The King of Santa Cruz, Vince Collier, dies en route to Puerto Escondido.
Earlier today, the noted surf photographer Chris Klopf announced that his old pal, big-waver, meth-aficianodo and tough guy Vince Collier had died of a heart attack while driving to Puerto Escondido.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf4LLGJBdUs/?hl=en&taken-by=chrisklopf
What do I know of Vince? That he liked to surf, liked to smoke and he liked to fight, not always in that order. For a little perspective on Vince’s death, I turned, as one must to Matt Warshaw, custodian of the sport’s history.
BeachGrit: Vince was a biggish deal, right?
Vince and Richie Schmidt got California back the big-wave game in the late ‘70s. Richie kept going, Vince got sidetracked, but was still dangling a big pair, and was very much a player during the first Mavs push. To us SoCal guys in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, Rich and Vince were both awesome. Really cool. On a different level then us, because of the big-wave cred, and because everything about Santa Cruz was way heavier than what we knew down in Manhattan or Newport or San Clemente. Vince and Rich were already putting in months at a time on the North Shore, doing Puerto Escondido when it was still just a village. Rich was the quiet one, Vince was the back-slapping loud one. He was a really good surfer. Tons of power, bit of a slouch-stance, heavy back foot. Surfed like Ian Cairns. Vince and Rich and I were all IPS washouts in the early ‘80s, so we kind of bonded over that. They were great to me, I liked them a lot.
Enforcer sorta cat?
More so in later years, but yeah. Vince was a big redneck Westsider, friendly if you knew him, but drop in on him at the Lane and you’d be sent in for sure. Or punched if you mouthed off . . . except nobody did. I remember in 1992 there was a PSAA contest at the Lane. Machado and Beschen and guys like that were all in town, this was right before they jumped up to the world tour. I’d just moved to the Bay Area, and covered the contest for SURFER. Finals day, really fun six-foot surf, dropping tide throughout the morning. There was going to be a 30 minute break just before lunch, the whole damn place was gonna be empty from the Point to Indicator. So I suited up, lurked down at the bottom of the cliff, and when the horn blew I sprinted into the lineup. Right when I sit up I hear “HEY YOU! GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WATER!” I turn around and see Vince charging me, snarling, face red, he’s the hired muscle, and I froze. I’d never seen him like that. It was terrifying. I babbled something and he pulls up, stares, and goes “Oh! Warshaw!” For a second he wasn’t sure how to handle it. Then he nods, asks me how I’m doing, turns for the next wave, and tells me to clear out before the next heat starts. I loved him at that moment.
Vince’s rep now is that he took Flea and I think Ken Collins to Mavs for the first time, probably in 1992, and they surfed it on acid. His was the protective and kind of psychotic big brother figure to those guys He was the guy who gave Flea the nickname “Flea.” But what Vince is probably best know for is he went deep into the drug scene.
How big was Vince’s rep?
Vince’s rep now is that he took Flea and I think Ken Collins to Mavs for the first time, probably in 1992, and they surfed it on acid. His was the protective and kind of psychotic big brother figure to those guys. He was the guy who gave Flea the nickname “Flea.” But what Vince is probably best know for is he went deep into the drug scene. Deep, dark, and ugly into the drug scene, backwoods scary shit. I didn’t watch the Josh Pomer documentary. It’s out there if you want to see it. I don’t.
Where does he stand in the pantheon of US surfing?
As a cautionary tale, you’d put him in the top four. Vince, Ricky Rasmussen, David Eggers, Andy Irons in any order you choose.
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Congrats on your Chron’s disease.
machinebaby no but
rest in peace. . . that wave being thrashed . . . amazing on a twinny, I’ve seen people try that on a twinn and they fly / fall off.
…..I knew Vince wasn’t really dead…..
would you have listened to him any less had he not hit you?
Yeah, ‘cept it’s all in your head innit?
Nothing is physically addictive. Chemical hooks are a myth. With the right attitude and people around you just get over it.
