SurfWatch Interviews Craig Stallion

photos by Leanne Mordue

SurfWatch recently caught up with Craig Stallion, long time Second Life (SL) surfer, to get his take on SL surfing today.

SurfWatch (SW):  Holy cow, you've been in SL since 2006!  What brought you in?
Craig Stallion (CS):  I originally came in at the behest of some friends of mine.  I have always been interested in virtual reality and gaming.  Second Life seemed to blend those two worlds and was initially one of the primary draws for me.

SW:  How did you discover SL surfing and what drew you to stay involved?
CS:  I grew up near the ocean and longed to be near the ocean again despite being land locked.  So I started looking around for beaches and just spots to hang out at.  That initially drew me to a little surf spot called Quan Li.  Quan Li was the former home of the Namiko Surf team.  Ultimately that got me involved in surfing and the bonds and friendships that I made while surfing are what kept me involved.

SW:  What are some of your favorite experiences and memories and characters around those early surfing days?
CS:  Characters.  Where to start with that question.  Thor Bishop, Sierra Sugar, Radical Twang, Tightline Kidd (TK), Ritch Goalpost, Aries Ashton, Malcolm Sydney, VW Sands, Seano Osumi, DeVinna Toll, and of course Christine Daffodil.  A lot of my favorite memories revolve around the group of Misfits.  Driving a bus on the waves. getting kicked off of Radical Twang's Reaction sim repeatedly, and organizing the first Relay for Life Surf Contest with Christine.

SW:  Haven't heard most of those names in years!  What kind of boards and waves were there?  Tell us about some of the beach sims in those days.
CS:  SSi boards and waves were pretty much the only fully scripted boards and waves that were available to surf on at the time.  The SSi boards ranged in side from short boards all the way up to long boards.  I fondly remember the introduction of the Havoc 4 sims and how they played chaos with almost every board that was around at the time.  Half of the boards in my inventory still sit about 1 meter below the water line.  The sims are largely the same.  The vibrations and feel of the beach has always felt so comforting to me.

Tauri Tigerpaw photo of Craig circa 2008

SW:  What did you do in SL after you stopped surfing?
CS:  Several of the friends that I made in SL and I bounced around to several other games together.

Tauri Tigerpaw photo of Craig circa 2008

SW:  Tell us about your new fave boards, waves, beach sims.
CS:  C3 is probably easily my favorite NEW board.  I'm still very much a sucker for the old SSi and probably always will be since it is what I knew for so long.  All the new maoli waves are amazing but I will always prefer short pipe.  As for beach sims, Bundy Reef, Bluff Cove, Chi (although it isn't new but it will always be special to me for various reasons), Kia Kaha, and Teahupo'o are some of my faves.

SW:  What else would you like to mention?
CS:  It has be so amazing to see what has changed in Second Life and surfing after all this time.  To everyone that I have met along the way, thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I hope to be around for a long time to come and to be able to look back at the fond memories.

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