Originally published in Santa Cruz Waves Magazine.
The Book Report: Five Seaworthy Books
California
Remember When Women Surfers First Appeared in the Lineup?
Originally published in Santa Cruz Waves Magazine.
ALL PHOTOS reprinted by permission of SCSCPS, courtesy of the Harry Mayo Collection.
Women are an integral part of surfing in Santa Cruz today, representing a substantial portion of the local lineup and membership in various surf clubs. In fact, the Santa Cruz Longboard Union currently has a female president, Jane McKenzie, who served her first term more than 20 years ago.
1 Surfer, 6 Months, 7 Countries
Originally published in Santa Cruz Waves Magazine.
Maybe I should bring a gun. The thought crashed through my mind without warning, dropping uncomfortably into the pit of my stomach. I glanced at my blue backpack and the fake yellow daisy tied to its strap. The idea of packing a gun into it, or more importantly, pulling a gun out of it, seemed ludicrous.
The Spirit of Surfing
This past weekend, I did something I vowed never to do. I drove away from good waves. A combo swell had been pumping through Santa Cruz. The previous days had been filled with double and triple sessions, numerous barrels, and near perfect conditions. But on Saturday night, I packed up and headed down to Santa Barbara for the Rincon Invitational.
Patterns
a·buse
1. to treat a person with cruelty, especially regularly or repeatedly.
2. language that condemns or vilifies usually unjustly, intemperately, and angrily
3. the systematic pattern of behaviors in a relationship that are used to gain and/or maintain power and control over another.
On March 31, 2015, I left my home in Santa Cruz and embarked on a surf trip through Central America and Mexico. I planned to fly to Costa Rica and travel up the Pacific Coast through Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatamala, and Mexico, all the way back to Santa Cruz. My main goal was to surf. In addition, I planned to learn Spanish, learn about myself, and write about my experiences. I also had a hidden goal: to leave a relationship with a man I knew wasn’t right for me.