Has a more progressive surfer ever been?
Three-ish days ago two very fine gentlemen paddled out to Seaside Reef in bucolic Cardiff-by-the-Sea. Their names were Steve Sherman and Derek Rielly. Well-respected, each. They surfed together and had fun. I was not with them because my baby had the stomach flu and I had to clean up. It was not very fun but kind of satisfying.
Derek came home early and said it was the grandest surf he’d had in months and then we got to work on your beloved BeachGrit.
We saw Sherm later, for dinner, and he said, “Guess who showed up at Seaside after you left, Dekor?”
Derek said, “who?”
Sherm said, “Tom Curren. And he was surfing on a skimboard! He paddled out on a bigger board and was doing organic step-offs.”
I wouldn’t have believed it had Sherm not taken a picture. Look at Tom standing with his skim, fins wedged on, weirdly smirking. It is an amazing thing that he continues to be so wildly progressive. Sometimes I like to think I’m progressive, like Tom Curren, but then Maurice Cole corrects me and tells me I’m not.
Do you remember when Tom Curren rode a boogie board in Mexico? You can re-read HERE. Do you remember Ashton Goggans who wrote the story? He works for Surfer now and is sad every day but still very handsome.
Looks like he’s wearing one of those costumes with the fake abs… Can you Photoshop Polaroids?
he looks buff
swoon.
yes you are progressive Chas , but not on Tom’s level ,damn I get so bloody critical sometimes , the life of a feral fossil ……..hey I missed you and Derek yesterday at Lost…is it time for a glass of red or even a surf and I can really get in the Chas Bubble?
any recent recommendations beyond the wine simply being red, sir cole? perhaps a bryant family cabernet sauvignon to celebrate tom’s gorgeousness?
Something from the Edna Valley perhaps, to celebrate Mr. Curren’s Central California heritage.
guys sorry to tell you but a Bordeaux Saint Emillion 83 /85 best drought years surfin france and also their best wine years ,actually I’m sitting here drinkin a 2009 right now ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
A fine vintage Mr. Cole. I hope you enjoyed it.
Is Derek or Chas going to write your autobiography Maurice?
ah they are too young , and there could be serious legal implications as we have no statute of limitations , I never killed anyone that didn’t taste good!!
What about that dinosaur Carroll? Is he old enough? I reckon we can get past the legal issues by whacking “fiction” in small writing on the cover… but don’t quote me on that.
Carroll isn’t a dinosaur he’s just a naughty little boy.
Rory knows a good lawyer. Chad can be stylist. Derek can be pr. Rory can write it as ‘fiction’. I can accept the royalty checks on your behalf. Win win win all round.
No one would rip you off again. Pinky swear.
The new king Lear!!
Hmm now that’s a pretty damn fine team , but there is also need for a body guard for all the people who have , ah, transgressed in the business world and might be , ah, offended and jailed for ……..but maybe if you accept the royalty checks , I could give you the responsibility as “the Bufferman”…….is that King Leer?
Well, if his board maker’s about to go under…
I’m sure Kelly will pick him up.
And there it is, another classic steve sherman photo! Blurry, shitty and about what I’d expect from any 12 year old with a 1992 polaroid. How in the hell do you guys at Beach Grit actually respect this clown? I mean honestly, THIS is the picture he took??? I bet there were a dozen kids with iPhones getting footage of Curren actually RIDING the board, not to mention a decent damn picture! Fuck, steve sherman is so overrated it’s literally painful.
He got the story like always. Looks like really low light and you cant expect a camera with a sensor smaller than the eraser on a pencil to do any better than the above. Sounds like he was focused on surfing rather than taking photos at the time anyway. Have you shot a more historical photo with your iPhone? Also, have you shot a surf image anywhere close to the quality of the surfboard graveyard? He’s more of a portrait photographer anyway, a skill that judging by your attitude you never really had.
I’d guess he was a competing photographer, but there are not quite enough spelling and grammatical errors for that.
You don’t think… could it be? Balzer v Sherman redux?
A quick Mod search revealed his name… No one of note unfortunately. Was hoping for another Beachgrit “Blood Feud”!!
There is though, the required amount of simmering jealousy and bitterness to be a competing photographer…
: (
That’s why we need a surf photog union.
Umm, “organic” step off? I take it that is the thing sometimes also called a board transfer. Or maybe when you run your jetski on biodiesel? Always something to learn around here…
Call it an Eco step off and you can charge people 30% more than a regular step off to do it…