Black's Ripper Goes Easy on Fledglings

Name: Erick Castaneda

Age: 27

Lives In: North Park

Surfing: Tourmaline

Pre-Surf Music: The Adolescents

Post-Surf Food: Breakfast burrito

Erick “Carne” Castaneda says, “I used to be sponsored with P.B. Surf Shop when I was 16. I started with a YMCA contest and eventually was sponsored by Body Glove. I’ve taken a few good titles — at the Black’s Invitational in 1999 I came in second place.”

What does he think of Tourmaline?

“It’s my favorite and also very challenging; it’s like a slalom course at times because it’s so crowded. There are so many newcomers, so many people who are coming out for the first time. Of course, it’s a surf park, it’s there for everyone, and I don’t want to tell anyone to go to a different beach.”

But?

“If you’re new, you should stick to the inside. Let the experienced people stay on the outside. I used to really hate new surfers, but the older I get, the less I mind. You have to learn sometime. You have to develop your skills and not get in the way. That’s how people get hurt.”

Has he ever been hurt?

“Oh, it was so dumb. It happened, like, 11 years ago, too. I was floating in the water with my board bobbing next to me. It caught a little wave and I watched as it came toward me and smacked me right in the eye. It split my eye, it bled, and I had to get stitches. It was really stupid. I wasn’t even actually surfing.”

Any other mishaps he can recall?

“I think it was 1996. A bunch of friends and I were in P.B. My friend’s dad had been surfing with us and the next thing we knew we saw him floating face down in the water. I think his board hit him in the head and knocked him out. We got him back to shore. He had a concussion, so we just gave him a few beers and let him rest.”