Surf Charleston podcast dives into local surf culture
By Miranda Steadman | Contributing Writer
Rising waters rises all ships … Everybody helps each other out,” says local surfer and podcast host Chris Rufle.
Out of appreciation for the supportive community of Folly Beach, Rufle began the area’s first podcast dedicated to local surfers. Entitled Surf Charleston, Rufle covers subjects and does interviews ranging from documentary producers to nonprofit organization leaders to board shapers, traders, and photographers. Rufle has been busy searching for stimulating surf stories and he’s only getting started.
Keeping it local, even the intro music to the podcast features “Moonscapes,” a song from Folly Beach’s own Dangermuffin.
A year ago Rufle aired his first Surf Charleston podcast episode. He invited Liam Becker of Shred Season and Apis Mercantile on the show as his guest. Shred Season is a local board business that knowledgeably fits surfers and snowboarders with new instruments. Becker’s other business, Apis Mercantile creates honey and hemp products.
Rufle’s friend and audio engineer Ben Cohen helped piece together the podcast with Rufle until he was stationed at an Air Force Base in England. The duo initially faced logistical challenges getting Surf Charleston on bigger platforms such as Apple, Spotify, Google and iHeartRadio. But they were finally able to break through and their audience has been steadily growing ever since.
As the audience for Surf Charleston grew, Rufle found comfortability in his own voice on air and says he’s now able to relax and have a nice, fluid conversation while keeping the Folly community informed about all the goings on in and around the local surf scene.
“When I listen to podcasts they usually come from a West Coast perspective and a competitive point of view … I want to discuss the therapeutic side of surfing in my podcast and from a local point of view,” says Rufle. “There are so many layers to surfing. People use it for more than just a hobby or sport. They use it for therapy,” Rufle added.
Rufle has had Andy Manzi, of Warrior Surf Foundation, on the podcast. Manzi founded the local nonprofit to provide surf therapy, yoga, and wellness coaching to veterans. A veteran himself, Manzi hopes to treat the challenges of post-service transitions including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), moral injury, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and survivor’s guilt through his organization. Manzi has become a true local hero for our national heroes.
Another guest, Erin Jones of Waves 4 Women, works hard to harbor a sisterhood in the water that empowers women to build emotional and physical wellness through surf instruction, women’s wellness groups and community building. Jones hopes to create stronger families and communities this way.
Rufle learned to surf in the waves of New York’s Long Beach, during his childhood. He has acquired a deep respect for the authenticity of Folly Beach and its local businesses.
“When I see a business on Folly grow and thrive organically, I can tell that somebody poured their heart and soul into it,” says Rufle.
Surf Charleston has hosted surfboard shaper David Farina as well as surf photographer Justin Morris, or Follyhood on Instagram, who recently returned home from shooting a longboard competition in Playa Punta Burros, Mexico.
Surf Charleston Podcast guest Ronan Lurkin, who surfed in this year’s Gromfest, produced a documentary on growing up surfing in the area titled 32 79 & Thriving. You can drop into the premier of his documentary Wednesday, Aug. 4 at Martin’s BBQ on James Island.
Guests Patrick Willey and Chris Sizemore are two writers behind surf film Two Feet and Classy, which showcases the longtime tradition of longboarding in Folly Beach.
Interviewing Foster Folsom, the third creator of Two Feet and Classy, ranks number one on Rufle’s guest bucket list for the podcast right now. Folsom also stars in the film alongside Patti Noe and local artist and surfer Kate Barattini.
Rufle’s most recent podcast features Nectar sunglasses co-founder Sean Holmes, who based his business out of Folly and is now competing with the big sunglass brands.
Rufle says he is excited that in an upcoming episode he will be speaking with Olivia Bueno of the Charleston Chapter of Surfriders, a nonprofit devoted to keeping the environment healthy through regular beach cleans. That episode of Surf Charleston will episode starting Aug. 11.
Rufle says he has loved the Olympics since he was young and is excited to finally see surfing as an official Olympic event this year. He thinks that the Women’s U.S.A. Surf team competing in Japan right now has an especially great shot at gold.
“There are so many factors in play there … I’ll definitely be checking it out,” he says. “The number of women I see surfing has grown so much. He plans to take his 6-year-old daughter to the Wahine Surf Competition this year to get her excited to try it more. “I want to pass the torch to my daughter and son,” he says.
