The afternoon that started O8
My first surf in the Maldives, and the decision that became O8.
Chris Hepworth / Pexels. Editorial imagery; not a photograph of the founding session.
I’d wanted to surf for years. When I finally did, in the Maldives, I loved the whole scene: boats anchored around the break, surfers waiting together in the water, the movement between waves. I wanted to be part of that world.
Riding a wave felt like a personal relationship with the ocean. It was going to move anyway; I was learning to use that movement, to find my place in it. That felt natural in a way I hadn’t experienced before.
Then came the pull to go again. Paddle back out, catch another wave, repeat. You could keep going for as long as you had the stamina and the desire. The waves weren’t going to run out.
Coming back that afternoon, I decided I would make my life like this every day. O8 grew from that decision: to build something around the sport, the people and the way of life I wanted to be part of.
