For Brazilian skimboarder Leo Freitas, riding waves in Santa Cruz was a dream come true. On July 20, he joined 22 of the world’s best skimboarders on Seabright Beach to compete in the Tac Skimblast, skimboarding’s main international professional tour. Santa Cruz native Evan Quarnstrom, who befriended Freitas during his year traveling and surfing abroad and served as a judge in the competition, writes about the lasting impact Santa Cruz has had on Freitas and the way Freitas touched Santa Cruz surf culture with his infectious energy.
Evan Quarnstrom
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I left my board with a Malagasy surfer: How I learned to let go of what I cherished
Santa Cruz native Evan Quarnstrom left his favorite surfboard halfway around the world — on purpose. He gifted it to a surfer in Madagascar he had met who needed it more than he did. But he misses it. Here, he reflects on the bond between a surfer and board and the memories and surfer friends he made from Brazil to Indonesia to Madagascar during his almost two-year travel adventure.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
When is it not safe to surf? My experience surfing in the world’s shark-attack capital
Nowhere in the world has been more dangerous for surfers than Reunion Island, a French department in the Indian Ocean. The isle has gained global notoriety for its disproportionate amount of shark attacks. Santa Cruz native Evan Quarnstrom, who has called the island home for the past three months, details his experience becoming part of a unique surf community that has been forever altered by sharks. “Everyone seems connected to someone who was attacked,” he writes.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Don’t be afraid to travel post-pandemic: The world is less dangerous than you think
Santa Cruz native Evan Quarnstrom is on a post-pandemic year-and-a-half solo trip around the world and reminds us all of the benefits of travel and experiencing new cultures. Fear, he tells us, too often keeps us from life-changing experiences. Here, he details his experiences in Sri Lanka, Mexico and Brazil, all countries deemed “dangerous” by his family, friends and even (at times) the U.S. government. “When you make the transition from unknown to known, fears often vanish,” he writes.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Skimboarding might be surfing’s little brother in Santa Cruz, but it’s given me family across the world
Santa Cruz’s skimboarding community “might be relatively small,” writes Evan Quarnstrom, “but our small town plays an outsized role in the history and culture of the sport.” Quarnstrom grew up skimboarding in Santa Cruz and he’s used his passion and skill to meet fellow skimmers across the world. He explains how, and offers a primer on why skimming is harder than surfing.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
A year after my father’s death, I’m still getting to know him; turns out his time with Pranksters wasn’t so merry
Dean Quarnstrom died in 2021 and his son Evan has spent the year since traveling the world, mourning and reading his dad’s journals, which chronicle his days hovering on the fringes of Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters in 1960s Santa Cruz. Dean describes the Pranksters as “pretentious,” “untrustworthy” and a “bunch of a–holes.” As he reads his father’s writing, Evan relives the counterculture generation — including his dad’s stories about Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead and Hells Angels — and gets to know a side of his father he never knew.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I quit my job to surf and hike across the world; you can do it, too
Santa Cruz native Evan Quarnstrom quit his job with the International Surfing Association to travel the world. He’s been to Brazil, Colombia, Chile and right now, he’s in Bali, “where fast, powerful, waves that break over shallow coral reefs have been quite the contrast from the more mellow, sloping point breaks that I learned to surf on at home in Santa Cruz.” He’s also taken time to grieve his late father, Dean Quarnstrom, to come to terms with his famous local family and consider what sort of life he wants to lead. He reminds us that, with a bit of courage, we, too, could pick up and change our lives.