Skateboarding was probably born around the early 1950s when surfers in California wanted something to surf when the waves were flat, seemed like a great idea to be able to surf the streets. It has been part of the surfing culture ever since, a lot of surfers today are avid skateboarders. Patrick Truitt has played an important role in the development of the surf, skate and snowboard scene for many years.
Name: Patrick Truitt
Nickname: Both of them are from the 70’s. Pat “The Rat” because I was a skate rat and surf rat as a grom. That came from the Bowl community. “Truitt Boy” just because it stuck and that came from One Time and Josh Marlowe.
Age: 47
Weight: 155lb
Stance: Regular
Home Town: OCMD
Home Break: OC Inlet, San Clemente Pier, CA
Board: Skate - Vert / Pools, Surf – 5’8 Football / 5’4” Twin’s / over 8 ft….6’8” Round Pin Mini.
When did you get into surfing and skateboarding?
1975-’76. Josh Marlowe was skating on the boardwalk across the street from my place and that got my interest. I started surfing on bodyboards and that quickly led to surfboards around the same time.
What was it like growing up in OC ?
It was fun. Town was different back then. Myself, Josh, Richie Holt, Mike Harrington, PJ and Mark Aldridge, One Time etc… this was my immediate circle for checking pools and skating altogether. Pools we skated were Surf & Sands, Harrison Hall, Spanish Main, Ocean Park, Shangrila, Love Seat @ Holiday Inn, Century I, Ocean Park (Trash Pit) to name a few.
What was it like to have your own personal skate park and a skate and surf supply?
My father supported my skating to no end. He was the first skateboard distributor and became the largest globally so naturally he supported years of contests sponsorships independently as well as sponsored the Eastern Skateboard Association for years not to mention the 100’s of skaters he sponsored though the decades. My father paved many roads for many skaters as well as industry giants. Between Atlantic Skates, Kryptonics, High Energy, Brand X, Barfoot and Toxic he filled many slots for sure.
When did skating become a major passion in your life?
In the late 70’s, in my mid teens. We had the Ocean Bowl, Rolling Surf fiberglass park on 125th st and another fiberglass city park on 136th. We had ramps to skate built by One Time, Keith Smith here and there….Jay Hall’s ramp, empty pools in the winter, surf all year. We had it made. We skated every day if no rain or snow denied us.
I’ve heard some good stories about the Ocean Bowl what are some of your most memorable experiences there?
We were there every day all year round. The people that ran the bowl we also people that we skated with and were a big motivation to many. Jimmy and Donna Mcnulty, Mark “One Time” Hordeman, Marc Emond, Parke Pendleton…etc.
What is the history of the oc surf and skate scene viewed by you.
The history belongs to the skaters and Haystack Marlowe for mobilizing the city with all who were interested in having a public skatepark. Jack Crosby made the park models and drawings. I wasn’t even “in” the scene of skating when that was happening.
There were so many skaters in those early years of the Ocean Bowl. There’s no way to name them all. Here’s a few off the top of my head but there were so many other’s…Skill Johnson, Billy Todd, Marlowe Brothers, Marc Emond, Mike Harrington, Wade Reiner, Dave Powell, George Bontz, Keith Smith, Troy Purnell, Valerie and Tara Williams, Chip Fredrick, Denny Riorden, Mike Hayman, PJ & Mark Aldridge, Chip Carper, Jim Mcnulty, Parke Pendleton, Richie Holt, Tom Eggers, One Time, Craig & Jeff Horvath, Eric Kurzbard, Hurley Brother’s, Jeff Quillen, Jay Hall, Salty and Dan, Planters, Pineapple Reidel, partial of the ECTT: Dave Tobin, John Aires, Dan Heyman, Bob Blair, Bob Umble, Micro, Wiggy and on and on. There are so many worthy of mention that aren’t listed.
Your thoughts on equipment developmentWith skateboards we went through many changes. We went from narrow wood planks to laminated high quality wood. Many suffered through metal and clay wheels to urethane wheels and precision bearings. Then in 78/79 came the 10 inch wide decks and wide trucks with copers and conical wheels. Changes from that point were more in refinement in board shapes and varying widths until the early 90’s when the band-aid decks entered the market. We could go on forever with details about many of the significant changes from ’75 to ’95.
How much time did you spend in California and what did you do while you were there?
