Carolina Beach
I was back in Wilmington once again and I felt like I'd climbed back into the saddle. I was the mother of two babies living in my own home surfing my local breaks again. I had a husband who was very romantic, was my business partner, and a personal shaper. We had a surf shop that made money the first year we were open due to our family values, work ethics, and consistent participance with the ESA. Mark and I were also doing a live surf report six days a week for our local rock radio station which really put our surf shop on the map. On Mon., Wed., and Fri. Mark would get up at 6 am and drive to Wrightsville Beach and give the surf report over the air from a pay-phone. I'd do it on Tues., Thurs., and Sat. It got to the point that people would recognize my name and sometimes my voice before they ever knew my face.
Interesting fact: having done the surf report on Thursdays meant I did it every Thanksgiving (for 20 years)...something I noticed...there are always waves on Thanksgiving (in NC anyway).
Mark and I were going back to church every Sunday and became very involved with the inter workings of the congregation which became an intricate part of our surf shop's success, and eventually censorship. At first, local church members were more than happy to spend their money at a place that shared their "beliefs," later however, some thought we were heathens when we started carrying skateboard decks with sculls painted on them. Those people shouted their judgments to anyone who would listen and suddenly, to some, we weren't Christian enough. Then there were those who hated religion and/or God and would not support us because we were too Christian. It's a fickle world.
The first Hot Wax Surf Shop in Wilmington NC
The first time Mark and I went to a Surf Expo in Orlando Florida we didn't have the money to stay in a hotel two nights so we drove the 9 hours in the middle of the night and slept in the car before going to the show in the morning, without a shower, (good thing I didn't wear makeup at this point). Then we'd spend the night at a cheap hotel, eat breakfast at the nearest Denny's, then drive the 9 hours back to Wilmington. We only had one full-time employee and one part-timer so we had to get ourselves back to work. In the early years Mark's mother kept the kids, later we took them to Orlando with us. They were a constant at the shop too. We didn't have money for a sitter, and, I really didn't want to leave them at one anyway so I took them to work with me. They were well behaved and helped out with sizing, restocking, and sometimes selling. When the kids turned 12 we started paying them. Hot Wax was literally a family owned and operated business.
In the early years of going to the Surf Expo it was hard getting Billabong and Quicksilver to sell to us however, we got Hot Tuna, Beach Town, Body Glove, and Gotcha just to name a few to fill our racks. Rusty was only a shaper and Hurley worked for billabong at this time. As I said before Mark's brother had a Hot Wax in Atlantic Beach so we purchased the big surf guys through him. Reggie Barnes was a friend I made back in the days of Surf City Surf Shop and was doing well with his Eastern Skate Supply company. He filled our walls with skate everything! Mark was shaping ProLine Surfboards and stocked us up with a variety of boards from a 5'6" fish to 7'10" funboard. He also did a lot of custom surfboards which was a huge part of our success. Robert August sold us longboards and Greg Wade of Victory Wetsuits sold us neoprene.
Unfortunately, during this time Mark's brother was not paying his bills and red flags went up concerning the name Hot Wax. He was ordering stuff for us when he ordered his own merchandise, then we'd pay him, but he didn't always pay the venders. Eventually he went out of business owing a lot of money. Most surf companies and their bookkeeping departments are on the west coast so it took a lot of phone calls and Surf Expos to help venders understand that we were NOT Hot Wax AB, but Hot Wax Wilm. and that the problem Mark's brother was having paying his bills was not related to us. We had perfect credit. It was the first big hurtle we jumped and it actually worked in our favor. It brought our success out into the open and soon we had our choice of surf companies. Shortly after that we started looking for a bigger retail space because we were bulging through our 800 square foot seams.
A tree limb fell on our house during Hurricane Gloria
In October of 1987 Mark and I put on our first of many Hot Wax Challenge surf contests. That first year we held it at Crystal Pier, Wrightsville Beach. Hurricane Gloria had just hit in September and us surfers were excited over the good chance for waves, which was why we picked hurricane season to hold the Challenge in the first place. We asked our venders to donate merchandise for not only the winners, but also for the spectators on the beach. We were met with a very cooperative attitude and the Hot Wax Challenge became one of the most sought after contest to be at because of all the stuff. My job over the weekend was to be on the microphone calling up the heats and stirring up excitement. I asked trivia questions so the spectators could win hats, T shirts, and other surf trinkets. I was also the person who heard the complaints when someone lost their heat. Surfers never lose anything so they have a tendency to claim it's the judges' fault if they don't advance to the finals. Consequently, I heard soccer-mom and little league attitudes when 'their kids' didn't win, and many of the older surfers who got close to winning the mother-load of goodies but would lose in their final, griped too. It got to be hysterical...then it got to be really annoying.
The first Hot Wax Challenge winner's tables
During this time I started reading my third Bible. The New International Version (NIV) my bar tender friend gave me in Hawaii was now falling apart. I had also placed a lot of mementoes within the pages of the islands I'd lived on, so, I felt now that I was back on the mainland, it was a good time to retire it.
Since I went back to teaching 6th grade Sunday School I decided to get a new modern translation. I settled for a University Edition of the Bible. It's an NIV put out by the International Bible Society of Colorado. It was a lot like The Way my Mom gave me back in high school. However after so much studying, the University Edition was kind of a simple read so, along side it I read a King James version. I only read the KJV from cover to cover once though. I liked it, the wording is very Shakespearean, however, I don't really think King James was a good human prospect to have a translation of the Bible...I'm just saying...
On a personal note, these years were a time of ever-increasing introspection. I desired to come to terms with other philosophies in order to be more understanding for my kids who were growing up and becoming their own person. I was looking for the definition of Tolerance. I begun studying Western Civilization and the philosophers that came out of that period. I also read about the questionable religious beliefs that followed. Soon I was picking up books about Eastern Religions, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormonism just to name a few, which disturbed the church I was attending. Eventually my curiosity would drive a wedge between Mark and me. He didn't have the desire to read the Bible on his own nor challenge the ideas, judgments, and orders set forth from behind the pulpit like I did (regularly). He believed more of what he was told. The truth was, he was never a big fan of intellectualism and I was becoming a bona fide Kierkegaard existentialist with a Spinoza attitude. My favorite Saint became Augustine and my favorite rebel Martin Luther. Soon even the church would set out to give me the boot calling me a loose cannon. But that would be in the future, first I had to climb up the church's organized food chain where the meat eaters were.
I want to close with this about Mark...
For an Anniversary and Christmas gift to me, Mark bought me a brand new sleek black and gunmetal Pathfinder. But he didn't just give it to me. Being the romantic guy he was Mark hid it until Christmas morning. I unraped a set of keys and ran out the door to see the classy looking black utility vehicle with a bright red bow on the hood. I jumped inside to take it for a ride. Mark had put a cassette tape in it from Mark Farner. He was singing Isn't It Amazing What A Prayer Can Do. I cried.
When I got back from my ride Mark told me I needed to take my Stanza Wagon to Everhart Nissan. I was very happy to do that!
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