Wild Willy's Ways

The man of many words and wisdom, Bill has been a friend for many years and a true waterman in his own right. No fear here, former Army dude he served with honor in the Gulf war and is a published author.    

June 3, 2025

A Tribute to Charles, A.K.A. "Chuck" Williams

By William J. Mueller

The crew at Shred Surf Magazine would like to pay tribute to legendary Treasure Coast surfer and shaper Charles Williams. He was the founder of Impact Surf Boards. He really exemplified the role of a dedicated lifelong surfer. Anyone who ever got the stoke and enjoys surfing would be envious of the life this man led. He dedicated his life to surfing and creating innovative board designs.

Chuck passed away on March 11, 2025. Chuck was born in Okeechobee, FL, but learned his chops on the beaches north of the Daytona area as a teenager. He was a fierce competitor and was a fixture on the professional surf tour scene in the late '70s and '80s, traveling and competing all over the world. He achieved great success and reached the rank of 20th best surfer in the world during his era.

After a successful professional surfing career, he kept the stoke alive and went on to start the "Impact" surfboard company. His shop was in his garage on Old Dixie Highway near the Fort Pierce Inlet State Park. He spent his days enjoying surfing and working near his home break. Even though he was a successful businessman making surfboards, he never thought of it that way. He was often quoted as saying, "I'm not a businessman; I just make surfboards for my friends," and "I'd like to be remembered first and foremost as a surfer."

His definition of business attire consisted of flip-flops, board shorts, and T-shirts. That would make any 9-to-5 office rat envious! Too many of us wither our lives away at jobs we abhor, with a rotting soul begging for retirement, but not Chuck. He got to live the dream! Too many of us surfers suffer from a chronic case of the "FOMO" (Fear of Missing Out). I'm sure Chuck rarely had that problem. He was always there.

I've got to give him credit; he didn't have to waste his days being stuck in a traffic jam or rotting away at a desk. His office was his shaping room, minutes away from the beach. He didn't believe in advertising; he just let the performance of his boards be the sales pitch! His production of surfboards peaked at up to 300 to 500 boards a year. He would often tell his customers, "I should have your order completed in under a month, but if the waves are good, I can't promise that deadline."

His friends and loved ones held a memorial paddle-out at Fort Pierce Inlet State Park on April 12th, 2025, at 9 am.

Rest in peace, Chuck. When you get to heaven, I hope God will bless you with perfect A-frames, offshore winds, and a nearly empty lineup. You may not still be with us, but you will not be forgotten.

Chuck was survived by his loyal dog, Jetty.

