Conatus Surf Club + RDA

Good morning people. First off, again, my heart goes out to all effected by Hurricane Sandy. Just found out my friend, Joe Falcone of Grey Ghost Surfboards, had his family home and shaping bay destroyed. Joe is working with others to clean up the Rockaways. I'm still in Brooklyn. Power is expected to be restored in Lower Manhattan by tomorrow night/Sunday morning at the earliest. This is a tragedy to say the least but life does go on. As soon as I regained internet I began solidifying plans with my brother, Andrew, for the Conatus Surf Club Retreat at our property in Costa Rica, Rancho DiAndrew. We've put together a comprehensive package that includes transportation while you're in CR, pickup and drop off at the San Jose Int'l Aeropuerto, meals and beverages, lodging, and lots of other radness. We aim to accommodate 4-6 guests per retreat. The first retreat is January 5-12 and the second is January 12-19. To inquire further please email conatussurfclub@gmail.com or andrew@ranchodiandrew.com. To be clear you can check out the whole package HERE. We will be taking 50% deposits via paypal.

A note on the name changing: as with any budding business I've been working hard to have my name fit my brand. As some may know from lessons and conversations with me, Conatus is Latin word that I take from the philosophy of Spinoza (especially from his major well-known work the Ethics). It denotes the force within a being that seeks to endeavor to persist in its own being. Another way of saying this for us humans is that we seek to increase our capacity to act. Our capacity to act is made greater when we share knowledge with one another. This is the underlying principle behind the name and thus the brand. I was working with some hand-drawn logos when the consultant/graphic designer suggested that 'academy' is perhaps to institutional for the vibe I am after. I immediately saw his point and decided that 'club' is much more up my alley, especially since I'm all about community and encompassing a greater sense of belonging. And so there you have it, at least now provisionally. I am not going to change the url of this blog because that is too much of a hassle at the present moment. I'm just going to wait until I have a new site. I also hope to have a few stickers, tees, and patches made sometime in the not too far off future, and will definitely have some speciality items made for those that participate in the Conatus Surf Club + RDA Retreat in January.

Last note on water quality in NY: the water is nasty. Sewage plants cannot process and it's running out into the harbor/ocean. The best bet right now, if you have enough gasoline and gumption, is to get to the nearest community in need and help out if you can. If you cannot the best thing to do is to conserve energy and to share time with loved ones.

Epic Week and Plans for a Surf Camp in CR

Saturday was perfect. 

Things are finally settling back down, but only slightly, just enough to speed up again. The whirlwind week of surfing with Derek Hynd ended with a trip back out to Long Island, another to New Jersey and the last was for a lesson in the Rockaways. The highly successful surf meetup happened in the in-between. And this reminds me that I still owe you all that write up on the importance of surf buddies. I can only promise it will come as soon as I've nailed about 60 other pages of writing. I mentioned at the meet up that I will be running a camp in Costa Rica in January. I am now working on the details of cost, accommodations, capacity, and dates. I can assure you it will be after January 4th. It's a plan I've hatched up with my brother who has also been teaching lessons using my method for the past six years. As some of you know, he and I own a nice piece of land in Uvita, Costa Rica called Rancho DiAndrew. We have cabins on the land and a main house. There is tons of wildlife and waterfalls in walking distance to the property. He cooks up some amazing grub, some of the produce for which is grown directly on the property. We're working on rounding up a bevvy of boards right now. This camp is not going to be one of those identical softtop and rashguard affairs. We are going to have a variety of boards so that people can figure out what suits them best. We might even be selling some back to students if they just happen to click with one (this is a plan I am also hatching here in New York—I want to start getting different lesson boards and selling to students). We will also continue developing ocean knowledge and lineup awareness. So yeah Conatus Surf Academy at Rancho DiAndrew is in the works! Warm water and an authentic surf trip vibe. Stay tuned.

Family Business

Surf lessons are in the Mattison blood. Check out my brother's operation in Costa Rica: http://ranchodiandrew.com/?p=744. Poetry and photos by our illustrious father, Richard.