poor, but when you are a kid, dirt is the most exciting thing ever! Piles of leaves are a wonderland.  And snowmen, well…they speak for themselves.  Then I grew up and had to go on my way.

After a stint in the Peace Corps, I decided to go to law school, which placed me here in San Francisco.  I wanted to practice environmental law and work for the critters.  I have been an avid bird watcher my whole life.  34 years of animals, birds and nature instilled a calling in me.

I was fortunate enough to work for Defenders of Wildlife for 3 years as an advocate for endangered species.  Part of my job was to lobby, and speak in front of the legislature, and essentially have my ass handed to me by old men and pissed off women.

I was scared to death to do this, since I was always afraid of public speaking.  However, I did it, teeth chattering.  It didn’t kill me.  I couldn’t believe how fun it was.

So, let’s get to the point.

I realized that if life were going to give me all it had, I needed to face my fears.  So, since I flunked math twice (once in junior high and once in high school) I decided to take an algebra class at 28 years old.  I hated every second of it, but it did.  I am proud of that!

Then, I turned to the ocean.  I have always been fascinated by and terrified of it, all at the same time.  While in law school, I had seen people out in the water surfing and I wondered what in the world had gotten into them and why they would punish themselves that way.

I was so curious that 4 years ago, I walked up to a guy getting out of the water and quite frankly asked him why he was going out there in the freezing cold, with sharks patrolling, etc.  He stopped, took a moment, and said something to me that changed my life.

“If I didn’t have surfing, I would be dead.  I used to be a meth addict and surfing is the only thing that keeps me sober.  It’s my life now and I can’t imagine life without it.  I used to feel that way about drugs, but when I am out there, it’s all about the stoke. My stoke.  Each person has his own.”

I was NOT expecting this kind of response.  I was moved.  My sister is a meth addict and knew this was no coincidence.

So, I took a surfing lesson in February in Santa Cruz, got up the first wave, and BOOM, I was hooked.

Over the years, I have learned so much about life surfing the waves in California, Oregon, Washington and Vancouver.  It has shaped me in ways I still don’t understand but I do know that I am more patient, kind, and non-judgmental as a result.

So, sir or madam, the reason I tell you this story is that I have a passion.  I am an attorney at a big firm now.  It’s a corporate job.  I surf on the weekends.  It’s not enough.

I have decided to start giving lessons so I can give to others what I have gleaned from my experience in surfing.  Eventually, I hope to migrate away from the firm and start my own business, likely in the surfing industry.  They say follow your dreams, and I do believe I will, thank you!

If you donated these wet suits and board to me, you would making someone’s dream come true.  Little by little, I know I can do this.  I just need to get started and I think you may be the catalyst.

Ready to help a dream get in motion?

I can’t wait.

Thank you for reading my story.

Sincerely,

K-Mac (Kelly McDonald).

Ben and Hallie - Free Surfboard and Wetsuit Essay Contest Entrant

Since Ben and Hallie have four boards already and they want some additional equipment to start giving surf lesson for profit, I just had to pass on their request. However, I think they already won the biggest prize of all, and that’s each other.

Three months ago i was on the east coast hitchhiking my was through the Adirondacks. the guy i was hitching with dropped me on the junction of 19 and 19N just out of Keysville. the sun was setting and it had been threatening to thunderstorm all day. i stood at that junction for an hour before it started to rain. with little light left in the sky, i began to walk up the road in hopes of finding a place to camp and get out of the rain. with my back to the road i heard the sound of wet tires on wet pavement. i turned to the dim headlights of an old VW van winding up the road. the van slowed as it approached and pulled off road just ahead of me. you should have seen that smile as i ran up through the rain. looking in through the open passenger window, i was pleased to find a young girl about my age wearing a cowboy hat and a white flowie shirt made from feathers. she stuck out her had as i got in, “hi, my name is Hallie.” she said she was heading to California and that she wanted to hit as many national parks as she could on the way there. turning around i saw her backpack not far from mine next to her surfboard in the back. we talked gear a bit and i then inquired what she was doing out in California. she said she went to school there in a little beach town called Santa Cruz and that she was looking to start up a surf school to help with the rent. Hallie and i traveled together all summer and now live together in Santa Cruz. we have four boards between us but no wet suits for students. we were hoping to find some before school started so we can post flyers up on campus. if you would be willing to donate your wetsuits and boards to us we would really appreciate it. thanks so much,

