A Rare Breed of Women: Surfing Grandmothers by Bernie Shelly | Part 2
From somewhere on Earth, Jeanne: Free spirited artist, adventurer: “Surfing is a calling in this odyssey of life.”:
Initially a bodyboarder, Jeanne, now 61, began surfing at 37, in Muizenberg. A friend suggested they take their sons to surf lessons and instead of the car park and coffee they decided to learn too. “Best decision ever,” she says.
“I think stoke stays in your blood – once you taste it, you want that feeling again – maybe an addiction, maybe a calling? It never leaves you, so you pursue it whenever you can.”
She says that mostly she forgets her age but when her body reminds her, the niggles motivate her to keep up the stretching and yoga routine. As most of her friends are way younger than her they keep her young at
heart. Recently though she is realising her mortality, that she is “on the clock.” That realisation motivates her to seize every opportunity, whether it be surf or wind and if neither, then a dive or even just a snorkel or a swim.
Jeanne mostly surfs a FireWire 6.7, as the break where she now lives in the Philippines, is a fast little shallow reef break. “Whenever I am in a [foreign] place suitable for longboarding I borrow or hire one. I have a bodyboard when waves are too hollow and fast and the reef too shallow.” She often surfs alone knowing that if anything bad were to happen a fisherman passing by would help and load her onto their boat.
She also kite boards, especially in the onshore season. “I have a 5.7 directional to play in the waves on those days.”
Art has always been her great love and whether it is ancient or avant garde she loves to see what people create. Making her own art is just as rewarding “to make something that was not there before. It’s a language that touches my soul.” Just like writing, which she dabbles in: “it’s a way of communicating myself. It often surprises me to see or read what I think. ‘It’s all been done/said before but not by me and not today’ is my motivating quote. ‘Let’s see what I have inside myself today’ is too enticing to ignore.”
Her grandson is 1 year old and he lives in Hong Kong with his parents. As Jeanne now lives in the Philippines it’s neither too far nor too expensive for her to pop over at least every two months to visit.
While travelling about 12 years ago, she wondered what it would be like to live on a tropical island. She gave the Philippines a try for 6 months, was charmed by the lifestyle – “I love the climate and water temperature” – and she is still there, living a few metres from the beach!
From Cape Town, Lynn: enterprising, from ballet to bike to board:
Lynn wasn’t always a charger: she went through stages of being very nervous. Then one day she made a conscious decision to stop being so
fearful and start enjoying bigger (but not massive) waves. Now, at 60 years young she loves and craves the adrenaline. When she was 45 she met a man with two boys who surfed all the time, so she learnt to surf.
“I believe the ocean and a positive outlook keeps you youthful, “ she says.
“My favourite board is my Greg Smith, curved air 9,6. I also surf my Stubby 9.1 and GB 9.4 log.” She rides stand up paddle boards (SUPs), mainly on the flat water, on her two Coreban 14 footers. If that’s not enough she also has a Zeal 9.6 SUP wave board but which she seldom rides.
Asked which is her favourite surf spot, she says: “I love Huletts reef in St Francis Bay. Easy access and exit and it can produce delightful runners and then big charging waves for me every now and again. Also love Muizenberg: it’s where I learnt to surf and it provides me with endless pleasures. Jeffreys Bay is also a favourite.”
As a dancer she competed often before she joined the CAPAB ballet company. “That was my life’s dream and was my all time favourite accomplishment. But I enjoyed being in the Western Province longboard team. That was awesome.” Her balletic poise re-emerges in her surfing style – the ballerina in her has not faded.
After my ballet career I was able to take up more risky activities like horse riding, paragliding, hiking, mountains biking, which I still love and do.” But then surfing stole her heart.
The Camino Frances was definitely her biggest hiking accomplishment: 800km from France (Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port) over the Pyrenees and
through Spain to Santiago. It took her 34 days.
Lynn runs a little deli from home selling frozen meals and salad dressing.
She also makes “Mo’s Cream” a body cream her mum started making and she has taken over. “Never a dull moment,” she says.
