Helen Van Horn

For the Love of Surfing
Stories about me surfing in a male dominate sport
Twenty-Five year History 1972 to present
by Helen Van Horn
1963-

My Surfing History

How I Started

 I started surfing when I was about nine years old in 1972 on the shores of Newport Beach, California. My brother and I had found an old longboard in a trash can; it took the two of us to carry it to the beach. All I knew about surfers was that they wore a black wetsuit and appeared like a bunch of ducks while sitting on their surfboards waiting for waves.

One Saturday in the summer of 1972, while visiting our father, we lugged this board on top of our heads to 18th Street (Newport). This was a long journey for an eight and nine-year old, especially if we forgot our slippers and had to detour, looking for shaded spots on the hot cement. Dad wasn’t with us to carry us when our feet were burning. On this Saturday, we rode the small white water close to shore. It was a lot of fun as we shared the board. I learned quickly to stay out of the way of the heavy board after it knocked me in the shins. My brother and I left our board with a stranger, and went to buy some strips (fried tortilla chips) with salsa. When we returned, our board was gone. After the theft, my dad bought us bodyboards and a six foot long Morey Doyle (a surfboard made from the same foamy material as the bodyboards). My brother kept the Doyle all to himself and I was happy on my bodyboard. From 1972 to 1976 (when did she turn 13?) I enjoyed body boarding and bodysurfing on the weekends and during the summer when visiting my dad.

I rode my bodyboard in the hollow shore break of Balboa across the street from my Dad’s new house. I liked to ride as often as I could and would go by myself and sometimes with my brother. Then one day I took the Doyle out and had my next experience at stand-up surfing in 1972 at 9 years old. After wiping out a few times I learned how to stand and ride. This was difficult because of how the waves break; very hollow with a shallow sand bar, not the mushy and crumbling type of surf where most people learn. I had sand in my hair and suit after being tumbled so many times. After this I was addicted to the sport. My knowledge of waves and experience with bodyboarding and body surfing helped me to progress quickly. Though most people learn to surf on longer boards, I bought a six-foot fiberglass board with money that I had earned from working at an ice cream parlor while attending Jr. High, at age 14, in 1977.

The first wetsuit I owned was fluorescent lime green, which my dad bought me. My brother and I had a surf mentor whose name was Leeroy. He was like a brother to us and taught us a lot about surfing. They used to call me the “Coppertone Girl” because I would almost lose the bottom of my bathing suit, exposing part of my white bum like the well-known advertisement for Coppertone Sun Products of the day, which pictured a little girl in her bikini, bottoms slipping down to expose a white bum above her sunburned back. I would always pull my bottom up quickly.

My Love and Dedication to the Sport

I was really dedicated to the sport of surfing in 1972 through 1981. I enjoyed body boarding, body surfing and surfing while visiting my dad on the weekends  and summers. At age 13 towards the end of 8th grade I moved with my dad to Newport Beach instead of living with my mom in Anaheim, California.

In high school I was up at 5:00 AM, often before school so that I could go surfing. This I did on a regular basis, the reason being that the surf traffic would be minimal or nonexistent at this early hour. This meant less aggression from a crowd that was not always well-mannered and lots and lots of waves to ride. My dedicated dawn patrol partners were my younger brother Thornton, Leeroy (who was like my older brother), and my friend Richie. I would climb out of bed in the early AM cold and dark, put my wetsuit on, and bike about a mile to the closest surf spot, depending on the direction of the swell. Then I would go back home and shower with the hose and catch the bus to school. I was on time most of the time. This was hard to do because I would want to catch a good wave in and the ocean is not on a schedule, so sometimes I would just have to paddle in so that I could keep my schedule.

I come from a loving, though divorced family, and because I loved surfing so much, I chose to stay in Newport Beach as a Junior in High School, rather than move to the mountains inland. This means that I have lived on my own and paid my own way since I was 17, which was around the time I began competing in Women’s International Surfing Association (WISA). That was a very challenging time for me. Perhaps I would have placed higher in WISA competitions if my life was easier back in the early 1980s, though I usually placed a strong second or third as a young amateur. I worked a lot and even bought my own surfboards until I had sponsors.

