An international puzzle!
I have been a crack surf journalist for over a decade now. In the trenches. Smoking out those hard-hitting stories you have come to depend on. Who could forget Blood Feud: Two Pretty Instagram Boys? Or A Response to Mr. Smith: Thank You and Welcome?
But there is a mystery I cannot get to the bottom of and need your help. If you Google “surfing” or “surf” and then click images the above picture will appear as either the first or second one. It is also the image that graces Wikipedia’s surf entry and litters the rest of the Internet too. By virtue of its popularity it is basically becoming the image that defines what surfing is to most people in the world.
But who is it? And is he really sponsored by …Lost and Azhiazam and Sector 9 or is his board just stickered up? What has he gone on to become? Is he proud of being the international face of surfing?
Help!
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What’s the story? What’s your source?
How about an article on Sahara Ray instead.. isn’t she the daughter of Stinger..the guy who won the eddie only to have Kelly collect the judge’ sheets to “discover” an error that saw quik’s $$$ stay in the family instead? He never surfed another big wave contest and she started doing quasi-soft porn on instagram.. mum was a wannabe pro surfer.. but no.. you give us an article on the guy whos photo first appears when you google surf..
No one knows his true name, but I have been told he goes by Hot Carl
My question is who/how/why did someone juice the Google algorithm to bring this photo to the top of the search list? I want to hire that guy!
I was incorrect. My condolences to Dustin’s family…
Is it hard being such a perfect human?
Fast forward to 45:08. That’s all you’ll need to know about Dustin Ray. And if you want more footage fast forward to 1:30:44. https://www.youtube.com/wat…
Taylor Curtis, obviously.
This is the first time I’ve felt compelled to respond to a beach grit post, although I enjoy all the content. I grew up in the Morro Bay area of the Central Coast, specifically Los Osos. They are correct, this is Dustin Ray. A local charger who destroyed beach breaks with a crazy air game backed with mean power hacks, and was always down to tow on the biggest of days. I’ve surfed against him in local contests, and was always intimidated by his presence. He was a known harasser of groms, which I was at this time, and had a long history of abusing drugs, which made his behavior unpredictable in and out of the water. This lead to his untimely demise, a couple years back.
I only had one conversation with him, even though I saw him around town and in the water frequently. My buddy and I were coming back from doing two ins on a bigger day. We were coming back into the bay, and saw him struggling to paddle across the harbor mouth. We gave him a ride across and exchanged some kind words, as he was thankful for the ride. Talks of big wave spots followed with hints and when and where to surf them. It is a good memory of a local legend who encompassed everything that this stretch of coastline has to offer.
Love that Elfin Forest, man.
Well thank you for that. And now that you’re here, stay!
So he IS the portrait that should define surfing!
In a golden frame!
Knew him in Mission Beach way back when, unassuming quiet central Cal guy that could actually surf quite well. Sadly he passed away…
My god, you really are scraping the content barrel now. Googling “surfing” then posting about it! You really are at the cutting edge.
Are you trying to say you didn’t learn anything today?
Like Sir Edmund scaling the dizzying heights of Mt Everest, the bottom of the barrel must also be explored and scraped back to bare wood for all to see.
Just now, my pop-up ad above whispered to the depths of my subconscious… 18 WHITE CELEBRITIES YOU DIDN’T KNOW HAVE BLACK SPOUSES!
That’s bullshit, I only get recipes and links to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
http://www.surfline.com/sur…
Zoltan Torkos
im better at google than you: Dustin Ray “D-Ray” according to https://commons.wikimedia.o…
he’s got sections in some Lost vids
I saw he also had an obit on surfline.
Dustin Ray
Tell me something about Dustin! Anything!
it’s not a happy story. morro bay local, one of the best surfers to ever come from there. an outer orbit …lost guy. surfed with him often in the foggiest of foggy closeouts.
You’re a Surfer editor, aren’t you?
you get the ad revenue from Banks for the rest of the week
I bet he’s from Central Coast of California. South Central coast more specifically. Probably San Luis Obispo area. Maybe Cayucos.
Another crack investigative journalist!