Girls cheer each other on

Name: Carla Verbrugghen

Age: 54

Location: Ocean Beach

Occupation: Surf Instructor

Carla Verbrugghen and her daughter were at the showers in OB when I meet up with them.

Verbrugghen has been surfing since she was twelve years old.

“There was a little break in the middle. I went to college, I went to law school, I had kids. But I always kept surfing. These last 11 years I have been surfing almost four or five times a week.”

Verbrugghen works for Surf Diva. On this particular day in OB, there are lots of kids out in the water.

“If the kids don’t know etiquette, when to go or which direction to go on their wave, then that gets a little scary.”

“There are breaks where we are the only two girls, but that’s fine. There’s a different vibe in the water when you get a bunch of girls out there. They cheer each other on.”

Verbrugghen is a fan of Baja. “The best place I’ve surfed is Scorpion Bay. It was epic. They went on so far that you had to get off and walk back up the beach.”