BajaNews
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Surfline founder Sean Collins dies
http://www.ocregister.com/news/collins-333098-world-waves.ht...
By LAYLAN CONNELLY
The words "Follow Your Passions" will forever be inscribed in concrete on the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street.
Sean Collins, the founder of Surfline.com, wrote the phrase when he was inducted into the Surfers Hall of Fame in 2008 and lived by those words. The
influential surfer dedicated his life to following waves, tracking winds and sharing stories of swells with the world.
Collins died Monday from a heart attack at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, according to the Orange County Coroner's Office. The Seal Beach resident
was 59.
His youngest son, A.J., said Collins was playing tennis at his club in Newport about 2 p.m. when he died suddenly and the family is together and
trying to grapple with the news.
For the surf world, his sudden death is a loss of one of the most influential surfers in the world who changed the way people sought out waves around
the world.
Collins founded the Huntington Beach-based Surfline, which started as a phone service and became one of the most powerful surf forecasting web sites
in the world, guiding surfers who once aimlessly searched for waves but now had information readily available to predict the best windows for waves.
Collins started out tracking weather patterns while spending hours at sea with his father on a sailboat. He had no formal training, just a few courses
and a passion.
By the early 1980s, friends would ask for his advice on where to hit the waves. Then surfers he didn't know started calling.
He teamed up with some Orange County businessmen to help create a phone line called Surfline. He eventually ended up buying that company and launching
the largest surf forecast web site in the world.
"People tell us we can't do it, and we're going to try that much harder," Collins said in his Hall of Fame induction speech.
Collins help the everyday surfer who wanted to get some waves before work in the morning or the world's best surfers looking for secret, undiscovered
spots. Government agencies asked for his advice about sand replenishment projects, and he personally sent out alerts when big waves were on the way
that could threaten beachfront homes.
Collins was named one of the 25 Most Influential Surfers of the Century by Surfer Magazine in the summer of 1999, the Eighth Most Powerful Surfer in
the Surf Industry by Surfer Magazine in the summer of 2002.
In a biography on Surfline.com, he said this about the secret to success: "Really simple things when you think about it. Mostly just follow your
passion, try to be a really good person and a good judge of character, and then just surround yourself with a great team and really good people. Add
lots of luck and all kinds of great things can happen."
Information about a service is pending.
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surfer jim
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Surfline is one of the best......and one of the worst things.... to happen to surfing.
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Dave
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It's my fervent wish that every surfer, in search of that perfect wave, travels to the end of the earth...
And then falls off. 
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shari
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BajaNews
http://www.ocregister.com/news/collins-333098-world-waves.ht...
In a biography on Surfline.com, he said this about the secret to success: "Really simple things when you think about it. Mostly just follow your
passion, try to be a really good person and a good judge of character, and then just surround yourself with a great team and really good people. Add
lots of luck and all kinds of great things can happen."
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Although I dont know Mr. Collins, I admire this quote and certainly agree with him. The surf world lost another great one and I wish peace and
resolution to his family and friends he left behind....god speed sir to your next perfect wave.
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EnsenadaDr
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Mood: Move on. It is just a chapter in the past, but don't close the book- just turn the page
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I think all we can do is follow our passions, its not the quantity of time we live...its the quality...make your life all it can be and never look
back
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ElCap
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Love or hate Surfline.com for how it has changed surfing, but we lost another good person. A little background on the man who has been surfing Baja
longer than most can be found here:
http://www.surfline.com/home/index.cfm
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Ateo
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Surfline enables me to not ditch my family to go surf crappy waves. Thanks Sean.
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capt. mike
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he was young - what happened?
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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elgatoloco
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| Quote: | Originally posted by capt. mike
he was young - what happened? |
Heart stopped.
MAGA
Making Attorneys Get Attorneys
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805gregg
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I met Sean at San Juanico, when I was there for my buddys 50th. He was one of the ones that wanted to shut down the camp ground, to keep the good
waves for the rich property owners.
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woody with a view
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^^^ yep ^^^
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Ateo
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Yeah, I liked the guy's website (I use it every day as does almost every surfer) but he definitely caused some problems down at Scorpion. Never met
him so I have no personal stories. He kicked ass in surf forecasting. I planned many trips down south based on his forecasts. As a human who
decries deaths of other humans, I'm bummed he died at 59. He lived a good life though.
Thanks for helping me score better waves Sean. The first 10 years I went to Baja I went whenever I could and i got skunked 80% of the time. These
days there's less skunking.
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surfer jim
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Less skunking now days.....but you will never get it uncrowded. And that is the good and bad part.
All those down days allowed me to explore and go to places not surf related....I just needed a dirt road to drive down.
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woody with a view
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i don't revel in the fact the someone has died. we're all standing in that line.
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tiotomasbcs
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Surfline is just another large Capitalist Surfing company that has lost their individuality and soul. I've never regretted missing the waves because
we learned to fish, dive, explore in our off days! The days of crowded surf started with Hollywood movies and the Beach Boys. Surf was filled with
brothers today to the sum of 50 grommets here in Pescadero. No longer just the rebels! Tio
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Ateo
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I don't think my comments qualify as "revelling".
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woody with a view
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| Quote: | Originally posted by ateo
I don't think my comments qualify as "revelling". |
i was pointing the finger at me, refering to my previous post.
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