whereisthecoool:

RIP Sean Collins

Founder of Surfline.com; he created system to predict waves

It’s with deep sadness that we must report on the untimely passing of one of the greatest innovators of both surf and web culture. Sean Collins, the founder and acting chief forecaster for Surfline.com, passed away Monday afternoon after suffering a heart attack near his southern California home.

Collin’s legacy is currently chronicled in an article posted to the Surfline.com homepage—a must read for anyone who has laid eyes on a webcam for your local break. Collins was a hero in the surf community, and was a true embodiment of what a commitment to your dreams can create.

The surf coach at our shared high school alma mater would often point to his house on the bluff as a source of inspiration as we froze on the shore, a testament to what hard work and vision can achieve. Collins has been the brains behind nearly all of the major big wave expeditions in the last decade, but more personally he has been the inciting stoke for most of the surf sessions I have had in that time.

With tech innovations such as streaming HD cameras coming straight to the iPhone, Collin’s managed to keep us all psyched on surfing and in touch with ocean even when our schedules may not permit.

Thanks Sean for getting me out of bed on those near-freezing February mornings, and for letting me curl back into the pillows when the surfs 1-2’.

- Luke Thomas Johnson.