Ben and Hallie

Jake - Free Surfboard and Wetsuit Essay Contest Entrant

Perhaps I’m just an old fuddy duddy but I can barely read this essay. Was it written on a phone? Is it a new form of haiku? Not the most convincing argument but at least he took the time to write. Now on to Jake’s essay.

dude  im 14 years old i surf i would love to get the board and the wutsuts i live in pismo beach ca i lived up in santacruz for a long time im coming up ther in a week or two  email me win ever

all rite dude thanks

Johnny Dibarto - Free Surfboard and Wetsuit Essay Contest Entrant

Johnny’s essay still cracks me up. Not sure what his motives were for entering. It’s short and poetic and the “official entry” line tops it off nicely. Now on to his “no chance in hell of winning” essay.

i love the smell of piss and dead skin.

official entry.
Thanks

Leandro Rosas - Free Surfboard and Wetsuit Essay Contest Entrant

Leandro Rosas is working on an interesting project (see www.tierramotors.com) but I decided to pass on his request as I felt the impact on his life in getting a free wetsuit and surfboard would be less than some of the other entrants.

I grew up in Redwood City, California, but I have recently moved to Santa Cruz. Some reasons for me moving are obvious; the great weather, nice beaches, great dining (especially for me since my girlfriend and I are newly converted vegetarians), and the wonderful and unique culture. The main reason however, is trying to make the world a better place, and Santa Cruz seams the best place for inspiration. What I have learned in Santa Cruz has helped me expand my vision into other parts of Northern California. I started a company recently dedicated to the global warming cause. Growing up in Redwood City, my father has operated automotive companies since he was sixteen years of age. So, in taking what I know from that, and combining it with my new dedication to fight the climate crisis, I started a little company back on my old stomping grounds that is dedicated to allowing vehicles to run more efficiently using new alternative energy, whether its biodiesel, electric power, WVO, SVO, and so on. Now, how does this relate to surfing and the need for wetsuits and a free surfboard? Well, as you can imagine, a start up company is relatively expensive and I have no excess money to devote to hobbies that I love. So, by you giving me your wetsuits and surfboard, you are directly benefiting to the Global warming cause and increasing money spent on alternative fuel resources. As Santa Cruz has done for me, I hope this letter does it for you: Gives you inspiration to help a noble cause. Thanks for reading.

Leandro Rosas

Colin Boyd - Free Surfboard and Wetsuit Essay Contest Entrant

Looks like Colin and Crew are headed for a seriously fun trip. It appears that he’s well on his way to getting everything together for his trip so I thought I’d pass on his request as some of the other contestants had more direct needs and would probably benefit from free gear to a greater extent. Enjoy his essay.

To generous surfer with too many suits,

As I sit here pondering up good reasons why I should take the cake on your sweet contest, I can’t help but reference the adventure that awaits in the coming weeks. I am departing the coast of Maine after the hurricane produces some solid swell this weekend and making my way west once again to the great Pacific. Driving along those weeving roads out to Jackson Hole with my sister, and then Craigslisting a ride further west to Yosemite/Tahoe area to meet up with a crew of solid east coasters who are coming out of the woodwork for an epic journey south.