I would like to give a special shout

By: William J. Mueller
As we all painfully remember, in the fourth week of March 2020, we the citizens of the world were forced to go into lockdown, and quarantine due to the threat of COVID 19. I have been surfing for over the last 20 years. I love this sport and do it as frequently as my other life responsibilities allow me to. It gives me good exercise, relaxes my mind, and helps me cope with all the madness occurring in the world. As a veteran and a VFW, it also helps me cope with my PTSD.
    Oh the great threat of Covid-19. The end of all modern civilization. According to our leaders it was an imminent threat to our very existence. By the third week of March I was forced out of my job ( temporarily) and was ordered to stay at home and quarantine. We all remember " Stop the Spread".  I was sitting at home glued to the TV looking for information on what we  law-abiding citizens were supposed to be doing to stop the spread of the nefarious virus, called Covid 19. "They" or whoever was in charge had hours of Propaganda on CNN ( The Communnist News Network, as I like to refer to it). To CNN's defence all the other major news outlets continued to spread the bullshit propaganda, If you recall we were being bombarded with freakish public service announcements  about washing your hands, staying at home and "OBEY '' all the rules your government overlords have established for your protection.
 The spin doctors were showing the horrific spread of infections and death on a minute by minute basis. You must fear this new threat. Why; because they, the ones in charge, told us we must stop the spread of Covid 19. Personally I will always view this "PLANDEMIC" as a propaganda tool designed by the political elite to control society so that they can impose more rules on us, make their friends rich, and put their people in positions of power.
     I will go to my grave with the personal conviction that this "Scamdemic" was a convenient way to get rid of Donald J. Trump, my president. He was the real threat. He had the audacity to suggest that our leaders in Washington are systematically stealing our wealth through onerous taxes. Wasting copious amounts of our tax money on bullshit wars, ineffective government programs, and generally feeding us a complete line of bullshit about most things they do in the Swamp. How dare he suggest that Americans think for themselves, read the bible, and not peacefully bow down to our superior U.S.Government Overlords. He even had the balls to suggest that our bureaucrats need to be controlled or oven sent out to pasture. Trump was their real enemy all along. How dare he suggest that we should streamline our government and downsize it so "We The People" can go on with our lives and not be dictated to by government Overlords : we must be treated like ignorant children. We must all be a bunch of dumbasses because we didn't graduate from Ivy League schools, how dare we challenge the infinite wisdom of  The U.S.  Government?  Life under Trump was going great. I can remember cheap gasoline, and my taxes getting lowered. Prosperity in America was fully on the march. My friends were buying houses, and new cars.My 401 K was growing handsomely. Since we had money left over we could all go to the grocery store and buy reasonably priced food, get together and have a good time with our friends.
       Then the crisis came, and  we were forced to stay at home. If we rebelled and left our hovels, we would have to bizarrely walk around with facial diapers if we  dared to go to the store. Even after the Faschist Fouchi,  the world authoritarian and over all expert on Viruses, told us not bother with the face diapers because they didn't do Jack-shit to prevent or in any way to "STOP THE SPREAD" He even implied that wearing the diaper could make it worse and only offered a peace of mind protection. After every half ass expert questions his advice and went berserk he did a 180 on his policy. Then they flooded the propaganda channels to force us back into the useless face diapers. Then it was like The Omnipotent Honorable Dr. Fauchi came back on TV and said. " Naaah we were just screwing with you, jokes over, put the face diapers back on."
I defied the quarantine orders because I knew in my heart it was all busllshit. The way I see it they lied to us about the Vietnam War, the Afghanistan situation, and the absolute need to invade Iraq. Who's to say they aren't lying about all this too.  First I went to Naples to visit my brother, who was also home due to the "Scamdemic". Then I continued on a few days later and criss-crossed the entire state of Florida to visit my other brother in Pensacola. The highways and  streets were freakishly empty. When I stopped for gas I can remember weirdos walking around with construction goggles, face diapers,and yellow rubber dishwashing gloves looking like complete cooks.  People were looking at other strangers with total fear in their eyes like " Don't get near me, he/she could be a super spreader."  I can remember one in June 2020, I was driving from Vero Beach Fl, to West Palm beach to assist a friend. He has joint custody of his daughter and we went to go get her. As we returned late that evening we were listening to announcements over the radio of an impending curfew. Then as we drove, over the course of forty miles we witnessed literally hundreds of police cruisers parked on the overpasses and near the exits. The police were doing a show of force and letting it be known to any would-be quarantine violator that they would be dealt with if they left their homes.
   The lock downs continued. Within weeks I was hearing reports of damn near all out fist fights at Walmart as the  mindless plebes desperately tried to acquire the "LAST ROLL OF TP" available before  the end of civilization as we know it. I will always look back at the T.P. and never be able to understand it. Oh, the absolute fear of the  indignity of dying from the mighty, mighty Covid-19. How awful would it be to die and go to your grave with a crusty bung hole, because you didn't have the balls to shove someone's grandma out of the way , in  the supermarket to secure the dignity of the last roll of toilet paper manufactured by mankind. My theory on that is that our country is full of assholes, and everybody is full of shit. Thus explaining the necessity of securing T.P.
     Then the BLM riots popped up in all major cities in America. Looting, burning, and riots. Hey wait. I thought we were all supposed to stay home and stop the spread of the Evil Covid 19. Why didn't they get sent home? Could it be politics? It was an election year. Then the C.H.O.P. zone popped up in Seattle, literally shutting down the entire 5 square block of a major US city. Antifa was ripping the country apart and beating up people in the streets who disagreed with their social justice bullshit.
