In the 1960s, Bolinas was a small fishing village with a few vacation homes along the cliff and beach.

In the early 70s, a huge oil spill off the coast threatened to kill much of the natural habitat and marine life. It was at this point that Bolinas was discovered. Hundreds of hippies from Berkeley and the Haight-Ashbury made their way to Bolinas to rescue birds and clean up the oil spill. Many of them liked Bolinas so much that they decided to settle down here. In the early 70's the number of homes more than tripled, changing Bolinas from a small fishing village to a thriving community full of young idealists. In mid 70's the new community decided to stop all growth in Bolinas by restricting water rights to new homebuilders.

It was during this period that the road sign to Bolinas was first torn down with the hope of making the town more difficult for new people to find. Every decade or so, the county of Marin replaced the sign, but it was always torn down within days.

The last sign (seen above in 1992) wasn't up for more than 24 hours. (The original road sign read "Bolinas 2" with an arrow pointing in the direction of the town. Thus creating the 2 Mile legend.)

Restricting development and taking down road signs was an effective way to keep Bolinas off the map into the early 90s. But in the age of MapQuest and million-dollar remodels, it isn't enough. Bolinas has been changing into what you might expect of a beach town just an hour away from San Francisco. The changes have created mixed feelings for the local community. For some carpenters, real estate agents, and local businesses, the changes have created new opportunities. But it has also become more difficult for free-thinking artists and idealists to survive, and the town has certainly lost some of the isolation that first attracted them.

John had been making custom surfboards since he was a kid on the east coast. After college, he went on to open a surf shop in Cape Cod called the Pump House. This is where he started shaping under the Mystic Label. Over the next few years, John shaped and glassed hundreds of boards for his customers. In 1995, John sold the Pump House and moved to California in search of better waves and warmer winters. John kept the Mystic Surfboard label and continued to shape in California. He quickly built a reputation as being one of the best underground shapers in the Bay Area.

Nick started a surf school, Bolinas Surf Lessons, in 1998. Nick used to meet his surf students at the Bolinas Surf Lessons van and walk to the beach to offer surf lessons. Having grown up surfing in Bolinas, Nick had an abundance of local knowledge to share with his students. Combined with his patience and love for the sport of surfing, he was the right choice for anyone who wanted to learn to surf in the Bay Area.

Bolinas Surf Lessons and Mystic Surf Boards were both successful because of the hard work John and Nick put into their businesses as well as the word-of-mouth advertising they received from satisfied customers.

In the spring of 2003 John and Nick opened the doors of 2 Mile Surf Shop. John shapes custom Mystic surfboards and keeps a range of pre-made sizes in stock at the shop. Since 2 Mile is so close to the beach, Nick can run Bolinas Surf Lessons out of the surf shop instead of the van.

In the fall of 2008 Nick and John met Drew Reinstein while surfing. Everyone hit it off well and started discussing some scenarios. Drew had recently retired from his corporate job and along with his wife, Terri D'Ambrogi, who had Bassett Laurel a children’s boutique in Petaluma partnered in on the purchase of High Tide In Petaluma. Hide Tide’s name was changed to Sonoma Coast Surf Shop in 2008.

Shortly after the ocean meeting, Drew and Terri partnered again and purchased 2 Mile in spring 2009 from John and Nick. The 4 formed a partnership that should last a long time. 2 Mile was quickly renovated and opened up inside to allow for more rental boards, new wetsuits and other items from smaller surf brands.

The sale enabled Nick and John to still be involved in 2 Mile. Nick continues to run Bolinas Surf Lessons and the shop serves as his base. Our awesome summer surf camps were added at this time. John moved to Santa Cruz and is still the in-house shaper. John regularly visits the shop and keeps in touch with the Bolinas community. John is often the master of ceremonies at 2MSS events.

In 2016, Drew and Terri sold Sonoma Coast Surf Shop to an employee, and their daughter Lilly headed off to college. With big changes and more time on their hands, the new direction was to be focusing solely on 2 Mile Surf Shop and the Bolinas community. Terri is able to put her 30 plus years of buying, merchandising and visual design experience that was previously dedicated to SCSS to work at 2MSS. Her previous involvement with chairing events, event planning and community activism/fundraising will also lend a hand in creating events for 2 Mile Surf Shop and partnering with the local community. Oh yeah, she is still the lead bean counter.

2 Mile Surf Shop has a fleet of rental boards and suits, a large selection of long, mid-sized, retro and short boards from a number of reputable brands, a range of wetsuits, boots, gloves, and hoods and if you forgot your shorts, sandals or sunscreen 2 Mile's got all your beach needs covered.  We are always updating and changing the items we offer so poke your head in from time to time and check it all out.