Surfboards seem to float in the air at Sickday.
Anyone who has ever enjoyed a day away from an office job can groove to the idea of a shop with this improbable name, but that first impression would be slightly off, as any surfer could tell you. Owner Olaf Valli explained to me that the name is a play on words: “sick” means "cool" in surfer jargon. Need a wet suit? Sickday has them,
both used for $35 and brand new, $100 to $450. Rent one and fall in love? Olaf will sell it to you, minus the rental cost. Forget your wet suit booties? He’s got those, too, as well as surfboard wax and surfboard covers, a full wall of them. And, of course, Sickday carries all the major brands when it comes time to buy a new surfboard. I admired some Indonesian bracelets that will make aspiring surfers look really “sick.” What? You don’t surf? No sweat. Olaf and his pal Brandon Silva offer surfing lessons, too. A one-on-one one-hour lesson costs $75. “Whether it’s your 1st day in the water or you just want some tips to rip,
come learn the ways of the waves on Wellfleet’s best breaks,” suggests the Sickday brochure. When I visited yesterday, Olaf had just received a shipment of shades, ie. sunglasses. I also saw classy flip-flops, swimsuits, and beach toys, including colorful boogey boards, which will certainly be a hit with parents on vacation, since they will no longer need to make the trek down to Eastham/Wellfleet line for that can't-live-without beach toy.
As usual, while exploring the shop, I listened in on a conversation between the sunglasses guy and the surfer dudes.
“Nice waves?”
“Yeh. Didn’t get hurt or sick this year, so that was pretty good.”
Olaf, behind the counter, surveyed the scene with laconic magnanimity. To one side, a poster promised an endless summer. I wish his business one perfect wave. From the look of things, this young Wellfleetian should do just fine …
