Why They’re Interesting: This sporty duo isn’t afraid of dipping into Lake Erie when it’s more than a little cold, surfing whatever waves they’re able to find.
Always Active: Growing up, Sam and Caleb Skelton were always skateboarding and snowboarding around their hometown of Concord. As teens, Sam and his younger brother Caleb found surfing through a friend’s brother. Soon, they were taking boards out on Lake Erie, learning to surf through trial and error. “Caleb and I were always pretty reckless as kids. There were a few times — I’m ashamed to admit — that I would skip high school classes just to be able to go out on the lake by myself. I remember going out during thunderstorms and rain,” Sam says. “It was pretty stupid looking back, but it’s always great to be able to tell other surfers I meet while traveling that I learned how to surf on a lake instead of an ocean.” Their love of surfing doesn’t stop when Northeast Ohio’s fleeting summers end. “It’s pretty addicting,” Caleb says. “You just keep going, and then all of a sudden, it starts getting really cold, and you still want to surf — so you get wet suits.”
Side Gigs: Besides surfing, the Skeltons fill their time with traveling, camping and side gigs. Sam works in photography and drone videography; you can see his skills shine on the duo’s social media. Caleb builds fences and crafts jewelry with his wife, Elissa Hastings, for their shop, Wild Foot Studios. “We like to make sure we can have any free time we need to go surfing or go snowboarding, because the weather doesn’t really care when you work or not,” Caleb says.
All Hands on Deck: Sam and Caleb share a love of Lake Erie. Sam says they’re working toward a Cleveland-based wave pool and a television show. “The show would be a way to share the Great Lakes and the problems that are happening there with a wider audience,” Sam says. “We just want to show people how cool the resource is.” And they’re not the only surfers out there; Caleb encourages anyone interested to try out the sport on Lake Erie, with other surfers guiding the way. “It’s a pretty chill community; at least in the Great Lakes, it is,” Caleb says. “Everybody’s pretty happy to get any waves at all, so there’s not too much competition out there.”
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