surfing


Perspectives

stars at night

copyright: Alex Brost

…. And then I walked into the darkness until all I could see above was the light of a billion stars burning billions of miles away.  Across the sea, I see the twinkling lights of “civilization.”  My perspective: civilization is proportionately the same size & brightness as the stars above, but in reality, it is exponentially smaller.

If I approach “civilization,” the city lights will down out the stars, planets, and all great things above.  What a perfect metaphor when gauging what is really important in life!

My feet, thoughts, and soul grounded on crumbling sand below and infinity above – We are truly this small when we look above and to the horizon, but all that is easily lost when we leave the darkness and step back into the artificial light of “civilization.”

(a moment of inspired thought from the beach)

-Alex


Nusa Ceningan’s “secret point”

The view from Secret Point hotel's pool

The view from Secret Point hotel’s pool

I have found paradise, and it’s on a small island near Bali called Nusa Ceningan. Everything about this place is perfect: the waves are good and consistent, the locals are friendly, the water is clear, the beer is cheap, the food is good, the sunsets are beautiful… The list goes on forever.
The two main reasons I travel are (1) to surf waves and (2) to meet people. Locals’ attitudes make or break a surf spot, and I have never met more friendly locals in my life. Every time they paddle out, they do it with a big smile and say hello to everyone in the lineup.

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Ceningan Locals

Today, I was surfing the main point at Ceningan, and Jack, a local working at the Warung (restaurant) on the cliff over-looking the break, sat on the cliff and directed traffic. He called out when sets were coming and told us, “out farther, farther, farther… Stop!” The the set would arrive and everyone would be in perfect position to take a wave. Amazing! I have never experienced such a thing. Sorry Stoney Point crew. I never thought it would happen, but I actually found friendlier locals than you guys!

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Lembongan/Ceningan bridge

Even the non-surfing locals here are all smiling and saying hello. To reach the island from Nusa Lembongan, you have to cross a dodgy bridge, which is so narrow only one moped can cross at a time. Once on Ceningan, locals smile and say hello as you pass, and kids high-5 you as you ride by on the scooter. The guide books say “this is what Bali was like before tourism.” But now there are a few boutique hotels popping up around the surf break. Let’s hope Cenican can maintain its authenticity along with its surf-side infinity pools. Ok… Time for another surf. Ciao!
-Alex


All Surfboards are Shaped!

Exciting news today – All of my surfboards have been shaped!  That is 208 surfboards shaped in under three weeks!  Most of them are at some point in the glassing process too.  Some nearing completion!  Impressive…  The head shaper wanted to get home and enjoy the holidays (that’s Christmas, New Years, and Chinese New Years), so he’s been working his butt off over-time and left today for a 7 week holiday.  Who would have thought that a Chinese factory worker would get to take so much time off, eh?  I’ve emphasized it enough in previous posts, so I’m not going to drill it in again now but… workers are treated pretty darn fair in my Chinese factory, and I’m proud I can say that.

The last 3 boards to be shaped were a few personal boards I’ll be taking along to Indonesia at the end of January.  I actually got to finish these boards myself because the shaper had to left to catch his train home.  It was so nice to be shaping a bit instead of just supervising production.  I think I gained some street credit from the workers too.  One of the other shapers watched me shape, and I could tell he liked my technique.

My order is projected to be completed by January 20th, when the factory lets out for a the Chinese New Year/Spring Festival, So I will be flying Bali on January 23 with these sweet babies:

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bali fish

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bali hybrid

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balisurfboard

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The boards aren’t all for me.  Two of them are for Jay from W.E. Surf (seems like a good partner for iSurf right?) and Dominic Holland, Director of Photography for DP Dom Holland.  Check out the website or his Youtube page – He does fantastic work.  Holland is actually going to film a documentary style surf film of our adventures in Indonesia.  (Here is a link to Jay’s blog post about it).  It should be pretty cool – I’m really stoked.

Well, Christmas is right around the corner.  I’m going to celebrate with an old classmate that lives in China.  This will be my first Christmas ever away from home – I’m pretty bummed about it, but I’m also very excited for Rina to show me her stomping grounds.

Since all the boards are shaped, I’m going to take a little time out of the factory and do some sight-seeing.  People always wonder how I afford to travel so much – Well, I use low cost carriers or frequent flyer miles and stay in hostels or couch surf.  It’s really not that expensive at all, and I find hostels to be a much better experience than hotels.  Check out the itinerary I put together for myself.  Prices are for each flight segment or per night in hostel:

  • Saturday 21 Dec: Head to the coast and spend two nights with the factory owner’s friends.  Stay in international youth hostel ($9).
  • Monday 23 Dec:  Fly ($96) to Shanghai and meet up with Rina.  Staying at Rock & Wood International Youth Hostel for five nights ($9).
  • Saturday 28 Dec:  Fly to Beijing ($62) to see Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City & Great Wall.  Staying at King’s Joy Hostel for two nights ($6).
  • Monday 30 December:  Return to Shanghai ($62).  I land at 1:40am on the 31st and will probably sleep in the airport.
  • Tuesday 31 December:  Fly to Shenzhen ($109), near Hong Kong, to meet my factory owner and visit his friend’s surf traction pad factory.  We’ll probably stay one night (NYE) before returning to the factory via High-Speed Train (factory owner usually won’t let me pay for anything if he’s around).

So far, I’m looking at ten days in four cities for only $404 transport and accommodation.  Not too shabby, eh?  I’ve gotten really good at finding the best deals on flights and accommodations.  If you ever want to go on a backpacking trip, contact me – I LOVE to search for deals like this.  In short, the best low cost carrier in China is China Spring Airlines, and my preferred hostel booking site is Hostel Bookers.  I also always use Lonely Planet guide books.

