Leading up to the most recent Surf Expo Trade Show, George (BRA Chairman and owner of Modern Skate & Surf) and I were evaluating potential guest speakers for our Board Retailers Association (BRA) Surf Expo Kickoff Breakfast, which was slated to happen on Day 1 of Surf Expo in January 2025 followed by an excellent trade show spanning the next three days and featuring a massive show floor covered with thousands of exhibitors, a stage for swimwear fashion shows and relevant and helpful learning labs, happy hours, and so much more for the benefit of thousands of specialty retailers around the world. One of our friends on the Surf Expo staff made us aware that there would be a highly anticipated professional speaker discussing his amazing 4,050 (nautical) mile solo, unassisted, and unsupported 93-day journey from Morocco to Antigua on a stand-up paddleboard, which sounded awesome and suggested that it may be worthwhile to see if he would be willing to help our nonprofit since he was very much driven by “passion and purpose”.
After hearing that, we did some in-depth research, liked what we learned, reached out to Chris, and arranged for him to join us for our BRA Kickoff Breakfast. We quickly learned that Chris was not only a Maverick’s Big Wave Surfing Champion, multiple World Record holder and Guinness World Record holder, conservationist, ocean pioneer, multiple award-winning film director, and author of his best-selling autobiography, “Stoked!”, but that Chris had a passion for making a difference in people’s lives (Operation Smile, Two Oceans Aquarium, and others), an internal drive that makes impossible and even deadly feats seem very doable, and a ton of experience in the business of surfing not just the activity.
Chris nailed it during the Question & Answer period of the breakfast without coming across as anything but grateful and sincere about making things happen and helping others. Since Chris would be speaking significantly about his transatlantic SUP journey on Stage at Surf Expo the next day, George focused the conversation more on Chris’ vast experience in the Surf Industry, what he learned from business that helped him to navigate his path, and what he picked up that would be beneficial to specialty retailers that have embarked on significant journeys themselves. I was especially interested in hearing about the various charities that he has helped along the way.
Chris and George talking about the lessons that Chris learned through his Surf Industry experience
Chris dropped so many gems on the crowd at the BRA Breakfast including that bison are the only species in nature that run toward a storm (and why they do that), that “fear is a mile wide but only an inch deep”, and that overcoming massive obstacles comes from breaking them down to bite-sized portions. I highly recommend that any organization or trade show, even groups outside of surfing and board specialty that are looking for a keynote speaker, contact Chris. We are glad that we did.
I got to know Chris a little over the next few days at Surf Expo but still had three preconceived notions about his journey until I began reading his book “All In” on the plane heading back to San Diego County after a quick family visit in Tampa. Those preconceived notions included not completely comprehending the immensity and danger of the open ocean between Morrocco and Antigua, believing that Chris had a ton of rest/downtime and may even have been bored at times on the journey, and grossly underestimating his level of preparation and training.
Chris gifted me this special autographed copy of “All In” on Day 2 of Surf Expo, which I began reading on the plane home
At the beginning of “All In” before the Table of Contents and the Foreword, there are two super helpful sections addressing “Nautical Terms” and “Distance Measurements”, which enabled me to learn a few things that I did not previously realize including that nautical miles are smaller than “statute” or “land measured” miles (so 4,050 nautical miles – the distance of Chris’ amazing journey – would be 1.1508 times farther if measured in land miles). Another detail that put this in perspective was when Chris mentioned at one point of the journey that he was closer to the international space station than any other human (paraphrase). His Garmin watch also clocked Chris at more than 2,000,000 paddle strokes on the trip. The potentially mortal dangers of the ocean that Chris encountered were numerous with massive freighters that could run him over and completely capsize his vessel without even a ripple of motion in the Captain’s coffee, a great white shark attack, a huge sea squid that could have pulled him down to the bottom of the ocean, torrential storms and much more.
My preconceived notion about Chris having a ton of rest/downtime along the way was severely off base as there were very few documented “breaks” where Chris wasn’t changing into or out of a ton of waterproof gear, fixing equipment, detecting leaks, making water, cooking meals, or doing a thousand other things to help him survive this treacherous voyage. He spent most of his time paddling against unpredictable wind and humongous waves with conditions that were rarely favorable even when he got into the trade winds. This trip was nothing like the leisurely paddle that most people picture when considering stand-up paddling. Never a dull moment. His ingenuity and internal drive truly inspire the reader. He even broke paddling records throughout this journey.
I figured that a journey like this would require extensive training and preparation, but my preconceived notion in that area severely underestimated the exceptional lengths that Chris had gone to fully prepare and train for it. He went to great lengths to have backups of backups of both gear and equipment. He performed trial runs, made critical adjustments (and readjustments), and evaluated all the worst possible scenarios before embarking on the incredible journey. It was fascinating to read about how despite having multiple backups of equipment and tons of specialized custom equipment, things would wear out or malfunction and he would have to repair them or risk literal death in a vast and mostly unfriendly Ocean. His elevated level of ocean paddle experience and training coupled with his unwavering take-action attitude got him to Antigua just as much as his custom SUP vessel.
My favorite quote of the entire book was what Chris would say aloud to self-motivate even when the conditions were beyond terrible: “Get up, stand up, get out there, take action, make the change, be the change, now! Right now. Go!”
The incredible jaw-dropping experiences and life lessons that Chris Bertish masterfully conveyed without an ounce of arrogance during our BRA Breakfast at Surf Expo in January 2025 and with even more robust detail throughout his exciting book “All In” were massively inspiring to say the very least. I thoroughly enjoyed how he conveyed those remarkable adventures with a nice blend of maritime education, far-reaching life lessons, humor, and humility. I highly recommend that every existing and future board specialty (surf, skate, lifestyle, outdoor, SUP, swim, & wake) retailer curate this epic book into their carefully selected shop product mixes.
– Doug Works, Executive Director of the Board Retailers Association (BRA)
You can learn more about Chris Bertish, his latest adventures, and how to stock his epic books in your shop(s) by clicking: https://chrisbertish.com/ or https://www.instagram.com/chrisbertish
By the way, since we mentioned the Surf Expo Trade Show above, it is important to mention how beneficial that Surf Expo has been for so many of our BRA Retail Members for so many years for so many reasons.
We are looking forward to continuing our longstanding partnership with the incredible team at Surf Expo. We will be there again in September in a very big way with another outstanding BRA Breakfast, helpful and relevant BRA-curated Learning Labs, another super fun Tiki Toss Tournament at the BRA Booth, and more.
Here is the link to learn more and to get immediately notified as soon as registration opens: https://surfexpo.com/
If you are not yet a Board Retailers Association (BRA) Retail Member, you can easily opt into either Regular (no cost) or Distinguished ($100/yr.) Membership via this super simple join form and benefit from access to excellent BRA resources, educational programs, and relationships.