"Machado is chill, no surprise, fun to see him draw lines. Tudor is a bully…"
How many times have you surfed around the best shredders in the world? Maybe you were at Snapper or Pipe or Lowers, maybe at some distant Indonesian reef.
To experience that thrill when a top-tier pro, a Slater or a Fanning, makes eye contact with the peasants, when he shows he doesn’t have a distant relationship with them, smiling jovially and showing all his white and strong teeth, is the sorta thing that’ll stay with a man for life.
Here are my favourites.
Saw Kolohe out at T-Street when we were both groms. Heard him scream “I RIP!” as he demolished a shoulder-high wave. It doesn’t surprise me he’s grown up to be kind of strange. I was coincidentally seated at a table with his sister at the Coach House for a Donovan Frankenreiter concert. She was really nice.
Donovan used to also put on the Cosmic Creek and bring a bunch of retro boards for people to surf. He would surf with all of us kids which was pretty cool.
I knew Pat O’Connell growing up and watched him rip my local from the shoulder when I was young. He’s as lovely as everyone says he is.
Saw CJ Hobgood out at Lowers, but everyone was hassling each other so much there I just thought oh, cool then went back to battling in the gladiator pit.
Out of the Water:
I saw A.I. in talks to renew his deal with the then-president of Billabong at my local. Some kid screamed “OH MY GOD IT’S ANDY IRONS! GUYS IT’S ANDY IRONS!” and someone else screamed “NO WAY! DID YOU SUCK HIS DICK??” Pretty gratifying to see Andy laugh at that.
Ran into Mick at Oktober Fest in Munich which was wild. He was shitfaced, but pretty mellow when I dapped him up.
Rob Machado came to our high school and hosted an assembly when he came to install his eco-friendly water fountains. That was ruined because a jackass decided it would be funny to sneak a Klan hood into the auditorium and put it on while Rob was speaking. Horrible look for our school. I’m still ashamed and will not be mentioning that story or where I’m from if our paths ever cross again.
Surfed with Jordy, josh Kerr, Rob machado, Occy and Slater who were all really nice in the water, would let us kooks get waves even calling us into them. Did 2 hours alone with Jordy at canguu and he was such a good cat, he was no2 in wsl at the time but he just seemed like a guy who liked to surf but did it super well.
Surfed with a young Medina the year of his pro junior win in NZ he was a bit of an arrogant dickhead as you’d expect from a young fulla on top of the world! He calmed down once he was reminded in a calm but firm state there’s only one road in and out of here and you have to drive past these 10guys houses.
In my experience the qs level pros are the worst regardless of where they are from just want every scrap of everything for video or just entitlement. The upper level pros usually a lot more chill tho a mate who lived in Fiji isn’t a fan of several of the Brazilians even a couple I thought seemed mellow after a few sessions with them at cloud break
Machado is chill, no surprise, fun to see him draw lines
Tudor is a bully
Growing up on Oahu, I ran into many pros on the North Shore. One of the most memorable was when I surfed a small (6’) day at Pipe with Kelly Slater. This was circa 1989-90 when he was the young phenom before his world titles.
He was out with his local tour guide and fellow QS teammate Perry Dane. PD was one of the OG enforcers back in the day, pre Wolf pack.
Halfway through the session, some unfortunate person dropped in on Kelly. Kelly paddles back out with the roaster about 20 yards behind him. PD starts paddling towards the roaster with this ‘I going kill this faka’ look on his face and as he paddles past Kelly, he asks Kelly “Dat faka dropped in on you?” without taking his eyes off his prey. Everybody knew what was coming. But Kelly quickly replied to PD, “no no, I told him to go.” He was a class act.
