Pete Gustin is a driven man. You might’ve heard of him — we’ve written about him here, here, and here — but if you haven’t, here’s a quick recap:
Pete Gustin is blind. He also surfs. He runs a YouTube channel fittingly called the Blind Surfer, but if you haven’t heard about him that way, then it’s likely you’ve literally heard him. He’s been on television, radio, and movie trailers. He’s the voice of Fox News, has spoken for CBS, ABC, FXX, ESPN, The Cartoon Network, and Comedy Central. The Walking Dead, Archer, Family Guy, and SpongeBob have all played after he talks. In a world where one man’s voice rules them all, Pete Gustin’s voice is king.
Recently, Rob Machado called him up to talk surfboards. For a while now, Pete’s been riding a 5’9″ Ultra Joe from Channel Islands, and Rob thought he might have a better option. Pete, by his own admission, is a relatively new surfer, and Machado thought that maybe, just maybe, a little more foam under his belly might give him a leg up.
“Rob Machado invited me over to his house to discuss the type of board I’ve been riding,” Pete wrote in an email. “At the end of our talk, he decided the best board for me was going to be a little bigger than my 5’9” Ultra Joe from Channel Islands.”
The board that Machado thought would work best happened to be the board that Machado himself is currently riding. It’s called the Sunday, and the one Rob’s been into lately is a 7’0″. Rob pulled it out of his van on Friday night and handed it over.
“He literally took it out of his van and gave it to me to ride for the weekend,” Pete continued. “I rode it and brought it back to him.”
After the session, Pete showed Rob a cut-down version of the video you see above. Rob took a look and narrated over top of it.
The next day, Rob called Pete again and told him to head to his shop in Encinitas, California. As it turned out, he wasn’t just lending Pete the Sunday: he was giving it to him. “He literally gave me a custom Sunday,” Pete said. “I still can’t believe how insanely cool and generous he is. I mean, I don’t know if I’d even give a blind guy my favorite surfboard. Seems dangerous.”