WISA was a great experience regardless of my situation and I continued to place high in the following years in Hawaii. I often placed in the top two over the next decade and was encouraged to “go PRO” (become a professional surfer) often. WISA gave me a great competitive start, as well as much treasured friendships with women surfers of all ages. WISA is an awesome surfer girl community of all ages with a rich history and organized administration of leadership. The woman and men that support the group should be acknowledged and rewarded because it was their love for surfing that supported the talented women surfer athletes.

My friend Tricia Gill was with me the day I moved out of my house at 17 in 1980. When I returned my dad’s borrowed truck after surfing a WISA contest at San Onofre, my new step mom, who didn’t want me to surf, yelled at me for coming back home late. My dad needed his truck to go to work. I ran out of the house because I could not take the yelling. It was just too much. Since my dad married my new step mom, I even had to be home on a daily basis right after work without going surfing. If I wasn’t home on time, I would not get dinner. Instead, I would visit my boyfriend around the corner and have a beer. It was peaceful there and I was hungry. That night, I had finally had enough. I moved out.

I decided to move because my dad, who was always nice, was happy with his new wife. They were moving to the mountains and were really into Christianity to an extreme. I was made to feel that God didn’t approve of my surfing. Which made it more difficult on me. I didn’t feel that there was anything wrong with surfing. I loved to surf so much and I was good at it. As a part Iroquois Indian (from my mother’s side), I have chosen not to be involved with any church or extreme. I follow after my own belief and believe in God that’s about it.

When my dad, step mom, her kids, and my real brother all moved to the mountains, I refused to move with them. Though I had my sweet mom’s support, I could not live with her because she lived 30 miles from the surf. So, I decided to live on my own. I could not stop surfing! I finished my entire senior year of high school while working, paying my own rent, food, and car.

Friends Along the Way

There were not too many women who surfed  back the late 1970s and 1980s. Most of the time it was just me and the boys. The girls that surfed made friends quickly. There was a lady named Meko Smit who was a good surfer and older than me. Then there were the regular Newport girls that you would alway see out. Tricia Gil was one of them. We are still friends to this day. There were a handful of us that traveled the coast of California. We would all congregate at surfing contests that took place monthly.

I have many good memories of nice women surfers of all ages from the California coast at the different surf breaks such as: the left at Pipes in Encinitas which I loved, because I was a goofy foot; Ventura’s California Street because despite the cold water, the wave was good and hollow; San Onofre and Trestles, where I surfed mostly backside, were always fun.

Competitive History

My competitive history started with WISA. It was a thrill to surf with all women versus surfing with all men. Looking back, I enjoyed my friendships with this group of women most. Competing and placing consistently in the top 5 was fun too.

I competed in WISA’s amateur Jr. Women’s division when I was 16 in 1979. I placed most often in the top three and later had many sponsors. There was much talent among the women at the professional level.

Two of the contests I remember winning were both in Hawaii on the North Shore during the 1990s. One win took place at a break called Gums (next to Pipeline), and the other I won at Haleiwa. I am proud of winning those contests because they were held in the kind of surf I like. I worked really hard and surfed well to win.

Looking back, I realize how much work and dedication was invested into the organization. All simply for the love of women’s surfing by women surfers. I appreciate all the dedication that made WISA successful. WISA was a strong foundation in learning about competing for me. Winning trophies and prizes to take home was a joy too. Saved photos from that era are also treasured. Everyone was always nice and all wasn’t just about competing. What a great experience!

Stories Along the Way

You’re Pretty Good for a Girl

The people you can meet surfing are really interesting. You have surfing in common so you just start talking. The seasons bring the surfers and the wave conditions. That is how you meet-up with your surfing friends: you don’t even need their phone numbers, because chances are you will see them in the surf somewhere. It is funny when you meet someone new in the water and then see them dry somewhere. They look a bit different and you hardly recognize them.

