I Asked Jon Pyzel What Wax He Uses

June 2026, Ericeira, Portugal. 

I walk into 58 Surf Shop. Jon Pyzel’s not there yet, but he will be. Soon. Beers are flowing. Something of an open-air podcast studio waits for his arrival. He and I will sit there and chat. A small crowd has gathered to witness this and engage with the man himself afterwards. 

Jon arrives. Beers still flowing. Ok, let’s do this… except, the audio starts fucking up. In production, it’s always the audio fucking up. 

Despite hardly being able to hear each other, I learned a lot about Jon in those forty minutes. The biggest takeaway? Sounds dumb, or perhaps just obvious, but the guy just fucking loves surfing. 

He moved to Hawaii pretty young to spend more time in the water. Started painting houses to make money. Switched to fixing boards because it was more fun than painting houses. Eventually got his hands on some polyurethane that needed to be shaped instead of repaired. Built boards that win World Titles, boards that win SITD, boards that force the Merriam-Webster team to modify their definition of power surfing. Now runs one of the world’s largest board businesses (as a B-Corp) and still skips the weekly Zoom meeting whenever there are waves. 

Respect.

After we chatted, Jon spent hours talking to everyone who’d shown up. Smiling, handshaking, offering insights and opinions, and seeming to genuinely enjoy it. A rare breed. 

Hit above for a glimpse into the life of the man behind your favorite (John wins our audience survey every year) surfer’s favorite surfboards.

Shoutout to the crew at Polen Surfboards, who build Pyzel’s boards in Europe, for pulling it together.