  Then the unthinkable happened. For our protection all the state beaches would be closed all summer. If you wanted the Covid you'd have to go participate in some anarchy with thousands of hostile peaceful protesters. If you wanted to surf you had to become an outlaw. Unless you were one of those really lucky people with a beach house and a decent break near it. Then technically you were just queranting in your backyard.
  One morning I turned on my computer and checked the surf as I normally do, and saw some conditions that looked to be very, very, nice. I decided to pack my board on my truck, and go up A!A coastal highway to see if I could find a spot to park and get some waves. As I crossed over the 510 Wabasso causeway,  I got to the light, and noticed the gates to the beach closed. Across the intersection sat the Sheriff, who was eyeballing me with a fierce look on his face. The light changed and I turned North to head up the road. I'm sure the Sheriff saw my board on the rack of my truck. It's a ten foot long SUP and painted in bright Naish Yellow. It was obviously clear that I wasn't going to a store to get some necessities.  I never thought of my surfboard as contraband, until now. As I went up the road the Sheriff pulled right behind me. I nervously watched my rear view mirror as the Po - Po tailed me. He continued to follow me for about 6 miles. As I crossed the Indian River - Brevard county line I watched him pull off and turn around. Crisis averted, but I was still freaked out. I continued up the road seeing all the beaches closed and was just looking for a spot to park and hopefully catch a few waves and rid my soul temporarily of all the Covid 19, scandemic bullshit. I knew of such a spot near south Melbourne shores. As I approached I saw four other vehicles there. I parked and got out and got a quick glimpse of the fantastic surf that I was missing out on. Everybody was social-distancing, and a few fishermen were on the beach casting. I decided to play it safe and not go in the water. Mostly because I was in fear that they would have towed my truck, and I would have had to pay fines and the towing. I wasn't sure when we would go back to work and I didn't want to waste money. I went back home and decided to wait like the rest of the world. I've been surfing for 20 years, and have recently ,in the last five years, started Stand Up Paddleboarding. Over the next couple of weeks I would sneak out and go to some boat ramps and enjoy some flat water paddling. At least I had that. It really helped me get through the scamdemic. I one day I remember turning on CNN and watching the news show a five minute video of a paddle boarder in California getting chased by police boats and then being arrested for daring to enjoy the beach while the other half of the country was practically getting burned to the ground. It was comical to watch the L.A. county sheriff try to stuff a 9 foot paddle board into the back of his S.U.V., only to get frustrated after a few minutes and then he threw it  into the back of the lifeguard''s truck He had to secure the evidence. Then a few days later I saw a news report from Peru. They had arrested some pro surfer for violating the lock down. They had these two surfers in handcuffs, as the police viciously grabbed them by the necks, standing there soaking wet. They had one of those banners behind them hung on the wall with the logo of the Peruvian Policia Nacional. Lying in front of the outlaw surfers were their surfboards on the ground. They did a shameful no-no, and were treated to full on  perp-walk, as the reporters went into Paparazzi mode, camaras blazing and taking pictures. It looked like one of those scenes from the news when they bust a ring of notorious drug dealers and they display neatly placed stacks of money, next to the drugs and the guns. These rebellious surfers must be made an example of, or else others might try to go and enjoy the beach before the end of the world.
    To me it was all just madness, as I sat at home drinking  and watched it all go down. I greatly improved my skills as an alcoholic, and sadly enough I gained about 20 plus.
pounds. Fortunately the worst is now behind us. We got a new president who I personally have zero confidence in. In my opinion they cooked the books and over stated the number of deaths directly connected to the evil CO.VID-19. In my mind the real criminals are still at large. The same idiots that continue to tell us that we will continue to fund endless wars, not properly educate our youths, and not make health care available for the poor. We should have listened to Trump and focussed on cheap and abundant therapeuticals.
    We had all that we needed the whole time, but any wiser heads who suggest we use them should be silenced. It may have caused a diversion from the vaccination campaign.I ask you how many lives could we have saved?  Has anyone else thought that there may be a conflict of interest between the Pharmaceutical companies and our elected officials?  Here's the hussle, I'll give you millions of dollars to get re-elected, only if you force my product and force everyone to take it. Of course it will all be paid for with your tax dollars, and we become fantastically rich.   The good news is that the Pharmaceutical companies are making record profits, our National Debt grew exponentially, and the same bums are still in power.  Our kids are getting a proper re-education. They are learning that we all need to start hating each other more..  
   I will go to my grave knowing that hundreds of thousands of people suffered and died unnecessarily.  We were lied to as usual.  Then they told us that the magic vaccine would make all go away. Trump lost , Biden got elected ( if you believe it was a fair election), and the rest is history. At least I can now go to the beach. Although it costs me damn near double to gas up my truck. I lost the Covid weight, but only because I'm too damn poor to afford a decent steak, and my grocery bill is skyrocketing. It begs me to ask, who's the real criminals. Why isn't Fouchi in jail yet, and who was lying to us all along. The real threat that surfers pose to the authorities is that were are creatures of counter culture. I ask you is surfing really a criminal activity. My answer to that is only if your in a crowded line up on a choice wave and you steal it from the other person. The real Ressistance needs to start NOW !