Dear Friend, What a week in geopolitics. I find it hard to believe that there remains a Trump supporter out there who is not at least a little worried about the direction America is headed right now both internally and externally. I find it difficult to see a picture where this is all roses for anyone. And those who are “architecting” it? I don’t find paranoid personality disorders enviable. Yes, it seems as though they have all the power and that there is jouissance in wielding it, but for...
7 days ago • 13 min read
Hello Surf Nerd! First of all, thanks for signing up to receive the occasional email from me. I appreciate that. Many of you follow me on Instagram or YouTube, so you may have a rough idea of what I have been up to, but I thought I'd pop in here and give you a more formal update. I spent all of December in France and Spain coaching, surfing, and eating baguettes. The swell was absolutely pumping the entire time. Everyone I coached – Alex, Yimin, Ben, and Nathan – was a bit on edge about the...
11 days ago • 8 min read
Dear Surf Fiend, Greetings from freezing and flat NY! I am officially free and clear of my sinus infection, but the surf has not participated in my return to health. As I noted in an Instagram story, however, there has been something to surf . . . if you don’t mind 1-3ft choppy conditions in 40 degree water and freezing to moderate air temps. If I were just beginning at surfing or desperately in need of reps for my sanity and continued improvement taking off and controlling the tail, I’d be...
14 days ago • 14 min read
Dear Surf Nerd, There has been a precipitous decline in my open rates over the past two weeks — from average 80-90% to 34% !!! — and I've received emails and texts asking me if I sent out a zine. I have not skipped a beat or a Friday for months! This means that these are landing in your spam and not in your inbox. Here's what you need to do immediately to counteract this: please mark this email as 'not spam' and add dion@conatussurfclub.com to your contacts. This helps ensure you get future...
21 days ago • 17 min read
Happy New Years Surf Nerd! I taped these thoughts while driving back from my third to last session in France on December 29th. I finally got the new GoPro to stay on and work for me for a bit, and I thought it'd be a good use of time to talk into the camera, to you, my friend, and share some of my thoughts about and experiences of 2025. Overall, it was a rough year with many lessons. I taught at a college for the spring semester. I taught Logic and Biomedical Ethics for the first time in my...
28 days ago • 11 min read
Happy Holidays Surf Fiends! Happy Holidays! I took this video before paddling out at Les Estagnots on Christmas morning. Now that everyone whom I've coached is back with their families, the north Atlantic has decided to take a breather. It's finally "small" enough to score some of the beachbreaks without jet skis on the best peaks. I'm holed up in a small, but efficient, studio in the cute, Basque town of Guethary. The weather is cold, but not as cold as the US east coast at the moment. I've...
about 1 month ago • 19 min read
Sorry if you're getting this twice. Scheduled it last Friday but the numbers are really weird. Lmk if you got this. -D For the most part we’ve been up in the Hossegor/Capbreton area targeting the premier small wave spot in the area: “La Sud.” La Sud, literally “the south,” is at the southern end of the Hossegor/Seignosse stretch of beach, just before the entrance to the Capbreton harbor. When Les Estagnots and La Graviere are 10-15ft, La Sud is 3-5ft and fun as all get out. What?! I know....
about 1 month ago • 28 min read
For the most part we’ve been up in the Hossegor/Capbreton area targeting the premier small wave spot in the area: “La Sud.” La Sud, literally “the south,” is at the southern end of the Hossegor/Seignosse stretch of beach, just before the entrance to the Capbreton harbor. When Les Estagnots and La Graviere are 10-15ft, La Sud is 3-5ft and fun as all get out. What?! I know. It’s so wild. Literally you’re standing there staring at fun little waves and you just turn your head to the right, look...
about 1 month ago • 28 min read
Rebrand! I know that you here reading this did not need me to rebrand the zine in order to find value in it. I was driving down the coast route from Biarritz to Guethary one day with Alex and it just popped into my head while driving, “I’m going to rebrand the zine Dr. Dion’s Surf Secrets.” Alex said, “That would crush.” I didn’t pounce on it right away. We had a lot of surfing, eating, and sleeping to do. Then one morning this week back in Hossegor I woke up at 4a and put in the work. I...
about 2 months ago • 27 min read