Jamie O’Brien burned me at spot on Oahus South shore that breaks along a very sketchy lava rock wall. I was already up and riding deeper, pretty much within arms length from the wall on the takeoff. He was further inside and sitting on the shoulder but he chipped into it on his big ass soft top and faded straight into my line. It forced me to go straight pretty much directly into the sketchist part of the spot. I got fully washed, came real fuckin close to getting dragged along the rocks underwater and dinged the fuck out of my board. Dude straight up just said “I didn’t see you brah” when I was like “dude WTF was that about?” and that was it. Dudes a prick.
To add to this story, him and his crew hung out of the cliffs filming their SuPeR eXtReME lifestyle content making it seem like jumping off these cliffs into the water was a totally normal and safe thing to do. A 15 year old girl drowned and was resuscitated on top of a surfboard in the lineup less than 30 minutes after him and his crew left. Seriously fuck that guy.
Bought a used efoil. Turned out to be Stacy Peralta selling it. Met up with him to complete the purchase and he was the absolute most genuine, humble, kind and warm human. When I let on that I knew that he was a legend, he offered to sign my board and graciously smiled as the kook in me asked to take a picture with him. Stacy even cut me off some pieces of jade and aeonium plants from his garden–he’s got quite the green thumb and has some wonderful specimens.
He still texts to check in from time to time just to make sure I’m out there still ripping. Like just randomly texts to say hi. Just such a genuine dude. Stacy, if you’re out there, you freaking ROCK and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and for sport in general.
Alex Knost yields priority like a person should. Most surfers used to hate on this guy for riding a long board and being an indie kid, but when I was surfing almost every day in my 20s he was the only pro I surfed around who didn’t try to pull rank or be a dick even when he was filming. I never exchanged words beyond hello but he’s infinitely cool bc he wasn’t an asshole in the water. Never liked his music though.
Back in the fall of 2020 I was staying in Uluwatu for several weeks, two of them at Ulu Surf Villas. In the span I was staying at Ulu Villas, Slater & Lewis Hamilton were there, Machodo later in the trip as well.
Dawn patrol was my favourite when surfing Bombies. It seemed most locals didn’t like going out early and you can see the afternoon crew paddling in from the cave. Was always a sign to grab a good one in and hit a late breakfast. I would often see Lewis & Slater out as well I think Lewis like the small crowd. Anyways, I didn’t fan out, simply told them it was awesome seeing the two out here and left it at that. Shared some waves, I’d eavesdrop on Kelly shooting Lewis advice. Got a few sick ones over that whole stay which got a few yeww’s from the boys.
I don’t know if it was the lack of verbal fandom or what, but I couldn’t say anything better about sharing the water with those guys. No elitism, profession levels on snaking or anything negative about the session. If anything it made the sessions some of the most relaxing times in the water given it was still a sizeable swell. There was something so cool about being in the water with people that could be anywhere else on the world. But they chose this surf spot, and so did you. So really, it just made me appreciate that trip even more. Because I doubt the majority of surfers will ever experience waves outside their local.
Mid tier pros on the other hand, regardless of where you are or they are from. Absolutely miserable, you get the feeling they surf everywhere as if they’re being watched by talent scouts on the beach.
And, you, reader? What have been your experiences, good, bad and beautiful?
I used to see Lopez out at Hookipa every day in the mid 80s. If he wanted a wave he would burn anybody. Nice guy on land, though.
At G-land I met Ross Clark Jones, Stu Cadden, and the Quick team manager at the time whose name I can’t recall ( was one of the best at Sunset apparently). This was Bobby’s camp, before Joyos I reckon. I am average Joe surfer yet they said “Come sit and have tea with us”. Fekkin rad. I didn’t say a word hardly. Ross just kept going on about getting some pits. The surf was pretty poor, tho, for Gland.
Was staying in a small losman nxt to drouyn bob evans and crew doing the drouyn n friends movie, remember the day they headed off to ullu all in the back of a bimo with boards cameras etc thinking good luck guys dont get a flat tyre iam going the opposite direction..
