Girls have always been a minority in the Pensacola line up, though there have always been a few die hards.
I used to give surf lessons through Innerlight Surf Shops. One of the things I told students is, if you can surf well here, you can surf well on similar sized waves anywhere in the world.
Our waves can be hard to ride – short, often choppy, lots of close outs/suck outs. When we get large surf, it can be incredibly difficult to paddle out. We can also get very strong cold fronts that blow through hard, causing the temps to drop quickly. Preceding the fronts, we can get lots of rain. It is beautiful at times, but to be a committed surfer here, you have to really want it.
This photo is Karole Snodgrass Jares (Karole Snodgrass) in the late 70’s at the “Point”. For a number of years Karole was one of those diehard females who surfed testosterone filled lineups throughout the 70’s and probably the 80’s.
Photo by Dave Skelton