Charley Stevens

Charley Stevens speaks like a surfer with slow and lazy vowels. He moved to Ocean Beach four years ago. He learned to surf in Carlsbad at the age of five.

“I like it better here [in Ocean Beach]. Carlsbad is kind of black-and-white, and O.B. is colorful.

Favorite surfing memory: “I was on a sailboat for seven days in Sumatra surfing every day. It was such a shallow reef. I felt like I was going to scrape my back off every time. I didn’t get injured; everyone else on the boat did.”

Speaking of injuries, Stevens nearly chopped off an ear while surfing in Carlsbad.

“I was about 13. The crease where my skull and ear connects got clipped by the fin of my surfboard. My ear was hanging off. I had to get three layers of stitches. My friend’s parents drove me home and my mom took me to the hospital.”

Biggest surfing peeve: “I don’t like 50-year-old guys acting like little girls out there. Why do something that makes you angry? I let them get their waves, and I get my waves. I like to see little groms out there. My advice to them is to surf every day. Oh, and I have been seeing more trash than usual out there. Pick up your cigarette butts.”

Every summer Stevens takes a surf trip. “The best place so far was Indonesia. Next month I’m going to Peru.”