Surf jobs. This post is long overdue — I mean, I promised it about two months ago. I’ve been squeezed by the corporate world’s python-like grip and forced to comply with anti-creative business brainwashing bullshit, so give me a break. Anyways, surf jobs. I was obliged to think surf jobs had to be in the surf industry. False, untrue. The surf industry is cliquey, and, unfortunately, getting a job in the “surf industry” is difficult and could have the same corporate consequences as any other soul-withering nine-to-five.
So, what is a surf job — or rather, why do we want a surf job? Well, as surfers, we are but mere servants shackled and plagued to catch shoulders and dodge barrels whenever the heavens, tides, winds and swell align to produce rapturous rides. Our schedules and lives are all molded around these holy forecasts. We need jobs that can accommodate this type of flexibility. Being out there every morning before work (prior to 9 AM) is not how surfing ought to be, not how it was designed to be. You will end up surfing when the tide is too high, when the tide is too low, when the wind is on it early, when The Flying Dutchman’s misty grip seizes the lineup, leaving you blind at sea. You get the point.
A true surf job is one that allows us to work autonomously and surf when the heart desires. I’ve been scratching my head for years as I struggle to figure out how to balance a passion with earning income. A tightwire act for beach bums. But I see people around me, always striking at the opportune moment — the same folks — and they’re driving expensive trucks (well, in some cases). How do they do it? I decided to find out as my inner sleuth was singing: what do these enviable souls do for a living? The 30 or more people — men and women — that I awkwardly spoke to, while we sat afloat a reflective sea waiting for nature to align, have the occupations that we want; no, that we need. At my daily spot, which is now my Monday/ Friday spot (hopefully, not for long) there are surfers that, like I mentioned, are always on it at the perfect time, every day; no excuses.
The sample was from one specific wave over the course of a couple of weeks during the most optimal surf window of that specific day. These numbers reflect the percentage of surfers (out of the entire sample) whose occupation fell under a certain category.
Note: In this sample, the “unemployed” and “retired” categories were tied for second place making up 7.5% apiece (15 %), however, this was recorded in times of a pandemic, so I don’t think that you have to be unemployed to optimize your shred seshs, and, in most cases, we are long ways away from retirement.
Here’s what we found out.
Only 12.5 % of the surfers I asked don’t make their own schedule; namely those working in food and emergency services. But the schedules at restaurants and grocery stores are tailor-made for surfers — usually, shifts are set in the afternoons and can be easily swapped with a coworker’s when the ocean starts calling. Paramedics and firefighters usually work very long hours but then have long windows of time off to surf.
After we account for those that have set schedules (12.5 %) and unemployed and retired surfers (15 %), 72.5 % of the occupations listed above are friends of freedom, amigos of autonomy. These are the golden ticket jobs of surfing. If you notice, almost 20 % of the list do work in the surf industry, however, on the cool, more important surfboard manufacturing side, allowing them to test their creations. The rest are a wide range of random freelance/ small business gigs. Work to live, not live to work seems to be the motto. From DJs and pool cleaners to freelance writers and videographers to all different types of service and construction.
The winning occupation for this small sample was “general contractor.” Coming in hot at 12.5 %! This survey really doesn’t mean much, I am sure it varies from wave to wave, and location to location, but pretty interesting nonetheless. Perhaps if you are considering ways to make a living while also pouncing on the mid-tide late-afternoon wind switch like a starving feline, maybe grabbing a contractor’s license is a viable option.
But how do we partake in surf travel to far-away and remote destinations with perfect turquoise barrels breaking on idyllic reef passes while maintaining liveable incomes? That’s a question for another day, and I may have to travel to said location and pick the brain of the surfer sitting and waiting, patiently looking toward the horizon.
– Barney Beadette