I first went out in the fall of 1986. My father took over Brand X Skateboards and Barfoot Snowboards. Fortunately for me, Brand X was located in Ventura and I was staying in Oxnard on Silver Strand. The taste of quality, consistent and substantial surf I had on that first stay was all the clarity I needed to come back out and stay. I spent the better part of 3 winters out there from ’86 – ’90. In ’91 I moved to San Clemente with Willy Byrne and came back for a couple months in the summers of ’91 and ’92 then again in ’99.
I first spent some time moving surfboards an in ’92 when the Snowboard market exploded I had a great opportunity at my fingertips. Barfoot Snowboards were being made in San Diego in Rob Dykema’s factory. I would purchase all cosmetic blems daily and sell them. I couldn’t get enough. I had been getting random requests for snowboards in the prior years from many San Clemente friends so when I realized the market was wide open I put an ad out in the Recycler (classified paper) for the surrounding counties and made enough money in 3 weeks to build my own snowboard company the following season. I did that for the following 3 seasons until the market saturated and fell apart. After that I was active in all active markets from brokering product, manufacturing to consulting.
Have you passed on the skate and surf stoke to your kids?
Well, my little girl, Ella is 6 and she’s wired like I was when I was a grom. I pretty sure she was born with stoke and ready to charge. Funny that it concerns me to a point but that’s just Daddy being protective. I’ll have her and her sister, Kira in the water as soon as school is out next week. She already carves the little banked curbs on her skate in our neighborhood. It’s funny because she carves it like she’s pumping down the line. Gabe, my 16 yr old step son skated all the time when he was younger and pretty good but he’s tethered to anything with strings and amps and I have to say that he plays quite well. My 27 year old son, Cheyne skated and skates well moved onto playing music everywhere, traveling and piercing.
How much have things changed at the Ocean Bowl in the past few years.
I returned in late 2003 and had visited in 99 so I had a chance to skate the new park before I came back for good. I wouldn’t say anything has profoundly changed in the last few years. That’s something to ask Dave Messick who has run the Ocean Bowl for years. I know that Dave has done an unreal job of documenting anything worthy of passing along. Dave has been filing time codes since before the Blue Steel half pipe that was built in the footprint of the original “Big” Bowl. The Blue Steel ramp was my favorite thing I have skated in this town. Following that is the fiberglass half pipe at rolling Surf and the fiberglass Snake Run at 136th st.
What are you going to be doing this summer?Enjoying my family, teaching my girls how to surf and skating the new pool at the Ocean Bowl as soon as it’s complete.
You can find many older images of the different phases of the skateparks in Ocean City on my Facebook page. Just hit me up with a friend request at; http://www.facebook.com/
Nickname: Both of them are from the 70’s. Pat “The Rat” because I was a skate rat and surf rat as a grom. That came from the Bowl community. “Truitt Boy” just because it stuck and that came from One Time and Josh Marlowe.
Age: 47
Weight: 155lb
Stance: Regular
Home Town: OCMD
Home Break: OC Inlet, San Clemente Pier, CA
Board: Skate - Vert / Pools, Surf – 5’8 Football / 5’4” Twin’s / over 8 ft….6’8” Round Pin Mini.
When did you get into surfing and skateboarding?
1975-’76. Josh Marlowe was skating on the boardwalk across the street from my place and that got my interest. I started surfing on bodyboards and that quickly led to surfboards around the same time.
What was it like growing up in OC ?
It was fun. Town was different back then. Myself, Josh, Richie Holt, Mike Harrington, PJ and Mark Aldridge, One Time etc… this was my immediate circle for checking pools and skating altogether. Pools we skated were Surf & Sands, Harrison Hall, Spanish Main, Ocean Park, Shangrila, Love Seat @ Holiday Inn, Century I, Ocean Park (Trash Pit) to name a few.
What was it like to have your own personal skate park and a skate and surf supply?
My father supported my skating to no end. He was the first skateboard distributor and became the largest globally so naturally he supported years of contests sponsorships independently as well as sponsored the Eastern Skateboard Association for years not to mention the 100’s of skaters he sponsored though the decades. My father paved many roads for many skaters as well as industry giants. Between Atlantic Skates, Kryptonics, High Energy, Brand X, Barfoot and Toxic he filled many slots for sure.
When did skating become a major passion in your life?
In the late 70’s, in my mid teens. We had the Ocean Bowl, Rolling Surf fiberglass park on 125th st and another fiberglass city park on 136th. We had ramps to skate built by One Time, Keith Smith here and there….Jay Hall’s ramp, empty pools in the winter, surf all year. We had it made. We skated every day if no rain or snow denied us.
I’ve heard some good stories about the Ocean Bowl what are some of your most memorable experiences there?
