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 Faye Baird Fraser One of the First California Women Surfers
By the middle Twenties, there were surfers everywhere: on the West Coast, on the East Coast, in Europe, in Africa and Australia. But nowhere was the sport more popular than in Southern California, the relocated Duke's new home. Small bands of surfers regularly congregated at such prime surfing spots as Malibu Beach in Los Angeles and San Onofre in San Diego County, and rode wave after wave for weekends at a time on solid redwood surfboards that weighed as much as 135 pounds.
Another early San Diego surfer was Faye Baird Fraser, who as a girl in the early Twenties spent many summer days watching Charles Wright, one of Kahanamoku's original disciples, ply the waves off Mission Beach. "I got to know him pretty well," Fraser recalls' "and one day he asked me if I'd like to try surfing myself."
At first, Fraser rode tandem with Wright on a 13-foot redwood board imported from Hawaii, but within days she was braving the surf on her own, "There were only a few other surfers around back then, and none of them were women." Fraser says. "but oh, it was wonderful. You could look down and there was the water, all around you. You had to really concentrate, I knew that if I stepped too far forward or lost a wave, I had to dive off in front of the board to clear it, because it went down immediately and then jumped back. The wildest time I had was catching a wave, farther north in Pacific Beach, and riding it all the way to shore underneath Crystal Pier. All I could think about was dodging those pilings."
As Fraser's reputation as San Diego's first woman surfer grew, she was asked to participate in a number of promotional activities centered on the beach. The one that got her the most publicity was riding a surfboard with mentor Wright shortly after midnight on New Year's Day, 1926. "Belmont Park had just opened, and the whole community was celebrating," she recalls. "The entire shore was filled with people as Charles and I caught three waves in total darkness. The only way we could see where we were going was by lighting several waterproof flares. The water was so cold I could hardly stand it, but even so, I can't recall ever having more fun."
SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE, August, 1987
In the photo at top left, Faye is seen with mentor Charles Wright and the 13-foot redwood board the two used to ride together in Mission Beach in the middle Twenties.
Faye Baird Fraser passed away November 12, 2000
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