Puerto Dreaming with Frank Solomon
0
8
Frank Solomon, a man on a mission of late. From setting up his own nonprofit to tackling the issue of marine plastic pollution the vibes being spread have been good. In between 10ft sets, knifing into big ol warm water caverns and kipping under palm trees we caught up with Frank to get the low down on what Mexico has as well as a look at what goes on beyond the water.
(Zag) First off, Happy Birthday Frank, how’d you celebrate another year round this sun?
(Frank) Thank you. It was such an epic day. The waves where 8-10ft and offshore in the morning so I surfed, obviously, what made it better was that I got some really fun waves. I followed that up with a little siesta and then tucked into some margaritas with tacos for dinner. Couldn’t really have asked for more.
You often go to Mexico, why?
It’s honestly one of the best places in the world. The food is incredible, the waves are amazing and the water is hot (30.5 degrees). I often tell people to come here instead of the regular Indo surf trip. It’s a bit more of a mission but there are just so many more options here and you can find waves to yourself, bonus.
How have the waves been this year?
The waves have been good in Puerto. The winds have been a little off due to there not being much rain. But, the points have been amazing! We took a drive down to Barra Dela Cruz yesterday, it was insane. The sand is finally back after almost 10 years of being bad. Pretty much since Andy won that Rip Curl search comp there. But all the points have good sand and there are a lot of them.
What’s on the cards for the rest of the year?
After Mexico, I’m headed home for a little. Have a Hawaiin friend of mine coming to hang in Cape Town. I’ll probably spend the rest of winter at home and head to Ireland/ Canaries / California at the end of the year. Very grateful to be able to live this life.
You’ve been busy of late, from raising awareness around plastic pollution to starting up the S.O.A talk us through some of the projects that you been involved in the last year or so?
I recently set up a nonprofit called the Sentinel Ocean Alliance to help underprivileged kids in my community learn to surf and learn about lifesaving and the ocean. It’s long been a dream of mine, and to be honest going into it I had zero experience, but felt it was desperately needed in the community. Together with Waves for Change we now have a 100 kids a week learning how to surf. We established Hout Bay Surf Lifesaving club and have guys doing their courses which will enable them to be employed by the city of Cape Town and to have an income. The next step is to have an ocean school where we teach the kids about the ocean and how to protect it.
I’ve also been working with Parley and The Litterboom Project in Durban regarding marine plastic pollution. I was able to introduce Cam Service to Parley who are now helping to sponsor it which I’m really stoked about. Raising awareness around marine plastic pollution is something that we as surfers need to all do… it’s a huge problem and we need to use our voices.
Will we see you at the Corona Open J-Bay?
Yes. Really excited to be premiering a short film there that I worked on with Corona. I’ve just seen the first edit and it’s looking really good. A cool story and I can’t wait for everyone to see it 
What’s your secret, a lot of people look up to you and what your doing, what’s the take-home message?
Thank’s man. You know I have been kinda thinking about this very over said quote by Gandhi “be the change you wish to see in the world” and I really truly believe that all it takes. Every single person, as an individual, can do something to have a positive impact on the world especially in our country and especially those more privileged than others.
Small changes count too, be it limiting your meat consumption to help the environment or being the person who picks up litter on the ground while the rest just walk on by. Basically what I’m saying is, it starts with you! No matter what someone says, you alone can make have a HUGE impact, spreading a positive message. If you can make that one change in your life to help others or the environment or whatever you are passionate about I truly believe that it will also change your life for the better.
The post Puerto Dreaming with Frank Solomon appeared first on Zigzag Magazine.