INTERVIWER (American):
Good morning and thank you for joining us today on 94.2 Public Radio. My name
is Kelly White and I’m here with local surf shop owner Peter Marshall. He’ll be
spending the next few minutes telling us about his Free Surf program.
INTERVIEWEE (American): Hi
Kelly. Thank you for having me on the air today.
INTERVIWER: A pleasure to have you here, Peter. So tell us a bit about yourself and
your program.
INTERVIEWEE : Well, I’m the owner of Longboards, a surf shop
located on 5000 W Olive Ave in Mission Beach, San Diego. Recently, I decided to
start a non-profit program called Free Surf. First, let me start out by saying
that this is
a purely free service. I started Free Surf in May and it’s been going strong
for the past three months. The Free Surf program is set up so people can borrow
a surfboard for up to three weeks at a time at no cost. We like to think of it
as a surfboard library, if you will. Surfboards may only be checked out on
Thursdays and Sundays, from 06:00AM to 01:00PM. Now, the way it works, is that you show up with
your ID and some piece of official mail that shows your home address. It needs
to match the address on your ID. Then, we require a fully refundable safety
deposit of $100 for an adult surfboard. If the board is returned by its due date,
then the deposit will be refunded in full. At the end of three weeks, the
customer also has the option of buying the surfboard, in which case the deposit
will be subtracted from the total cost.
INTERVIEWER: Wow, that’s great. Is
it possible to borrow a surfboard for more than three weeks, though?
INTERVIEWEE: Yes,
but only when there
is no one else
already waiting to rent a surfboard. As long as there are boards available, you
can show up and get one. However, if none are available, we put your name down
on a waiting list. Once a surfboard is returned, then you will be contacted via
email that a surfboard is ready for you to borrow. However, customers are able
to renew for an additional three weeks if nobody is on the waiting list.
Customers may only renew their boards once. At the end of six weeks, a customer
must either return the surfboard or purchase it.
INTERVIEWER: Well, can you tell us a little
bit more about why you’re offering this service and how you manage to keep it
going?
INTERVIEWEE: Sure. The main goal of this
service is to encourage more people to learn how to surf. I believe this will
help increase awareness of the health benefits of surfing, as well as inspire
people to become more conscientious about taking care of the ocean. Research
shows that surfing for one hour at least three times per week burns off an
extra 1500 calories per week. Research also shows that 35% of the people in San
Diego are overweight. So, a lot of us could use some more exercise. Not to
mention, surfing in the ocean is free and doesn’t require all of the fees and
monthly costs of a gym. It’s also a lot of fun. We keep our service going
with volunteers and donations from surfers who give us their old boards. Right
now, we have 37 surfboards in rotation. Most surf shops rent surfboards to
tourists by the hour, but we’d rather get more people surfing on a regular
basis. Right now, I have three volunteers who help me run this program. Their
names are Kyle, Tanya and Ricardo. All three of them are licensed to
give surf lessons as well, so we offer free surf lessons one day a week on
Sundays. The lessons are from 1:00PM to 2:00PM, after we close up the shop. The
free lessons are available only
for people who have borrowed a surfboard through the Free Surf program.
INTERVIEWER: Well, it sure sounds like a wonderful program. It was
great to have you here with us today, Peter.
INTERVIEWEE:
My pleasure, Kelly. Thanks again. I’d
like to finish by saying that we’re always open to surf board donations and
help from more volunteers. We hope to continue this program until October 31st,
take a break for a few months and then start again March 1st. If anyone has any
questions, please come by and see me at the shop, or shoot me an email at freesurfpeter@usamail.com.
Thanks for listening!