"What do you think about when your alone in your car"
This Wotterman's reply is ??
"Catching swordfish and surfing bigger waves!"
Wotterman and Fireman, Ryder Devoe
Ryder DeVoe has been a Surf-fur junkie since the beginning of the brand. He is part of our Surf-fur family as well as a part of his real family of obsessed watermen living in Southern California. I remember a conversation I had with Ryder's mom when she talked about how Ryder had been on a boat since day one. One time, while fishing on the boat, his dad gave him a bait fish to hold. He loved that fish and continued to hold on to it all day and well into the evening...which was starting to smell pretty bad. When he started to doze off on the ride home in his carseat, his mom tried to take it from him but he woke up and started to scream. She tried several times, but he woke up ever time refusing to let go of his bait fish.
Not too much has changed since! Just like many of the watermen we work with at Surf-fur, his schedule revolves around the fishing season and swell reports. We finally nailed him down long enough to answer a few questions about his life as a waterman...
Name: Ryder DeVoe
Occupation: Fireman
Where do you live? Encinitas, CA
What are your water obsessions? Spearfishing, boating, surfing
Favorite place to enjoy your sports? Catalina Island, Encinitas
Home break? Grandview Beach
What is that one experience you had in/on/under the water that you just can’t forget about?
The one experience I had that I could never forget was when I was spearfishing for yellowfin tuna in Panama and three large Orcas swam up to me. There was hundreds of dolphins around in every direction and suddenly they had all disappeared right before the Orcas appearance. They were by far the most incredible, bulletproof animals I have ever seen.
(In this photo, Ryder was chasing a swell off the Channel Islands. I know this exact day because he left me a desperate voice mail the night before asking if we could reschedule a photo shoot because " the swell of the Winter" is on its' way to the Islands. Of course, we at Surf-fur are very used to these calls. And we understand completely. Water people are the best!!)
Somewhere off the Channel Islands
Most brutal “brave the elements” story
My best “brave the elements” Surf-fur story had to be when my buddy Grant and I were going to dive local white Seabass. It was COLD and windy, but when we reached the nearby kelp the water was far too dirty to dive. The wind was coming up but Grant and I were not going to give up. We decided with only our T-shirts on under our Surf-fur Waterparkas to head to Catalina to find some clear water. 50 miles of freezing wind and pounding whitecaps later we made it to the island on the 14ft Whaler. We dove for the rest of the day and made the crossing back. When we got back to the dock in the dark, we were super beat up from both crossings. It probably wasn’t the best idea in hindsight.
Ocean Inspiration
"The fact that it is always changing, you never know what will swim up to you!"
Favorite feature of the Surf-fur
My favorite feature of the Surf-fur Waterparka would be the warm hood and the quick snap buttons. I wear the Waterparka most over my wetsuit to stay warm while chasing big bluefin tuna so I can quickly unsnap the parka and get back in the water and spear one! I wear the SurfCheck hoodie to check the surf in the morning.
Ryder Is also an ambassador for Riffe Spearguns, Salt Life and Progenex. Those relationships have allowed him to travel all over the world in some pretty awesome places. He even has a towel with his image on it. He has worked with our company for several years and is our top choice for gorgeous product models for any boat shoot. Ryder is an awesome human and we love him!
