The SURFERmag Interview: Gerry Lopez

Divine

SURFERmag: So what you’re saying is it’s really cold up there...

GERRY LOPEZ: It is...(laughs). It’s very cold. But I’m having a good time.

SURFERmag: Fair enough, but how do you stay surf stoked living in the mountains?

GERRY LOPEZ: The same way you do if you live on the beach. There are always moments in surfing that hold you over...that’s the thing. It really doesn’t take much. For me, it’s always been a moment here or a moment there: a good turn, a tube, a drop, those kinds of things can carry you for a long time, months, sometimes years.

SURFERmag: As you get older and wiser, is it harder to keep from becoming a curmudgeon when you see how much things have changed in surfing?

GERRY LOPEZ: Well, if it’s not making you happy you’re going to quit. I think a lot of those grumpy guys eventually figure it out and go, “Shit, I don’t want to be that guy.” So they either change their attitude or they’re not there anymore. The truth is humans are the best at adapting to new situations, but to do so requires some reflection and awareness. I figure, okay, yeah, so there are more guys in the water, but you’re still going to get your waves. People are pretty good at letting each person have their moment...get their ride.

SURFERmag: Was there any better time or place to be a surfer than on the North Shore of Oahu in the early ‘70s?

GERRY LOPEZ: Well, I’m sure the guys who came before us had it great, but because of the equipment we had, and the fact that there were still plenty of days that nobody would even come out, you could definitely argue that point. When I look back at it I realize that’s when we really began to connect with each of the spots in terms of performance. [Jeff] Hackman and Barry [Kanaiaupuni] were getting dialed in at Sunset, and Rory [Russell] and myself were getting Pipeline down. There were even guys at Haliewa. But at the same time, the whole island was open to us and we chased waves wherever they were.

SURFERmag: When you started at Pipeline were you riding a longboard?

Aeder

GERRY LOPEZ: Yeah, I’d come out from town and borrow Jock Sutherland’s board. Jock was the man back then...anyone who was around will tell you as much. He was doing things most of us weren’t even thinking of...very evolved. Anyway, he had two Pipeliner models, including the 9’5” that he rode in the ‘66 world contest in San Diego where he got second to Nat [Young]...a lot of people forget he got second that year.

SURFERmag: But his board was a lot different from Nat’s “Magic Sam” board?

GERRY LOPEZ: Yeah, but even after the contest, we thought the Pipeliner was a more refined shape then what Nat was riding, but Nat’s board worked well in California surf. The Pipeliner was more suited for Hawaii. It was thin, with a sword like fin underneath, and Jock was validating it every time he went out at Pipeline.

SURFERmag: So when did your heavy campaigning at Pipe begin?

GERRY LOPEZ: Well, I started surfing out there pretty heavily in '67 and '68 after [Dick] Brewer made me a board that was the first mini-gun of the period, and that’s when I started moving up the ladder. Reno [Abeliera] and I would go over to Maui to get new boards from Brewer back then. Early in that 67/68 season we brought our blanks over there to get new boards...longboards mind you. Anyway, Dick shaped Reno’s board straight away, this beautiful 9’6”, and he planned on doing mine the next day but that same afternoon Nat, Bob McTavish and George Greenough walk in the door to show Dick these shorter vee bottom boards they’d been working on. Hours later, when they finally left, Brewer went straight over to my blank and sawed the nose and tail off.