I had the good fortune to spend some time with Tommy Peterson, a man Surfing’s World’s, Hugh McLeod, once called the ‘personification of the outrageous surfer’. A twist of fate put me alongside Tommy at Mick Fanning’s big retirement soiree a few years back. Tommy showed up to the sophisticated, formal occasion with a joint thicker than his index finger in his top pocket, and his mind set on causing a little mischief.

Kelly Slater was soon invited up on stage to pay tribute to Mick. Tommy could take the piss out of anyone, the bigger the target the better; sure enough, just as Kelly approached the microphone and hundreds of people went quiet, Tommy’s rasping voice roared, “Kelly! Holy shit you’re here? Holy shit you old dog. Hey, where’s your broken foot? I haven’t seen you for a while knucklehead.” Kelly broke into a smile. Like many other well-known surfers, he’d commissioned Tommy to shape him boards in the past and had the utmost respect for him.

Tommy once showed me images of a finless creation he’d made for Kelly, its corrugated bottom featured at least 10, intricately cut channels. “It took me three and a half weeks to design the thing,” Tommy had chortled. Kelly and Tommy also shared a birthday, and Kelly was well aware that Michael Peterson’s brilliance owed much to the fact his brother, Tommy, always had his back.

When Tracks posted a photo to commemorate Tommy’s passing, on Instagram, Kelly chimed in. “Loved that guy. What a classic. Sorry to see Tommy gone. He’s a big piece of surfing culture and history.”

Although always respected as a master craftsmen, Tommy’s legacy as a shaper is synonymous with the 5’7” Fireball Fish that Tom Curren rode at Bawa, in Indonesia, in 1994. The story goes ...