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.
Surfing
Posted inCoast Life
Calm after the storm: Nat Young’s pro surfing comeback a byproduct of passion, perseverance, family
Santa Cruz surfer Nat Young is the top professional wave rider that Surf City has ever produced. But hanging onto your spot among the World Surf League’s top competitors is no small feat and Young’s tumultuous land life — watching his mom Rosie lose an extended battle with cancer — took a severe toll on his psyche. Sixteen months after her death, Young’s spirited and meditative comeback is in full swing. And this is only Chapter 1.
Posted inCoast Life
Soul shaper: Why does surfboard craftsman Ward Coffey do it all by hand? It’s the only way he knows
There are no machine politics to be played out in this Westside Santa Cruz shaping bay, one of the last of its kind in this surf-mad town or, in fact, any others like it around the world. As technological progress — or disruption — has defined the modern surfboard-shaping experience, Ward Coffey’s business has managed to keep it delightfully old-school and down to earth.
Posted inCoast Life
‘I do belong here’: A community leader explains how the outdoors can feel like a scary, non-inclusive place
Says local United Way head Keisha Browder: “We went to Natural Bridges and then to Henry Cowell. And it was like, ‘Wow.’ So beautiful. And I’m saying, ‘I do belong here.’” She is participating Sunday in the second annual Liberation Paddle Out, part of Santa Cruz’s celebration of Juneteenth.
Posted inCoast Life
‘We love you, Bucky’: Surf community mourns iconic board shaper swallowed up by addiction at 41
Tyrone “Buck” Noe was a second-generation surfboard shaper in Santa Cruz who followed in the footsteps of his father, for both good and bad. Like his father 18 years earlier, he was memorialized at Lighthouse Field and Steamer Lane on Saturday. His sister, Meara, tells his story achingly well.
Posted inCoast Life
‘We’re here for you’: In wake of tragedy, Santa Cruz surfing community doubles down on generation next
There was a time in the not-so-distant past when a proudly miscreant tone and attitude dominated Santa Cruz surf culture. Some of those who survived that tough period, including big-wave champion Darryl “Flea” Virostko, are trying to pay it forward. Meanwhile, those assembled at Steamer Lane on Thursday afternoon mourned two recent deaths and tried to put them into perspective.
Posted inCoast Life
Only a Santa Cruz surfer knows the feeling: Celebrating a decade of protection as one of only a dozen World Surfing Reserves
There are only a dozen surfing ecosystems on earth that have been designated as World Surfing Reserves, communities that treasure their surf breaks so much that they commit to their preservation. As Santa Cruz celebrates the 10-year anniversary of joining the club, it has hired a top local surfer, who is also a committed environmentalist, to help strengthen its role as the program’s flagship ecosystem.
Posted inCoast Life
Icons of Santa Cruz: The centurion of West Cliff Drive
Who are the people and what are the places or things that are immediately identifiable with Santa Cruz County? Our county’s longest-serving journalist, Wallace Baine, launches Lookout’s new series with a deep dive on the history of our most recognizable icon: the surfer statue.
Posted inCoast Life
Surfing during a tsunami? Here’s why some foolish Santa Cruzans like me would do such a thing
Yes, I was one of them Saturday morning at Pleasure Point — amid a sea of high school surf contestants. But there are reasons that some of us Santa Cruz folks are different than others and would want to put themselves out there into nature’s grasp with little to go on. We’re a bit different when it comes to pushing the envelope.
Posted inCoast Life
Don’t mess with the women: Backlash over surf contest inequity leads to a reexamination of fairness, the law
When Santa Cruz’s only big surf industry company, O’Neill Wetsuits, put on an event in October that for the first time included females, it could’ve been a happy story of progress at last. Instead it “came off wrong,” according to many who followed it closely, and the company has said very little about it. Others, though, had much to say.