Surfer girl has point break to prove
Twelve-year-old Cilla is carving out her own place amongst the waves with the help of her dad. Nelson College for Girls filmmaker tags along for the ride.
Her lungs gasp for air as she bursts through the water’s surface. The adrenaline from being tumbled under the heavy wave has her heart thumping. The salt leaves a tingle in her mouth and a sting in her eyes.
She blinks, clearing her vision and glances over to see her father’s reassuring smile, urging her to get back up on her little board. Her name is engraved into it, as a gift from her father, who taught her how to surf.
It is not every day that you see a 12-year-old girl out riding the waves. Her golden hair catching the sunlight as it blows in the light wind. She almost looks out of place amongst all the ‘‘big boys’’, however she says she feels right at home when she surfs.
When Bruce started he said it was almost unheard of to see a girl out surfing.
Cilla, however, being the fearless person she is, decided she didn’t mind that she was the only girl. In fact, she though it was ‘‘cool’’, and encourages her friends to join her.
Although surfing has long been considered a maledominated sport, women are now seeing more equality on the waves. In saying this there is still many female surfers who still struggle with the gender barriers. This is where Cilla separates herself from the rest.
Since she was just five years old Cilla has shared her passion for surfing with her father.
‘‘My dad is my biggest inspiration,’’ Cilla proudly explains.
‘‘She was just a tiny little kid on the end of my long board, I would lie on the back and hold onto her legs so she wouldn’t fall off,’’ Bruce recalls.
He too, has lived by the ocean his whole life. This lifestyle gives the two of them clarity and a passion for what the natural world has to offer.
As Cilla says giggling: ‘‘The world gives us waves, why not use them!’’
Cilla often sits on the beach in admiration as she watches Bruce’s surfboard slice through the surface of the waves.
‘‘I just want to be like dad’’ she says with a smile.
Through narrowed eyes, she watches each wave overlap the next. The satisfying feeling of the sand creeping between her toes is all too familiar.
Since she was just a baby, her and her dad have visited the beach that lies just on their doorstep. Delaware Bay is where their relationship blossomed.
‘‘The Bay will always be a place to cherish good memories with my daughter, ‘‘ says Bruce.
Delaware Bay is Nelson’s best kept secret. Bruce likes to keep this bay a secret, so he can be alone when surfing.
Surf is his ‘‘Zen’’, his isolation from the outside world. He even compared surfing to a drug.
’’Without surf, I get withdrawals; it has become an addiction’’.
Cilla’s admiration of her father is heart warming, and she isn’t going to let anything stand in her way of becoming a surf sensation just like her father.
‘‘I want her to have the same experiences that I had, because surfing has given me so much’’ explains Bruce.
Surfing has allowed Bruce to travel and see the world from a different view.
The once ‘‘tiny little kid’’ on the end of his longboard, is now catching waves on her own. The two certainly share a unique connection. Surf will be something that Cilla can treasure and remember her father by.
‘‘It’s really special to be at one with the ocean, and especially to share that with my dad is really important to me’’.