Chazz, most of these things, including non-drugs like electronic devices (also found to be addictive, literally) actually lead to your brain re-wiring itself to new new configurations, supporting the addiction. It’s a real thing. It’s physical.
That is an awful and misguided opinion. Science has repeatedly proven you wrong.
I’m sure the kooks on foam boards don’t miss him. The only people who miss an enforcer are those who benefited from the enforcement.
Lived in Santa Cruz from ’86 to ’91. I was a UC transplant from SF, basically the enemy, and Vince was very scary. I usually only saw him at the Lane. Flea sat alpha at the top of the point and Vince kept order. I saw Vince lay into a guy for paddling for the same wave as him. I stayed away from them both. There weren’t a lot of shenanigans when Vince was in the water, though.
So to clarify…
Does anyone enjoy drugs?
That’s your question?
We were smoking a fatty on the bench at steamer lane and Vince rolled by on a beach cruiser, took a few puffs and told us to get out there, it was going to get crowded soon. Did not know who he was till I saw the westsiderz movie. RIP buddy!
Just heard from Josh Loya. Not as well known as Flea or Mel, but in the early days at Mavs, Josh was the super-smooth one, great look, deeply bent back-knee. First-rank surfer in all sizes. Anyway, regarding the time Vince introduced the younger guys to Mavs, Josh sets the record straight: “Just thought I’d let you know, Zach Acker, Barney, and Flea were on that first trip with V.C. Skinny didn’t surf it until a few swells later. Skinny didn’t have board, so while we were out surfing he took V.C.’s backup off his truck. He paddled out, sat on the inside and got pounded. He broke the board and went in. I remember how pissed Vince was on that drive home! I think Skinny was waiting for us at Vince’s house with a wad of cash.”
Spot’s a ledge!
One of my favorite Lewis Samuels articles on PostSurf was one he wrote about David Eggers and his rise from troubled surf prodigy to best selling author… needless to say, people didn’t get it…
Wait, didn’t Jay Adams die of a heart attack after surfing Puerto Escondido as well?
Wow, I didn’t even know he died! Met him once. Humbled in his ‘old age’.
Hmmmm. Fish(y) Tacos.
No Country for Old Men ?
Yes
Si
The guy was a thug, but hey he surfed good, lets glorify him.
Hopefully hero worship of thugs in surfing is fading out. Selfish, violent, into drugs. Not a hero.
Surfing is selfish. Surfing is not a team sport. You aren’t entirely opposite the ill’s you speak of.
Oh I don’t actually surf I just hang out here
You speak about the guy like you sit on a high mountain. As if the general opinion after reading this is that everyone’s gonna start wearing flannel button-ups and spinning pook pipes. Can one not still revere a man and his positive accomplishments while reading cautionary tale of his life?
Take your kumbaya corpo bs back to the Inertia.
Tell that to all the people he abused.
OMG YOU’RE RIGHT, ALL THE PEOPLE HE’S ABUSED.. I’ll get right to it as soon as I’m done wallowing in despair over every other person that’s ever been plighted by someone who’s done drugs; including me. People like you try and treat life like a light switch, but true living happens between ‘on’ and ‘off’.
You win the ‘participate in vague compassion’ award.
it’s not a sin to call a dick a dick. He was a violent drug dealer/user and many are glad he’s dead. Hopefully Flea’s next.
#metoo
The hack in the photo above is fuckin insane. Can’t stop looking at it.
but was he a great role model? (Inertia tone)
I like how because Matt was suddenly let off the hook, he suddenly liked the guy. Interesting.
Is that related to Stockholm Syndrome?
Not unless he tied him up a basement for a period of several weeks and sexually abused him but sometimes let him come upstairs to eat sweets and watch movies.
Well that escalated quickly…
As is often the case when one takes a prisoner…
Touché
not with a properly designed dungeon it doesn’t
More personalities like this is what surfing needs. Not a tennis CEO
It doesn’t make your heart soar when a non-surfer who looks like your stern Aunt bestrides the podium at Pipeline as the face of world professional surfing? https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
It’s like when your mum dropped you at the beach as kid, asked the local heavies to keep an eye on you, then ended by informing them that ‘surfs up’
“if you’re lucky, you boys may be able to get inside the pipe…”
lol gold
She’s like a beginner/intermediate, right?
