VENTURA LIFE MAGAZINE-
ARTICLE 2008
SISTER SURF: Mary Osborne
By Amy Jones, Surf photos by featured
photographer, David Pu’u, Portraits by Dina Pielaet
“So you have made it through several wipeouts,
bruises in strange areas of your body, and continuous evenings with
water dripping out of your nose…This is great! You may feel
like a kid in a candy store every time you check the surf; you are
stoked to be in the water and now you have the surf bug in you forever…Surfing
is a meditation. One of surfing’s greatest lessons is about
staying calm amidst the chaos. Remember to breathe and to visualize
success on each wave…Sometimes we see surfers with a contorted
face as they try to catch a wave—the kind of face one might
put on for a battle. Surfing is about oneness with the ocean, not
about battling it…” - Excerpt from Mary Osborne’s
book: “Sister Surfer: A Woman’s Guide to Surfing with
Bliss and Courage”
This winter has seen some of the biggest
swells the Central Pacific Coast has experienced in decades;
some surfers say they have never seen bigger waves. In
between storms bringing up to 30-foot waves to the Ventura
coastline this past February, we met up with Mary Osborne,
ranked 8th in the World for women’s longboard
pro-surfing. She met us in Ventura’s unofficial
surfer’s uniform – jeans haphazardly cuffed to stay
above the water line, T-shirt, flip flops and a puffy Patagonia
wind breaker.
We had a chat at Mary’s seaside
flat, a vintage 70’s-era surfer’s paradise pad with
the classic shag carpet and wood paneling, yummy orange velour
papa-san chairs, killer view of the ocean not a stone’s
throw away, a collection of surf boards leaning in a corner of
the living room all ready to go. Various beat-up foot imprinted
flip-flops lined up at the door ready to hit the beach when the
swells roll in. Her bungalow is in the same neighborhood where
Mary grew up at Solimar Beach on the outskirts of Ventura just
south of the legendary Rincon surf break. Mary’s mom,
grandparents and other family members are just doors
away…A scrap piece of paper on the fridge reads:
Visualize the wholeness of everyone everywhere. BE kind.
Mary takes the same instinct she has
developed in the water and applies it to life. Being a
pro-surfer is a physical, economic and logistical challenge,
but she rolled the dice and in 2003, became an overnight
celebrity by winning the longboard division of MTV’s
“Surf Girl’s” competition. She was selected
from a pool of over 4,000 other women surfers for the hit
reality TV series. She reflected, “It was a very
big time in my life. I had been struggling to go to school, but
I wanted to travel and surf professionally. Convincing my
parents that I was really dropping out of college…to
pursue surfing…Initially it didn’t go over too well
…So I was like give me two months; let me just see if I
can do this…The same week I dropped out, I got the phone
call to go do the MTV show… In 2003, Mary was also
nominated for a Teen Choice Award as “Best Female
Athlete,” and was named the first “Action
Girl of the Year” by Action Girl, Inc.
“I love the surf industry,”
said Mary beaming. “It’s been my life for eight
years, and I would still surf no matter what, but it’s so
nice to have the opportunities. The companies I’ve worked
with now for multiple years – Patagonia, Etnie, my surf
board sponsor Robert August and other
companies…I’ve been pretty fortunate to have them
stand behind me...
‘I certainly think about going back
to college one day to finish my degree; I majored in
communications and going into broadcasting is a dream. [Mary
has appeared as a host on the Fox Sports Network.] But
I’m getting so much hands-on experience in the field,
writing and working with my sponsors that’s just as
valuable. I’ve worked really hard to learn and try to
develop a business mind about things, to walk the fine line and
support myself, although I have been known to sell my soul here
and there, you know when you’re really hurting [laughs]
hey let’s be honest. “
Mary has done a lot of charity work
independently and in conjunction with her sponsors. She said,
“I’m drawn to athletes that take it out of the box,
people who are out there making a difference…There are a
lot of surfers, men and women, that give back and donate their
time to help good causes and spend time with youth, and I love
those experiences in my work. I went with the Free Wheel Chair
Mission to Costa Rica to give people wheelchairs…and
there were families literally carrying people to get their
wheel chair. It really hit me what blessings we have in our own
country. It was humbling and so nice to be a part of bringing
the help to people.”