After picking up a vehicle last week in SF, we are planning on meeting up to make plans, gear up, trick out the van and obviously stir the rad pot. We are going to pick up boards in CA as well as suits and the rest of the camping/stoke gear for the adventure south. We are planning on driving through the Baja, Mainland, and all the way down to Panama, surfing, diving, climbing,while causing all sorts of nonsense. I know the water is warm, but upon arrivng in Panama, if the van is still in working order, we are going to freight it south and pick up in south america surfing the chilly and isolated coast of Chile…

That is our trip ion a nut shell. We will obviously pass the suits onto those in need along the way, and use them ourselves. I thank you for your time and consideration.

- Colin Boyd & Crew

Quinn Rotchford - Free Surfboard and Wetsuit Essay Contest Winner - 4/3 Women’s Hotline Wetsuit

I selected Quinn because I was impressed with his altruist tendencies and the origins of his non-profit. If more people just got off their ass and acted on their conscience the world would be a far better place. I had only six men’s wetsuits but seven people I wanted to give them to. Fortunately my friend Ariana donated one of her old women’s suits. Quinn said that would be great as women’s suits are really hard to come by in Peru. Plus it could also fit a young boy as well. Everyone wins. Now on to his winning essay.

Quinn Rotchford, Winner of 4/3 Women's Hotline Wetsuit

Hey there,

This isn’t going to be an essay, or even entertaining, but it is a great place to donate a wetsuit. I was surfing in Peru this past winter which led me to write this article. Which left me no real choice but to start this super simple non-profit www.awarmcurrent.org.

This winter and spring we’re going to be delivering wetsuits to www.wavesfordevelopment.org as well as another group that gives free lessons and board rentals to kids in Huanchaco, a small town in northern Peru.

A lot of these kids come from families that make less than $350…a month. These are the kids with the taped up soccer balls, the teenagers waking up early to twelve hour days, working the streets just to make end’s meet: the sweaty, dusty, too real cliches. The good ol’ Pacific can’t cure everything, but she has a way with sweat and dust. And damn do these kids know how to have fun in the water! Heartstrings sounding? I can’t think of a better cause round about here.
Thanks for your consideration,

Quinn Rotchford

Alec Monaco - Free Surfboard and Wetsuit Essay Contest Winner - 4/3 Men’s Rip Curl Wetsuit and Twinzer Surfboard

It was easy to pick Alec’s story as the big winning essay (both a board and a wetsuit). It contains all the best elements; Selflessness, a sense of purpose, and the potential to help someone in a very direct and profound way. As someone whose life revolves around surfing and the pleasure it provides, I know first hand how surfing can shape someone’s world. Hopefully Alec’s buddy Adam will take this gift and run with it. Check out his winning essay.

Alec, Winner of 4/3 Hotline Wetsuit and Twinzer Surfboard

I read your ad on craigslist, and thought I’d respond; not for me, but to help out a friend.

I’m a Junior at Alhambra High School and I would write you an essay, but I think I can get my point across without using the boring redundancy of essay. Why drag something out into an essay when I can make so much clearer with less, stronger words with actually meaning and feeling behind them?

Surfing is something I’ve dreamed about since i was younger, but never had the chance to actually make those dreams a reality until a couple of years ago when I saved up enough to buy my first board. I started out renting boards, and every time I went out I took someone with me who had never really had the opportunity to surf, so they could feel the same drive that keeps pulling me back to the water.

One of my friends I bring with me more than anyone else. His name is Adam McDonald and he hasn’t had all of the same opportunities that I’ve had. He has pretty much never been out of the Martinez area and I wanted to give him a chance to try something he would probably never get to do. The first time I brought him down to Santa Cruz we surfed at 36th in between pleasure point and the hook. After that, surfing was one of the only things he really had to look forward to.

Adam has always lived in the “ghetto” part of martinez. His small apartment/ condo  is right next to a cemetery and a jail, and he pretty much grew up with drug dealers and homeless people. His family’s pretty messed up and he doesn’t really have a whole lot of opportunities except for the fact that he’s enough Native American that the state will pay for his college. But he’s always been a hard working determined guy who deals with the situations and life he was dealt.