I was standing on Bay of Plenty pier during the Mr price pro on a cold overcast afternoon watching Kalani Rob surfing bay (the break next to North) while the contest was at North beach. This guy walks and stops 2 metres wearing a hoodie. Kalani got a bomb and I was hollering for him, this guy turns and says “I think that’s the sign to go surfing”, I saw it was Andy, and knew not to fanboy it hard and said “bro I’m keen but not keen to put on my cold wet fullsuit” (god knows why I said it). He burst out laughing and said”yeah I don’t blame you in this weather”. We then chatted for another 5 minutes, then walked all the way back chatting, we chatted again in the water and he was the most normal humble guy full of laughs and even hooted at my 1 wave. The day he died broke me, I’ll never forget that day.
I lived in San Clemente in the mid 80’s and surfed Poche beach as a grom, as it was walking distance from my house. The Fletchers had a house on the beach there, and we would often share the lineup with Christian and Nathan. I was in 7th grade, had just moved from Colorado to San Clemente, and was surfing and skating everyday. One day Christian and one of his acolytes decided I wasn’t cool, and grabbed me off the sand and dragged me to the edge of the polio pit, the stagnant pool of toxic street runoff water, and threw me in. I climbed out, confused, and Christian looked at me with disgust and said “you’d better go wash that shit off”. Nathan was always cool, humble, and fun to surf with. Christian was always a cocky asshole who reeked of privilege. Interesting to see how each of their lives unfolded from there…
Old as fuck man.
00-02 (transfer from Ox.Coll.)
The Classics – Archaeology
minors: Spanish, Black Studies
02-03 M.Ed.
Ingles as a 2nd Language
Gorilla, you were there when my Ma was. And no, I don’t wanna know about her special skill sets unless you wanna pick up some paternity testing papers I’ll send to your local paqueteria en la selva.
Me and a friend of mine had taken a couple of girls home from a house party. We ended up at one of the girls parents house who were out of town. Things were going well until out of nowhere Slater and Benji Weatherly showed up. Apparently the girl who my friend was trying to hook up with called Benji. They were nice but I knew why they were there. The combination of them being a lot older and me being a bit starstruck worked like a charm as they waltzed off with our women.
In 2014 when the WSL was in town I saw Chloe andino at the pub. After him telling me that he was a pro surfer and that I should know who he is, and that his backhand is better than parkos, I told him to get a haircut.
Night out on the town with R*** C***** J**** (early 00’s), lost him at about 1am as his appetite for mayhem far eclipsed mine at the time. good guy though.
I was surfing on a good day at Secos when a car pulled up and Duke Kahanamoku got out with Robert August and some other guy and they walked down to the beach. Duke was unmistakable. I think the other guy was a photographer and they were doing some kind of promotion or something. Dude looked very dapper and elegant being well dressed with his white hair combed back. I don’t remember if Robert went out into the water. I caught a wave and when I looked towards the beach I saw that Duke was watching me…..and I immediately felt some kind of Hawaiian blessing and got a thrill. Unfortunately I didn’t ask for an autograph or anything, I was more interested in staying out in the water and they left after a short while. A cool memory seeing the great historical man.
I saw Bodhi on the trail at Bells that day of the 50 year storm. I couldn’t believe he was going out. It was a death sentence! Super nice though. Had no idea he was a fugitive.
Aren’t we all!?
Vaya con dios
Place has never been the same since they chopped down the pine trees on the headland.
Death on a stick mate
1978
Motels, Buxton NC
4-6 ft offshore smoking barrels
Myself & 2 friends trading waves
3 guys with accents paddle out with a water photographer and asked nicely if they could join us
We watched the lone goofy knife tube after deep tube with the photog recording it on Kodachrome 64
It was Darrell Jones working with Jim Banks & the Bronzed Aussies
One tube was on the cover of Surfer magazine 5 months later
1980,
3rd Jetty Buxton, NC
Walking thru the dunes with my fellow surfing rednecks to check the surf
A tall fellow walks by us and says g’day
My friend yells “HEAD OUT OF HERE!” throwing out some unwelcoming local vibe
The fellow just stared and kept walking
It was Nat Young
He was on Hatteras Island showing his movie ‘The Fall Line’
My friend bragged about it for weeks
1982
2nd jetty Buxton, NC
2-4 ft. Gulf Stream water summer swell
Only 1 white haired older fellow out that was not surfing very well.
