Like a runner going for a run

• Name: Bruce Fearson
• Age: 56
• From: Clairemont
• Interviewed: Ocean Beach jetty

On a 75-degree day, Bruce Fearson had just finished his morning surf session. Fearson’s primary beach is Scripps, but OB is a close second. “I go wherever the waves are breaking, anywhere from IB to Cardiff Reef.”

He has been surfing for over 50 years. “I started in La Jolla Shores in 1969. I’m a competitive surfer still. It’s a passion, it’s an art. It’s like a runner going for a run. I go every day.”

Today, Fearson has his board of choice, a Kelly Slater design, a 5’7”, Omni model. It’s one of the best boards I’ve had. I pretty much do everything on it. But I have about 15 different surf boards, all shapes and sizes.

Fearson has not had any major wipeouts on the water, “just some cuts to the head and some neck strain from my board hitting my head. Surfing is pretty safe. Definitely safer than skateboarding. I had a wipeout in Mexico where I snapped my board in half. It didn’t embarrass me, but maybe the people on the beach because it ripped my trunks off.”

“Once at Scripps I got between a big bull seal lion and his female, and without him biting me, he attacked me. He’d swim underneath my board and come up behind me. He kept rushing me with his mouth open and smacking his head down by me and all I could do was yell and slap the water to let him know that I wasn’t going to back off. It went on for about four minutes.”