JettyGirl: A one million
dollar check arrives in your mailbox with a
note that reads, "Half of this amount is
yours and the other half is to benefit the world
around you." How would you spend the money?
Elizabeth Pepin
Silva : I'd take the $500,000 to benefit the
world and find a piece of beautiful coastal
property that is in danger of being developed,
buy it, and turn it over to a land trust so
that it is protected forever. So much of our
coastal access is being cut off due to development.
Everyone should have the right to go to the
beach, not just rich people who can buy a house
on the sand.
Then
I'd take my $500,000, and with my husband, my
dog, and 8 of our favorite surfboards, take
off in our van/surf mobile for a really, really
long surfing/camping road trip around the world!
JG: Describe the best surfboard
you've ever ridden and why it was special to
you.
Elizabeth: The
board that is most special to me is actually
not the best one I've ever ridden on—but
it was the most instrumental in improving my
surfing. In the mid-1980s, before surf schools
and board rentals became common, a friend gave
me a surfboard that was left behind by a former
roommate. I had always wanted to learn and was
really excited when I managed to stand up on
the thing.
Unfortunately
it was really difficult to ride, so after a
few months I worked up the courage to bring
it down to the only surf shop in SF. The owner,
Bob Wise, took one look at the board and started
laughing. I was very embarrassed as he explained
that the board I had was a mini-gun cut down
from a longboard and about the worst board a
beginner could have. Bob showed me some new
boards, but being a poor college student, I
didn't have the money for one.
Taking
pity on me, he made a phone call and handed
me a paper with a name and address and told
me to go see his friend and he'd help me out.
I drove over and his friend met me inside his
garage, filled with boards of all shapes and
sizes. Bob's friend walked up and down the racks
and finally pulled out a wide, fat, single fin
swallow tail '70s 7'10" G&S shortboard
and handed it to me. I asked him how much and
he said, "No charge, as long as I surfed
it at least once a week." I thanked him
over and over again and the next day took the
board out to Ocean Beach and rode it for hours.
I did better in one day on that G&S than
I had in several months on my old board. I still
thank Bob and his friend for making me a real
surfer. I still have that board and recently
had it restored.
JG: If you could travel
back to any time in history and hang with one
person while they go about their daily activities,
who would it be and why?
Elizabeth: Ron
Church—my favorite surf photographer of
all time. I would love to be able to go back
in time and go out on a shoot with him and then
go into the darkroom and watch him work. His
work has been so influential on my own surf
photography, and being able to talk to him about
how he selected what to photograph and how he
went about doing it would have been incredible.
Unfortunately he passed away when I was a kid,
but I did get to have my photos hang in a museum
next to his work and meet his wife and daughter,
which remains one of the highlights of my photo
career.
JG: For thirty days you're
stuck on a desert island with one book, one
song, one surf movie and one snack food. Which
ones would you choose?
Elizabeth: Is sushi
a snack food? :) I'd also pick Dreams from
Bunker Hill by John Fante because he's
my favorite author, London Calling
by The Clash because I like to play that song
over and over already, and Sprout by
Thomas Campbell so I could study the surf moves
and learn how to do them.
JG: What is your best surf-related
memory of 2009?
Elizabeth: Actually
it was at my local surf break, which is not
usually known for amazing surf and is often
extremely crowded and frustrating.
It was one of those perfect but unexpected late
spring days that should have been blown out
but for some reason I had a feeling it wasn't
going to be so I took a chance and drove down.
I got there right as the early morning light
was hitting the water and my jaw dropped. It
was slightly offshore, glassy, chest high, and
my most favorite peak was peeling lefts way
outside. Although there were people on the northern
peaks, the one I love had only one person out—a
morning regular who knows how to surf and is
someone I like!
The
session ended up being three hours by ourselves
just trading waves and continually pinching
ourselves that no one down the beach noticed
the uncrowded perfection. At one point some
killer whales breech way outside, and a half
hour later a rainbow appeared over the point.
We laughingly joked we were expecting unicorns
and dancing gnomes next -- that's how magical
it was. I still get goose bumps thinking about
it.
