Name: Zane Johnston

Surfing: Crystal Pier, Pacific Beach

Lives: 32nd St. Naval Base

Pre-Surf Music: Country

Post-Surf Food: Taco Bell

“Back in Texas there aren’t a whole lot of places to surf where you’ll catch decent waves; you’ve got to look for places out there,” says Zane Johnston, 21. “There are a lot more surfers out here.”

Zane is just one of the many excited surfers in Pacific Beach enjoying a break from the winter rain. It’s his favorite place to surf. Zane is originally from Cut and Shoot, Texas, which is 40 miles north of Houston. He started surfing seven months ago after he moved here.

“Just got here, got a board, and tried it every day,” he explains. “You can’t start out too big; if you come and there are eight-foot waves, don’t get on them. But you just have to get a board and go for it.”

On one of Zane’s early outings he cut off a local surfer. He and the other surfer exchanged heated words, but it never came to a fight…the long scar on his back is from a run-in with his own board.

“It was pretty crazy. When I first started, I was surfing a longboard. My buddy cut me off, I leaned too far forward, and the board shot up and came down on my back. I got six stitches; the top was split more than the bottom. My friend thought we should go to the hospital, but I said we should just get some Taco Bell and go back out.”