Her special little grand daughter, Chloė, is just a few months old. And the next one arrived in September. To my asking if she will be taking Chloé for rides on her board in the future, she answered: “Absolutely. I doubt she’ll have a choice.”
From St Francis Bay, Philippa: An alternative phoenix from St Francis Bay:
For Philippa it began when she was 14 years old (in 1965) when her surfer-boy cousins from Natal holidayed with her family in St Francis. She and her sister both learned in spite of their father’s opposition – as he thought they would become too muscular. He eventually bought them each a big heavy pop out surfboard. “From the get go we became completely stoked and it became my passion.” It still is and she’s 73 years old with 3 grandsons.
Leighton (Philippa’s daughter Michelle’s son), is ten and a keen surfer who is already surfing for Eastern Province in long and short board. Her son Michael has two boys, the eldest is five years old and the newest family member is mere months old. The entire family (except the tiny baby) surfs and are amongst the top longboard surfers in the country.
“I am happy that they surf. Hopefully keeps them out of mischief!”
Philippa has not let adversity hold her back. With an attitude that says never give up, when at age 48 she was told by an orthopaedic doctor that her debilitating arthritis would put an end to surfing because she needed hip replacements, she simply found another doctor.
When, years later arthritis plagued her shoulders and then her back so that she could no longer paddle, she found a way to maintain her passion: ten years ago she bought her first WaveJet board – a motorised surfboard. “Obviously I am not as physically strong as I used to be but I have made up for it with longer bigger boards. Every time I get into the water I feel recharged with stoke. Now I can easily compete in the [line-up] with the younger surfers.”
Even when she was young and girls were told that they weren’t supposed to surf she had the attitude that ‘anything you can do I can do better. I can
do anything better than you’. “I don’t take any sh** from anyone but I always try to be fair.”
Her second passion is fishing with her hubby and kids: She owns a commercial fishing company and has a squid licence and tuna pole. It’s full time hands-on work.
When she first started surfing sunscreen hadn’t been invented yet and she has a fair skin, so she used Fissan paste on her nose and lips. By the end of summer holidays she couldn’t smile as her lips would crack and bleed! “I did have laser treatment twice in my forties to remove sun damage. Now that I don’t touch seed oils I find I don’t really get sunburned unless I’m in the water between 12 and 2 in Summer. Then I will use trusty Island Tribe stick.” She now makes her own face creams out of natural ingredients.
For the last 10 years Philippa has tried to keep her diet as pure as is practicable. “Obviously we eat a lot of fish! No processed food if at all possible.” Anything on the “E” list of foods listed by the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) i.e. substances used as food additives, she won’t touch. “We also do intermittent fasting – don’t eat till 10 earliest and supper at 6.30. Twice a year I do a 72 hour water fast.”
“ My life attitude is to live the fullest and push myself till I keel over!!”
From Cape Town, Debbie: feminine, gentle, determined.
Another mom tempted when her daughters began surfing, Debbie, now 66 years old, was 46 when she began. “When I’m not feeling very youthful I remind myself to enjoy every moment while I still can,” she says. That happens when Debbie gets caught up in everyday things and doesn’t get enough surf. Debbie believes, as we all do, that being active keeps one
youthful even if one looks one’s wizened age. “I think surfing does that as you push yourself in all different ways, from being brave, strong and fit to go out into conditions that woman our age generally wouldn’t do.”
She started surfing on a mini-mal (mid-length) board and has progressed over the years to a longboard/log 9’4 . This seems like a perfect fit for her
as she surfs mainly at Muizenberg. “And,” she says, “it suits me age wise!”
A nursing sister, Debbie is presently practising part time at a Pharmacy, which she finds to be “a chilled and friendly environment!” That nurturing element permeates her entire demeanour.
Her eldest grandchild, Jack, 13, starts high school next year. Ava is turning five and is starting preschool. “Jack loved surfing with us when he was younger, swimming between us and getting onto our boards. But unfortunately his friends don’t surf so he no longer does.”
“I can’t just do teas and shopping: what drives me is to have a purpose! I need to get up knowing that I have something to do. Being at home and chilling on the odd day, I love too, but I can’t do that everyday.”