Adam on left enjoys his new board and wetsuit. Alec, on right, wrote the winning essay.

His family is pretty open to pot and other drugs so it didn’t really surprise me when he got into them, but he really has no drive anymore. It’s like he tossed that drive out, before he actually had a chance to use it.

Anyway, I used to hang with him all the time but now it seems like he just wants to end up like all the other kids who pass up opportunity. We can’t afford to rent him a board and a suit every time, so we can’t go out very often. We used to go down to Pleasure point every other weekend, and it seems like that’s the only time he actually knows he’s in the right place. Like there is nowhere else we need to be and nothing else we need to do but get in the water.

So like i said, If he could get back out there and find that reason to overcome opportunity with determination, I think he’s got a shot at something a lot of other people in his place would waste.

I just want to help give him a chance.

Alec Monaco

Benjamin Trendelkamp-Schroer - Free Surfboard and Wetsuit Essay Contest Winner - 4/3 Men’s Hotline Wetsuit

I wish I had a really profound reason for awarding Benjamin a wetsuit but the truth is I just really liked his sense of adventure. His Tigger wetsuit song was a factor as well. Yes, it doesn’t rhyme and the syllable structure is way off, but it was a nice effort. He’ll be here till February 2009 so he’s got four months to make use of the suit. I also thought this would be a nice story for him to carry back to Germany; something to counter balance some of the negative stereotypes of how Americans are. Benjamin rode his bike all the way from the UCSC campus at nightfall to pick up his suit at my home in Soquel. Now on to his winning essay.

Benjamin Trendelkamp-Schroer, Winner of 4/3 Hotline Wetsuit

Hi,

I really would love to have one of those wetsuits because it is the first time in my life that I have seen the Pacific Ocean and it may be the last time as well. I have seen the waves breaking on the cliffs on sunset and it made me instantly wanting to jump in there and feel the spume of the waves on my face.

I will catch at least one while I’m here! I would love to learn to surf but I am already short of the money for my flight back to Germany, which I will have to make because I’m in love with a girl there and so I’m really looking for a  wetsuit to make an close encounter with the Ocean. I am already hesitating if I should start surfing because I may not be able to afford everything.

I flied over 6000 miles around the earth to see this Ocean and I want to feel it as much as I can.

*Wetsuits Song (adapted from Tiggers Song)*
//
The wonderful thing about wetsuits
Is wetsuits are wonderful things
They are made out of rubber
That contain little bubbles of nitrogen
They’re bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy
Fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN!
But the most wonderful thing about wetsuits
Is surfing the waves in them

The wonderful thing about wetsuits
Is wetsuits keep you wonderful warm
If you’re loaded with vim and with vigor
They west you and give you some charme
They’re bouncy, trouncy, flouncy pouncy
Fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN
But the most wonderful thing about wetsuits
Is feeling the sea breeze in them

Wetsuits are wonderful fellahs.
Surfing is awfully sweet.
Everyone elses is jealous,
And thats why I repeat…

The wonderful thing about wetsuits
Is wetsuits are wonderful things
Their tops are made out of rubber
That contain little bubbles of nitrogen
They’re bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy
Fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN!
But the most wonderful thing about wetsuits
Is surfing the waves in them

Benjamin Trendelkamp-Schroer

Greg Weissel - Free Surfboard and Wetsuit Essay Contest Winner - 4/3 Men’s Hotline Wetsuit and Booties

Greg was an easy one to choose. Anyone who has the balls to Boogie Board Ocean Beach without a wetsuit has proven himself worthy. I’m sure anyone’s who’s surfed OB would agree…it’s kind of mental to trunk it out there.

