Mo Lester - Selma Alabama - All City Surf Champ

We recently found out about a new surfing association located in the Southeastern part of the US. It is what they call, just a bunch of ‘Good Ole Boys’ surfing together. They are well, a little unique. But share the passion of surfing. We contacted their president and number one surfer, Maurice ‘Mo’ Lester. He lives in Selma, Alabama. He calls Selma, ‘God’s Country’. Here’s our interview with Mr. Lester:

DemonFactory (DF): Hello Maurice. Thanks for taking some time out to chat with us.

Maurice ‘Mo’ Lester (MO): Ok bubba.

DF: First, your nickname along with your last name… Mo-Lester… Anything behind that?

MO: What??? Is this Dateline again? I swear she said she was 19 or 23!

DF: No, it’s really the DemonFactory site. Never mind. How long have you been surfing for Mo?

MO: Well, I would say about 25 years or so. Since I was about 20 or 21 years old.

DF: No shit? You’re pretty old to be surfing competitively. What got you into surfing and how did you become competitive in it?

MO: Well, I was drunk one night at Kelly’s lake and someone dared me to try surfing on a 2×8 board. We didn’t have a real surfboard. Hell, we didn’t even have the wood. I took a bookcase apart in the trailer and used that.

DF: But you weren’t even at the ocean. How could you surf in a lake?

MO: We use a 3-wheeler. Didn’t have us a 4-wheeler back them. I took a ski rope out of my uncle Lem’s bass boat and tied it to the back of the 3-wheeler. It worked. Well, it took us bout 2 hours before we figure out the part of not starting on land. I hit a stump and flipped over. That was 10ft before the water started.

DF: Yeah, starting on land sounds like the plan. Anyone ever get seriously hurt? Sounds kind of sketchy to me…

MO: What are you some kind of sissy? Hell yes we get hurt. I’ve seen a guy dislocate both his shoulders on one run. One-Nut Jimmy tried doing a flip and landed in a bed of cottonmouths. Talk about walkin on water. Seen a guy split his knee open trying to get bonus points hittin a floater.

DF: Hitting a floater? You guys are catching air doing this?

MO: Air? What the hell you talkin bout? A floater is a log floating in the water. We give bonus point if you hit a floater and stay on your stick. We will usually throw 6 or 8 good sized logs in the water before we start. But, yeah we do hit air. We built us some cool floatin ramps. You can do tricks off of them. But most of the boys break their fins off trying. Not one has made a jump yet. Thinkin bout taking it out.

DF: Bonus points? What other kind of ways can your competitors get bonus points?

MO: Well sometimes we go out the morning of our event and take a few trucks down the highway. We will usually gather us up about 12 or 17 roadkill victims. Opossum, Coons, Beaver or whatever the hells been hit within that past week. We take those and as you’re bein pulled on your surfboard, we will hurl one of em at ya. Try to knock a feller off his board. If he takes a hit and doesn’t wreck, boom! Bonus points!!!

They can paint em up right nice in Selma....

DF: So you guys are actually using real surfboards now?

MO: Yeah buddy. We got us some fine ones too. One guy who paints tractors at the farm club does a real nice job with a paint brush. He paints nudie women on yer board. Nascar themes. Yer dead uncle’s face. All kinds of cool shit.

DF: Ha. Really? You guys probably name your boards too?

MO: Yeah. Doesn’t everybody?

DF: Wow, you’re serious?

MO: Well hell ya I am serious.

DF: Ok, I’ll bite… What did you name yours?

MO: Marla. That’s my third wife’s name. She died about 4 years ago in a nasty tractor accident. She was one awesome lady.

DF: Sorry to hear about that. So she was a farmer?

MO: What? No dumbass. She was selling hotdogs at her hotdog stand. Damned John Deere fell off this guy’s trailer at the stop light. Crushed her. But she died pretty fast so there wasn’t much suffering. Thank the Lord that the hotdog stand is still ok though. I would have been S K R E W D.

DF: Wow. Ok, so back to surfing. Do you have any sponsors? For your association and yourself?

MO: Oh yeah. We got some big sponsors. Jerry’s Car Rodeo is our flagship sponsor. He usually puts up most of the financing. Well, all of the event money comes from Jerry. He’s a good boy. Hell, it’s his 3-wheeler that we use.

DF: How much does it cost to put on an event for you guys?

MO: Well, I would say probably around sixty or so.

DF: Sixty thousand dollars?!?!?

MO: What? Hell no dude. Sixty dollars. $60k? Have you lost your damned mind? Ha! Over half of that is for the brew and wieners. Them boys sure can eat and drank.

DF: So who is your favorite pro surfer?

MO: Oh that’s easy. Kelly.

DF: Nice. Yeah Slater is a favorite of many.

MO: Slater? Who the hell is Slater? I mean Kelly Gibbons. The Gibbons family owns the lake that we hold our events at. Remember? Kelly lake? You ain’t got shit for sense do ya boy?

DF: Sorry. My bad. How about on the ASP Tour?

MO: Oh. Hmm. What the hell is the SPA Tour? Seriously? It is the Special Olympics or something?

DF: Yeah, pretty much. Hey Mo…. let me call you right back. I’ve got to step in front of this bus coming down the road….

MO: Alright bubba. I’ll be here waiting to finish the interview.

DF: Yeah… Ok… You do that… bubba.

~RS

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