F I RS T S

Everyone remembers their most memorable firsts, ok while you may not remember your first steps, most life highlights after that are preserved deep in ones memory with the most vivid of details. Some may make you cringe, others grin from ear to ear or have you giggling to yourself while others look on at you, thinking you're nuts. Some may make you simply raise your eyebrows while you think to yourself "Yeap, I'm the man!" We take a few of our top surfers to share a few of their varied 'First Times'.

Well the first time I ever got tanked wasn’t really my decision; it was just fate that was decided without my consent. Hewy, Divey and I were at the young tender age of about 15 and just young and pumped, quite typical from the Mount. All this talk and hype of New Year’s had been going on for a few weeks from all the older boys out in the surf. So the night came. We were amped, hadn't drunk a full beer in my life, and we walked down onto Ocean Beach Rd and saw this flat going mental. Empty beer bottles and cans scattered all over the place, loud thumping music inside and a tent with a keg. As grommets of course ya go walking into the joint as if ya own the place and think you're smug, thinking you're on the same level as all the older boys. You have a shot with the older woman (which in reality you have no chance) and ya get one beer handed to ya straight off the bat and screamed at until you have the thing at a vertical angle and rushing down ya throat. Meanwhile the rest of it explodes onto your new plain white Rusty T-shirt, which was in your eyes "the fashionable thing to wear" at the time. After that, we headed inside and as we walked around the corner and into this room that we were all baited into, the older boys eyes just lit up, and that's a bad sign when you're a grommet, as you know they are plotting an evil scheme against you! Divey saw this early and bolted for it, managing to get out the door before it slammed shut. As for Hewy and I, we were toast! The boys loaded us up with two full cans and said "Skull that F*#KING BEER GROMMETS!" and as ya would, you go "Oh nah I'm alrigh,t" then BOOM! The punch came into the shoulder and the can went flying and exploded onto the other side of the room. After that we knew the only way out was to drink these cans dry so that's what we did. After a few more we were pretty much tanked and Hewy and I wobbled our ways out of the room and onto the dance floor looking like we had just done a full bottle of 750ML Vodka. After that the night went to a slight blurr, but I can remember Ashman getting me on his shoulders, screaming "Grommet" and doing a helicopter at full speed and I was screaming stop! Please! Thinking what I had drunk was going to land on the rest of the party. After a few more helicopter spins, punched shoulders, grommet jokes and hitting the dance floor, we all wobbled home and hit the sack. A sick night that I will always remember! Being a grommet will always be the funniest and most care free days of your life, which you can never get back but will always remember.