By Gabriella Bancheri
Thirty-four-year-old YouTuber, novelty wave surfer, and NJ local Ben Graeff, known more widely as Ben Gravy on social media, has just completed the first surf tour of its kind: he has surfed seven seas in seven days. That’s about 30,000 miles. In less than 170 hours. We can try to guess how many energy drinks he might have consumed to pull it off, but the world may never know. What we do know, though, is what he shared about his experience as a novelty wave surfer and content creator.
When I asked him to tell me a bit about his brand, I had two obvious questions: Why the pineapple, and where did the name ‘Gravy’ come from? Ben got his catchy and memorable alias from a high school friend, and it just so happened to stick. So, when Ben created his Instagram handle, he took advantage of the memorable nickname.
As for the iconic sunglasses-clad pineapple, which you have very likely seen if you frequent any of the beaches from Atlantic City to Longport, Ben surprised me (something he did more than once during our interview). He shared that the idea originally came from his desire to create a merch in the form of a surf wax candle, since he noticed a lack of candles in the surf space. He credits his wife, Jordan, for the design of the candle and the pineapple logo itself.
While it seems like everything seems to have just fallen into place from the catchy name to the iconic brand, it’s also important to add that Ben seems to have a knack for finding exactly what a space is missing and he doesn’t fail to open the door when opportunity knocks.
When you show the world an epic journey like this one, it’s inevitable that there will be a few questions, and I had plenty. First and foremost, I asked Ben what the catalyst for such a wild idea was. It almost seems impossible considering the logistics. Just a few years ago, Ben managed to find a wave in all fifty states. Yes, even in Kansas, which he discovered through a Kansas City kayaking group online.
Ben told me that what he thought would be a “lifelong” excursion only took him three-and-a-half years to complete. After this, he started thinking big. Initially, he told me, he wanted to surf every country in the world (and after his accomplishments to date, it seems likely that he will), but that would definitely take a long time.
So, he narrowed the scope a bit and decided the seven seas was a better, more tangible fit for his current journey. He came up with the idea in 2020 and pitched it to Red Bull for an endorsement with the phrase “7 in 7.” They shot him down because, let’s face it, it sounds insane. But after asking again three years later, Ben received the green light and began planning.
Starting in Chiba, Japan and ending in Oslo, Norway, he slept mainly on planes and ran on sheer adrenaline. Along the way he surfed in Bells Beach and Sydney, Australia, Galveston, Texas, and Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he, of course, had plenty of supporters cheering him on before his last stop in Oslo.
Along the tour, he had two favorite spots: Bali and Oslo. Bali because the waves were great and the water was warm—a surfer’s dream—and Oslo because the state of the waves were a pleasant surprise (they exist). Aside from the waves, Ben’s favorite part of the journey was seeing completely opposite sides of the world in such a short span of time, giving him an extremely unique perspective.
There were some challenges and personal struggles that he shared with me as well. He said that while the surfing itself seemed to be “pretty casual,” it was the sheer “magnitude” of the journey that became daunting at times. Sure, if you jumped into a new body of water every day for a week, each destination thousands of miles apart, it could start feeling pretty surreal. Ben said that battling his own doubts was one of the most difficult parts of the journey. And maybe the fact that he slept on a plane most nights had a little something to do with it.
Aside from that, he shared that Galveston presented the most difficulties due to a combination of logistical difficulties and exhaustion. Because he wanted to include a novelty wave, he planned to go tanker surfing. But by the time his crew got there, the wind was rough and they were told they’d missed most of the tankers already. At this stage, “the whole tour literally could’ve fallen apart,” as he said. But lo and behold, they pulled through and he ended up riding several waves—and just two days later, mission accomplished.
When I asked Ben why he did it, he didn’t say for the views or to make money, or to be the first etc., etc. He said, “When I successfully pull [these plans] off, it’s more about the journey and [doing] something that I’m proud of.” He says he’s “lucky enough to have a platform where [he’s able to] speak to a lot of people,” and ultimately hopes he can inspire kids to find a “spark” to go out and “do something for themselves.”
Still, being the first to successfully accomplish this is impressive, and when I asked how that felt, he wasn’t exactly interested in the status or prestige it gives him. Instead, he told me that, for him, it’s about “creating a story.” For him, it’s about entertaining just as much as it is about surfing. He said, “Surfing is my vessel, but it’s really just about being a good human and challenging myself.”
I was curious, after all this success, what the turning point in his career was. Ben quit drinking in 2015 and, as a way to keep himself sober for the first year, he started a YouTube channel. He became interested in surfing novelty waves and documenting them, and he eventually surfed the Cape May Ferry (and if you’ve ever been on the Cape May Ferry, you probably understand the magnitude of that experience). It was his first video that went viral. After that he became the “novelty wave guy.”
When I asked said novelty wave guy if he had any plans for his next journey, his answer was as if he had recently circumnavigated the globe in a week: to relax. His immediate plans are to spend time with his family for the holidays, but rest assured, he’s got lots of plans for 2024, many of which include “staying on the path and entertaining people.”
After speaking with him, I’d say that Ben is just as much a creative as he is a surfer with a passion for creating narratives through his craft. And that passion is what not only drives his success but makes it so interesting to experience it along with him. And after our interview, it’s safe to say I’ll be hopping on the Gravy train.
Gabriella is a Ventnor City resident and graduate of the University of London with an MA in Creative Writing and Publishing. Her writing is featured in a variety of digital publications ranging from food and beverage to literature to ecotourism.
