Back in 2018 Matt Titone and the crew at Indoek put together “The Saint Augustine Issue”, a wonderful 92-page print celebration of the Oldest City — filled with art, history, photography, food, and surfing in St. Augustine. One of the features — Tales From The Pump — went inside The Surf Station and the many things the shop (and Tory) has done for the people who have come up through the store since its opening back in 1984. And while the print issue has been out for awhile, we’ll be featuring some of the stories that comprise the feature right here in the coming weeks. (And in case you missed the issue, limited copies are still available for purchase here.)
For the second installment, we’re featuring Russell Brownley’s words. Russell moved from Virginia Beach to Saint Augustine to attend Flagler College, and fell in love with the Oldest City. Now living in Carlsbad, CA with his wife and two kids, Russell works as a freelance filmmaker for brands like Nike, Google, Timberland, Reef, World Vision, Patron and Redbull.
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Working at the Surf Station was not only one of the best jobs I’ve ever had, but also an amazing place for me to interact with one of my favorite surfing communities in the world: St. Augustine.
Whether it was chaperoning some of the local legends (Zander Morton, Jeff McNally, Jeff Logan, Jacob Hamilton) at a young age to Costa Rica alongside Bo Strange, the brother of Tory Strange, or just hanging out at the shop on a Sunday afternoon. It was much more than a job, it was being part of a culture.
I grew up in Virginia Beach, a massive navy town with too much going on. I went to St. Augustine for college, I loved the quaintness of the city immediately and was accepted with open arms by the amazing community there. Surf Station was a huge part of that for me. I worked alongside 15-year-old Jimmy Wilson, who went on to be one of the most successful surf photogs in the world. In fact, so many influential figures in the surf world have worked at the shop at some point. So much of the inspiration that I received when I was making surf films came from standing on the stairs at the shop, studying VHS surf films on the television. I was able to justify it as working because I still had a view of the front door if anyone came in!
Since my time at Flagler College and living in St. Augustine I have gone on to travel and work in more than 70 countries as a filmmaker. That said, St. Augustine is still one of my favorite cities on the planet and I get so excited every time I get to go back. It truly is an amazing cultural gem in the middle of Florida. It makes me so happy every time I go back to visit and see how the locals have made the city into something that is better than anywhere else in Florida, or in the southeast for that matter. Just seeing what Jeff [McNally] has done with Floridian, or even Jacob Hamilton with his landscaping business and nursery. People have so much pride in that town and I love it. At the end of the day, they all spent their time at the shop at some point or another.
For Part 1, featuring Zander Morton’s words, click here.
