Linda Merrill
interview by Sheri Crummer
Linda Merrill and her first bellyboard
Linda Merrill is a goofy foot surfer from San Clemente, California, who took the surfing world by storm in tandem surfing with partner Mike Doyle. She was born in 1945 to Benny and Kay Merrill. In 1964 she become the first woman to grace the cover of Surfer Magazine. She competed with Linda Benson, Nancy Nelson, and Luanna Harrington in individual surfing competitions, in addition to her tandem surfing.
Growing up on the beaches of Southern California, it was only natural that Linda Merrill would begin to surf and share in the wonders of the ocean. Her father, Benny, a lifelong surfer and waterman, was one of the original founders of the San Onofre Surfing Club, along with Barney Wilkes, Luton, and a few others. The San Onofre Surfing Club was a private club that negotiated a code of conduct and beach access with the US Marine corps. Membership was limited and included membership cards, decals, and most importantly, the key to the iron gate which gave you access to “San O”, the US Marine Corps controlled beach just west of the major Southern California Marine Corps base, Camp Pendleton. The San Onofre Surf Club was officially formed April 24, 1952.
Benny taught his daughter a deep love and respect for the ocean. He would take his daughter out on his board at San Onofre Beach and the two would tandem ride the waves together. Since Linda was slight of build, others would ask her to ride tandem with them which led to her eventual winning of the Makaha Invitational tandem division with Mike Doyle in 1963. She couldn’t get enough of simply immersing herself in the salty waters. She would surf, swim, and bodysurf fearlessly as she learned the ways of the sea. She was in love with exploring all aspects of the ocean at her doorstep.
“I love the ocean; it’s relaxing. I don’t think I’m afraid of anything in the ocean. People say it’s this and that, no, there’s no reason to be afraid. I couldn’t imagine living away from the ocean.”
During the summer of 1955, the Merrill family, which consisted of Linda, her parents, and brother Tom, spent one summer living on the beach while waiting for a home to be constructed. They cooked their meals and played in the ocean all day, bucking social norms of the day that emphasized living behind white picket fences and well-manicured lawns as status symbols of an achieved American Dream. Her family loved the sea and status symbols could wait, at least for one summer. The family moved into a house at the end of the summer, just as Linda started kindergarten.
The Merrill family spent plenty of time surfing San Onofre and Dana Point, long before the Dana Point harbor was built. Linda spent much time surfing with her brother, Tom, and his friends. “[Tom’s] a waterman and to this day, free dives. My brother was an awesome surfer and he’s an unbelievable waterman, even today.”
“When there was no surf we would dive in Dana Point… we would get lobster and abalone. [The water] was crystal clear, lots of seaweed and stuff, now there’s not much. if it was real cold, we’d start a fire, shuck an abalone, pound it on the rocks a couple times, put it back in its shell, and cook it right on the fire. We had the perfect [childhood]; it was wonderful.”
Linda also surfed Cottons and Trestles, surf spots located north of San Onofre, in the Marine Corps controlled beach section of Camp Pendleton. “Cottons” was one of Linda’s favorite breaks in the area. The surf break was named after Hamilton Cotton, who owned an estate overlooking the Pacific in San Clemente. Linda’s father helped Lucy Cotton, Hamilton Cotton’s daughter, move into the estate, which gave Linda, who often tagged along with her father, plenty of opportunities to surf her favorite left hand break. The left at Cotton’s was thick and powerful, just like she liked them.
Linda said she didn’t have many problems surfing Trestles during an era when it was illegal for civilians to surf because of military regulations. “The marines couldn’t touch me, because I knew they had to have a female officer present [in order to extract me from the water], and I let them know it,” she explained, laughing.
Linda’s competitive surfing began around 1960. She chose to compete, “because everyone else did and it was fun.” In 1961, she placed 2nd in the West Coast Championships. Two years later, Linda competed in the tandem division, along with legend Mike Doyle, in the 1963 Makaha Invitational, the most important event in the world for surfing at the time. Mike and Linda won their division. Linda rode tandem with Mike for 3 or 4 years. “It was so fun. The bigger [the waves were], the more fun [tandem surfing] was. [Mike] was an awesome partner: so strong and such a good surfer.”
Linda also excelled in the Makaha Invitational women’s individual division, though she never clinched a win. Winning wasn’t high on Linda’s priorities and she was often late to her events, even missing one of her heats at the Invitational one year. “Competing wasn’t really important to me, it was the fun of it,” she reminisced.
In 1964, Linda became the first woman to grace the cover of Surfer Magazine. As she recalls, Bev Morgan, a photographer for Surfer Magazine, took the shot in 1962-63. Linda was living up north by then, and in her own humble way, didn’t think much of it. Her mother knew John Severson, then publisher of Surfer Magazine, and Linda figured she ended up on the cover of Surfer because of this connection.
A year after the cover of Surfing Magazine, Linda Merrill stopped competing. She had married and her husband didn’t want her to compete. “I was docile then. Besides, I didn’t compete to win. I competed because it was fun.”
“We had passes to the Hollister Ranch and I did surf, but not as much.” Right after she married, the Hollister family sold the land, which had been leased to the Santa Barbara Surf Club, to developers and began selling parcels of land. Linda’s husband didn’t buy a parcel. Though Linda wasn’t able to surf the Ranch, she continued to surf the reeling point break rights at Rincon. Not surprisingly, point breaks are Linda’s preferred wave set-up.
Linda tried several surfboard manufactures surfboards, but they never seemed to fit her style. When she moved to Rincon from Orange County in 1963, she met up with Randy Yater, who she had met years earlier. He made her boards that she connected with instantly. Yater’s boards were light, unlike the heavy, clunky boards she had been riding. Linda found them a delight to ride. The longest board she ever rode was 8’. Linda continues to ride Yater surfboards today, interspersing her surf sessions with SUP sessions.
Linda’s advice for the young surfer kids today:
“Enjoy it. Don’t be pushy and competitive. You want to improve yourself, but why compete with somebody. [The surfing community] is a wonderful family and you can [surf for] the rest of your life.”
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