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Flying Point Surf Camp isn’t just about learning how to ride waves, it also teaches kids confidence and water safety skills so that not only can they have fun in the ocean, they can do it safely. Photos by Colin M. Graham

Southampton - It's been hard not to notice the new U.S. Air Force inspired logos for the Flying Point Surf Camp that have been popping up all over town this summer, and if you were wondering why you hadn't seen them before this summer, it's because they didn't exist.

Not that Flying Point Surf Camp is new; owner and head instructor Shane Dyckman started the surf school eight years ago. "I always ran my business out of my pick-up truck and a big red book and this year I wanted to legitimize myself a little bit and create something so I came up with that logo," said Dyckman one morning during lessons down at Fowler's Beach. "It started out just helping friends kids and family members, teaching them how to surf and one thing lead to another and after I had a full week of lessons I decided to start charging," he related. "Every year it just grows and grows because the kids get a little bigger and then their siblings start joining and their friends and family friends. It's a great way to spend the summer on the beach."

The camp runs Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. until 12 noon with private lessons offered in the afternoons and on weekends, but as Dyckman points out, it isn't just about learning how to ride a wave; as a former Ponquogue lifeguard, Dyckman has a vested interest in teaching kids about water safety, while they also have fun in the ocean. "We're teaching these kids something that they learn for their whole lives; it's not just about riding waves, we're teaching them how to be safe in the ocean. If anything comes up in their lives in the future in the water they'll make it in. We're really teaching them something valuable."

Flying Point Surf Camp runs Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 12 noon and offers private lessons in the afternoons and on weekends.

In addition to the new logo, Flying Point Surf Camp now has a new location on North Sea Road in Southampton Village in the space that used to be part of his wife's business, Collette Designer Consignment, which he helped run. "I turned my furniture store into a board shop with 60 surfboards for sale there and it's just great to have an office space, people can come in, make a reservation, buy a tee-shirt," said Dyckman. "I decided to do it this winter - it was something that I always wanted to do for years in that location because I've had the lease on it for awhile. So this winter I pulled the trigger, cleared out all the furniture, redid the whole place, painted everything and built surfboard racks. I turned it into an old-fashioned surf club - guys used to get together, rent an old barn and fill it with boards and it was a surf club. That's really part of what we're trying to recreate."

It also helps to have a home base where the kids can hang out if the weather isn't being cooperative. "We also have a clubhouse upstairs for the kids with a pool table, foosball and a mini-movie theater if it's rainy out and we're not surfing," said Dyckman. "I really just established it, made it more legitimized. Rather than trying to find me in a pick-up truck now you know where I am."