Rogue Wave Surf Shop, Charleston, SC

So about a week ago, I went down to Charleston, SC for a wedding and to go surfing with a friend. Another Charleston based surf-brethren of mine, Rhett Boyd, just opened his first retail space for his surf shop Rogue Wave Surf Shop or RW+SS for short, so I stopped by to take a look while I was in town.

I'd like to say from the start that calling Rogue Wave a surf shop is very misleading because it is 100% boutique, a boutique that sells really sick surfboards. Rhett started out by selling some artfully crafted surf boards from the California based company Gato Heroi, along with custom vintage screen printed T-shirts, and some great other vintage finds out of his home, trunk shows, or online via his blog. He now carries those as well as a few other brands like Katin board shorts, Apolis Global , CXXVI , shirts by Riviera Club, and W Durable. (Continued below)

I can't tell you how detailed and hands-on Rhett is with each product that he carries. Many of the new products found at RW+SS are made to specifications set to Rhett's standards. This makes your purchase at Rogue Wave something hard to find anywhere else.

It's hard to really to put it all in words, but Rhett is really going to make "waves" in the surf community, from his local and American made stock, to his soon to be stocked boards made by southern shaper Richard Prause designed with Charleston's surf in mind. You can even find some custom made items made by Rhett himself.

Rogue Wave Surf Shop is definitely here to stay. Rhett is all surfer, a surfer and a true southern gentleman, one who I'd say spends 50% of his time in a wetsuit or trunks and the other 50% in a bow tie and tortoise shell glasses. Having style both in the water and out, it's hard to ignore the RW+SS movement that's driven by Rhett's passion for surfing ans surf culture new and old. It's a living throw back to the hay day of surfing in the 50's and 60's; the boards were massive, the shorts were short, the music was mellow, and surfers were confident enough to wear a tie out of the water after the swell had washed out with the tide.

If you are in Charleston, visiting Rogue Wave needs to be on your to do list. It's currently at 69 Spring St., Downtown Charleston, and if you can make it to one of his parties or surf n' suds you'll really be doing yourself a solid. If you feel like you are about to walk into someone's house, you're at the right place. Let's hope his permit goes through soon and he can hang up his sign out front.