When quizzed about first surfing Rincon in the late 70’s, Tomson replies,
“I love Rincon, that wave is dear to me. I don’t have the relationship there that I have with my earliest memories of Jeffery’s Bay in South Africa, but I loved surfing Rincon with Al Merrick all morning then going into the shaping bay in the afternoon."
According to Tomson, he and Channel Islands Surfboards shaper Al Merrick, had the ultimate work/play ethic going. They would mix the lessons learned at the Rincon sessions with Shaun’s exposure to the latest designs he would see out on the World Tour in Hawaii, Australia and beyond.
“The late 70’s was a time when surfing was starting to change in Santa Barbara. For many years there had been an active surf culture but it was dominated by people looking to the past rather than into the future in terms of the equipment and the experience they were having in the water. We’d paddle out and there weren’t a lot of guys on cutting edge equipment. Certainly, there were good surfers up here, but it was fun to be with Al when there was a whole new crew of young guys just starting up.”
Tomson loves to reminisce about those long gone days of empty Rincon walls and all the excitement of connecting with Merrick on so many levels.

“I met him though Hawaiian surfboard shaper Bill Barnfield. It was a great opportunity to be with a guy who was really just starting out on the journey of his shaping philosophy. Even though he was a good shaper, he was always excited to hear about the new stuff and look at the new designs. He had a whole young surf team, he was very progressive. I would be in the shaping bay with Al and a day later I would ride the board, then Al would ride it, then back into the bay again.”
Those young team members benefited from all of this intense activity. Future stars Tom Curren and Kim Mearig were just getting their hair wet in preparation for the growing world of professional surfing that Tomson and others had laid the groundwork for.
“When I first saw Tommy surf, I definitely thought this kid had a lot of potential. But I have seen so many kids over the years, with so much potential, that just get lost along the way. They get lost to drugs, lack of focus and motivation. Tom really had that special touch and had that single-minded focus and determination. It was good to surf with him when was just a young little guy starting out in the Rincon swells.”
Speaking of those swells, Shaun and a lot of long time Rincon aficionados recall that the waves came to the Queen of The Coast more often and stayed a lot longer back in the 70’s and 80’s.
On his longer visits, Shaun would stay at the Merrick’s home, “surf for hours and hours, then his wife Terry would make us these huge dinners and we would just collapse in front of the fireplace. Their kids Britt and Heidi were very young and they had a 3-legged dog named Sadie. It was almost as though I had a second family up here.”
That warm welcome to the Santa Barbara surf scene helped Shaun decide to put down permanent roots here in 1995. And that same spirit of care continues to help Shaun and Carla get through the loss of their only son. “We are so thankful to be a part of this community. We feel embraced during the incredible tragedy we’ve suffered through…” Shaun’s voice trails off as tears form in the eyes of a man who is perhaps riding a very difficult wave though an ocean of sadness.
In spite of the rough patch that is woven into his present life, Tomson can still look ahead and see some bright moments. I ask him to comment on the latest crop of pro surfers in the area and the two names that come quickly off his tongue are Bobby Martinez and Dane Reynolds.
“I’ve been surfing with Martinez for a number of years now and I think everyone in Santa Barbara ought to admire what he has done. He didn’t have the route to pro surfing like Tom did. Curren was an incredibly gifted athlete and he had great support from Al and the industry, he was sort of the ‘wonder boy’ from the start. Bobby had a really good amateur career but he couldn’t cut it for years on the WQS (World Qualifying Series). The credit to him is that he kept going, persevering with incredible courage and determination.”
It’s very clear that Shaun is impressed with that set of traits. He is a living example of where that spirit will get you in life long after the surfing contest circuit.
“Bobby has that fighting spirit. He came from a tough side of town and maybe that’s what helped him – that hard fighting spirit. To me, that’s really something to be admired. For four years he slugged it out – and got slugged. Eventually, when he came on the WCT (World Contest Tour), he had one of the best starts, won two events and really showed that he was tempered in that fire”
Shaun greatly admires the incredible talents of young Dane Reynolds but is adamant that he goes out on the tour and likewise proves himself.
“Dane needs to stand up and be counted, he needs to get on the WQS tour because he will never be considered a great surfer until he competes against the best surfers in the world in the most challenging waves in the world. It’s one thing to be an aerial wiz kid at your home beach. It’s another thing to paddle out at Pipeline or Teahupoo, take on Andy Irons or Kelly Slater or Bobby Martinez. That’s the true test of being a man. I love to watch the young kids and innovative surfing but that’s just one small part of what being a great surfer is all about. Maybe that’s not what Dane wants, but that’s what it is for me. What ever he decides, he is still fun to watch.”
I asked him how all this surfing competition has helped Shaun and the everyday surfer in Santa Barbara.
“I’m 51 years old now and I’m surfing better today than I did when I was 19 because I have this great equipment that Al Merrick and other shapers around the world have developed in association with the greatest surfers in the world. So surfers all over the world are having a vastly better surfing experience with the greatly improved equipment. The contests are watched by millions of people on the web and it has created this wonderful community of people that are all focused on watching the best surfing in the world. Moms, Dads, kids, Americans, Africans, Asians, Europeans and Australians - surfing has brought them all together.”

And now it’s that community that is helping Shaun get back in the water and heal himself. As Shaun says, “Surfing never lets me down, it always keeps me paddling back out.”