Head and neck injuries are one of the most common and potentially serious injuries for surfers, and yet helmet use remains relatively rare. That’s what the team behind Surf Skull hopes to change with their take on a surf helmet that pairs function with fashion.
Surfing
Surfer rescued from The Hook during rough waters Nov. 5 dies
Nathaniel J. Ramirez, a 19-year-old Morgan Hill resident rescued from dangerous conditions off Pleasure Point on Nov. 5, died two days later from injuries sustained in the incident, according to Santa Cruz County authorities. Officials say the cause of death remains under investigation.
The mystery of Mom and Dad: Surfer Kyle Thiermann advises on how to get to know your parents, and yourself, on a deeper level
Writer, podcaster and big-wave surfer Kyle Thiermann has written his first book, which serves as both a memoir of growing up in the surf community in Santa Cruz and a practical guide in getting to know your parents better.
This week in Santa Cruz County business: Local fintech company’s latest acquisition; startup pitches surf helmet on ‘Shark Tank’
In her weekly look at local business, Jessica M. Pasko reports on Paystand expanding payments to include some types of cryptocurrencies, previews a local startup’s appearance on “Shark Tank” and notes the debut of the Lookout List.
Two surfers rescued at The Hook, one hospitalized
Two surfers were rescued from rough waters at The Hook off the intersection of East Cliff Drive and 41st Avenue on Wednesday morning, one of whom was hospitalized.
This week in Santa Cruz County business: Report finds surfing contributes $194M to local economy but faces uncertain future; wineries still feeling CZU effects
A study spearheaded by Save the Waves Coalition and Black Surf Santa Cruz details surfing’s big local economic impact and outlines major threats from climate change, Jessica M. Pasko reports in her weekly look at Santa Cruz County business.
Chairman of the (surf) board: Doug Haut’s wild ride through 60 years of surfing
No full story of Santa Cruz’s surfing history can be written without mention of Doug Haut, the longtime surfer who became one of the industry’s most well-known and respected surfboard shapers. His influence on how surfers interact with their waves and on the many shapers who followed in his wake is incalculable.
At 17, Soquel High senior is taking on the ‘Mount Everest of paddling’ across Hawaii’s channel of bones
Ryder Walding, 17, will compete in the prone paddling world championships this Sunday. After a year of intense training, he aims to conquer one of the sport’s most grueling races: a 32-mile paddle from Molokai to Oahu in Hawaii.
New ‘Princes’ exhibit at MAH embraces the whole of Santa Cruz’s history of surfing
A new exhibition at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History brings back a popular show from 2015 about the three Hawaiian princes who first brought surfing to Santa Cruz. But, with the addition of a look back at the surf shops of the 1960s, the exhibit also includes the whole of Santa Cruz’s deep association with surfing.
Famed Steinbeck boat lives on in guitar and surfboard made of vessel’s reclaimed wood
Wood from the Western Flyer, the boat John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts chartered for a 1940 trip to the Sea of Cortez, is now a guitar and a surfboard made in a collaboration between Santa Cruz Guitar Company and Ventana Surfboards.

