Happy Father's Day
Robert’s son Sam was born in November of 1967. Now 58, Sam didn’t stand a chance; he was destined to become a surfer. In 1971, he was just four years old when he caught his first wave…in Galveston, Texas. As one might expect, it was Robert who built Sam his first surfboard.
Growing up in Huntington Beach, Sam spent his teen years playing baseball, surfing Huntington Beach and San Onofre, and visiting Hawaii, where he would surf and play golf and tennis with the late Mark Martinson. Mark was a shaper who often collaborated with Robert on surfboard designs. Sam also recalls traveling all over Baja with his dad and grandparents. A third generation Southern California surfer, fishing, surfing and riding dirt bikes became a way of life. During those trips to Baja, Sam would listen to LA Dodgers games with his grandpa Blackie, who was a diehard Dodgers fan. Sam fondly remembers “always playing catch with a baseball on deserted beaches, out in the middle of nowhere”…what a great way to grow up!
Apparently, all that time playing catch on the beaches of Baja paid off. After his high school playing days, he had started his college career at Orange Coast College when he was drafted by the Houston Astros in the second round of the Major League draft early in 1986. He was an 18 year-old pitcher, playing pro baseball! Remember that his father Robert was the very same age when he took off on his Endless Summer adventure. Sam ended up playing eight years in the Astros organization before being traded to the Seattle Mariners for the 1994 season. Unfortunately, a nagging elbow injury forced an end to his professional baseball career, but what a ride! To play the game of baseball at that level is extraordinary…
After almost 10 years of pro baseball, Sam returned home to Huntington Beach and immersed himself in the business his father had started some 20 years prior – the Robert August Surf Company. “It dawned on me one day that I was a surfer,” Sam told a Texas newspaper back in 2001. “I knew I would only be happy if I was doing something surf-related. I knew I wanted to make it in life by being a surfer.”
And so for the next several decades, Sam August did just that. Under his guidance, the Robert August Surf Company continues to build surfboards and host unforgettable surf trips based out of Tamarindo, Costa Rica. From surfing and fishing all over Baja to playing pro baseball to hosting surf trips in Costa Rica, it’s safe to say that Sam’s life has been filled with adventure. He has, as he puts it, “spent the past few decades supplying a lifetime of the Endless Summer lifestyle.” That spirit of adventure, along with a strong connection to the ocean, has been passed down in the August family from Blackie to Robert to Sam, and now to Sam’s son Tommy. Tommy is an accomplished longboarder and fittingly, is about to begin his college baseball career.
Tommy August, shredding a right at the Huntington Beach pier
The August family...four generations of accomplished watermen and sports enthusiasts. As Sam remembers, “what was important for my dad and grandfather was that they wanted to make sure we knew how to surf and that we could enjoy waves when they come.” Happy Father’s Day to the August family dads and to all the proud fathers out there. Enjoy your day!
Until next time,
Ted
