Confessions of Surf Addict

The Inspiration. 

The most common question I get is, ‘What on earth made YOU start surfing?’

And the answer I give has to do leads with this one photo. The patagonia sponsored surfer Belinda Baggs riding the nose of her board as captured by photographer Dane Peterson. There is grace, movement, and something thrilling about her toes dangling off the tip of her log. But that’s not ACTUALLY what made me take a lesson.

I took my first lesson during the time I was training for a triathlon and participated in an open water swim. I hadn’t been in the ocean for 15 years and realized quickly that I wanted more time in the ocean. I convinced a friend to try this surfing thing with me in a lesson on Rockaway beach. It was thrilling, frustrating and left me dreaming about the ocean. Suddenly any ambition of completing a triathlon slipped away and every second on land was spent on trying to figure out how to get back in the ocean.

After that first lesson in the middle of summer 2012, I was sitting in an open office with an amazing view of the downtown manhattan. I was taking a mental break from my usually heavy workflow and this image flew down my news feed on Facebook. The image embodied the high I was chasing. I clicked the image and shared it.

Looking at this photo fuels the addiction. And so I’d like to introduce myself. I am Jessica Kantor and I’m addicted to surfing.