Greg Weissel, Winner of 4/3 Hotline Wetsuit and Booties

I just moved back to California from Chicago where I spent the longest, coldest year of my life. After graduating from UCSC, I had kicked around town, working at True Art Tattoo on Soquel, helping to put on shows at the 418 while living with friends. It was a fantastic life, but one which could not last. I was living on 3rd and Main in a historic house when one night in December 2006, it caught fire due to a poorly installed water heater, and burned, taking most of my material possessions with it. So, for the next six months I did the only surfing I have ever done: couch-surfing. I stayed with friends in Santa Cruz, Live Oak, Capitola, Aptos, San Francisco, Berkeley; all while continuing to work at True Art.
The life began to wear on me. I could not get it together enough to find a place alone, and all my previous housemates had dispersed. A friend I knew in Chicago emailed me one day and told me I could get a job at the new bar her boyfriend was opening, and I knew of a loft where I could continue to book bands. By the end of the first week of June 2007 I had rented a car, stuffed what little I had left in the trunk and backseat and hit the 80, heading east.

Chicago during the summer was magic. All night parties with crazy kids, a bartending job that put more money in my pocket every night than I used to make in a week, and hot weather with huge open skies.

Unfortunately, summer ended, the miserable cold season began and the kids began to show their true faces. The mindset of the average mid-west Chicago denizen is much more closed off than any I had encountered in California. Racism, homophobia, gay-bashing - all were accepted, normalized, and to me, thoroughly sickening. The cold weather made me depressed, and the general attitude made it worse.

By summer 2008, I had put away enough money to finance a move back to California, this time to San Francisco in a great house a block from the beach. Since getting back here in the beginning of the month, I have been to the ocean every day. I forgot how much being able to see the Pacific meant to me. A used boogie board turned up in the house, and so, sans wet suit, I have been sponging every time the sun is shining. I haven’t found a job yet in my month of searching, so I don’t want to invest any of my future rent money in a wetsuit until I have some cash flow. I would however, love to have just one of those wetsuits and possibly the surfboard. I have never surfed, but the waves on Ocean Beach seem conducive to beginners and it is not so crowded that I feel I would be getting in anyone’s way. I have looked at the sizing at it seems that my 6′0, 175lb frame should fit a medium tall, like you are offering.

It feels so good to be back home, and being able to use the water only adds to my joy at being back on the West Coast. I hope you get some good responses, and if you decide to choose my entry I can pick up from SC, so just let me know!

Thanks!
Greg

Mark Eldridge - Free Surfboard and Wetsuit Essay Contest Winner - 4/3 Men’s Hotline Wetsuit and Booties

Mark’s essay was another easy choice. While many were looking for gear for themselves (which is totally fine and some of them are essay winners) a few were asking not for themselves, but for others. Altruistic moves rate big in my book. His friend Jalen is also a worthy recipient as well. Now on to his winning essay.

Mark Eldridge, Winner of 4/3 Hotline Wetsuit and Booties

First off, I would just like to say thank you for putting this add on craigslist.  In a world of selfishness and greed you offer a bit of hope…

I love going surfing, not just because catching waves is fun, nor because of the exercise you receive, nor because of the beauty of the surroundings, but because of the whole experience.

Usually it goes something like this:
•    Get up at some ungodly hour
•    crawl out of bed and into car
•    Get out of the car at the beach
•    Begin to freeze because of the fog and frigid wind
•    Now that you are frozen, take off all your clothes
•    Put on a cold wetsuit that is still wet from the previous days’ surf
•    Get into ice cold water
•    Pee on yourself just to keep from becoming hypothermic

Oh, but I forgot to mention that somewhere in the process you met some of your close friends and got to spend time together bonding over all these things, challenging each other to improve your abilities, congratulating one another when a new move is pulled off, sympathizing with another when you pearl, go over the falls, or get pounded in a close-out.  The friendships that are formed and maintained around surfing are what I enjoy most about it.

Jalen, Receiver of 4/3 Hotline Wetsuit and Booties

This is why I am asking you today to consider my friend Jalen for a wetsuit and a pair of booties.  Here is a bit of his story.