Surfing is a very individualized sport and if you don’t hustle, you’re not going to get any waves. It can be extremely aggressive in a crowd of all men who can at times be very rude, though I rarely experienced this personally. If a male surfer was rude or threatening to me, my brother or one of the better mannered men in the water would stand-up for me.

One time this guy sees me get a stand-up barrel at a place called Silver Channels in Hawaii 1989. A left-hand break like Pipeline on the North Shore of O’ahu, known for its shallow reef, hollow shape, sharks, and long paddle-out (ten minutes). I think he was just trying to be nice and he tells me, “You’re pretty good for a girl.” I said thanks and smiled, thinking why should it matter! We are all on this planet together, I surf for the pure fun of it and not to be critiqued.

The Aggressiveness of the Sport and Other Challenges

Surfing can be aggressive. In a crowd with good surf everyone is paddling and trying to catch a wave. Sometimes there are enough waves coming in to accommodate all, and other times there are not enough waves to go around. People get aggressive and fight with each other. It becomes hazardous in the line-up, especially if someone’s board is loose and it hits someone. I do not like to surf in these types of conditions. Most of the good surf spots hold this aggression. Then there is the localism, when certain people try to dominate the spot as if they own God’s ocean, like a bully on the playground. Usually this type of behavior mellows out when the aggressors get tired of battling with each other. It all seems to work out.

In my teen years I had a guy want to punch me in the face because I caught a good wave. He wasn’t really thinking, he said, and in his aggression, as we were standing in waist deep water in our wetsuits, he had mistaken me for a guy. My hair was waist length, but it was wet and slicked back. My wetsuit was tight and holding down my breasts. He yelled in my face and I said, “Dude you need to chill out!” I was ready to put my surfboard up in front of his fist to block his punch. Then he quickly stopped, realizing  that he was wrong and that I was a girl. I have seen lots of fights over the years, guys punching each other over surfing and taking each others waves.

After spending about twenty-five years of my life dedicated to the sport I sometimes wondered how a woman would want to deal with the aggression and fighting in the sport by certain unmannered men. Taking chances with sun exposure and knowing the appearance of your face may be changed a bit because of the removal of skin cancer. Then you have to deal with the fact that you are not as pretty as you used to be. Aging is normal, however deformity from having part of an eyelid, lip or nose removed is just not a pleasant thought. The possible deformities described would be hard for a man or a woman to endure. I believe much more difficult for a woman because of the high regard to hold onto one’s beauty of youth.

I had ear surgery in 1999. Ear damage is a common problem among surfers. Have you ever noticed fish do not have ears? I have a damaged ear and have had surgery to remove the boney growth called Surfer’s Ear from my ear canal. This was very painful and I will never have ear surgery again unless my life depends on it. The surgery removed the growth, which is naturally caused by the body to protect the ear drum from cold water and wind.

This removal eliminated water being trapped near my eardrum that caused severe ear infections and poor hearing. However, the surgery created new problems, pain from nerve damage, and impaired hearing. I do not get water in my ears, not even shower water because the pain is terrible. I swim on the water’s surface with ear plugs because the pressures of diving causes pain too. I tried surfing for about three years after ear surgery, forcing myself to deal with the pain, poor hearing, and a near drowning experience. I get vertigo from the pressure of being held under water and lose my sense of up and down. I get disoriented and dizzy from even a little water in my ears. I still surf on occasion in small waves with ear plugs. I miss the fun and the rush of bigger surf, but value my hearing and not having to deal with the intense pain in my ear. I figure it would be best if I don’t drown, go deaf, and feel intense pain at the same time. It is just not worth taking the risk.

