Hace tiempo que sigo The Endless Bumber, blog de Nueva York, en el que se ofrecen contenidos retros y un surf desenfrenado lejos del prototipo que en ocasiones tan empalagoso resulta. Contacté con Toddy Stewart quien se ofreció a participar con nosotros de buena gana. Resulta curioso escuchar a un aficionado de un lugar más lejos al que solemos conocer. En este caso puede apreciarse como hay conceptos comunes a los nuestros a la vez que me ha llamado la atención cómo entiende el Surf en una ciudad de las dimensiones de Nueva York. En definitiva, vale la pena pararse a leer a Toddy Stewart.
How long have you been surfing in your life?
I started lusting after
surfing, in true land-locked wannabe fashion when I was around 14. I grew up
the child of a ski-patrolman, so until that moment my life revolved around
skiing and snowboarding. I got my first
taste of "waves" when I was 16 and started flailing in the water
consistently when I was 18. I am still
flailing now, 20 years later.
How is the oldest memory on a board?
I don't know if it's the
oldest, but I remember the day Geoff Akins, Jon Thollander and I paddled out at
what, at the time, I thought was "massive" Oxnard beach break. It took me eons to get out and when I did, I
just paddled past the lineup and laid on my board for fifteen minutes, trying
to catch my breath and get my confidence back.
It was probably chest high.
What’s your opinion about the actual system of ASP World Tour?
I am pretty agnostic about
professional "points" surfing.
Intellectually, I don't get it from an aesthetic point of view. Big maneuver, stop and pop, slash and burn. It seems silly and somehow
inappropriate. Then again, I have this
guilty pleasure of watching the online live feeds of the heats at the major
events, so I guess I must like it on some guttural, emotional level.
What are your preferences when you take your car for go surfing? Do you
prefer looking for quality waves or a calm site where there aren’t many people?
One of the odd joys of
surfing before the internet age was the lack of surf report. The radio fishing report or the call-in
number or word of mouth was all we had. I got into surfing right before the
full advent of the internet, so I had a handful of years there where all we
could do was drive and look and drive and look. I don't want to be pegged as a
"the good old days were better" sort of curmudgeon, but I really
liked that uncertainty and maybe even the continual disappointment. Nowadays I
tend to pull up, get out and if there is some semblance of something ridable
and a thin crowd, I'll surf without checking anywhere else. I don't want to
hassle with finding the perfect spot. It feels good enough to get into some
uncrowded water.
What’s your opinion about the “boom” in surfing world in the last 15
years?
It's a little funny, a
little sad, a bit of "c'est la vie."
What about the education in the water? It’s appropiate in your area?
Anytime there is water
involved, education is really important.
It's just too dangerous not to understand it, even if it seems placid
and manageable. People in the water are
generally as smart or stupid as they are on land. That's one of the great things about surfing:
you get to know someone's value system, who they really are, by watching how
they act in the lineup.
What’s your favourite spot? Tell us about the possibilities there.
I miss the point breaks in
California. I miss them so much. I miss
San Onofre and I miss Swami's and I miss all those little points in Santa
Barbara. I recently bought a house in Mastic Beach on Long Island so I could
spend more time right next to the ocean. I reckon whether there's surf or not,
that's my favorite spot right now.
Your favourite quiver?
I have a couple longboards
and a Vaquero and a Takayama speed egg and an old 70s single fin and some other
beaters stored in a basement in California.
I'd love to get a little fish or a Casper, that would probably fill
things out appropriately. But really, if
I had to just choose one board I'd have to use that Vaquero. It's just such a
direct feeling. Plus, if it were the
only thing to ride, it would force me to move somewhere with more point breaks.
Where would you spend one mounth?
I'd like to spend a month in
Australia, driving around, surfing, seeing friends. I'd also like to spend a month on a boat in
the Adriatic sea in the middle of the hot summer, drinking wine, smoking
cigarettes and seeing friends. I'd also love to spend a month in West Africa,
making new friends.
What do you think of epoxy?
It's sorta harder to repair
right? Or is it easier? I don't know.
And finally, could you tell us about the surfing in your country?
We'll, I guess that would be
New York. New York is sorta it's own
country. Surfing in NY is a pain in the
ass. Mostly because NY is a pain in the ass.
And NY is a pain in the ass because to live in NY you've gotta pay these
pain-in-the-ass bills and work a ton and there's all this creative energy that
drives you to work that much even if you didn't have to pay all those bills and
really all this NY stuff makes it difficult to find time to make the long trek
out to the beach to surf some junky waves.
And then, when the waves get good, you're outta shape and your
confidence is really low because you haven't spent enough time in the water,
and when you do get out there you make a fool of yourself. Or you just get snaked by some flirts time
kook out for a trendy joy ride. So yeah, it's pretty lame. I wouldn't trade it
for anything at the moment.
