5-foot Evo. 5-foot barrel. Pat Towersey talks about what his Evo feels like in round-faced waves in this episode of The Wire.
The first time I met Pat Towersey we were standing outside of a shaping bay.
I don’t know who’s shaping bay it was but I remember it was next to the bay that Blake Peters would shape in, which was separated by a cardboard thin wall from the space that Andrew Doheny’s band used to practice in – loudly – late into the night.
Immediately across the street is the Hurley/Nike campus in Costa Mesa where Pat works. His business card says “Influencer Marketing Director.”
On this day two years ago Pat had a surfboard in his hands. It was a single fin mid-length that I remember thinking was absurdly thin. I think he had brought it in that day because he wanted a replica made of it. It was the sort of shape that would instantly give you cred among anyone who surfed Rincon in the 70’s but would likely inspire confused looks from anyone born after 1990.
On this day I don’t think Pat and I even exchanged names. We just took turns listening and talking as we stood in conversation with Blake and a few others. Kelly Slater had recently given Pat a Tomo hand shape. An MPH. Pat was raving about it.
In this episode Pat shares what fins make his 5’4 Evo feel best in turns like this one.
I never saw Pat face-to-face again until last week when he joined me for this episode of The Wire Podcast, which I asked him to appear on as a guest for two reasons:
1) His interest in Tomo’s modern planing hulls has continued since Kelly gave him one. You can tell by looking at the photos of him surfing an Evo in this article.
2) From looking at pictures on his Instagram you can tell he’s well versed in alternative wave craft. He’s uncommonly qualified to speak about the way surfboards ride when they’re shaped like rectangles.
This episode was recorded inside of a recording studio at Hurley/Nike. The studio has been used by Social Distortion, Weezer, Bad Seeds, and more. While we were there we could see and hear musicians practicing in different studio bays separated by windows. If I would have stood up in the middle of our episode and started walking I could have made it to the shaping bay I originally met Pat outside of within about four minutes.
Here are my four favorite parts of this episode:
– The hilarious story of how Pat was given the nickname ‘Punker Pat’ while being strangled on the floor of a home owned by the founder of Volcom.
– When Pat shares his trick to getting in and out barrels while body surfing.
– The part where he walks us through the keys to shooting better video of yourself surfing (he brilliantly debunks the ‘negative stigma’ associated with filming yourself).
– His thoughts on what it’s like to have Kelly Slater as a houseguest in your home.
– He also discusses when you should surf an Evo and when you shouldn’t. And what it’s like to surf an 11-foot board at 15-foot wedge.
I love this episode and I think you’ll enjoy it from beginning to end. Especially if you listen in a quiet place, far away from Andrew Doheny’s practice space and Hurley’s recording studio.
Photo by GoPro Action Cam Specialist Robbie Crawford.
