Checking in with Charlie Bunger: A New York Surf Legend

The legendary Bunger logo. Wilson

SURFERMAG.COM: I bet. That must have been a pretty unique time to be a surfer here, to be able to go and explore and have actual adventures without leaving home.
CHARLIE BUNGER: Yeah, it was cool. We’d go camp out at Montauk and have these great little surf trips. It was a whole different thing than now.

SURFERMAG.COM: So did that keep the travel bug from hitting?
CHARLIE BUNGER: It didn’t really hit at all for us in the ’60s. Some guys did go to Hawaii—I went there on my honeymoon—but mostly people stayed around here or went up to New England a little bit. Maybe a few trips to Virginia Beach, but nobody was really going to Florida. It certainly wasn’t like travel is now. Guys are going all over the place now.

SURFERMAG.COM: Even with The Endless Summer and that whole thing, guys weren’t itching to travel?
CHARLIE BUNGER: I mean, some people were. A whole bunch of guys from New York went on a trip down to Peru for a few weeks but it wasn’t like travel is today.

SURFERMAG.COM: What about wetsuits? What role did they play in the growing scene?
CHARLIE BUNGER: Oh, it was so hard to surf in the cold water. We only had longjohns and jackets with beavertails, and they were like a quarter-inch thick and the rubber was so stiff. It was just a nightmare to try and surf in the winter. Not like now where the suits are so well made and warm and flexible. Back then it was a very tough thing to surf in the winter. Guys were doing it though, it just wasn’t as easy.

SURFERMAG.COM: Do you feel like as wetsuit technology developed, the talent level here developed in step with that?
CHARLIE BUNGER: Yeah. Guys can surf all year now. The suits are so flexible; it’s almost like not even having one on. You know, it’s still really tough surfing in the winter, but the technology has increased the amount of time guys can spend in the water and that’s certainly helped out a lot.

SURFERMAG.COM: Let’s talk about shaping a bit more. Were you living out at Gilgo when you started?
CHARLIE BUNGER: No. I started out in my basement in Lindenhurst. I bought a blank from Clark Foam, and started working on it, but I didn’t know what I was doing. [Laughs]

SURFERMAG.COM: But you worked at it and learned a bunch, and now you have the shop and everything, and shaping has become something that you’ve handed down?
CHARLIE BUNGER: Yeah, my son Tommy does most of the shaping now and my other son Charlie works the shop along with my daughter Theresa. We’ve turned it into a whole family business. We’re probably the only shop on Long Island that does all our own boards. We do total repair work and all that too. I don’t think there are any other shops that do what we do.

SURFERMAG.COM: And why is that aspect of the business important to you?
CHARLIE BUNGER: Because a kid can come into the shop and relate to Tommy’s or my shaping on a personal level. It has a more down-to-earth feel. This isn’t like a boutique. Here a kid can come in and talk to Tommy about what he needs and wants, and it becomes a more personal thing. Like a local thing where people get to know each other.

SURFERMAG.COM: Are there any guys coming up behind Tommy who are going to take shaping to the next generation?
CHARLIE BUNGER: You know, it’s sad. There are some other guys out there who shape, but they’re getting older now too. It seems like there aren’t any kids around now that want to get dirty and want to get into the surfboard business. It’s a dirty stinking business and it’s tough, so I guess they just don’t want to get involved.

SURFERMAG.COM: What other challenges are facing Long Island shapers?
CHARLIE BUNGER: Well, probably the boards coming in from China. That whole pop-out thing will probably put a dent in the business. Maybe not so much for us, because we’re a pretty small operation, but the bigger guys in the business might be affected. I don’t know, I think that whole fad is going to fall by the wayside over the next few years anyway.

SURFERMAG.COM: What about the shop? When did you open the shop?
CHARLIE BUNGER: We started in 1962. We built boards in the back and had a little retail area up front. Just boards and T-shirts really. Not like it is now.

SURFERMAG.COM: For a surf shop that’s a long time to be in business.
CHARLIE BUNGER: Yeah, I mean I’ve had a lot of up and down years. You get the good and the bad, but I had a family and I just stuck with it. It’s not like I wanted a career change. I mean, I love surfing and I love the business. I love being around all the kids and that’s what drives me to stay involved today. I love to hang around the shop and talk to the kids and see them get into it. It’s just a great sport to be involved with and be around.

SURFERMAG.COM: What’s changed in surfing today?
CHARLIE BUNGER: Well there’s money in the sport now, and everyone seems to want to be sponsored and get their little slice. Back when I started it was more for ourselves. We just wanted to go surfing. We just went out and surfed and had a good time and that was the end of it. Now everyone wants to get famous and be a star. We were just happy to go surf and maybe check out a movie or a magazine sometime.

SURFERMAG.COM: What’s remained constant here?
CHARLIE BUNGER: The community feel of it all. The kids that patronize the shop are all from the same places and know us, and it’s nice to be able to foster that feeling. We have a team that rides for the shop and we have some good guys who are up and coming and surf really well.

SURFERMAG.COM: What challenges do those up-and-coming kids face with regard to taking their surfing to the next level, to make a career of it?
CHARLIE BUNGER: Well it’s tough for them to get the level of exposure they need to really break through. It’s important to travel. Like Chris Tomlin [Bunger Team Rider]. If he wants to go to the next level, he has to travel and get out there and do contests and get noticed. All the business and magazines are out in California, and we’re far away from that so it makes it tough.

SURFERMAG.COM: Do you think the talent is there? Do you think Long Island has the potential to produce surfers that can compete on a global stage?
CHARLIE BUNGER: I think we already have. Ricky Rasmussen won the U.S. Championships in the ’70s, my buddy Eddie Fawess was an East Coast champ, and Chris Tomlin won the air division at a contest out in California recently. So the potential is there. The guys just need the desire to do it and have the backing and money to travel.

SURFERMAG.COM: How do think the rest of the surf world perceives Long Islanders?
CHARLIE BUNGER: Well I don’t really know how to answer that. I’d bet they don’t think too highly of us. Like we’re behind the times, or that we’re a bunch of kooks. But there are a lot of good people here. We might not all fit into the cookie-cutter model of what a surfer is supposed to be, but the surfers here are down to earth. I just think about the kids that are out there in 38º water in the middle of the winter, and that alone lets me know where we stand. It’s diehard.