“In one way or another, every landform and creature on Earth
reflects the presence of the oceans.
Understanding the Earth’s oceans is essential to our understanding of human history,
the origin of life, weather and climate, medicines, the health of the environment,
energy sources, and much more.”
Lately, we’ve been handing out Coastie Culture business cards left and right to any and every person we meet who seems remotely interested in water, kayaking, or angling- carefully explaining that our business will officially launch “soon”. The one question that immediately follows is, “what kind of business is this?” The answer to that question is something we have tossed around for a while now, and we have finally been able to nail that down.
Over a year ago, we sat looking at our one and only kayak and decided that it shouldn’t just be a toy in our garage. We made the choice to shift our career-driven lives into a Coastie Culture. Since then, we’ve added three more yaks to the fleet and spent hundreds of hours on the water (with and without fish).
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| Crystal and Tony (husband and wife)- Owners of Coastie Culture |
After building our social media presence, collecting some wonderful sponsors, and meeting so many amazing people, we sat at that same garage table while staring at our yaks and, thanks to some advice from Brooke and Robert Dunning (our friends over at Allgood Auto), decided on a mission for Coastie Culture.
Mission: Coastie Culture is the connection between man (or woman) and water. It is the idea that we are a reflection of the coastline. It is simply getting outside to explore the merging of land and water. Coastie Culture is self-improvement, exploration, conservation, experience, and safety.
Self- Improvement
Getting outside for a mere 5 minutes a day has been scientifically proven to ease depression, improve your outlook and focus, as well as strengthen your immune system. According to the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, the closer you live to nature, the healthier you're likely to be. Even more so when you live closer to the water. Science shows that just being in nature can improve your brain function.
Coastie Culture focuses on kayaking as a means of spending time outside--- because of this, there are added physical health benefits. Just one hour of kayaking burns about 350 calories! It improves strength by providing a full-body workout when implementing proper paddling techniques. Kayaking decreases fat and builds lean muscle muscle mass. Men’s Journal has even dubbed kayaking as one of the best workouts for heart health (Huffington Post).
Exploration
Coastie Culture yaks in three counties: Galveston, Brazoria, and Harris.
Aside from there being over 1 million different species in the ocean, about ⅔ of the ocean’s species remain undiscovered and according to the EPA, “The Gulf of Mexico yields more finfish, shrimp, and shellfish annually than the south and mid-Atlantic, Chesapeake, and New England areas combined.” There are mysteries in our waters calling to curious minds.
History tells us that the pirate, Jean LaFitte, had a big hand in establishing Galveston--- that, alone, is enough to pique interest, but I will also add that Galveston is said to be one of the most haunted cities in the United States. You can tour all of these points of interest by foot or car--- but why not take the yak to explore this island filled with Victorian-era architecture. There is something alluring about a city that has survived the worst natural disaster in U.S. History.
Some of the most gorgeous species of birds roost in Galveston County, but Brazoria County is home to more species of birds than any other county in the country. You haven’t lived until you have been on the water less than 20 yards from a Roseate Spoonbill (Spoonie)- the feeling is indescribable.
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| Roseate Spoonbill (www.ownbyphotography.com) |
Our Gulf beaches are often considered some of the best shelling beaches in North America- boasting more than 400 species of shells.
If you need more of an adrenaline rush, all three counties house multiple freshwater and brackish bayous that are great for alligator spotting although we try not to get too close on account of the desire to keep all of our limbs. Most of the Coasties down here like to leave the gators to the experts in Louisiana, but you’ll often find us spending a day in the saltwater in search of the South Texas Slam - you’ve got to earn your angling accolades by snagging a redfish, a flounder, and a speckled trout all in the same day.
Conservation
Coastie Culture is a big advocate of conservation efforts. While fishing, we practice catch and release a majority of the time. There is nothing wrong with taking an excellent meal home for your family from time-to-time; however- we are on the water a few times a week, and it’d just be flat-out irresponsible and wasteful for us to keep every fish we caught. For future anglers and marine biologists, we want to leave some of those big boys out there to fight another day. It’s just our way of showing gratitude to the fish for providing us with a good day on the water.
A standing rule at Coastie Culture is to ALWAYS leave the coast looking better than when you got there. Thanks to the Russ at Coastal Country Cleanup for leaving free mesh-bags at surrounding bait and tackle shops, so we are all able to keep one with us on the yak to hold our trash. We also like to try to fill our bags with whatever else we see discarded on our coastline since we love where we live and want others to love it too.
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| Coastal Country Cleanup |
Seaweed- sometimes there’s seaweed collected on the coastline down here in Galveston. It doesn’t always smell too pretty, but we are grateful for the fact that it is helping to cut down on the erosion of our beaches - which is extremely important considering that the Gulf of Mexico has the nation’s highest erosion rates ( up to 6 feet a year ).
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| Yak right over that seaweed. |
Experience
The more a person experiences on the coast, the more likely they are to grow to love it just as much as we do. Coastie Culture is about having fun and creating memories with friends and family. We want you to experience the health benefits of being outside. We want you to experience the self-confidence that comes from challenging yourself physically. We want you to experience the thrills of exploration. We want you to experience the feeling of appreciation and admiration for the environment. We want to feed your coastal curiosity and inspire all sorts of future anglers, yakkers, nature enthusiasts, and scientists. There is no better way to do that than to provide a fantastic and safe experience out on the water.
Safety
Self-Improvement, Exploration, Conservation, and Experience weigh next to nothing when scaled against Safety. At Coastie Culture we are well-aware that our bays, marshes, and bayous can pose some hazards for even the most experienced kayakers. That’s why we have partnered up with the American Canoe Association. The ACA is the leading non-profit organization dedicated to expanding proper paddlesport education. Coastie Culture is owned by an ACA Certified Kayak Instructor (Tony) who can instruct you on proper paddling techniques or safety and rescue procedures. We also offer Intro to Kayaking courses.
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| Our ACA Certified Kayak Instructor, Tony |
*Remember to "Cast the Coast" safely.
We are planning to launch our ACA courses and various Coastie Culture kayaking experiences this summer, as soon as we can finalize all of the legalities (ie: insurance, staff training, and other logistical red-tape). Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Blogger to stay updated.
Until then, we’d like to thank our families, friends, and everyone in this industry who has supported and encouraged our dream for Coastie Culture---- go check them out:
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