If there’s one beautiful thing about this funky little global club of wave riding humans (there’s more than one, but you catch the drift here), it’s that we have an undying love for the local ripper. We respect them just as much, if not more than World Champions. They may not have stickers all over their board but they don’t need them to have the affection of everybody around.
Collin Jones is that guy. But far from the IG influencer, he’s also nothing like your typical modern, stylish longboarder.
“When you think of stylish longboarders, you may think of smug hipsters with their long blonde hair and lean bodies, sipping from their ceramic mugs of expensive artisan coffee,” says filmmaker Kyle Buthman. “Or perhaps you picture the Instagram captions philosophizing about the meaning of life while conveniently displaying their best nose ride of the week, all for the purpose of climbing the social media ranks.”
Buthman says Jones, his hometown friend in Santa Cruz, is nothing like that.
In fact, the stay-at-home dad still uses a flip phone. He’s never owned a French press or a gym membership, which kind of makes him the real hipster by definition — far too cool to carry mainstream amenities like a smartphone or a social media handle where so Buthman can tag his protagonist.
“Collin actually doesn’t give a f#%k. He doesn’t give a f#%k about you, me, or anything but his wife, daughter, and getting his crusty little toes on the nose of his surfboard.”
Admittedly, the guy is pretty punk rock.
