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
No comments yet.