Spotlight 01: Paul Surf

We turn the spotlight on our dear friend Paul Schmidt, owner of the surfboard shaping company, Paul Surf. We've been filming Paul on and off for about three years in Rockaway, New York, and we are so thankful for all we have learned through the process. Shaping surfboards is a labor of love, which had become, for a time, his home. If you can’t find him there you will be sure to see him out in the water waiting for the next wave. His passion and devotion to the culture is inspiring.

Here

Whether I get out
from under my long dreams
of returning
whether I change
into my suit and
dip into white water
stitch a board up and under
drags of cloudy salt water
over this body
and sting tired eyes
whether I make it out
behind the break and can
sit and wait and listen
and not rush
this time alone I must decide
whether or not to paddle
and let go
of each palm full
to give up my spot
in the clear
or to hold on
to my dream of you
and of that all imagined
sit missing
a chance to play
and slide down
little hills of shook light
and get tossed back
where I can stand
whether I decide
to go or wait
I'm slowly swept
either way
by the current

By Paul Schmidt