Santa Cruz Waves picks the brain of legendary big wave charger Richard Schmidt.

SCW:            Name?  Age?  Hometown?

RS:            Richard Schmidt, age 50, born in SF and grew up in Santa Cruz.

SCW:            How did you first get into surfing?

RS:            Well, my family and three brothers all really enjoyed the ocean and we would go down to the beach near the rivermouth as much as possible.  At that time riding inflatable mats was super popular and there would be like 40-50 people out on these mats at once!   It was pretty classic… I got a little Styrofoam board when I was 8 so that’s kind of when stand-up surfing started for me.  We grew up on King St. and also near Pasatiempo {Photo: www.jaywatson.com}  until I was around the age of 13.  After school my brothers and I would stand near the gates, stick out our thumbs and hitch rides down to the Lane   My mom worked at the university so she would pick us up in the afternoon when she got off at the end of the day.  We eventually succeeded to talk my parents into to moving closer to the beach and ended up living near Lighthouse field on Laguna Street.

SCW:            Stoked surf groms haven’t changed much huh??  So when did you realize that you had you had some amazing talent and wanted to test your skills on a higher level?

RS:            I was playing all the others sports… Baseball, soccer… and I came to realize that surfing was something that gave me the most enjoyment and the others sports kind of just fell to the wayside.  I started surfing before school, after school, as well as getting into some amateur competitions.  After high school I enrolled at Cabrillo and was just getting into the school routine when I get a call from my buddy Chris Klopf who was frothing about this new spot in Mexico that had huge beach break tubes.  So myself, Rick Noe, Vince Collier, John McCarter all headed down to this spot call Puerto Escondido.  The place was amazing and I ended up staying a month.  While on that trip Vince had just returned from the North Shore of Oahu and was freaking out saying the place was right up our alley and that we’d be surfing our guns pretty much everyday!  That following winter I took a trip with Vince thinking I’d stay for 4 to 6 weeks and I ended up staying 6 months and from there on out I went every year for the next 15 or 16 years.

SCW:            What were some of your more memorable experiences there?

RS:            I remember sitting on the beach with Vince and we had both hadn’t surfed pipe yet and it was like 12-15ft and perfect.  We finally just said we have to do this!  So we went for it and while in the channel we were awestruck by the raw power of this wave detonating over the shallow reef.  I had never seen anything like it...

SCW:            What year was that and who were some of guys that were charging at that time?

RS:            That was in 1979.  Bruce Hansel was a mad man.  He was this skinny little guy who’d paddle out by himself and just charge.  Greg Bonner from Santa Cruz took us out to Sunset and showed us the ropes and Michael Ho was always a standout and an amazing surfer to watch.

SCW:            So you and Vince have some pretty different personalities…  What was that relationship like?

RS:            I’m pretty mellow and Vince didn’t back down from much.  He was definitely the motivator so we’d push each other to go out in some pretty crazy stuff.   There wouldn’t be a single guy out and be near closing out at Waimea and he’d somehow get me to go.  I was feeling pretty confident with my surfing at that time so I was usually up for the challenge.

SCW:            How did the locals take to a couple of Nor Cal haoles coming over and rushing these spots without abandon?

RS:            Pretty good.  We tried to show as must respect as possible and the fact that we were just a couple guys that would surf pretty much anything the ocean threw at us helped as well.   I was honored to be among the first couple Californians to get invited to the Eddie and ended up getting 3^rd one year in perfect 20ft surf.

SCW:            Wow, that’s amazing!

SCW:            So around what time did you start getting into riding the cold water beasts at Mavericks?

RS:            It was couple days after I got 3^rd in the Eddie and that same monster swell had just hit California.  I talked to my brother Dave who had just surfed the place with Jeff Clark and Tom Powers and was like “you won’t believe what’s in our backyard!”  “You can fit trucks into these waves!!  Bring your Waimea board and get your ass home!  So it was the spring of 1990 before I got out there and sure enough the wave at Mavericks were the real deal.  It kind of reminded me of Waimea but with even more of a distinct bowl to it.  Those were some amazing years with just a handful of use testing out this amazing new big wave.  It wasn’t long before the young frothers like Flea, Loya, Barney, were heading up on a consistent basis testing their skills.

SCW:            So you now have two young boys, (Richie Jr.) and (Makai) that are really into surfing.  Do they help keep that surf stoke alive?

RS:            Ahh man I feel like won the lottery!  It’s such a special feeling to get out and experience the ocean with them.  And even when I’m just sitting on the beach I get just as much pleasure watching them as I would being out there.  It truly is a blessing…

SCW:            That is fantastic.  Well, we look forward to watching your little toe-headed rippers grow into amazing surfers and influence the generations after like you’ve influenced us!

(Hawaii photos by: GORDINHO)

For more info about Richard’s surf schools and to experience a one of kind surfing experience click here:   www.richardschmidt.com