We were there every day all year round. The people that ran the bowl we also people that we skated with and were a big motivation to many. Jimmy and Donna Mcnulty, Mark “One Time” Hordeman, Marc Emond, Parke Pendleton…etc.
What is the history of the oc surf and skate scene viewed by you.
The history belongs to the skaters and Haystack Marlowe for mobilizing the city with all who were interested in having a public skatepark. Jack Crosby made the park models and drawings. I wasn’t even “in” the scene of skating when that was happening.
There were so many skaters in those early years of the Ocean Bowl. There’s no way to name them all. Here’s a few off the top of my head but there were so many other’s…Skill Johnson, Billy Todd, Marlowe Brothers, Marc Emond, Mike Harrington, Wade Reiner, Dave Powell, George Bontz, Keith Smith, Troy Purnell, Valerie and Tara Williams, Chip Fredrick, Denny Riorden, Mike Hayman, PJ & Mark Aldridge, Chip Carper, Jim Mcnulty, Parke Pendleton, Richie Holt, Tom Eggers, One Time, Craig & Jeff Horvath, Eric Kurzbard, Hurley Brother’s, Jeff Quillen, Jay Hall, Salty and Dan, Planters, Pineapple Reidel, partial of the ECTT: Dave Tobin, John Aires, Dan Heyman, Bob Blair, Bob Umble, Micro, Wiggy and on and on. There are so many worthy of mention that aren’t listed.
Your thoughts on equipment developmentWith skateboards we went through many changes. We went from narrow wood planks to laminated high quality wood. Many suffered through metal and clay wheels to urethane wheels and precision bearings. Then in 78/79 came the 10 inch wide decks and wide trucks with copers and conical wheels. Changes from that point were more in refinement in board shapes and varying widths until the early 90’s when the band-aid decks entered the market. We could go on forever with details about many of the significant changes from ’75 to ’95.
How much time did you spend in California and what did you do while you were there?
I first went out in the fall of 1986. My father took over Brand X Skateboards and Barfoot Snowboards. Fortunately for me, Brand X was located in Ventura and I was staying in Oxnard on Silver Strand. The taste of quality, consistent and substantial surf I had on that first stay was all the clarity I needed to come back out and stay. I spent the better part of 3 winters out there from ’86 – ’90. In ’91 I moved to San Clemente with Willy Byrne and came back for a couple months in the summers of ’91 and ’92 then again in ’99.
I first spent some time moving surfboards an in ’92 when the Snowboard market exploded I had a great opportunity at my fingertips. Barfoot Snowboards were being made in San Diego in Rob Dykema’s factory. I would purchase all cosmetic blems daily and sell them. I couldn’t get enough. I had been getting random requests for snowboards in the prior years from many San Clemente friends so when I realized the market was wide open I put an ad out in the Recycler (classified paper) for the surrounding counties and made enough money in 3 weeks to build my own snowboard company the following season. I did that for the following 3 seasons until the market saturated and fell apart. After that I was active in all active markets from brokering product, manufacturing to consulting.
Have you passed on the skate and surf stoke to your kids?
Well, my little girl, Ella is 6 and she’s wired like I was when I was a grom. I pretty sure she was born with stoke and ready to charge. Funny that it concerns me to a point but that’s just Daddy being protective. I’ll have her and her sister, Kira in the water as soon as school is out next week. She already carves the little banked curbs on her skate in our neighborhood. It’s funny because she carves it like she’s pumping down the line. Gabe, my 16 yr old step son skated all the time when he was younger and pretty good but he’s tethered to anything with strings and amps and I have to say that he plays quite well. My 27 year old son, Cheyne skated and skates well moved onto playing music everywhere, traveling and piercing.
How much have things changed at the Ocean Bowl in the past few years.
I returned in late 2003 and had visited in 99 so I had a chance to skate the new park before I came back for good. I wouldn’t say anything has profoundly changed in the last few years. That’s something to ask Dave Messick who has run the Ocean Bowl for years. I know that Dave has done an unreal job of documenting anything worthy of passing along. Dave has been filing time codes since before the Blue Steel half pipe that was built in the footprint of the original “Big” Bowl. The Blue Steel ramp was my favorite thing I have skated in this town. Following that is the fiberglass half pipe at rolling Surf and the fiberglass Snake Run at 136th st.
What are you going to be doing this summer?Enjoying my family, teaching my girls how to surf and skating the new pool at the Ocean Bowl as soon as it’s complete.
You can find many older images of the different phases of the skateparks in Ocean City on my Facebook page. Just hit me up with a friend request at; http://www.facebook.com/
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