New Website is Live!!!

Good Day Good People!

The new Conatus Surf Club website is now live: http://www.conatussurfclub.com All lesson and teaching method info is on there. There are still a few tiny kinks we have to work out, but for the most part, it's good to go. The blog and everything has moved over there.

And last note to those that find this through NY Magazine's guide to surf instructors. Please be mindful that that was published in 2011 and much of the information is wrong. The lesson pricing is completely different, as is the situation with transportation. I no longer live in Manhattan and so no longer give all students rides to the beach. The lesson is 2 hours long, but will take 4-5 hours out of your day. For all up to date pricing and scheduling please refer to the official website linked in the post.

See you in the water soon!

-Dion

New Website Soon Soon Soon

Hi All,
New website will hopefully be up this weekend. Until then keep checking back here.
-D

Making Moves

Hello everyone! Updating to say that I'm making moves towards organizing and incorporating Conatus Surf Club. This doesn't mean any real changes to the current lesson set up as of right now. The price is the same—$250 per person a lesson which includes equipment—and the protocol is the same—email me to schedule and we will set up a day and time. If it is convenient to carpool, then we'll do that, and if it's not we'll plan to meet at the beach. Tweaks that I plan to make: well, first of all there will be a new website down the road where scheduling, packages, payment, gift certificates, and a blog will all be available. There will also be permanent pages—about me, about Conatus, and one which comprehensively explains my method. I hope to offer much more including photographed/videoed lessons, lesson packages, yoga/surf retreats in Costa Rica, kids surf and yoga summer camps, and a smattering of rad merchandise (I do have a plan to throw in a free t-shirt with lessons this summer—as of right now, however, t-shirts have not begun production, so I don't have a clear timeline). I am really excited about this and believe in my heart that I have an excellent vision backed up with unexcelled product(s). I will continue to update on progress here and link to Twitter, FB, IG, etc.

I have a bunch of people who have emailed me this spring to set up lessons as soon as possible. I'm all healed from surgery, but now need to get some serious academic work done. The water is still also hovering around 38 degrees and at this juncture I cannot provide proper suits, gloves, and booties for all sizes. I will be in contact with everyone who has emailed about a lesson during the first week of April and probably won't be scheduling any lessons until the water is into the high 40s, which is hopefully around the last week of April, beginning of may. But I assure you that there will be a day when I do not have to hold off on lessons because of water temp!

Continue to check up on what I'm doing here and feel free to email me with all lesson requests. And if you're at all interested in donating to help out with my start up costs, do not hesitate to get in touch. There will be adequate compensation.

Wow It's Really Been Since November?!!! Ok then. Update.

I've been rather dormant. It's been snowing buckets in Brooklyn. My car is parked in a heated garage, not acquiring rust. I put a new battery in it a few weeks ago. I am healing well from surgery. No complications—everything is going according to plan. I'm teaching one class at Parsons this semester—Integrative II Seminar Fashion (a bad name for a class that should be called Intro to Fashion Research)—and teach-assisting another—Intro to Visual Cultures. Teach assisting in this case is basically the same as teaching or co teaching. I lead a discussion section and grade papers, but I did not design the syllabus, nor do I give the 'official lecture'. Both courses are very interesting and fun to teach and as usual I have a bunch of great students. I find academia rewarding on a very basic level—helping others learn more about themselves and the world. My pedagogical philosophy extends into the surf. And so far it seems to be working. Happy students and nice reviews and recommendations. All without a proper website and at this point, no business cards. At bottom, it's the face to face, everyday impressions we make on one another that count and hold. Don't get me wrong, marketing is real, and there are plenty of tricks to it. But often the story of the tortoise and the hare rings true: slow and steady is a perfectly sound methodology. This winter has been a slow and steady one for me. I've started light stretching exercise and should be ready to get in the water by April or May. Not exactly sure how this summer is going to shake out for me in terms of travel, but I'm quite certain that I'll be around enough to accommodate most everyone's lesson requests. I will be sure to post updates as they come up.

My Trusted Buoy Is Down!!!! But All Is Not Lost!

The buoy I have come to love and trust—NDBC Station 44025—is down! Hasn't had wave height and interval, water temp, swell direction, and wind info for about a month now. It still has the five day forecast: here. This forecast is the most accurate for New York and New Jersey surfing that I've found so far (beats the heck out of Swell.info and Surfline.com and even Magicseaweed). Gives you predicted wave heights and wind directions/speed. I'm now searching around for a comparable buoy, but all I can find so far is the NY Harbor, which I'm not a fan of because the readings are so small due to the fact that it's so far in. Even when Station 44025 was functioning I still checked the forecast and have fared well with its predictions. Remember to subtract a foot or two from the predicted seas to determine actual height of waves in Long Beach and Rockaway. For example if the forecast is for 2-3 feet seas expect the waves to be 1-2 feet at the beach. Similarly if it's predicted for the seas to be 5-7 feet, expect the waves to be 3-5 feet. And so on.

Fall Update

Baz McGee September Rockway slide. 

October. Wow. And mid-October at that. Haven't posted since August. That's been the norm I suppose.  We had a wave-starved late summer and early fall, but then got hit with a wonderful bit of windswell last week. I surfed five days in a row. It has been a long time since I did that. My dissertation is on it's way and teaching at Parsons is in full throttle. I have two continuing fall surf lesson clients and that's about all I can handle right now. I'm closing up shop in December to have surgery. I should be ready to teach surf lessons again in June, per usual. To keep up with me on a more regular basis you can always follow me on instagram @conatussurfclub. I always post "evidence pics" of surfs and other random viewings from academia, the world, and life in general. However, even though I love both dearly, there are very few pictures of my food and my girlfriend on there. But things are well in both of those realms. I've recently gotten engaged and am embarking on a fall cleanse. Both are boding well. Never felt more alive and happy.  Never thought I'd be the marrying type, but it all changes when you meet the right person. The cleanse is not very harsh—it's just an immune system reset—I'm taking a few weeks off of coffee and beer and sugar and focusing instead on hydration and vegetables—also adding a bit more stretching into my life. My five day surf binge has proven to me that a 33 year old body requires a lot of stretching. Most basically, the focus of this fall is on care for the self. It's totally trending right now. I highly recommend. And I think that Kelly Slater would endorse it, which, in surfing, is about the highest endorsement you can muster.

Great Vacay; In MTK Till Wednesday; And Other Scheduling Items of Note

Had a great time in CA visiting family and friends. Scored a bit of south swell when I arrived and hooked into some secret and not so secret spots alone and with buddies. Now I'm back in NY and currently writing from Montauk. I surfed near Ditch Plains this morning. Perfect little one foot peelers—great for beginners. I'll be out here until Wednesday am. If anyone is out here and wants a lesson tonight, tomorrow, or Wednesday morning, give a shout. Thurs, the 22nd, through Saturday, the 24th, I will be in Cape Cod on a mini vacation for my 33rd birthday. Then I'm back and starting teaching at Parsons on the 26th. I'll still be able to give lessons in the mornings and weekends throughout the fall semester. Shoots! -D