His mother became pregnant with him when she was only 18 years old.  After her child was only 2 weeks old, the father was caught in the crossfire of a drive by shooting and was killed.  Growing up without a father and a working mother was tough on him.  He always prayed for a dad, but only had a grandpa and lots of autnies, until his mother was reunited with a man from high school.  When Jalen was 9 years old  they were married and he had that dad he had always prayed for.  Unfortunately, though, his new dad is in also the Air Force and has to move around a lot and be gone from the family.

A few weeks ago Jalen found a surfboard in a trash pile next to his house…  He was stoked!  It’s a beat up 6″4″, but it floats and he spent the next week cleaning and waxing it up.  I took him out last week and he had a blast.  We were able to spend the day together and enjoy the waves and each others company.  He was able to borrow a wetsuit that was a size small that didn’t quite fit him.  He wants to keep surfing every week, but with the water being as cold as it is…  He needs a new suit.

So, as you pour over the e-mail responses, remember Jalen and the positive impact that surfing could have on his life and how you can play a role in that.

Peace,

Mark E

Grant Howerton - Free Surfboard and Wetsuit Essay Contest Winner - 4/3 Men’s Hotline Wetsuit

I selected Grant because of his nearly fanatical dedication to keeping used equipment functioning. It’s quite inspiring. I knew that my suit, though old to me, would be near new to him and he would probably squeeze out another 3 years of life out of it. By his profession you could clearly tell this was a nice guy who has his priorites in line. Now on to his winning essay.

Grant Howerton, Winner of 4/3 Hotline Wetsuit

I like your eccentricity.

My brother sent me your add on Craigslist and I thought to myself: “Huh, that’s cool. I’m going to Santa Cruz this weekend. I should send an essay to him”. So, here we are. Why do I deserve such a nifty handout, you ask? To begin with, here is an anecdote of my summer.

Growing up in California, in Fresno where the best thing about it is how easy it is to get out, I spent a lot of my younger years at the beach doing anything in the water. Surfing was not one of my activities as we were too far inland to warrant spending money on the boards and wetsuits. I did a couple of lessons from friends in my teens from friends and my brother who moved to southern California and picked it up.

This last summer I was offered the job of running a non-profit children’s sailing camp on Lake Merced in southern San Francisco after working as a plain instructor the previous summer. I took the job and called up my brother and offered him the assistant’s position. He came up and lived with me all summer while we taught sailing. He brought his surfboards.

Over the last year I had been teaching him to sail; something I learned and got myself certified in when I came to the Bay Area, without the help of lessons I couldn’t afford. So, in return he was going to teach me to surf once and for all. So I borrow an old beat up Japanese wetsuit someone had given him; and with his patience, his longboard, and a couple days at Lindamar I got the hang of it.

Towards the end of the summer I decided it was time for me to stop bogarting his board and buy my own. After much dismay at the prices of longboards and the assurance of numerous surf shop employees that indeed, I should start with a longboard. I ponied up and bought one. As present in honor of my first board my brother gave me the old Japanese wetsuit, showed me how to repair the numerous holes in it, and off I went. For the last few weeks of our summer we surfed together and he kept coaching me.

At the end of the summer and the end of our sailing camp, my brother left town and I was on my own. By this point I was thoroughly bitten by the surfing bug and went as often as I could manage between classes, homework, and my regular job as a sailing instructor for Treasure Island Sailing Center, the only year round non-profit sailing school in the Bay Area. Within two weeks of surfing on my own, it happened. After finishing a fun surf session at North Ocean Beach I was getting out of my wetsuit when the antique oriental zipper exploded and sent shrapnel off in all directions. Fuck!

I sped to the nearest surf shop and began quizzing the wetsuit guy. Could it be fixed? After laughing at the vintage and holy piece of gear he broke the news: it could not. Maybe someone in Santa Cruz could, but he doubted it. They did however have a sale on wetsuits and he could help me out. He could give me a deal on a new medium tall wetsuit for only $150! I paused and said, “thank you, but do you know where I might be able to find a used wetsuit?” He did not.

