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The Inertia

Editor’s Note: Michael Weybret, a friend of Willie Kessel’s, penned this piece and Willie contributed the photography. Mike and Willie, together, make up @dosomethingcool.

I met up with Lakey, Sage, and Willie Kessel at 4am in a Shell station parking lot. Willie, a long-time friend, had invited me on a short surf trip up the coast of California. We had a vague plan of spots to check and campgrounds to crash, but our only real aim was to get out of cell service.

Sage started the day like she does every day: with a compliment. “You look well rested Michael!” I was not. She had brought her coffee from home, and I was just getting my gas station coffee. But I still felt it sincere. I was meeting Lakey for the first time and she was approaching this trip with the same enthusiasm and excitement she has with everything, I assumed (correctly, as it turns out).

Willie served as our tour guide up the winding roads of California’s coast. He is one of those guys who can name just about every surf spot ever found, or at least make up some really convincing names. He also isn’t so bad with a camera in his hands.

In the end, we found better views than waves, and better camp fires than cut backs. But we drank good coffee, shared some old stories, and I didn’t hear my phone ring once.

See more of Willie Kessel’s photography on Instagram: @williekessel

 
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