Saltwater Summers: How Matt and Sophia Keep the Stoke Alive in Maine

From sunrise surf sessions to afternoons under sail, this Renoun couple proves there’s no off-season when you build a life around movement and mountains.

Most skiers count the days until the flakes start to fly again, but for Renoun athletes Matt Testa and Sophia Syrene, summer is anything but downtime. It’s a season of its own, filled with saltwater dawns, glassy waves, and the snap of sails catching the wind off the Maine coast.

After spending winters logging serious vertical in Vermont (Matt hit 135 days on snow this past season, Sophie clocked in around 75), they shift gears each spring, packing up and heading east to Maine. There, they swap skis for surfboards and trade powder turns for wind-whipped days on the water.

“I surf year-round,” Sophie says, “but it’s a lot more enjoyable in the summer.” She’s being modest. A lifelong surfer who started catching waves before she even started kindergarten, Sophie is out there whenever the swell is up, often paddling out at sunrise while the rest of the coast is still asleep. “I try to go as much as I can,” she says, laughing about the unique anxiety that comes when storms roll in. “Usually, waves and powder come at the same time, so there’s a lot of driving, trying to do it all in the same day.”

And she’s not kidding. Some days Sophie is in the water at 6:30 a.m., catching waves for a few hours before jumping in the car for a three-hour drive to Vermont to ride afternoon laps on the mountain. “We’ll be on the chairlift by one or two,” Matt says. “It’s a lot, but it’s worth it.”

While Sophie is chasing waves, Matt is often chasing wind. The couple are members of a local sailing club in York, Maine, where they can take out J22 sailboats whenever the weather is good. “We just roll up and take the boats out for a few hours,” Matt says. “It’s such a great way to get out on the water, and it keeps us moving.” For them, sailing is the perfect balance: part mental puzzle, part physical challenge, and always a chance to connect with the natural world around them.

Their days in Maine aren’t just about play, either. Both Matt and Sophie work in real estate, managing rentals and sales in both Maine and Vermont. The business booms in the summer, with long days of showings and turnovers, but slows down in the winter, giving them the flexibility to shift their focus back to skiing when the snow falls again.

It’s a rhythm that works: winters in Vermont, chasing storms and powder days; summers in Maine, finding flow in waves, wind, and water. The calendar isn’t marked by months but by swells, storms, and snow reports, by the tides and by the forecast.

And when you live like that, there is no off-season.

For Matt and Sophie, every season is a chance to deepen their connection to the outdoors and to each other. Whether they’re paddling out into cold Atlantic waves, pulling lines on a sailboat, or linking turns through powder fields at Stowe, they’re living proof that adventure doesn’t have to wait for winter.

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