That’s where it’s at! And it’s slowly starting to become a thing with people who don’t want to deal with the bro culture of surfing. Mat surfing in general, they’re like bumper cars in the water. It was such a good day.īy the way, that’s what fringe surfing is about: having fun with your friends! There is no burning each other. He highlined the wave and ended up airdropping onto my back, grabbed my wetsuit, and rode me all the way into the beach. I planked out to go as fast as I possibly could and caught up to him. On one particular wave, Scott dropped in a little further down the line, and I was really deep. There were three other guys on mats out, we all shared waves, did crossover’s landing on top of each other, got super-fun, long waves… it was amazing. Mind you, he hasn’t been in the water for a while, so we took out our surf mats and it was the most magical session. I swooped him up and dragged him down to a local reef that we used to surf a lot together. My buddy Scott, who I mentioned earlier, moved to Idaho and came back to San Diego recently just to hang out with his family. I can go on for hours on this one, but I’ll tell you a recent one. Only the true weirdos and outcasts find fringe surfing. When I first started in the ’80s, you were considered a kook if you did anything but stand up. It’s been like that since I was a little kid. People think standing up is the only cool way to surf. They’re seeing the value of just playing in the water and not taking surfing so seriously. Paipo riding, knee boarding, and mat surfing is definitely making a comeback with younger kids these days. Making surfboards and testing them out is what it’s all about.Īnybody can go to the mall and buy a shitty surfboard, but making a board yourself and getting different reactions and different feelings from it is where it’s at. I guess, if I’m trying to pass on anything, it’s keeping me going and keeping alternative surf craft alive with the youth. Makes me think there’s hope for the future yet. If a kid comes to me and he’s serious about making a board, and it’s an obscure, weird board, I get stoked. I can tell, right off the bat, the vibe of the kid: more artsy, quiet, wants to get into kneeboarding and make their own board.Īre you seeing more interest from the youth in alternative wave riding? Is this something you enjoy passing on to new generations? If kids hit me up and want to learn how to shape, I’ll help them. That room isn’t to shape for money, it’s to shape for fun. I’m making kneeboards and other crafts, and I help kids with these crafts, too. But before that, I was into paipos: I would build them myself, take them to a beach break and get close out barrels. I got into knee boarding because I was really bad at going right, and a lot of the points I prefer to surf are right-handers, so I started kneeboarding because there is no right or left on a kneeboard. It’s for the self-proclaimed weirdos, cult-like fringe surfers, and kids interested in shaping their own wave-riding vehicles.Īnd the man behind it all, Mikey Ratt, was kind enough to let us pick his brain about kneeboarding, fringe surf history, and San Diego wave riding, and about his own experience in the community: both in and out of the water. Frequented by the likes of Joel Tudor and Lachie Lansdown, Pack Ratt isn’t just for the pros. Packed to the gills with retro shapes, vintage kneeboards, and even a shaping bay, it’s a floor-to-ceiling display of wave-riding history. Or perhaps you’ve been inside the core, San Diego fringe surf shop, Pack Ratt Records. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who can match Mikey’s knowledge and enthusiasm for alternative wave riding: you might recognize the popular Instagram account Lower Powered or the independent, alternative wave-craft zine by the same name. During the search, I became acquainted with Mikey Ratt. For some reason, kneeboarding has enthralled me of late so I’ve been on the hunt to find someone who still practices the art (all part of my investigation into the fringe surfing scene).
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