Avalanche Jetty, Ocean Beach

Name: Seth Roloff

Lives: Alpine

Surfing: Avalanche Jetty, Ocean Beach

Vehicle: 1984 Mercedes 300SD Turbo Diesel

Seth Roloff's 1984 Mercedes 300SD died in its spot on this hazy Saturday morning. "I was excited to see the surf was so good this morning and nobody was out here. So I took off in a rush and left my lights on."

A Samaritan in a Land Rover agrees to give Roloff a jumpstart, and it takes two people to open the hood because of a faulty latch.

"Everything has been going wrong with this car since I bought it," Roloff says. An old lady in East County sold him the car for $3000.

"She had it serviced by Mercedes since the day she bought it, so it was cherry when I got it."

Roloff bought the Mercedes to commute to Ocean Beach three or four times a week for the surf. He fits his 7'0" BYB speed egg in the car by laying the front seat down, sticking the nose under the dash, and the tail of the board sits on the rear seatback.

"You could get an eight-foot board in there. Anything bigger, and I have to use [roof racks]."

Roloff, 22, has been surfing for the past 11 years.

"I've seen a guy die at Hospitals surf spot in La Jolla, by Scripps," he says. "The guy had a helmet and everything. He beefed it bad on the reef and never came up for air. His leash busted, his board floated in, and about ten minutes later, lifeguards were dragging him out of the water. I'm not sure if he died or not, but it didn't look good."