Announcing a new Meetup for Santa Monica Surfers!

What: Wednesday evening Porto and Sharkeez and my going away party:(

When: October 14,[masked]:00 PM

Where:
El Porto
45th Street
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

I can't believe I'm writing this but it has to be done. I have accepted a position as Director of Photography with the new Formula 1 team "US F1" and will be relocating to North Carolina for a while.

We will be surfing until it gets dark then heading up to Sharkeez where I will jump behind the bar to serve up the $200 bar tab Marty has given us for the evening. So again free food, free drinks great company so come send me off in style!

I have had the time of my life building this group, meeting and hanging with you all and I have in the process gained life long friends. I will miss you all so much.

A bit of SMS history:

When I joined this group two summers ago it was in transition as the founder Kyle had injured himself and was stepping down ( I actually never even met him). I was a beginner surfer and like you all I was looking for some cool people to hang with in the water and out. I attended a few meetups and at that time maybe 4 people would show up. I think the first person in the group (besides Amy) that I met was Markus. We became quick friends and because he couldn't work while waiting for his visa we surfed together all the time. The second member I met was Tito, he was taking over some of the organizing duty's and was also a beginner at the time and we logged many hours together at "Sunset" I'll never forget that wave we shared at Surfrider and I believe that was the day I really got "surfing". That summer I also started surfing with Milene, Anna and Eric all of whom are still active and what I like to call founding members of SMS. The first camping trip that we went on, 4 people RSVP'd and by the time we got there it was down to three: myself, Eric and Tito who had put it together. We had a blast despite having all of our wetsuits stolen at the campground. On this trip the three of us talked about how to make SMS stronger and better and what a trip it would be to have a large group hanging with us on a trip like this. I can't help feeling a bit emotional when I think back to that time as we get ready for our third SMS camping trip to hang with close to 40 of our friends.

There are so many people that have been pivotal in the success of this group including Chris Synn who has worked very hard with me to keep things up and running and moving forward. Rob Hoover, who has made the beginner days the great events they are. Larry Abellera, who provides the amazing photography and a heart of gold.

It takes time and commitment to run a group like this so in my absence I leave you all in the very capable hands of Kei "K" Takemoto who will keep things fun and exciting.

I'll miss you all but I'll be hitting the east coast surf and working out the best breaks and bars over there so feel free to visit if you are in the area and I'll be back here as much as possible.

Best, Paul

Learn more here:
http://www.meetup.com/santamonicasurfers/calendar/11589622/