Living the Endless Summer: The Space Coast’s First Family of Surf

Hurley has helped define the surf community since its founding in 1999. With the brand’s sponsored athletes dominating the waves for years, aspiring surfers and avid ocean lovers from around the world have purchased Hurley clothing to look and feel like pros when they hit the beach. With the Atlantic surf attracting visitors from all around the country, Hurley can be seen everywhere on the Space Coast, adorning the youngest beginning surfers to the oldest pros.

As an aquatic lifestyle is the center of life here on the Space Coast, the Reef brand also dominates our beaches. With its own roster of impressive athletes, it only makes sense to see this brand represented on those same aspiring surfers who represent Hurley. Though neither company is headquartered in Florida, conversation about the best of the Space Coast needs to include these brands, along with the surf culture they represent.

As I walked down to the beach at 7:30 a.m., Logan Watters and her family – husband, Phillip; son, Cash; and daughter, Copeland – commanded a presence only those born for the ocean can. The white-blonde hair of Logan Watters and her children caught the sunlight just right and their beach apparel was nothing shy of magazine worthy. Of course, this could be because Logan Watters is a sales rep for Hurley and her husband is a sales rep for Reef: a perfect career fit for this laid-back, ocean-loving couple.

They met at 16 years of age, when Logan Watters was a student at Satellite High School and her husband-to-be was surfing around the world. Though they developed a friendship and Watters thought he was “so cute,” they wouldn’t start dating until they were both 23. But it was a match made in heaven, and the two have been inseparable ever since.

As sales representatives, they are contractors who make their own hours. This allows them to be at home more with each other and their two children. Watters says she wouldn’t want it to be any other way. And, though they work for competing companies, their homelife is anything but hostile or competitive.

“A lot of people don’t [work with their spouse],” Watters said. “But Phil and I have the relationship where, when we’re apart, I feel like we fight more, but when we’re together, I feel like he’s my perfect accessory. He’s just a really rad dude and I enjoy being around him all the time.

“He brings out the goodness in me—my confidence level is much greater when I’m with him … and it’s weird; half of the couples we hang out with don’t understand,” she continued.

This embodiment of the surf culture, coupled with a family-first attitude, is representative of what makes the Space Coast – and this family – so special.

“I love everything about the surf culture,” Watters said. “I love that I married a professional surfer, and being married into it is just the raddest [sic] thing. I work for one of the best companies in the surf industry, and not only just the company, but the owner of the company is very family-oriented and is an enthusiast of incorporating your family into everything.”

Hurley and Reef are both headquartered in California, and while most might charge to join the Golden State, Logan Watters shared with me that she enjoys being located in Florida – more specifically, the Space Coast.

“I love Florida. I would move to California, I think it would be awesome – [Cash] is always frothing for some waves, and I know that California would be ideal … but I love Florida because it’s very slow-paced. I like a small town. I think it’s such a beautiful thing when you can go somewhere and know people – that’s so special.”

With the waves dominating the family’s day-to-day, a move is always possible. However, as their jobs allow them to be remote and travel, Florida seems to be the best place for them for now.

Funnily, though she is so in love and involved with surf culture, Watters does not surf. That, she says, she leaves to her husband and children.

“Mommy does not surf,” she laughed. “If you see the kids’ art, they’re all in the water and mommy is sitting on the towel.”

Before moving to the Space Coast and attending Satellite High School, she lived in Ocala, Florida. Being inland, there was no surf culture there, so she didn’t grow up on a board like her husband. And, being that she is now a mother, she shared that there is a higher sense of self-awareness within her; she is less reckless than she once was.

“Being a mom, I’m always aware of what’s underneath me,” she said. “[My kids] are not going to be able to do this life without me. If I was 16 or 17, I would be charging at it, but now I like taking the pictures – I love the mental pictures.”

As does any mother, Watters enjoys watching her children grow into themselves and their interests. Though she and her husband love working within the surf industry, she will support whatever her children decide, so long as they are happy. Of course, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Like his father, Cash hopes to become a pro surfer. And, while Copeland loves to surf, her mother shared that she is a great artist. Either way, Watters is so happy her children can enjoy the surf culture and she is excited to see where they end up. As for Watters, she hopes to remain a sales representative for Hurley for as long as possible, stating that the job is a “dream.”

Hurley and Reef are undoubtedly classics. However, it is the people behind the operations, as well as those who represent the brands, who aid in making these brands so iconic. Much like these brands and the surf culture out of which they were born, Logan Watters and her family are creative, free-spirited and family-oriented – characteristics shared by many on the Space Coast.