This Ocean Life Podcast

In episode 94 I speak with Suzie Cooney, a well-rounded athlete who has turned her love of the ocean into a lifestyle of training others. Suzie takes us through her evolution from windsurfing and motocross riding to stand up paddling (SUP) and finding her passion for the world-famous Maliko downwind course on Maui. We hear of Suzie's approach to training athletes both remotely and in person, her a...

In episode 93 we check in with Brian and Robyn Cooper, a family from Santa Cruz, CA who, with their 2 daughters, left it all behind 9 months prior to live a dream of sailing in the South Pacific. Brian and Robyn describe their first few months of learning their sailboat Renegade, the ins and outs of sailing among the islands and reefs of Fiji, and developing confidence in their sailing capabilitie...

In episode 92 I speak with a good friend and legend, Pat Shaughnessy, a world class big wave surfer and prone board paddler. Pat takes us through the past few years of focusing his summers on lifeguarding at Santa Cruz beaches and competing in both the Catalina Classic and Molokai 2 Oahu paddle board races with stories of dealing with the physical and mental challenges of these long distance event...

In episode 91 I speak with Andy Schell and Mia Karlsson, owners and operators of 59 North, an offshore sailing adventure company operating in the Atlantic Ocean. Andy and Mia tell their story of founding the company based on their love for sailing, the challenges they faced building a business of taking guests (or 'crew') with different levels of sailing experience out to sea for extended periods...

In episode 90 I speak with a friend and local hero of mine, Tyler Conroy, who has built a well rounded ocean life for himself in Santa Cruz, CA. Tyler shares his stories of learning to surf as a young teen and moving quickly into some of the heavier Northern California water, his time in Jr Lifeguards, and transition into surfing big waves. We hear of Tyler's first session at Mavericks, some of th...

In episode 89 I speak with Luke Adolfson, a surfer and diver focusing his energy into pursuing happiness in the waters of Maui. Luke shares stories of surfing on Maui, surfing local WQS contests, and his time over the past years pushing himself at Peahi (Jaws). We hear of Luke's world travel surfing Indo, South Africa, and more with time spent helping those less fortunate with missionary work to U...

In Episode 88 I sit down with Bobby Twitchell, a man born and bred in the waters of West Maui. Bobby shares stories of fishing and spearing from the age of 4 through today where he runs Maui Spearfishing Academy, a thriving local business introducing people to free diving and spearfishing with a major focus on education and sustainability. We hear stories of Bobby teaching himself the ways of hunt...

In episode 87 I speak with Johnny Kahakaloha, a man who has found his calling on land and the water of Maui. Johhny talks story of moving to Maui and immersing himself in local Hawaiian culture within the town of Kahakuloa where he learned how to live off of the land and be in harmony with the natural world around him, all while remotely running a highly successful record label company. Johnny tel...

In this episode of Stoked Grom Stories I talk with Bobo Gallagher, a young man who is loving his life in the waters of Maui. Bobo shares stories of getting hooked on surfing after riding his first wave, the first time he picked up a paddle and surfed SUP, and his discovery of downwinding. We hear about the great support Bobo has from his family and crew of friends in the water who help him train a...

In episode 86 we continue on the theme of competitive surf lifesaving and hear stories of Amanda Calabrese, a world-class competitor in the sport. Amanda takes us through her early days in Montauk, New York as a Junior Lifeguard, finding her passion for competing at a high level, and her path leading to the US National Surf Lifesaving Team. We talk about the fringe nature, supportive community of...

In episode 85 I speak with April O'Gorman, a world-class competitor in the sport of surf life saving. April shares her stories of discovering surf life saving competition later in life than most of her peers, finding her competitive strengths, and learning the skills and techniques for success. We hear of her mentors in the sport that have helped April progress from the regional to national then w...

In episode 84 I sit down and talk story with two legends in the world of competitive surf lifesaving -- Ryan Paroz and Ryan Buell. We hear stories from Paroz about his competitive success today in both prone board and surf ski paddling events, his time on the US National Team, competing across the world, and crossing the Kaiwi Channel (Molokai to Oahu) six times on the surf ski. Buell takes us bac...

In episode 83 we hear the stories of Mick Slattery around his world of surfing and running SureFire Boards in his home waters of Sydney, Australia. Mick takes us through his time as a grom being in the Nipper program (Jr Lifeguard), moving from the bodyboard to surfboard, leading to hollow barrels and epic waves in the Mentawis. We hear of Mick's first SUP session way back in 2009 that brought him...

