Photo Credit: Sydney Borton
If you’ve ever stopped by The Barn in Bridgewater, odds are you’ve seen a tall, bearded fellow brewing coffee and telling dad jokes. That’s beloved local barista Johnathan Gregorash, curator of positive culture, sandwich expert, and surf instructor extraordinaire.
In 2018, a year after leaving his previous job as the General Manager at the YMCA to be more present after the birth of his first child, Johnathan founded Swell Time Board Co. to introduce people to the best way to enjoy the ocean – surfing.
“You can’t help but feel a rush and understand the power of the ocean in a new way when you are being tossed from a wave toward the shore,” says Johnathan. “The simplicity is just wonderful.”
At age 16, a friend’s brother brought him a surfboard from a trip to California.
“I asked [my friend] what he was going to do with it and he said ‘I’m going to go surfing’,” Johnathan said. They packed up borrowed, ill-fitting wetsuits and the board and headed to a ‘secret beach’, Johnathan remaining unconvinced that they’d be able to find any waves in Nova Scotia worth surfing on.
To his shock, this secret beach was a paradise for the aspiring surfer teens. This first surfing lesson, accompanied by hurricane swells – that, in hindsight, weren’t ideal conditions for learning how to surf – sparked a lifelong love of the ocean for Johnathan.
In 2021, Johnathan joined the team at The Barn, bringing his infectious positivity to the cafe world. “What I get to do in the ocean is very similar to what I get to do in a cafe, which is make people feel welcome.”
Next time you’re in Bridgewater before Swell Time ramps up business in June, stop by The Barn and see if Johnathan will share one of his dad jokes, like “What washes up on small beaches? Micro-waves!”
