Mason Ho And Mick Fanning Are Surfing’s New Batman And Robin

“On my last Search trip with Mick, I went to duck dive a wave and my face got pushed into a rock,” Mason Ho tells Stab.

“There was a lot of blood. It hurt a lot. So I paddled towards Mick, to see what he thought of it. When I asked him, he made a really scary face and told me, ‘Oh, Shit stitches for sure!’ I was like ‘nooo are you serious?’ and he just blew up laughing.

‘You’re fine mate!’

I remember instantly feeling like such a grom, thinking Mick, you’re such a polite dickhead, I LOVE YOU!”

It’s official… Mick Fanning’s into his prolonged retirement party following the stepping stones of mid-90’s Tom Curren, Uh, #CheersMick, and joining Mason Ho as the ambassador of Search and Pleasure.

So, the most beloved Hawaiian son to ever do the rock dance, Mason Ho, and the impossible-to-hate Mick Eugene Fanning are teaming up to create surfing’s most electric and likeable duo, taking a page out of Sonny Miller and Tom Curren’s fabled Searching for Tom Curren (a cult-classic, that is very difficult to find, available only on VHS and with a going price that ain’t cheap).

We just had to know more, and caught Mase between sessions at Huntington’s Northside to hear what his year was shaping up like.

Mick Fanning and the wave that will forever be coined by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: The (Rattle) Snake

Stab: Mase, when’s the first Search trip with Mick?

Mason: I almost had to leave yesterday!

I’m in California, and I have nothing here but my passport. I don’t even have a board! So I’m heading home right now. We might be leaving in a couple days.

Where are you guys gonna go?

Bra… there’s nooooo waaaaaay I can tell you that [Laughs].

How’s it feel that you and Mick are surfing’s new dynamic duo?

It feels like I made the tour or something! It’s this cool, Oh, I made it, feeling. It’s just Mick and I. It’s still kind of sinking in. Like WOW, you know?

So, what’s on your agenda, any must-surf locales?

I thought I had some. But Rip Curl asked me yesterday and I couldn’t think of any.

To be honest, I just want to go to really pretty waves with really pretty barrels—and hopefully, where there’s waves barrelling there will be an air section. And a couple sections for turns. (If we get somewhere with no one out, that’s all we really need).

Really, you don’t have one place in mind that you really want to go to or go back to?

Actually, you know what I want to do? I want to go to places that don’t break all year. Places that people go because it’s pretty. Like Miami, or somewhere in the Florida Keys. 

Uh… What??

I want to watch for those freak storms*, where you’re supposed to be evacuating, getting out of the area, and time it right, fly in and batten down the hatches.**

Last night, this chick was telling me about this place in Mississippi, that has a big yellow sandy beach, and instantly I was like, ‘Were there any waves, or like a rip bowl or anything?’

I figured at some point a storm would come through there. So I’m going to throw those out and leave it to the Search Scientists. I’m going to tell them, ‘take me somewhere weird.’

Do you think there are still undiscovered waves?

Oh, for suuuuuure.

Would you rather look for waves in cold or warm water?

Either/Or.

I really love going to cold places, because it’s so opposite to Hawaii. But I like going warm places, too. It’s cool to see other warm places as long as you got AC.

Still Searching with Tom Curren.

Tom Curren, now ’till (maybe) forever, prefers his modified skim.

What was your relationship with the OG Search? 

I hate to sound like a few people out there, but I’ve watched Searching for Tom Curren like a kagillion times!

I’d be up there with the rest of the fans with my watch number. Sometimes I’ll just let it play, just to hear the soundtrack—but when you do that, you just end up sitting down and watching it like four times in a row.

Did you know the VHS version of surfing for Tom goes for $200 on eBay?

Whoa! That’s good. Fuck they should cost waaaaay more. That thing’s sick.

If I were a collector guy for that kind of stuff, I’d need that one. $200 is, like, nothing.

You’ve done a few trips with Mick, how’s he as a travel partner?

I don’t even know how to put it in words. He’s so professional with the way he travels. He’s got it simplified and has a nice rhythm. Like he has the happy medium. He’s smart with how he uses time and doesn’t get stuck on big missions to nowhere.

He’s just a good dude. One time when I was younger, I was in West Oz with my best friend, Rory Pringle, who films me all the time. We were cruising at this party in the mountains, and Mick was there.

He was just entertaining the whole party and kept making sure Rory and I had drinks. It was one of those house parties where when it gets late, drinks are hard to come across. He’d randomly come up, bringing us drinks.

I was like, Fuck, he’s so on. He just knows how to win groups of people over.

You know when you’re traveling, and a legend treats your best friend really good, you’re like, Bra, you’re the man!

*Hurricanes.

**Ed.’s Note: This is a terrible idea.