In episode 82 we hear stories from Tony Rapacioli on his life of longboarding and surf photography in the beautiful waters of Noosa, Australia. Tony shares his stories on learning to surf at Noosa, one of the most famous longboard surf communities in the world, and his perspective on the surfers and waves that make up this special place. We hear of Tony's positive approach to surfing, enjoying bot...

In episode 81 we speak with Patrick Webster, an incredible underwater photographer with an artistic flair for capturing ocean scenes within the Monterey Bay and beyond. Patrick takes us through his transition from underwater video to photography and the community of local photographers he has around him in the Monterey area. We hear how Patrick's background with the UC Santa Cruz Marine Science pr...

In part 2 of this multi-part series with stories and perspectives on the world's gnarliest paddle board race, Molokai 2 Oahu (M2O). Five of my past guests and current legends in the water -- Gerry Lopez, Josh Riccio, Alice Henley, Jenn Lee, Mike Dilloughery -- all share their past experiences paddling in the Kaiwi Channel (The Channel of Bones) including seasickness, poor choice of lines, horrific...

In the continuing series around the unofficial world championships of padde board racing, Molokai 2 Oahu (M2O), we speak with Hunter Pflueger on his past years in the Kaiwi Channel. Hunter takes us from his first relay team as a 13-year old grom up to today where he is focused on challenging to win the prone stock division. Hunter shares his stories of training for the event, persevering through t...

In episode 79 we bring back Troy Nebeker to hear about the 2019 24 Hour Paddle for cancer and the incredible grass roots growth that the event is experiencing. Troy takes us through the fun and challenge that his own Team Seattle faced in this 2019 event, shares some stories from other teams around the nation as they paddle around the clock in their local waters, and discusses the amazing growth w...

In this continuation of our series of Molokai 2 Oahu paddle board race stories, we hear from the legend Gerry Lopez on his time in the Kaiwi Channel. Gerry takes us through the years he competed in the M2O event on relay teams, sharing tales of big seas, epic paddle battles to the finish, choosing the wrong line, and more. We hear Gerry's perspective on the challenging conditions that the Kaiwi Ch...

In episode 76 we hear stories from Mellisa Altenburger, a woman of the water who has spent the last 6 years in the Bahamas. Mel takes us through her journey from South Africa to the Bahamas where she crews on a 100-ft cruising yacht and found her passion for being underwater. We hear of Mel's evolution with scuba and free diving, the wealth of wrecks and animals she regularly experiences in the Ba...

In this podcast episode we chat again with Steve Shlens talking about the seven Molokai 2 Oahu races he's competed in. Steve shares stories from his first time in the Kaiwi Channel and the hard learning curve everyone faces around travel, logistics, and paddling the race. We hear about Steve being lost in the Channel for 3+ hours when his escort boat was unable to locate him after the start plus g...

In Episode 75 we connect back with David Ochoa, one of my favorite spearos on the planet, and hear stories from the past six months of guiding and filming spearfishing trips around the world. David takes through his time scouting and leading spearfishing trips in Madagascar, Mexico, Azores, Panama, and Indonesia. David describes his version of fish paradise in Indo, sharing stories of huge fish an...

In Episode 74 we check back in Ryan Levinson, a hard charging man of the water living with Muscular Dystrophy in the waters of French Polynesia. Ryan recaps the past 6 months living on a sail catamaran in Tahitian waters with wife Nicole. We hear of them making the move to their new catamaran after being passed by that boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean en route from Mexico and the learning c...

In Episode 73 we speak with Dan Haifley, an ocean activist who has spent decades working to protect California waters. Dan takes us through the amazing story of battling oil companies in the 1980's and 90's to block their offshore oil drilling north of Santa Barbara, CA. We hear of the grass roots activism Dan was involved in with Save Our Shores where he worked closely with NOAA and local governm...

In this episode of Stoked Grom Stories we talk with Ethan and Merritt Perlyn, two brothers enjoying their ocean lives in the waters around Miami, Florida. The boys take us through their recent adventures of surfing in Costa Rica, diving with sharks in the Bahamas, experiencing the icy waters of Northern California for the first time, and developing a deep connection with the ocean. We hear how Eth...