I couldn’t afford a new wetsuit and Craigslist was looking bleak for a used wetsuit in my size. So home I went and I sewed up the zipper and put neoprene cement over that making the zipper hole as small as I could. Back to the water I went! I wasn’t going to let a thing like a busted wetsuit stop me! Granted, every time I got rolled or hit just right by a wave a jet of icy water shot down my back, but it was worth it!
I went to visit my brother a few weeks later and told him my sad story. Again, like the good brother he is, he came through and gave me another old medium tall 3/2 he had been hanging on to. The big holes in the crotch and butt were a new challenge in my growing wetsuit repair repertoire. I was on my way again and the last month I have been surfing as many times as I can manage.

A weekend has arisen where I have no work and no homework. I relayed this to my brother and we agreed it was time for the trip we had been discussing all summer. Camping in Santa Cruz! So, this weekend we are meeting in Santa Cruz to camp, surf, and enjoy the sun!

In the near future I will not suck to the point where I might be ready to try a shortboard and the number of repairs in this wetsuit keep growing. I would greatly appreciate and could well use, if even one, a wesuit with few repairs and stretches. I would love a shortboard, that would be simply awesome. So, I am a poor student who works teaching sailing at non-profit schools and it would be incredible if you decided to bequeath to me your gear. Incredible. Also, please?

Thanks for your time,
Grant Howerton

Luis Guzman - Free Surfboard and Wetsuit Essay Contest Winner - 4/3 Men’s Hotline Wetsuit and Booties

I selected Luis for both his dedication to keeping used equipment functioning and his passion for surfing that drives him to share that love with others. Nobody wants the crowds to increase, but Luis is introducing people to surfing the old fashioned way: person to person, no profit motive, take em’ out and see if they make it. His story rings very true. My first day out I got worked. I swallowed a ton of water and dragged myself back to car after an hour completely exhausted…and I loved it. At that moment I was hooked for life. Now on to his winning essay.

Luiz Guzman, Winner of 4/3 Hotline Wetsuit and Booties

Exposing your friends to wipeouts, panic attacks, and hypothermia-inducing freezing water may not seem like the kinds of things one friend does to another, but I consider it my duty.  The fact is that a little bit of abuse is inevitable when you’re teaching your friends to surf.

I can tell you early on who will return for lesson number two and who will never look at a surfboard again.  For example, I recently gave a first lesson to my friends Jose and Angela.   By the time we had paddled out I knew who would be back for another lesson and who wouldn’t.  Jose, though clearly stunned by the cold water and struggling to paddle, eagerly looked my way and peppered me with questions.  “How do you turn on this thing?” he asked, quickly followed by “How do you sit up on the board?”, and “When do I stand up?”  Angela on the other hand looked like she had just faced down the Grim Reaper during her paddle out.  Her unblinking eyes were like saucers and she was breathing so fast I thought she was going to hyperventilate.  I had to talk her as if I was talking someone down from a bad drug trip.  I recall saying at one point “You’re going to be OK; you’re not going to die; we’re going to get throught this.”  After that, the only question she asked was whether she could go back to shore.  Surfing isn’t for everyone and that’s OK.  But there’s something special about finding an eager student and letting their inner surfer out.

I’ve taken many friends out for a surf lesson and of those only a half-dozen have gone on to learn how to surf and surf regularly today.  Its a small number but I’m proud of it.  Hopefully, Jose will be added to this list.

I think I deserve the Twinzer and three of your wetsuits because I love to surf, and more importantly, I love to share my love of surfing.  Currently, I wear a 10-year old 3/2 wetsuit that isn’t enough to keep me warm.  I would use one of the 3/4 wetsuits for myself and the other two wetsuits would be used to take additional friends out to surf.  You would be instrumental in allowing others to discover their inner surfer by helping me teach more people how to surf.

Cheers,

Luis Guzman