#4 Cher Pendarvis on life, boards and making surf history
The surfer, shaper and artist is an essential figure in the sport's chronicles. Here, she discusses her surfing journey from the 1950’s, the culture's evolution and venturing in the water at any age.
It’s early morning in San Diego when I connect with Cher Pendarvis, but she has already been active for quite some time, as has her husband Steve, also a surfer and shaper. She is sitting for our Zoom call in a work room filled with books, art and vintage boards, which makes me feel like I’m peeking into some sort of surfing treasure trove. After all, as a European surfer, it’s not every day that I have such direct access to the names, events and boards that shaped the history and evolution of the sport in the 20th century on the Pacific coasts. With her long blonde hair, freckled face and perennially stoked smile, Cher sparkles simultaneously with senior wisdom and youthful enthusiasm. She talks generously, never missing a chance to mention her friends’ accomplishments (and, when your friends’ names are George Greenough, Skip Frye, Jericho Poppler or Shaun Tomson, their accomplishments are many), remembering stories, waves and boards in minute detail. For almost two hours, we chat at length about her life, her work both as a surfer and as an artist, her experience as a pioneering female surfer and shaper, and her current routine.
How did your love affair with the sea and surfing begin?
My dad was an officer in the Navy and we lived in the San Francisco area, where I was born, until I was five. Then, we moved to Hawaii. My dad was deployed on a ship but my Mum liked to live off base, so we both settled on Oahu, on a hill above Waikiki. That’s where I first saw surfing, and where I was first caught by Aloha. It was 1955, the beach was my playground and surfers were always coming and going, surfing with their entire families, riding wood boards of all different sizes. After two years, we returned to California for a short while, then spent time in the Philippines, Japan… Throughout, I remained fascinated by surfing. I would ride my bike to the beach and watch the surfers, but I didn’t muster up the courage to borrow a board until I was 13. It was Easter weekend of 1964, and I asked the lifeguard if I could borrow his wooden paddle board. It was on this board that I rode my first waves standing.
Do you remember your first board?
Yes! I didn’t get my first board until I was nearly 16. For a while before that, I taught myself how to surf by reading surf magazines and observing other surfers. Eventually I mustered up the courage to ask other surfers if I could borrow their boards when they were done, to catch a couple of small waves. Of course I wanted my own board, though. A friend at school had a small surf shop with his father, so I worked there, learning to repair boards for a whole Summer, and earned this used 9’7 board… which had been broken in half and then repaired. I walked three miles with it to the beach in all kinds of weather, that’s how motivated I was. Surfing was the biggest gift for me, especially since my home life by then was very stressful: my parents had split and I had a stepfather who turned out to be abusive. We were living in Florida at the time. I met a friend out surfing and he helped me stand up to my stepfather. His name was Tom and he was from California too… So we got married and returned to California. I was 17 and finally felt like I had a safe place to be, and to grow.
What did you do back in California?
We lived on a shoestring and made surfboards, working our way through college. I also worked part time at a bicycle shop. In 1968, I made my first complete board. I drove up to Santa Barbara with a couple of friends to surf one day and saw George Greenough surfing for the first time. Everybody else was on longboards or starting to go just a little shorter, but George was carving it up and doing cutbacks on 4 to 6 foot waves . I had never seen anything like it before, and that’s what inspired me to make my own boards. We have remained friends, keep in touch, and Steve and I still visit and surf with him whenever we travel to Australia.
The late 60’s were a pivotal moment in surfing history… How did your surfing change around that time?
At that time we were learning so much about board design, and experimenting so much with different shapes, tails… By then I was surfing much shorter boards, and especially fishes, which are still my favourite boards to ride. I had three longboards before that: a used 9’7 O’Hare, a used 9’6 Dewey Weber Standard Speed and a used 9’8 Hawaii Model A, that I named Mr Tricks because it transformed my surfing. It was an incredible board, but then I ended up having to sell it. I was living with Tom in a little studio and he said “boards are so short now, you have to get rid of that thing.” He had cut his longboard down and made a kneeboard out of it, so I sold mine to an Australian lifeguard. I still wonder if I’ll get it back someday, because boards have a way of finding their way back to me… This fish behind me, for instance. I shaped it in 1971 and at one point I gave it to a young friend who loved it, but unfortunately it was stolen from her. Then, recently, our friend Mikey found it at a surfboard swap in Dana Point, and brought it home to me. I’m so grateful! And in a round-about way, the board brought me back in touch with the friend I’d shared it with.
After college you got a job at Surfing Magazine. How was that experience in the 70’s as a woman?
