Name: Zac Garfield
Age: 30
Vehicle: 02 Suburban aka Mommy Mobile
Occupation: Composite tool designer and fabricator for a flying car startup, schemer/tinkerer
Residence/Local Watering Hole/High Tide spot: 'Ze Bar, Cypress Point, Northern Central California
What’s in your quiver? Whichever mat is the most recent that I've made. From a 12'1 gun down to my first boogie, a 36" BZ Slickflyer.
What’s in your van? A 9’0 Bic, a 7’4 self shaped, a couple mats, a couple pairs of fins, an old coleman dc air mattress inflator and a box of old wetsuits so I never forget one. I gutted the inside of the truck so its kind of vanish in there.
What was your first exposure to / experience with matsurfing? I have to think that seeing the George footage from either Maui or in Crystal Voyager and that just blew my mind. I grew up riding boogies so seeing someone go just so fast and with such a different vibe was like oh man what's all this about.
Did you get the magic right out of the gate or was there a steep learning curve? I think it’s one of those things like you don't know what you don't know. Like I thought I got a couple where I unlocked some magic my first time out, but now I feel like every other session or so I'm tapping into new sensations. So thats also informing how I'm building these things. Kind of riding and fabricating on parallel trajectories.
How often do you ride pool toys v bodysurf v boards (boog, stand up, or otherwise)? I find myself riding the mat more than anything else lately. I've been trying to see where they fail and push them as far as they can go so I can build em better. I find it real rewarding to go mat when its crowded - operating on a totally different metric of success.
Recent travels with mat and fins stashed in the carry on? Brought em down to Baja. Long, tiny peelers. Plus they work great for beach naps.
You’ve made some mats! How did that come about and how do they go? I try and make everything. I have a background in industrial design, so when I see an interesting object my mind goes straight to how its built. This is doubly true for surfcraft. I'm fortunate to live in Santa Cruz and was influenced by Steiny. My brother started to get into it because he was traveling to Oz a couple times a year and they're so good for travel. I borrowed some 4th Gears and G’s and kind of worked it out. It’s been tricky - the first ones were done using hacked up Goodwill irons and hairdryers - but I’ve just built up a proper heat press so we’ll see how the new ones come out.
On memorable sessions or sudden leaps in progress on a mat… Like I said, I’m really trying to push each new one to the point of destruction to inform the fabrication process. I blew out the inner baffles of one of the first ones on a big stormy day at the Lane - it still works, just real lopsided. Seeing my buddy Chris ride his without fins kind of blew my mind and I’ve been trying to rip his feet-up, no-drag style, that totally unlocked some new sensations.
What do you run for inflation… Maybe 60 degrees acute. I’m always messing with inflation out in the lineup though.
On your dream setup for pool toy riding… I'd love to get Malibu in the dark, or maybe back to Baja for some long warm ones. I’ve watched Andrew Buck get some real nugs at Rincon but haven’t really scored it on a mat myself.
Does size matter? Size always matters. I’m a big fan of riding the wrong thing in the right conditions.
How are you passing quarantine time? Fortunately I’ve been able to work from home a bit. That translates to having time to work on that heat press, bronze braze some bike bits and do some gardening. Lots of tinkering.
On goals, plans, future endeavors… Keep honing the mat designs - there’s a lot of room for experimentation. Also thinking of trying to build some boogies or finless soft boards. I’m still tripping on the concept of performance while matting. As compared to contemporary surfing its such a pared down, essential and nuanced thing. I think of something Steiny said, that if it looked even half as cool as it felt, everyone would be doing it.
Valley Pool Toys.
For more info, holler at Zac on the gram @gakzarfield