A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Alexandre, João (Dapin)

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Intrepid first-generation pro surfer from San Diego by way of Ocean City, New Jersey; #7-ranked on the WCT in 1977 and 1980. Ordille was born (1955) in Ocean City, grew up in nearby Linwood, and began riding waves at age five on a drugstore-purchased styrofoam board, tagging along with older brother Steve who himself was already a promising young surfer.

In 1967, when Ordille was 12, the family moved to Ocean City, at which point she began riding a surfboard—in part as a way to put some distance between herself and a physically abusive father. Later that year Orbille placed runner-up in a local surf contest, winning a T-shirt and a trophy and setting the course for a long career as a competitive surfer.

At age 16, Ordille ran away from home and lived in an abandoned Satellite Beach apartment with East Coast surfing champion Mary Anne Hayes, who became Ordille's legal guardian. After graduating high school in 1973, Ordille and Hayes drove to La Jolla, California, where they both found work doing ding repair at Pacific Beach Surf Shop—Ordille's focus, however, was on Windansea and Big Rock, the area's best-known and most-localized surf spots. "Windansea became my home break," the goofyfooter later recalled. "It can be tough for a newcomer, but after dealing with my dad, the tight-knit group of mostly friendly men was a cakewalk. Windansea was part of my healing process. It’s where I learned to stick up for myself; to be bold, yet kind. I made friends quickly—but no one gave me anything."

Ordille's surfing improved dramatically in the mid-'70s. Tall, slender, and powerful (5'10" 125 lbs), with a functional low-crouch style, Ordille was soon comfortable in virtually all sizes and types of waves—as a bonus, given her New Jersey upbringing, she was unfazed at even the coldest air and water temperatures.

The women's pro surfing tour debuted in 1977, and Ordille sold both her car and her beloved Stratocaster to fly to South Africa and compete. With a pair of semifinal finishes over the course year, she ended the season ranked 7th. Her rating dipped over the next two years, then she returned to #7 in 1980, at which point she'd become a team rider for Lightning Bolt. Ordille's last notable pro tour result was a semifinal finish at the Mazda Championships, held in San Diego.

After working as a surf instructor and a resort server, Ordille returned to college (she'd dropped out in 1977), and in 1992 took a BA in Communications from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She has divided her time between Hawaii and Southern California, and starting in the mid-2010s has been involved with both Surfing Heritage and Culture Center and the California Surf Museum.

In 2016, Ordille was inducted to the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame; the following year she made the New Jersey Surfing Hall of Fame.

HEIGHT AND WEIGHT AT PEAK of SURFING CAREER:Height:5' 10"Weight:125 lbs.

From 1955 to 1967 I was raised by mother, Nancy Ordille and my father, Henry Ordille, Sr. We lived in a large two-story, four bedroom home surrounded by a half acre of land with the boundary set by a white picket post fence in Linwood, New Jersey. I built a fort in the side yard next to the two car garage, which actually housed a wicked ping-pong table and a quiver of my older brother's surfboards, rafts, styrofoam molded short boards and stinky wetsuits.

Things deteriorated at the Linwood home as my father had a gambling habit accompanied by a nasty temper when he lost big wads of cash. He would come home every couple of days to eat dinner and my mom would slave over a hot stove in an effort to cool his temper from his immense lose of money. It only made him more angry. Finally, one evening at dinner, my father started in on my brother, ridiculing his long hair, which was not much longer than below his ear. All of a sudden my dad jumped up and lunged across the dinner table, grabbed my 16 year old brother, threw him on the floor and pinned him in the corner. He started beating my brother in the head in a fit of rage. I was 12 years old and I loved my brother, I jumped up to try and help my brotherI didn't know what I was thinking: My dad was over 200 pounds and I was just a child. I jumped up on a chair and onto my dads back, trying to draw his attention away from my brother. My father was foaming at the mouth and in one fell swoop, he turned around, lifted me up and threw me with excessive force against the metal radiator on the other side of the dining room. I blacked out on the floor next to the radiator.

It was peaceful, I was in that state where nothing hurt. I felt relieve and succumbed to the black out. Then, I started to feel rain drops on my cheeks: it was my mothers tears hitting my face as she was leaning over me crying. She thought I was gone. When I felt her tears I came to and opened my eyes and saw the anguish in her eyes. My mom had been through a lot and I was determined not to let her think I was injured. I snapped out of my unconsciousness and jumped up to show her I was ok. A trip to the hospital revealed I had a concussion. My brother had a black eye. My mom kept us out of school and we spent several days aimlessly riding around in her car, often ending up at the beach, the place where all three of us found peace and healing. We didn't talk about what happened and avoided any contact with neighbors and friends.

Two weeks later, when my father had disappeared on another one of his gambling flings, a moving truck pulled up outside the house and strangers loaded up our belongings. It was 1967 and my mother divorced my father and she moved all of us to an apartment above a surf shop called "Surfings New Image" in Ocean City, NJ and we never looked back. I was so relieved. I was now free to pursue my love of surfing.