Almost as much as Kieren always wearing button up shirts
he looks at the camera like “holy fuck, where’d you come from?!?” when he’s telling us what the conditions are like. as if it snuck up on him, like he was just minding his day.
I like it in surfing when “personality” becomes a surrogate term for “enjoys drugs”.
I like even more how the whole industry turns a blind eye towards drugs, then acts surprised when something goes wrong
Better turning a blind eye than false piety.
As Christopher Hitchens wrote, “The forces of piety have always and everywhere been the sworn enemy of the open mind and the open book.”
He forgot: “having fun with drugs in public”
I don’t think Hitchens ever forgot about drugs.
I hate those false pies, especially the ones filled with spinach and ricotta
Those bastards.
Was there ugly stuff gets conveniently forgotten
I’m constantly entertained by how dumb surfers are.
Hey. HEY. We’re not all ‘long hairs’ and ‘doobie’ smokers you know
I am! Minus the long hair and exchange doobie for hash pipe.
Keep it cutty with a bit class.
But please stay in your side of the coffee table.
…..kook….
You must be one of the intelligent ones hey.
which part was more honest: blind eye; surprise? if i was on a role model hunt there’s plenty of David Goggins’ out there, just search “motivation”
….I’ve tried some drugs……..pretty good actually…….
Or “theatrical” and “confirmed bachelor” for gay.
“Colourful” for gangster.
“Tired and emotional”, boozed…
“Wide stance”, closeted gay.
“Mis-speak”, to lie, coined by Hillary Clinton when she told reporters she’d been pinned down by snipers in Bosnia. Oh there’s so many!
On a fucking roll 😜
“Wide stance and shaved armpits”, openly gay.
Only if they claim with both arms up. Show it loud, show it proud.
“demons” = dengue fever
“Intermediate” for kook
As with most surrogates, the relation is shaky at best. Just because you’re not Mick Fanning doesn’t mean that you’re Noa Deane.
Also, drugs are enjoyable in the same way shitty American food is. Moderation is fundamental.
Calling a drug pusher and a life long addict a “personality” does all of humanity a disservice. Surfing, and humans in general, do not need more like him. And I like drugs!
Edited to say: I like drugs, a lot! But not that shit.
I could use some. Got any?
Everyone should have a well curated drug drawer. Mostly devoid of powders…
I smoked a joint for the first time in three years last night. It was very good.
I’m reduced to paracetamol and the occasional ibruprofen.
Fuckin party animal huh.
Do you also ‘get’ surfing, and do once a year trips to the Ments with ‘the boys’
Can’t for the life of me fathom what that means, but I do think glorifying guys like VC is bullshit.
… https://uploads.disquscdn.c… spotted in Beaconsfield 2 weeks ago
Disgusting
I thought my reference my have gone over everyone’s heads, but also, I can’t remember why I referenced it in the first place
AMEN.
Everyone hates an enforcer until they are gone and shit turns into chaos.
Power vacuums are fertile grounds for exploitation. Just look at the middle east.
On a goddamn twin fin no less
That is a turn for the ages. RIP.
Wow, bummer. Vince was a contemporary age-wise and we had some great interaction as struggling pro surfers.
One, being the Stubbies Trials which was held in Cali for a few years, early Eighties. I knew VC’s rep, which was terrifyying, but somehow we bonded like thieves. The free Stubbies beer might have helped, I suppose. Miss those days, miss the man.
Oh Preston, I sit at your feet. Loose a good Vince Collier story.
I wish I had something salacious to add Dez but as with most, the VC story had many chapters. My interactions came very early in the book when Vince was simply a hard charging, aspiring pro surfer who was fiercely loyal to his town and to his crew. I’ll let those who truly knew him write his obit.
I’m right there with you Preston. I liked Vince a lot, he came across to me as the person you describe below. He got mixed up in some dreadful shit later on but he’s past all that now, RIP.