Article From WBAY.com
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (WBAY) -- Just a few blocks from the shores of Lake Michigan in downtown Sheboygan, you’ll find Wisconsin’s first surf shop.
“The shop actually originally started as Second Revolution,” explained Andrew Jakus, owner of EOS Surf Shop. “It was actually a skateboard and punk rock music store.”
Jakus worked as an employee at EOS Surf Shop from 2007 to 2014. Then, in late in 2021, he was given the chance to return, this time as the owner.
“It was actually my wife, Hannah, who really challenged me to say ‘Hey, actually, this might be a really cool, different opportunity to be able to impact the community in a different way,” Jakus said.
He took his wife’s advice and dove headfirst into the new challenge. A few years later, he enjoys helping support the surf scene in Sheboygan, made up of talented individuals including his friend, James French, the man who introduced Andrew to the sport when the two were young kids.
“I think we were 7 or 8 years old,” French recalled. “Had like the little foamy surf boards.”
French, an accomplished race car driver, is proud to surf the freshwater swells available right in his hometown of Sheboygan.
“Overhead, high waves. Super clean and nice sets,” French described. “It’s unbelievable how good of waves we actually get. Very, very lucky.”
It’s not just the waves that has French feeling thankful.
“There’s no sharks,” he laughed. “I’m very anti-shark.”
What Lake Michigan lacks in shark threats, it provides an opportunity for people to get outdoors and enjoy themselves, no matter what time of the year it may be. That’s right. They surf the waters of Wisconsin 12-months out of the year.
“Having something active and fun to do, without having to go spend money, right?” said French. “Mother Nature provides it. It’s good exercise. It keeps you fit and it’s just a ton of fun. It keeps you addicted to the weather. That’s the only problem. You’re just watching the forecast. Watching and hoping.”
Jakus agrees.
“We have to be willing to drop whatever we’re doing in that maybe one-to-three-hour window when conditions are good,” he explained.
It’s a sense of dedication and fun that Andrew and his wife hope to continue to introduce people to through the shop with the implementation of lessons, potential new rental stand locations, group classes and other programs to keep people coming to Sheboygan.
“One of the things I truly believe is that we have such an incredible resource in Lake Michigan here,” Jakus said. “I want to give the ability for people to enjoy the resource, right? To not take advantage, to not lose sight of how much of an incredible gift it is that we have.”
The gift of nature and surfing, all available in the ‘Malibu of the Midwest.’
“Malibu is incredible. It is an awesome place,” Jakus said. “Sheboygan is the same thing on its own scale. I don’t want to be Malibu. I want to be Sheboygan because we have something special and unique.”