Debbie’s style is not that of a tomboy: she has an extremely gentle manner. Even her surfing and paddling style is feminine! But, she tells me that she must have mellowed with age: “I was quite fiery when I was younger.”
As with the other grandmas, Debbie is multifaceted: Other interests are walking, yoga, swimming, and her weekly art classes. Her gentle bearing belies her determination to get things right: it becomes stressful if she feels she’s surfing badly: “It takes away the joy.” This sounds like a winner to me.
And her skin which looks like delicate porcelain? “I use a local organic range Elixer Fusion and try to have a facial every 3 months. And I use lots of block out!” Debbie tries always to eat healthy unprocessed food. “I am still vegetarian but I do eat fish and some diary and eggs.” Perhaps she’s flexitarian? She also tries to keep to Gluten free products. The challenge is to try to have protein at least in one meal a day. “I do feel that I don’t need to eat three big meals a day.”
From Cape Town, Carol: Hotshot lawyer, cool surfer-chick:
“Let’s say I am just the right side of 70 and have been around long enough to raise three daughters, start a law firm, and still beat some 20-somethings to the backline.” Raised largely in Durban with two brothers, she was beach crazy so she has never been afraid of the sea. When her daughters started to surf, learning with Roxy, in Muizenberg, she thought “why not me as well?”
Carol’s secret to youthfulness and energy and stoke is early mornings, cold water, doing work she enjoys most of the time. Besides all that, their seventh generation Boxer dog needs exercising. “And a refusal to take life too seriously”. I also believe it is because she is blessed with an hilarious and subtle sense of humour!
A longboarder with several boards, her 9’2” is her go-to. It is a classic board shaped and made by the two Davids at DSD surf boards. “Occasionally I might paddle out on my 8” but those days are becoming intermittent.” She has a propensity to buy multiple boards and when her husband comments she points out how many golf clubs he has!
Carol is a notary public and conveyancer: An “attorney with extras, basically. I avoid confrontation so I was a hopeless litigator as I tended to side with both parties. It’s the law with a heart to it.” She is a professional juggler of deadlines: deeds office stamps and master’s office frustrations. “Luckily, I have amazing staff and a husband who supports my unusual life choices.”
Carol is a very new grandma: her second daughter has just gifted her a little granddaughter. They had no idea of the sex. “They are not gender reveal party people, thank goodness,” she says. Without a doubt the grandchild will be introduced to the water: “I already have a baby wetsuit and a tiny board.”
All three of her girls surf very well, particularly as they don’t surf as regularly as per their mom’s exacting standards. “Maeve and I went on a surf trip to the Maldives and Sian recently took me to Bali. Apparently, Charlotte (number three ) is busy arranging a Sri Lanka trip so that is exciting.”
Carol’s mother was widowed at 35 with three young children. “She instilled in us a love of the sea.” They were brought up by their 40-smokes a-day maternal grandmother who was a Scot and who they adored. Her grandmother taught her that when you fall off a horse you must get right
back on, and those words still rattle around in her head. “Face your fears was a command not a suggestion.”
How has Carol maintained her high-power career and surf – a tough sport – and still retained her gentle femininity? “Balance is everything,” she says. Some mornings start in the ocean, others in the Deeds Office. “Gentleness
is a strength not a weakness and humour is essential both in law and in life.”
Being outnumbered by brothers she was an extreme tomboy when she was young. Now she just tries to stay true to herself and she has a deep faith that helps her through the really tough times.
“And never under-estimate the power of red lipstick, a paddle out in the early morning and a good laugh.”
About15 years ago Carol got hooked on cycling. She rode the Argus Cycle Tour (now called the Cape Town Cycle Tour) which she finds is a complimentary sport with surfing and “gives you marvellous calves”. Carol’s fortitude showed when a car nearly wiped her out in Kalk Bay a few years ago and she thought she might give up then, “but alas . . . that horse again.”
When asked what her secret is to her lovely skin, she replied: “That must be a question for the other grans” So add modesty to her credentials.
“And her youthful body?” I asked what her ideals are in a healthy diet. Her answer: “Exercise, genes and carrot cake.”
A rare breed indeed.
End
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