Mitch Abshere

Mitch Abshere is a Cal­i­for­nia surfer  who is the owner of Cap­tain Helm surf shop, the Cap­tain Fin Co., and the wet­suit com­pany Sea Ves­sel. Deter­mined to do things dif­fer­ently, Mitch blazes new trails and keeps surf­ing real. We caught up with Mitch and asked a few questions.

What was your life like grow­ing up?
I had a great life grow­ing up (in San Diego and Orange County). My par­ents were super sup­port­ive of me surf­ing. We lived about 30 min­utes from the beach when I was age 10 to 14. They drove me to the beach about three to four times a week. My friends and I would get dropped off at about seven in morn­ing and get picked up at dark—so all day shred­ding. It was a great time to just hang at the beach and surf.

When did you get your first surf­board?
I got my first board when I was 10. My boo­gie board got stolen at T Street … thank you, who­ever stole it! That’s when I decided to try and surf. I never went back.

What was the feel­ing you had when you first stood on a surf­board?
Lit­tle hard to remem­ber, but I know that I wanted to quit all sports and just surf. Noth­ing else mattered.

Who did you look up to and admire when you were a young man?
Well, when I first started there weren’t many long­board­ers at all. No kids rode them. Almost all my friends rode short­boards. So I was the Lone Ranger for sure. So really, older guys (which was cool because I got to learn my his­tory). Main guys were Her­bie Fletcher, Skip Frye, Don­ald Takayama. Her­bie and Don­ald were my biggest. Her­bie is prob­a­bly one of the guys that helped keep long­board­ing alive. He was only guy who would put long­board­ers in videos and one of the only guys who would get a shot in the mag­a­zines. I don’t think he gets enough credit for what he has done.

Of all the places you have trav­eled to, what place in par­tic­u­lar stands out and why?
Mon­tauk, New York. Joel Tudor and I went there back in the mid– 90’s. The place was awe­some. Super fun waves. The town had one light and was just very pri­vate. Been to a ton of oth­ers, but this just grabbed me.

Who/what inspires you?
My wife and kids are a huge inspi­ra­tion. Jesus Christ. A lot of the younger guys these days—Al Knost and Rob­bie Kegal. Fun to watch them and their creations.

What is the great­est thing you have learned in your life?
Being with my wife and kids is the best. Every­thing else comes and goes.

Do you have any regrets or wish you had done some­thing dif­fer­ently?
Could have been a lot nicer to peo­ple. When you’re young and liv­ing on your own, you can get into a lot of trouble.

What are you most proud of?
Being mar­ried for almost 10 years now and hav­ing two kids. Never thought I would have made it this far. Also, being sober.

With the econ­omy the way it is and the surf indus­try hurt­ing in terms of sales, what pos­sessed you to open a surf shop now?
Funny you ask this ques­tion. Almost every per­son I know asked it and most of the peo­ple that come in the shop. I have wanted to open one for about 10 years. I’m try­ing not to fear the econ­omy. I’ve lived my whole life doing things back­wards. Why stop now? I love it—way more of a chal­lenge. It keeps me think­ing of how to get peo­ple in the shop. So when we make it through this time, I will have some good stories.

How does your shop dif­fer from other surf shops?
Well, it’s not your typ­i­cal surf shop. We sell a lot of vin­tage clothes along with new stuff. Kind of mixed some of my favorite stuff in one store. We have clothes, boards wet­suits, motor­cy­cle stuff, records, etc. My plan is still for some­thing big­ger, but this is what we have for now.

What mean­ing does surf­ing hold for you and how has it changed your life?
Well, “mean­ing”? I don’t know, but I love surf­ing and enjoy it more than I ever have. Being a part of surf­ing is what I do for liv­ing. I have met some of the most inter­est­ing peo­ple and some of my best friends have come through it. Great adventure.

What brings you the most hap­pi­ness in the world?
Well I’m a Chris­t­ian and have been for over 12 years. So the fact that I know Christ, and my fam­ily, brings me the most happiness.

Who are some of the peo­ple you feel are shap­ing the path for surf­ing today?
Al Knost and Dane Reynolds. My feel­ing is their type of cre­ativ­ity will help keep surf­ing alive and inspire the younger gen­er­a­tion to be who you want to be.

What is your favorite board? Your favorite surf spot?
I have a Takayama noserider that is super fun and just got a Chris­ten­son dou­ble step deck that works amaz­ing.
I love The Ranch; any spot up there will do me just fine.

What’s your favorite meal?
Fish Joint in Ocean­side. They have the best sushi!!

What are you cur­rently lis­ten­ing to on your iPod?
The Drow­ing Men, No Bunny, Half Rats and Mark Mathis.

What causes/organizations do you sup­port?
Keep-A-Breast Foun­da­tion is awe­some. My friend Shaney Jo (Dar­den) runs it. They are some of the most com­mit­ted peo­ple I have met.

Tell me what one word you would use to describe your­self.
Different.

What are you most grate­ful for?
I’m grate­ful to be alive. There have been many times in my life that I should have died. I love wak­ing up to my wife and kids, being able to surf and be a part of surf­ing .… I’ve been priv­i­leged to travel around the world and meet so many cool people.

What’s next for Mitch Abshere?
Right now, I’m work­ing hard on Cap­tain Fin. We are try­ing to put out some wet­suits next year. Also work­ing on a new film. So, I hope all goes well.

Learn more about Mitch Abshere here. Pho­tog­ra­phy by Kyle Light­ner.