A LITTLE SURF SORRY 7-23-08
By Corky Carroll

As you grow older in life it seems that either you spend way too much time living in the past or just the opposite. You put it out of your mind altogether and live in the present. Or, if you are like me, you are silly enough to think of all the things you still want to do and actually think that you are gonna do ‘em. In that case it is easier on yourself if you are at least semi-realistic about the things you hope to get done. Like I know that I am never gonna do tow-ins on seventy foot waves at Cortes Bank or Jaws.

I would like to do tow-ins in reasonably big surf however, just not life or death kinda situations. Like maybe a solid three to five foot day or something. O.K. yeah, maybe I am just trying to think of ways to get out of the paddle out. Lack of interest in things that require a lot of work also seem to be a sign of the senior surf citizen syndrome.

This morning I was thinking of these kinda things while I was sitting on my deck enjoying my morning coffee and stressing over the decision as to which board I wanna ride today. At the moment I have about five choices. This is a bad thing really. Just having one is a much better deal. You don’t waste a lot of time agonizing over the decision. Anyway as I was trying to deal with that issue the thought came into my head that there were probably many things that I have blotted out of my memory banks that I am sorry for that are lurking in the dark corners of my past and maybe I ought to deal with a few of those before the big green curtain comes down on me. I normally try to avoid these kinda thoughts. It’s like a weathered and faded road sign pops up in my little salt watered brain that reads “Warning, don’t go there…..danger, danger.” But today one such thought popped in and so I am gonna deal with it now.

A long time ago when I was living in San Clemente I used to go to a dentist by the name of Ed Westberg. Ed was a great dentist as well as a really cool dude. I liked him a lot and felt comfortable with him. Ed is the dude who etched a surfboard and a trophy on one of my gold crowns and a treble clef and some eight notes on another. He did this without me knowing it and let me know later. Ed was like myself in the belief that dental work should be painless.

But one day for some cosmic bad reason the dental gods were not looking favorably on either me or Ed or both. Maybe he didn’t put enough pain killer in the shot or something, I have no idea. But whatever happened, it hurt. Hurt big time. I told Ed, jokingly of course, that I was gonna get back at him for it.

A few months later I was back in Ed’s office waiting for my appointment. Just as I was getting ready to go in a lady came in with a small boy, maybe seven or eight years old. The kid looked kinda scared. I told the boy not to worry, this was the best dentist in the world and he never hurt anybody.

A few minutes later was in the chair and Ed came in and started looking at my teeth. I said, “Hold on a minute partner, there is something I need to do.” He looked at me with a sort of questioning expression. At that moment I screamed like I was in horrible agony and was being murdered.

“Whaddya do that for?” asked Ed.

I told him to go check the waiting room. He got there just in time to see the mother chasing the little dude across the parking lot. The kid had bolted in fear.

Ed came back in with a sort of angry look on his face. I calmly said to not hurt me again and pretended nothing had happened. Ed was more than less upset about the whole thing but seemed to take it O.K. After that we had a standing agreement that I would never do that again and he would never hurt me again.

So, after all these years, I wanna take this chance to say I am sorry for that. Not to Ed, he had it coming. But to whomever that little dude was that I put the mortal fear of dentists into that day.

FREE WETSUITS
The Wave ~ 7-23-08
By Corky Carroll

I just got an email from my pal Tony who owns Coral Reef Wetsuits up on Beach Blvd; between the two freeways. Tony is one of those cool dudes who runs his own business and is passionate about turning out a real quality product. He also surfs everyday and lives the life. That alone sets him apart from most “surf” business owners these days. I have always sort of had a chip on my shoulder about these dudes who know absolutely nothing about surfing or the lifestyle and have major positions in the surfing industry. I remember one time I had a little surfwear line going and I would call up surf shops to make an appointment to show them my stuff. The majority of buyers for the stores had no idea who I was or why I was calling them if I was not from Quiksilver or one of the other big name surf brands. They never surfed a minute in their lives and had no idea at all of what the whole lifestyle is about. It seemed the bigger the store the more clueless the buyers were. I got one guy that was from a major chain of “surf shops” that you find in many malls around the country that I swear was named Osama Bin Laden. I had to spell my name for him five times. Osama did not have time to see me and actually very rudely suggested I not call them again until I had some sort of name in the surf industry. Geeze.

I have written about this situation in the so-called surf industry before. There are still a few surfers in it, and a couple at high levels such as Bob McKnight at Quiksilver and Bob Hurley at Hurley. But the majority of the peeps in the broad spectrum of the surf business don’t surf. I hate that. But that’s just life in the food chain I guess.

Anyway, back to my story. So I got an email from Tony at Coral Reef Wetsuits today and Tony is one of the good guys who does surf and also makes a great product. In truth I have told Tony many times that he makes too good a product. He makes his wetsuits too good and they last forever. That pretty much kills return customers. They don’t need a new one when the old one is still working just fine. He obviously is not the best businessman on the planet. In his email he told me about a little promotion he has going on and is giving away free wetsuits. Custom made wetsuits at that. I always like to give guys like Tony and others who live the life a plug when I can so I checked out what he has going on. It is a story contest. You go to the website www.freewetsuits.com and have your choice of three categories to write about. One is to tell about any experience you have had with Coral Reef or one of their wetsuits. The second is to tell if you have ever had a really bad and nasty experience with any wetsuit. And the other one is to tell about any classic surf day you have had or any amazing surf survival story. He gives out a suit to a winner every 60 days and also extra ones twice a year.

I thought that this was a kinda cool deal so I put together my greatest writing skills, be what they may, and surfiest surf imagination and entered. I was gonna tell about surviving the monster tsunami in my hot tub last night but I actually caused that when I slipped on the step getting in. So I wrote about the beginning of my surfing life and how that first ride has lasted for over a half a century. I did it in less than ten words too. Heck, I could use a free wetsuit and obviously I am expecting to win. Times are tough these days and nobody has been beating down my door for major endorsement deals lately. I can’t understand this as I am so very available. And with the price of gas it costs a thousand dollars just to fill up the surf mobile and take a safari down to Sano.

So dudes and dudettes you might wanna check this out in case you might wanna chance to score a free wetsuit.