The evidence of constant travel is apparent
at Mary’s. Bags are never quite unpacked because the next
destination is always just around the corner for the
26-year-old pro-surfer.
Mary saud, “With all the traveling I
do, the most difficult habit I have is that I’m a night
owl. I get on these schedules where I’m always up late
and get up late. And, it takes me awhile to get going. People
that travel with me totally know that I’m grumpiest in
the mornings, and they’re like, ‘Drink your coffee
Mary!’ And, when I’m in a hotel room I tend
to spread my stuff out all over. I don’t even know how I
do it; like in the first hour my stuff will just be everywhere,
and now I have to warn people I’m going to be staying
with…I don’t know if it reminds me of home or if
it’s just a thing I do. I keep a journal
everywhere I
go, and one of the sweetest things is that my mom
slips in
some rosary beads when I travel...
‘Traveling as Americans, you hear a
lot of comments. We’re often looked down on, especially
with the war. I’m not one to preach, but I’m living
this lifestyle where you spend a lot of time out in Mother
Nature, and I think that the environmental aspect of things is
going to be our major challenge. Working with a company like
Patagonia, has opened my eyes to a lot of issues, and what we
can do, from buying a hybrid car to living a little bit more
environmentally friendly…In the water you notice changes
– here and at places we travel to for surfing. I got a
staff infection in my knee when I came home from surfing in
Indonesia. My whole leg was giant, and I had to have
surgery....
‘I still surf almost every day if the
waves are good…Although I have the luck that if I’m
supposed to be somewhere doing a photo shoot or an event or
working with a sponsor, that will be the big wave day, and I
miss it. Or I’ll be flying out somewhere and a big swell
comes to Ventura. I was on this path and people would ask me if
I was traveling again because they wanted the waves to get
good...
‘I have surfed all over the world,
but I have not surfed Mavericks or up the north coast of
California, and I’ve been wanting to get up there. I did
a San Francisco event and was stoked to see so many hard core
women doing their thing. I’m not that into big surf, but
if it looks like there’s a channel…Our local Maloy
boys are hard core, tow-in big wave guys. I give people that
ride big waves credit, because that turns surfing into a whole
different kind of sport. Speaking of one of our locals –
Davey Miller. He’s classic, a big wave guy.
He’s got some crazy stories. Davey plays drums with his
jazz band here in town. I went out one time and he was
playing all the old school Frank Sinatra stuff and it was
just great. A lot of Ventura surfers are like that.
They’re great surfers, but then they have this whole
other totally cool thing they can do...
‘When it gets big, it gets scary. I
was in Guatemala and there were a couple of big sets that
caught us all off guard, just wave after wave…Getting hit
in the face with a board…It can be intense.”
Mary Osborne is also a writer for a number of surf
magazines.
About a group surf trip to Guatemala Mary
writes about the inevitable wipe-out situation every surfer
must face with courage and shake off with humor:
“…We came from different generations, with various
surfing backgrounds and have traveled to and surfed some of the
best spots in the world, yet we were all discovering Guatemala
for the first time ever together…As the swell got bigger
and we became more confident and cocky, Mother Nature decided
to do what she does best, throw us for a loop. We
all were
caught off guard, especially Robert August, and myself,
as the biggest set of the day rolled up on the horizon...
“Mary, you want the first one?”
Sammy asked me. “No worries, I’ll catch the
next one,” I answered in total confidence…All I
remember is saying to myself, “Holy shit Mary, paddle
faster, pick up the RPM’s!” It didn’t
seem to matter how fast Robert and I stroked because the wave
crashed directly in front of us. We were basically in the exact
spot you never want to be in when the largest set of the day
rolls in. I heard Robert scream my name as I quickly stood on
my board and jumped as deep under the water as possible. I felt
as if I was training for the Olympics; I did five somersaults
right off the bat. I opened my eyes underwater hoping to see
some light, but darkness surrounded me in every direction.
Trying not to panic, I reached for my leash, and I started
swimming towards the foamy surface. As I gasped for air, I
looked up to see another wave headed right towards my head, as
well as Robert’s surfboard. I dove once again under as
deep as I could. This time my longboard was dragging me with
the wave further and further into the jetty. Before I knew it,
my leash snapped, and I was able to swim freely to the surface.