The complications from my ear surgery in 1999 complicated the simple pleasure of swimming under water and left me dealing with life long pain in my ear. I have often wondered, along the way, how I could still love the feeling of riding a wave after the endurance of all this. Never once did I want to give up the feeling and rush of joy that put a smile on my face when I rode a wave. My ear complication has kept me away, but on occasion I still experience that wave-rush-high of riding a wave. Even the bullies have not scared me away, like the one who shot their board into my surfboard causing a hole, or the guy who tried to push the nose of his board in my face while underwater duck-diving on a maxed-out day at Rocky Point on the North Shore of Oahu.

I was a junior lifeguard prior to lifeguarding at a country club when I was a teen. The knowledge I learned from being a lifeguard has always kept me aware of others in need and taught me to be calm in scary, potential drowning situations. When you panic, you can lose it. My aunt pulled me from the bottom of her pool when I was nine months old. I guess that my family lost track of me and I ended up sinking to the bottom. I was alright and my auntie put me right back in the pool because she didn’t want me to be scared of the water. She knew I loved it so much.

I can remember always holding the side of the pool for a long time before I overcame the fear of drowning. I have known two people who have drowned. They were both good surfers and were surfing really big waves. No one is safe from drowning, no matter how good you are. All of us can drown, it doesn’t matter what sex you are. This is something to be taken seriously. No one should be pushed to the point of surfing big waves with this risk at hand. If you don’t like the big wave thing, it doesn’t make you a coward or bad surfer. I do not like to see the way some people push the big wave riding. There are all different sized waves to ride that aren’t a threat to one’s life. Great for the people that ride them and yes, women are included, but no one should be pushed into it.

Divide and Conquer

Women don’t have the divide and conquer nature like men do. There are good women surfers who are recognized for their surfing ability. Most likely they have a type of aggressiveness, because surfing is not a passive sport. Just sitting on your board in the ocean will not catch you a wave. However, I have never seen women ready to pound each other too often. Only once in my life was I threatened by a woman who wanted to start a fight with me because I out-positioned her for a wave in a contest at Ala Moana Bowls around 1984.

This wave was one of the best waves I ever caught in my life. It was about a Hawaiian style four-footer (measured by the back of the wave, not the face of the wave) that I caught from the inside of the bowl. I took off, stalled, and got a really good barrel, came out of it and turned off the top, and hooked into its wrapping curve and tucked myself in another one of its barrels. This time, I totally disappeared inside of its cylinder and then reappeared, continuing to ride till the wave ended. I received a perfect score from the judges. The girl who was so angry with me then, but she and I are friends now.

Conclusion

In conclusion to this story till I write more about my life surfing, I would like to say I feel thankful that I had the opportunity to surf and compete as much as I did. Overall I would say I did it all for the pure love of the sport. It was something I really enjoyed and even in the solitude of riding a wave with no one else around, it still put the biggest smile on my face. The kind that you can’t make go away, as if the corners of your mouth are glued in the smile position that doesn’t leave your face.

I have endured a great deal for this sport. I have left my home in California where part of my family still lives. I will for the rest of my life have to avoid the sun to protect my already damaged skin and eyes. That means early morning and late afternoon sun is the only time I should be exposed. also, I have permanent damage to my ear and am hearing impaired. These health conditions will not go away.

There was no favoritism shown to me for being a woman surfer. I do not have regrets about my life surfing, it is what I chose in my youth to do. Surfing was my passion and pleasure. I just wish I would have known more preventative ways of being in the elements while surfing so that I did not do damage to my body. I still surf on occasion and would love to surf in bigger waves, but I only surf small waves because of my ear. I am as careful as I can be about the sun, without being paranoid. However, now the risk is too great to continue surfing as I used to. Coming close to drowning was an eye opener for me and knowing that my ear drum cannot take the pressure of being under water anymore.

I have many fond memories of riding waves. On occasion when I surf, I’ll be careful not to further damage my ear or skin. I still remember the biggest waves I rode, just for the simple challenge. The best memories I have are of riding fun waves in good company of family and friends.

 

 

 

 

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