I began working at Surfing magazine in 1974, just as the magazine was starting to grow. Tom was hired as a cartoonist and I worked in advertising and production. I was the first woman on staff, and after a while another woman was hired to work at the front desk. There were some really good times, and I met Shaun Tomson there. We became friends and he coached my tuberiding. I worked at Surfing for five and a half years, but then one day my intern, a lovely young man, came to me very excited because he had just gotten a raise. I asked him how much he was now being paid and found out it was more than I was making. I had taught him everything he knew. I understood then that there was no upward path for me there, so I resigned, although I was sad to leave.
Right around the time when you started getting serious about the pro circuit…
One day in early 1975, I saw my friend Skip Frye out surfing, and he told me that Jericho Poppler and some other women were starting a surf organisation that would eventually turn into a pro circuit, and he suggested I join. He said my surfing was “world class”, which, coming from him, was a huge compliment. After calling Jericho, I began training two 4-hour sessions a day, five days a week, and half a day on Saturday, and also took ballet two nights a week. I was serious.
Do you have any special memories of any of the contests?
One of the first contests I was in was in Huntington Beach, near where Jericho was from. The day was big and we had to paddle out under the Huntington Pier to get outside. When it all finished, I remember Sam Hawk came to me and said “Why did you give that last wave to Jericho? You would have won, you know.” I simply answered “because she’s my friend!” You see, I had indeed given the wave to Jericho, just as Jericho had been encouraging and helping me with competition. I was happy with the outcome.
Was there any money in women’s pro surfing? How did you make a living?
Honestly I think I made 50 dollars from that first Women’s Pro; and of course I had my surfboard sponsor, which meant free boards. Back then I was freelancing, and I eventually took time off to train for the contests. I took a part-time job at a Mexican restaurant. It was a fancy place, so I made really good tips. And of course, don’t forget rent back then was a fraction of what it is now. Then, at some point I was one of nine women invited to a pro tour of Australia. Unfortunately, Tom wasn’t happy with me going, and I felt beholden to him because he had helped me stand up to my stepfather, so I backed off, even though it broke my heart. Eventually, Tom and I parted ways, although we have remained friends. I accepted a job in a big design studio in San Diego, a lovely team with plenty of women. It was a full time job so I’d surf early in the morning or after work. That job drove me to finally be an art director in an advertising agency.
How did you meet your husband Steve?
Steve and I had known each other for years surfing at our favourite spot; but it’s a bit of a slab wave, so it’s a serious surf situation which means we never really talked. Until a mutual friend decided we had way too much in common to just pass each other in the water. So one evening she brought him to my cottage… and we became best friends. For a while we resisted getting romantically involved in case it would damage our friendship, but I’m glad we didn’t let the ship pass, because it’s been 38 years now. And we have so much fun surfing and with the boards, collaborating. I still get some shaping commissions, and otherwise Steve does most of the shaping. We come up with board templates, ideas for fins, colours and shapes together, and I paint the boards and take care of communication and the website.
What’s your daily routine like these days?
I usually get up at 5 or 5:30 AM, do some stretching in bed, get up and do some pretty gentle yoga and three sets of 10 push ups, planking and crunches… Then, if we’re not going to surf that day, Steve and I walk a mile or two along the cliffs next to where we live. Then we get to work.
What boards are you currently riding?
I’ve been riding an 8-foot swallow tail, and also my 9’3” Fish Simmons that Skip shaped for my 50th surfing anniversary in 2014… And this fish right behind me, I’ve taken it out a few times. I’m working on improving my takeoffs on the shorter fish, but it’s easier for me now with a bit more board. I also really enjoy bodysurfing and surf mat riding. On wonky wind swells, those days when you’re not quite sure if you’re gonna go out, you just take your fins and surf mat and it’s always fun. Ultimately it’s about the joy of being in the water no matter what you’re riding. Every wave is a gift.
Do you think anyone can learn to surf, no matter their age?
Absolutely! You just have to have the dedication, because it’s gonna take some time and patience when you’re starting, until you have paddling out and taking off figured out. You need to focus on your goal. I’m talking from experience since, as an athlete, I’ve had a number of injuries that have affected my surfing, most recently my second hip replacement on the left side, which meant I had to go back to zero, because my doctor recommended I not surf for more than a year. The nerves and my leg muscles did not remember everything about surfing, so I had to re-start as a beginner, catching reforms and popping up only after the wave had broken. It took a lot of rehab, training and walking backwards uphill to get my strength and muscle memory back for the left leg, but I’m grateful that I made the efforts. For absolute beginners of any age, I recommend maybe getting a soft top board, or a longboard or mid-length, go to a place where the waves are small and gentle and just enjoy being in the water: the lighting, the colour of the water, the feel, the moment. And of course, having a friend or family member with you always helps. Then, even if you’re not able to to surf that day, you still have a wonderful time, and that’s what will keep you coming back for more.