I looked around and saw this set nailed our entire group, some
were in better spots than others, but it wasn’t over yet.
Two more waves rolled in. Out of breath and my heart beating
with adrenaline, I ducked under the last two waves and swam
quickly to the boat. As my heart slowly calmed its self, I
couldn’t help but start laughing inside. What the heck
just happened?
“Mary you ok?” Shea, the
videographer asked. All I could come up with was a lot of
profanity, followed by a laugh of embarrassment. I sat on the
boat for a minute to regroup my energy and thoughts…and
before I knew it I was back out into the lineup, this time
leashless, but ready to catch one of those bombs, this time not
on my head...”
Mary said, “There’s now a tour
for women’s longboarding, so it makes it a little more
challenging and a bit more serious…We have one of our
biggest contests in France every year, and women come from all
over the world. The biggest cultural challenge has to do
with not being able to speak the language, but in the water,
everybody can just look at each other and know…
‘Ventura has a lot of great surf
breaks from Silver Strand Beach to Rincon, and I remember my
first idols were two older girls who surfed with my
brothers… and could hold their own in the water.
I was like ahhh I want to be them. And, when I started
surfing, it was still very much a guy’s sport; the girls
layed on the beach, but I wanted to be competitive in catching
waves, to be accepted instead of just tagging along. My
brothers who are all good surfers, taught me when I was 14,
which means you had to be able to take a little bit of a
beating while you learned by trial and error...
‘When things were picking up for me
in terms of competing, I used to train with Jama at
Maverick’s; he’s a well known body builder like
Arnold Schwarzenegger. Me and some other pro surfers worked
with him, and everything we did was geared towards [building]
core [strength]...
‘Popping up to a standing position
from paddling out on our stomachs is the hardest thing,
especially for women who have a little less upper body
strength…Jama had us stand on a medicine ball and do the
entire workout while balancing; it’s kind of like being
out on the water when you’re surfing. Otherwise I get
bored at the gym. I like to be outdoors, but I was out of
control training twice a day, until I started traveling so
much…But that workout totally helped me and, when the
surf was good, well, we were out on the ocean. I think a lot of
surfers cut a lot of classes when the surf is good. My family
learned that dinner at
5 o’clock when there was good
surf wasn’t going to happen. Dating,? Probably not going
to happen if surf is good. [laughs] If the waves are
good you’re not showing up to a lot of places.”
Mary said, “Looking back to how I
learned how to surf…I’ve seen couples come to the
water, and… they’re pretty much broken up by the
time they come out, and the guy is like, ‘Oh honey
you’re doing great,’ as she’s getting
pummeled. Or ‘Get up; it’s so easy; why
aren’t you standing!’ So when I started teaching, I
wanted to relate to all the emotions and fear that women can
have in the ocean, and I didn’t want to hear their
boyfriends yelling at them the whole time. There’s a
different bond with women out there. When guys are around, you
still find yourself wanting to be tough, but when it’s
just girls, you feel like you can giggle more and just share.
That’s the biggest difference. And, a lot of the fear
with women in the ocean seems to come from those experiences
with the guy thing in the water. I try to build up the women
when we go out there so we can all just enjoy that feeling...
‘It takes a lot of just being out
there, watching and understanding the changes and timing of the
water and elements, with the waves and where they’re
breaking. Sometimes I just paddle out and watch the sunsets
before I even think about catching a wave…That is
beautiful, a totally perfect moment, but that’s part of
the experience. You have a connection with Mother Nature
herself when you’re out on the ocean.”
Pro-Surfer, Writer, Sports Commentator Mary
Osborne
MaryOsborneSurf.com
VenturaSurfCamp.com
David Pu’u
Photography/Cinematography
www.davidpuu.com
www.anequatorialconvergence.com
Local surf shop owner, former pro-surfer
and photographer, David Pu’u has been working with Mary
for over ten years. They often travel together, and one of his
great shots secured Mary for a cover of The Surfer’s
Path, a popular European surf magazine. It was the first time
they’d featured a woman. Mary has also been featured in
magazines including: Longboard, Surfing, Surf News, Wahine,
Surf Life for Women, Surfing Girl, Entertainment Weekly and
Spin Magazine among others.
