Over the years I had somehow been drawn into Eric’s reality over and over again. It has always been with interesting results. We have ridden some good surf and engaged in some funny projects, like his local variety cable access show, which he somehow managed to convince me to work on. Each project was actually very fun, and managed to push me in directions I had not planned on going. Ever had one of those eccentric childhood pals? Then you know exactly what I am getting at. Eric was always just a little different, but somehow my friendship with him managed to span a large part of my life.

So it really came as no surprise that when I returned from Maui in 2001, with about 50 rolls of film from participating with fellow Santa Barbaran Greg Huglin in shooting the first World Tow In Surfing Championship at Jaws, Eric approached me with another of his “ideas.” Tow surfing was newly born really, and many aspects were still undefined. Eric’s concept was to build a website that would serve as a focal point for advancing the sport, thereby eventually defining it as a marketable entity. Having experienced Eric’s drive to accomplish the unlikely and even unimaginable, I realized it was more efficient to just give him the information and let him do what he would likely just do anyway. He licensed some images from the shoot and launched Towsurfer.com.

Of course, knowing Eric as well as I do, I realized that there was another incentive. He wanted to ride big surf. He had almost zero background or qualification to do so. But those issues have always been a motivator for Eric in the past. When things seem stupidly impossible, he pursues his goals with an even greater zeal. After a thorough lecture about the folly of a 40 year old embarking on a new career as a big wave rider, even if it was at the end of a tow rope, I introduced him to my friend and colleague Archie Kalepa. Archie is likely one of the most renowned watermen on the planet today, and Head of Ocean Safety in Maui. He is a no BS sort of guy. On the QT I cautioned Archie about Eric, and knew he would do his best to keep Eric alive by putting him through training hell. Eric went to Maui to be tutored in PWC use and big wave rescue and survival techniques. One of the smartest moves I have seen the man make and classic Eric A.

Now, years later, Eric has moved from his long time SB home, and resides in Olympia, Washington. He continues to organize the sport he is so deeply involved in, and travels the world with some of tow surfing’s elite, filming and riding the more dangerous waves of the world. He is alive. That is a sign that he has done something right. In tow surfing, margins for error are thin with penalties potentially fatal when one makes a mistake.

Eric is also involved in a huge number of commercial projects revolving around tow surfing, many of which will have far reaching effects on the still young sport. The following are questions put to Eric in an online interview a while back about his involvement in the sport.

INTERVIEW

BE: What motivates you to want to tow surf?
EA: The sheer rush, excitement and unknown. I love the travel involved and the expeditions of getting to a specific place. I love the feeling I get after putting my partner on an insane wave and I get the same feeling when I am done riding one.

BE: What is your greatest fear and why?
EA: My greatest fear is not being fearful and not having the spiritual presence that I need when I am out in very large surf. I am always fearful and always in check with my higher power and surroundings.

BE: When did you first become interested in tow surfing and why?
EA: When I saw a photo of Laird back in the mid 90's on a giant wave at Jaws and was left in ahhh. A few years later I had heard that tow surfing was now being done at Mavz and I knew then that it was a possibility and I wanted to go for it.

BE: Where do you aspire to land with the APT?
EA:The Association of Professional Towsurfers is dedicated to sanctioning and promoting world class competitions, dissemination of safety and technical information to athletes, and technical direction to event organizers. The empirical growth in alternative sports and the increase in extreme athletic pursuits are well documented. The Association of Professional Towsurfers embraces corporate sponsors and media entities that provide the support necessary to increase its events and goals. The Association of Professional Towsurfers has goals to expand its support throughout the world; lobby government agencies and municipalities to provide more certified tow-in access to ocean venues; and be ever attentive to the unique technical and safety needs of this evolving sport and its constituents.