I had the opportunity to be in Huntington Beach (HB) this weekend for the World Surf League (WSL) US Open Surfing Championships. It is the largest surfing competition in the world. The weather was balmy, the water a toasty 70 degrees, and the waves were, unfortunately, just what you would expect at the HB pier — small and mushy.

It made me wonder how the heck Huntington Beach was able to wrestle that “Surf City” trademark from my home turf in Santa Cruz? Surely, it was not based on the quality of the surf. I came up with two solid reasons:
1) They have 10 miles of sand that are perfect for constructing the high-rise city that WSL and its sponsors erected south of the pier in support of the event. It was massive.
2) In 1963, Jan and Dean recorded the song “Surf City,” co-written by Brian Wilson. Huntington Beach (rather than Santa Cruz) likely inspired it.

Just to be clear to those who don’t know me, I was not competing in this event! haha

I was in HB on important business doing a podcast for my upcoming book
(​Surfing in Heaven​). Allow me to introduce you to the ​Christian Surfers organization​ (www.ChristianSurfers.com). For 35 years this global organization has been sharing the love of Jesus with every surfer and every surfing community. They are all about transforming lives in an eternal way, and that is where we found a strong match. In fact, it is a match made in Heaven!

Mark Sawyer-Chu exudes the joy of Heaven. He has worked over 17 years in the surf & advertising industry for Surfline.com, Surfer Magazine, Surfing Magazine, Adaptive Surfing Magazine and is a current board member with Christian Surfers. He interviewed me on the ​Christian Surfers podcast​ about the promise of Heaven that awaits us all. It should air in a few weeks — stay tuned!

Early Copies of My Book!

We are just days away from launching my 21-day ​Kickstarter Campaign​. This will help fund the final stage of getting ​Surfing in Heaven​ into the hands of every surfer in the world. I will advertise that launch date here first. Make sure to ​sign up for my email list​ so you can be the first to know.

==> If you want an “early release copy” of ​Surfing in Heaven​, I will offer a “limited number” of hard copy editions. This offer is available to the first 100 people who pledge to the “The Perfect Wave” award in my ​Kickstarter Campaign​.

In closing, let me add a third very personal reason for HB nabbing that “Surf City” tagline:
3) The water is a LOT warmer.

😎