Like falling on every wave
I wondered who was this old kook?
It was Dick Brewer
1991
Playa Hermosa, CR
Sundown & just getting out of the water swatting at gnats
Big, barrel-chested fellow comes up & starts asking us about the surf
I ask him “Is your name Greg?”
“Yea man!” he answers back
It was Greg Noll scouting for his Legends Surfing Contest
Cool stories ya bunch of fucking nerds!
Around the time of the US Open in 2012, I found myself ripping the absolute shit out of Lowers. Really surfing to the absolute peak (fuck you, Josh) of my abilities, floating sections, landing a few credit card airs, even nailing some geriatric Pottz level cutbacks. Out in the lineup were a bunch of C-list pros (think Nate Yeomans-ish…), none of whom I can remember who they were now.
Following my last wave, one that I performed all the aforementioned sick maneuvers, I started to make my way up the lowish tided cobblestones with uncharacteristic finesse. As I was making my way towards the sand, I saw a stickered up pro just staring at me, she was really looking me up and down, so much so that I was contemplating whether I should’ve gotten a half chub before I came in to make my flaccid wiener look more formidable in my skin tight short-sleeve fullsuit…
“Hi,” I said as I walked past, realizing right as I said it that I was talking to none other than Pauline Ado.
She smiled uncomfortably back.
When I got back to my car, I noticed my hair looked all jacked up, like I styled it into a shark fin on top of my head. For my self-esteem, though, I maintain the delusion that she may have thought I surfed well enough to be some pro or that I was hot.
She was definitely wondering why you didn’t have any stickers on your board
I stood beside Noel Gallagher in the dairy isle. Not sure if he surfs though. You should ring him to confirm.
Copy and paste heaven there dez
I was at Mammoth and stole Chris Ward’s jacket, then…
Never mind.
seeings how he probably stole it to begin with, did you really steal it?
he probably …lost it.
deep cut here
Which Jordy is that anecdote about? Not the Smith one, that’s for sure!
Just because you don’t remember it doesn’t mean that you weren’t there.
Some (many) years back pulled up to Hookipa on Maui and surf was a solid 8′ Hawaiian. Solid crowd on it. Gerry Lopez pulls into parking lot. I go to shake his hand tell him I’m a fan, and when he asks, I say, “no, a bit too big for me and too many people.” He says get your board and come with me. Can’t say no. We sit what seems wide, too wide, and he shows me a lineup marker. When the bigger sets come, guess what, they swing wide. To exactly the spot where it appears we should be fishing. He calls me into, no, demands, I go. We trade waves, alone, for two hours, him calling me into wave after wave, bigger than anything I’d ever ridden. Now, I know he has a rep — which he admits — of being a greedy dog, but that day, the old saying never meet your heroes definitively did not apply.
Was paddling out at sizeable Campus Point. A rare treat where all the essential elements came together. As I was making my way up and over a shoulder, the surfer on the wave faded into a bottom turn that linked into a sweeping carve off the top that approached me from 2 o’clock, effortlessly sending buckets of displaced water over me that landed with noticeable weight. Tom Curren has a great way of saying “hello”.
taking off behind the rock and screaming all the way to Poles
Otto with a surfing post. I’m in a state of shock.
Shock treatment. Everyone knows that transformer’s most vulnerable weakness is a surge shocking then to their core. Whole neighborhoods going dark and such…you know. Tragic
I’d guess that I saw you out there depending on when you were at UCSB.
you’re a Gaucho too, B? fuck ya. plus, if I’m right about your age, you were in, on, and around Indo well before the masses. Legit.
rare.