"It just goes to show how sad of a place the surf industry is in."

That was Mateus Herdy, mid-Stab-Highway, as he and Ben Gravy lovingly roasted each other for the umpteenth time about their divergent paths to surfing success.

The argument began when Mateus mocked Ben for dressing "like a ten year old", to which Ben responded, "It must be really hard for you that I'm not even a good surfer, and I still get paid more than you."

Written on the page, that may come off as arrogant — but Ben's cheekiness and sarcasm (even when telling hard truths) is a real highlight of our 7-episode east coast road battle, now premiering on Stab Premium. Turns out that beneath all that kooky positivity is a guy who's well and truly in on the joke — and very much playing it to his favor.

By the end of the trip, the sponsorship gag had developed to such a point that, either out of pity, amusement, or a genuine business opportunity, Ben Gravy offered Mateus a legitimate sponsorship deal with his own clothing line. "We had an agreement and everything," Ben explains. "I'd pay him $500 a month, and he'd rock the sticker 2/3rds of the way down his board. And he'd wear the tie dye shirt, because that's the only one from my merch that isn't too 'colorful' for him."

Before the deal could be signed, Mateus was off to Portugal and Brazil for the last two CS events of the season, where he would come painstakingly short (again!) of qualifying for the CT. The copper lining, however, is that Mateus is currently in talks with a few different brands about a proper clothing deal, he's got a Snapt5 part in the works, a hot stripper wife, he's currently competing for $100,000 in our Surf100 Challenge Series presented by Pacifico, and if there's any justice in this big, wet world of ours, he'll probably qualify for the CT in 2025.

Gravy, meanwhile, continues surfing shit waves surprisingly well and cashing oversized fluorescent checks. He was kind enough to join us on this week's episode of The Drop with his long-lost Rip Curl Gromsearch rival, Buck. Enjoy!