It’s Mickey “The Mongoose” Munoz’s 88th birthday this weekend. He is probably the last guy on the planet who is still surfing in an advanced fashion anywhere near his age.
There might be a few others still surfing, and one or two of them might even still be OK at it. But Mickey is still what we call “shredding.”
On any day he is in the water, he will still be one of the better surfers out there It’s incredible.
I have written about this dude before, but today I would like to talk more about the impact he has had on my surfing and on my life.
I first met Mickey at Doheny State Beach in 1961 when I was 13. I used to hitch-hike down there from our home in Surfside to visit a girlfriend I had in Dana Point. One day, we were hanging out at Doheny and I met Mickey.
He was already a big-name surf star, and it was a big deal for me. It was right about the same time I got picked up hitch-hiking home by Mike Doyle. Both guys would become lifelong friends and have important roles in both my surfing and life.
The next year, I won my first surfing contest at San Clemente and saw both guys again there. Not long after that, Hobie Alter bought out Ole Surfboards in Seal Beach and hired Mickey to manage the shop and brand. First thing he did was recruit me to surf for Ole. He and I would be the surf team, and he started driving me to many of the contests up and down the coast.
He saw I was a fast paddler and convinced me to enter the paddle races. The first one I went in, I won, beating Mike Doyle. After that, I won just about all of them, something I never would have done without Mickey pushing me into it.
The thing about him that I really have always enjoyed is his great sense of humor and laugh. He has a great laugh. The dude was a major partier, yet never out of control. Super competitive, yet always respectful. And respected.
He was a great role model for an obnoxious young teen me, one who could “cross the line” very easily and without even noticing it.
My first trip to the North Shore in Hawaii was with both Mickey and Mike Doyle. They showed me the ropes over there that winter. My first time surfing real big waves at Waimea Bay was with Mickey. He showed me where to take off and coaxed me into my first wave. It was easily 300 feet and scared me A LOT. But the thrill was stronger than the fear, and I started going back for more. George Downing had a hand in that, too.
In 1965, Tom Morey put on the first professional surf contest. It was a timed “noseriding” event. His idea was to stimulate surfboard design. Noseriding was the big thing then.
Mickey, Hobie and Phil Edwards came up with the first truly functional “noserider” shaped surfboard. The event had divisions for both right-foot-forward and left-foot-forward surfers. Mickey won the left-foot-forward and I won the right-foot-forward on this new design. That shape is still used and viable in today’s longboard surfing.
When boards went short, Mickey was right there and became one of the leading shapers and designers during the “shortboard revolution.” He shaped me some of the best boards that I ever had when we were both working for Hobie in Dana Point.
When the stand-up paddleboards started becoming popular, I was not a fan. Not until I surfed with Mickey one afternoon down on the East Cape near Cabo San Lucas. He was riding one.
We had this cool spot all to ourselves. I was sitting inside and saw Mickey take off on a bigger wave outside. He had always been a great surfer, but was never known for his turns. He was all about speed and tube rides.
So, he takes off on this nice right-hander and fades deep to the left and into a monster Barry Kanaiaupuni-type bottom turn. Wow. Then he comes screaming down the line and flies right over the top of a big rock sticking out of the water and right at me. Just before he runs me down, he cranks this huge cutback, sliding the fins of his board out of the water, and back up into the pocket of the wave where he pivots on a dime and comes racing back out and down the line as he goes past me.
I was sitting there in shock. This was the moment I realized that the SUPs might actually have more to offer than I had thought. Oh, he was 75 at that time.
A couple of years later, my back gave out and I switched to a SUP myself. Mickey was my go-to guy for advice and tips on how to ride one of those things.
Today he is still in full shred mode. He surfs all the time and tests out paddles for legendary Quick Blade out of Costa Mesa, splitting his time between Capistrano Beach and the East Cape in Mexico.
Happy 88 Mongoose, you rock.