Hang 10 with Birdie: Chas Smith

Hang 10 with Birdie: Chas Smith

09.12.2019

 

Welcome back to Hang 10 with Birdie, where we catch up with friends Birdwell has made along the way, in and out of the water. The reputation of surf journalism’s "enfant terrible" Chas Smith often precedes him, but whether you know him for his frequent dust-ups with the surf industry at large, controversial tenure as editor of "Stab" magazine or not at all, you’ve got to respect his style. Now a contributing writer for “The Surfer’s Journal” as well as operating the always colorful BeachGrit.com, the San Jose-born author grabbed his first waves in the chilly waters of Oregon’s Coos Bay, studied at Oxford on his way to a masters in linguistics, and made his bones as a reporter in dangerous locales like Lebanon and Somalia. We’re still laughing our way through his first book, a cheeky look at Oahu’s North Shore titled "Welcome to Paradise, Now Go To Hell". If somebody’s got to rock the boat, we’d prefer it be Chas.


1) What's your super power?

The ability to be endlessly amusing to myself


2) If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be? 

Al-Ghaydah, Yemen.

 

3) Which three people, living or historical, would you invite to dinner? Why? 

T.E. Lawrence, S.B. Haines and Henri de Monfreid. I’d pick their wild brains about adventure. 

 

 

4) Truth or dare?

Dare. Always dare.


5) What posters did you have on your walls when you were growing up?

Tom Curren and Kurt Cobain.


6) What’s your favorite word, or one you use all the time?

BeachGrit

 

 

7) Favorite appliance or tool (including the specific brand and make)?

Montblanc Meisterstück ballpoint pen.


8) Best compliment you ever received?

That I wrote the funniest surfing book ever.

 

9) Best compliment you ever received?

That I wrote the funniest surfing book ever.

 

10) Best memory in Birdwells?

Going on a five-day sail to Baja with my two best friends and our five children. No moms. All fun.