Tsinte's Custom Board Story

My shoulders lifted high and I beamed with pride as Tsinte, a young Tolowa woman, shared her exciting news. "I've been saving up money for a long time. Initially, I wanted to buy a goat, but I've decided to buy a surfboard instead." 

I was a bit surprised. A custom surfboard is expensive, and a goat would bring considerable value to both her family and tribal community. So I asked, "Are you sure you don't want to buy the goat?"

She replied, "I've talked with my whole family about it, and everyone supports my decision." 

"Well then," I said, "let's talk about board options."

We grinned at each other, then looked out over the ocean at South Beach as we discussed what she might be looking for.

I couldn’t help but look at her fondly, remembering the first retreat I hosted for her community in 2017. Tsinte was only 9 years old at that first retreat. She was remarkable in that she was the very first participant to go into the ocean, the first one to catch a wave, and the first one to stand up on her surfboard. Her focus, determination, and composure were inspirational, a quality I would come to recognize in all of her tribal community.

Tsinte has joined our surfing retreats every year since. I’ve seen her surfing progression over the years, have witnessed her grow from a young girl to a young woman, and feel a kinship with her and her family after getting to know them for so long now.

When I think of Tsinte, I think of honor.

One year, Tolowa Dee-ni’ invited me and our group of volunteers to come to a dinner at their cultural learning center. Tsinte was there to greet each one of us warmly, giving us a tour of the place, and making sure we were fed and had a place to sit while we ate. She made us all feel like honored guests, and it was such a blessing to feel that this young woman will bring up the next generation with the honor she reflects from her family and ancestors.

Tsinte chose my personal 'KP' surfboard model, which has been shaped many times over by a local Maui master crafter named Jeff Timpone. It's an all-around longboard with the capability of catching many waves and turning like a shortboard, while still allowing the ability to crosstep and hang toes.

That day, I asked Uncle Jeff (Timpone) how long it would take to shape a new one. Within two weeks, the board was shaped, shipped, and delivered. I retrieved the board from Portland International Airport and drove it five-plus hours to her family's home at the mouth of the Smith River to give it to her in person. The entire family was present to celebrate this momentous occasion; it was likely the first custom-shaped board that anyone in her Tribal community had ever owned.

Together, we removed the board from its protective wrapping. I showed her how to install her new fins, how to correctly connect the leash string and leash, and how to handle the board to keep it safe. As we felt the edges and contours of the board together, I described the function of each, and we both had the same expression of excitement on our faces. A whole new world was waiting for Tsinte!
~Kelly Potts

Del Norte Surfers Retreat Newsletter - '23

A note from the Director, Kelly Potts

This summer’s Del Norte Surfers Retreat was one for the books. The day I drove down the coast from Oregon to Northern California to start prepping for the retreat, I heard news of the wildfires that wiped out my hometown of Lahaina, on the same day ravaging another part of Maui in upcountry, Kula. The devastation was shocking. It all happened in one day. 

When I arrived at the Elk Valley Rancheria campground that day, waves of grief washed over me as I offloaded the All Are We trailer and set up our volunteer camp alone. 

The next day I went to grab supplies at the grocery store. Midway through, I found I was holding on to random objects that I didn’t realize I brought into the store with me. That’s when I went back to my truck to have a talk with myself. 

Is one woman going to make or break the relief effort, if I ditched everything right then and there to fly home and do whatever I could to help? Or was it more important that I follow through with providing the retreat, with so many folks counting on me to be there? 

I decided I needed to stay and follow through with hosting the retreat. Which led to the next talk I needed to have with myself. “You need to stay present with so many precious lives in your hands.” Practicing being in the present moment was challenging alone, but help was on the way. 

The sight of volunteers showing up was automatic relief: having company to distract me from everything going on back home, folks to bring me joy and laughter, support and encouragement. The only way we pulled off the Del Norte Surfers Retreat this summer was through the effort of the huge-hearted volunteers who came to offer their love and support to the precious tribal communities of Del Norte County in Northern California. 

And we had a blast doing it!

Here are some of the highlights from this summer’s Del Norte Surfers Retreat:

1. Surfers who have come to surf with us each year since 2017 came back for more - that’s 5 years!! (because we didn’t offer programs during covid).

2. One of our returning surfers, Tsinte, came up to me after one of her lessons this summer and said, “I’ve been saving up money for years and I thought I wanted to buy a goat with it, but instead I would like to buy a surfboard.” I helped her order her first custom surfboard, which could be the first ever amongst her tribal community.

3. Last year, after the Del Norte Surfers Retreat, I learned about the North Coast Jr. Lifeguards program offered in Crescent City and reached out to the program director, Dillon Cleavenger, to ask about securing 12 scholarships for tribal youth to attend for free. This year, all those spots were secured and filled. Dillon let me know that providing those scholarships for the Del Norte Tribal community will be a part of their policy each year moving forward. From our talks with Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, they would like to secure even more spots for their youth in 2024.

4. Also in my conversation with the great folks at Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, we have planned a beach festival style day-retreat in the spring of 2024 to introduce their new YEAR-ROUND program!! They want to kick off the introduction of the program with a celebration, so stay tuned with information about when the event will be, and volunteer opportunities to come help out. It should be a lot of fun! 

There were so many other highlights from this summer; too many to mention them all. It was sweet to see an entire family sign up to learn how to surf together, new faces joined us this year, an auntie and her nephew had a lesson to themselves (so cute!), returning surfers were starting to show up with their own gear, one returning surfer offered to help his cousin get into waves… The list goes on and on. 

Some of the sweetest moments were hanging out with all the volunteers at the end of the day, sitting around the campfire, eating food together, and telling stories about all they witnessed while they offered their support for this amazing community. Volunteers who had never met before grew close, and a new ‘ohana (family) was made.

Big Mahalo Nui Loa (much gratitude) to our Volunteers from this summer’s Del Norte Surfers Retreat! We did it! Thanks for having my back when I needed it the most.