Well that’s it for now.  I’ve got some fun times ahead.  I’ll leave you with this time lapse I shot from the roof of my apartment building the other day.  I love night-photography, and I’ve been experimenting with time lapses a bit in the last year.  I combined the two using a new remote timer I got for my DSLR and this is what came out.  Oh, and of course I cut it to some Huni music.  Enjoy!


How did I get here?

When I was in high school, I received a piece of advice from my mother.   It is the best advice a mother could ever give a teenager who was almost failing out of high school (this was not due to bad teaching, unintelligence, or learning disabilities – it was merely a result of boredom with course structure and material).  My worried mother casually said to me one day, “Alex, if you want to be successful, find something you love and get really good at it.”  I didn’t give it much thought at the time, but something about it stuck.

My fondest memories of childhood are those in which we were on vacation.  I was fortunate to have a family that traveled often.  My mother, sister, and I were all born in Sweden, so we would go back most summers to visit our friends and family.  At each airport, my parents let me buy a magazine to read on the flight.  Like most young American boys, I was drawn to car and motorcycle magazines, but I almost always opted for surfing magazines.  I found the images of waves in far distant places amazing, and the articles resounded an existentialist belonging to the oneness of the universe that is fleeting in today’s society.  Slowly, airplane seats became my pews, and surfing magazines became my bible in the religion that is the traveling surfers’ lifestyle.   (I should note here that around age 10 my mother was certain I would become a minister of the church when I grew up because of my incredibly strong faith as a child – for my 10th birthday, all I wanted was a crucifix to hang above my bed).

Although the ironing board was good for make-believe, I would not stand up on a real surfboard until I was 12 years old (OK OK I admit was body boarding for several vacations before).  Like most people who have felt the glide, I was in love with the feeling.  Unfortunately, learning to surf at age 12 and being from Minnesota put the odds against me becoming a professional surfer.  Find something you love and get really good at it, but be reasonable.  Nearly every pro surfer grew up on a beach and started surfing between age 3-5.  So pro surfer wasn’t my thing.  I tried to dream up ways to become a professional traveler,  but that job does not exist in the capacity that I like to travel (If I had to follow an agenda, be burdened by a film crew, or write extensively on the things I experience, the fun would be removed).

Then came wake surfing:  a sport so new that few people had the jump on me, and I had access to several inboard boats.   I tried competing a few times.  I even got 2nd place at the World Wake Surfing Championships in amateur division.  But let’s get real, the industry is so small and niche, that you’re not going to make a reasonable living on contest winnings (yet).  My friends and I (Team Idle we called ourselves) started making wake surfboards for fun.  I found myself thrilled by design theory, the build process, and the idea of creating functional pieces of art.  Pretty soon, iDOL SURFBOARS was launched, and life became very busy.  I was able to escape my busy life on a couple of amazing surf trips, but I always had to come home too soon for the spring/summer Minnesota surfboard rush.  Board shaping quickly replaced surfing and socializing with friends.  The past few summers, I have only been able to wake surf a handful of times because I am always busy shaping, glassing, or repairing surfboards.  I haven’t even made myself a wake surfboard since 2010 because I’m always too busy building boards for customers.  I found something I love, and I got really good at it.  However, the temptress of success through surfboard production pulled me from my true loves: surf and travel.  This would not do.

A new plan quickly developed.  This plan would force me to travel to new places, meet new people, and leave me ample time to surf.  This plan is a new brand of surfboards called iSurf.  Instead of working long hours to produce a couple hundred boards each year, I will outsource production to factories abroad which can build my shapes at higher quantities and lower costs.  iSurf will make the most advanced shapes in wake surfing and fresh-water specific paddleboards available to inland surfers at very reasonable prices.  And more importantly to me, it will send me around the world to places I’ve never been, meet people I’d otherwise never get a chance to meet, and experience cultures unknown to me.  Have I found my calling?  I hope so.

I know a lot of you are thinking, “Alex, you sold iDOL out.  You’re going to lose control of the process, and your boards are going to be made by kids in unfair labor conditions in China.”   Let me settle those worries right now:  iDOL SURFBOARDS are, will, and always will be made in the USA.  I have sold a large portion of the company to iDOL’s Head Shaper, Stefan Ronchetti.  He loves building surfboards, and it is his dream to spend all day every day building surfboards.  Under this new venture, he, our team riders, and I will have more time to develop more and more advanced shapes for wake surfing, paddle boarding, great lakes surfing, and other freshwater surfing applications.  And I promise I will not lose control of the process, and all workers building my surfboards will be fairly treated.

Right now, I am sitting in a surfboard factory in China where I will stay until all of my boards are completed.  I will inspect each surfboard along every step of the process, and help in every way I can.  The factory does not employ any children or bonded laborers (which I know some of my competitors can’t accurately state), and pays higher wages than most surfboard factories.  Employees in this factory normally work 8 hour days and have Sundays off.  All of the shapers in this factory have been shaping surfboards longer than me, and the quality of construction and attention to detail is astounding.  I did a lot of research, and I’ve risked nearly every asset I own to get myself to this place.  I know in my head and my heart that I have made the right decision and I am in the right place at the right time.

Now that was a lengthy first post, and probably not very entertaining.  I just wanted to attempt defining what the heck I’m doing over here.  Going forward, this blog should be a somewhat interesting narrative covering the surfboard building process, general travel observations of the existentialist surfer, and hopefully the ultimate goal will be accomplished – we’ll go surfing.  Stop back soon, and I’ll keep posts shorter and develop this blog with the sights and sounds of the world as I explore them.  I’ll warn you now – It might get weird, but as my favorite author, Hunter S. Thompson stated, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”  Cheers friends!  See you down the road.

-Alex