FATHER'S OCCUPATION (when you were born):

My fathers' family owned Renault Winery in Egg Harbor, New Jersey along with an Italian restaurant in Atlantic City, NJ called Ellidro's. They also held several rental properties in Pleasantville, NJ. Realistically, my father spent most of his time walking the Boardwalk of Atlantic City and frequenting the notorious Gambling Houses that peppered the back streets of Atlantic City, New Jersey before gambling was legalized in 1977.

My mother, Nancy, worked in promotions for a prominent radio station out of Philadelphia, PA before she was married. She enjoyed the job as she loved music and would often receive free tickets to live concerts in the Philly area.When she met my father, and got married, she quit her radio promotions job because she began having children and my parents moved into a home owned by my fathers' family estate.

After she divorced my father, we all went to work at an Italian restaurant called Mac's. It was owned and operated by a South Jersey Italian family who didn't like my father. They fed us, gave us jobs, and protected us while we were on their property. My mom worked as the book keeper for the restaurant and she noticed many of the hand written and added up food and beverage tickets were miscalculated and the restaurant was taking a huge hit financially. She showed this to the owner and proposed they hire me to check the addition of the checks and if they were incorrect, the waiters would be responsible to pay for their "mistakes". There were frequent mistakes, which miraculously always went the way as a 'favor" to the dinners and drinkers.

This was my first job at age 12 and I felt empowered by being able to earn some money. I could afford to get custom high end surfboards that were often shaped in California or Florida.In 1971 Rich Wilkinson Surfboards from Santa Monica, CA made one of my favorite boards. It was a 7'6" single fin Diamond tail with some of Rich's custom artwork on the bottom. Ocean City had become a hotbed for women surfers as there were six of us who actively competed in the growing number of ESA events up and down the East Coast.

BEGAN SURFING: In 1960 on white, molded styrofoam thruster surfboards that my mom got at The Five and Dime Store, which also was the local pharmacy, which I found out later, my father's family owned. My grandfather had started making a red wine labeled "Cold Duck" and during Prohibition he secured the rights to sell this red wine at Pharmacies as a medicinal relief to women suffering from severe cramps.

BEGAN SURFING WHERE: I began surfing on the barrier islands south of Atlantic City, New Jersey.This included Longport, but most frequently the small town of Ocean City, New Jersey. At that time 12th Street had a nice long left sandbar that broke all the way to 13th Street during winter months. In the summer months, 16th Street had several nice sand bars built up on, and around, the shipwreck called The Sindia which was a historical shipwreck that ran aground just off the shoreline during a nasty storm in Ocean City, NJ.

Ocean City was home to several very competent young women surfers and we traveled in a group riding our bicycles on the boardwalk, searching for the best surf

STANCE: When I was riding the molded styrofoam thrusters from age 5 to 12 years old I was utilizing switch stance but always favored the goofy-footer stance. Ocean City has several prominent jetties which build up underwater sand bars on the ocean end of the big boulders that were placed by the city in an attempt to prevent total loss of sand during the massive Nor'Easters storms that blew through the area in the winter and early spring months. The jetty/sandbar combo produced long lefts that spiraled down the ocean, sometimes reaching the Music Pier several blocks south. When there was a good size swell the take offs were steep and hollow, followed by a long wall that had enough juice to rip some off the lips and a throw a roundhouse cutback as the wave tapered down thebeach. During the big winter storms they would close the schools because it was so cold. My friends and I would jam home on the boardwalk riding our bicycles, with the strong North west wind at our backs, pushing us down the boardwalk to the garage where we all stored our wetsuits and surfboards. We would surf until our hair was frozen and our lips turned purple, making it difficult to talk. Which came in handy when later questioned by parents:"why in the world would you go out surfing during a freezing cold storm?"

IF YOU WENT TO COLLEGE, LIST YEARS ATTENDED, NAME OF COLLEGE, YEAR

I first attended Mesa College in San Diego, CA during the years of 1975-1977. I worked on campus in the Biology and Chemistry Lab as a participant in the College Work Study Program.

GRADUATED, DEGREE: University of Hawaii Manoa, 1996

In 1977 during Spring Semester at Mesa College, I overheard a fellow female amateur surf competitor talking about the start up of a World Professional Surf Tour that was slated to include the women. I learned as much as I could about it and realized I didn't have much time if I wanted to participate. The first organized Women's ProTour was scheduled to go to Durban, South Africa in 6 weeks to compete in The Gunston 500. I had to finish my semester, get a Passport, and Visas for South Africa and Brazil and come up with $1200 for the airline tickets and accommodations. I completed my classes, gave notice at my college work study job at the Science Lab and then concentrated on raising the money to go on the Tour. I mustered the courage to ask my father's family to help and I was told if I went on The Pro Surfing Tour I would be disowned by my father and written out of the inheritance of The Winery his family owned. That just made me more determined to make it happen. I sold my used Toyota Corolla and my cherished 1970 Fender Stratocaster and sent the funds to our designated Tour Guide, Randy Rarick, on Oahu in Hawaii. I boarded the plane, (which had originated in Oahu, Hawaii) in Los Angeles and was seated next to Lynne Boyer and Becky Benson. We have been best friends ever since that day in early July of 1977.I made a promise to my mother that I would graduate from college after I participated in the International Professional Surfing Tour.

The trip to South Africa was a life changing event for me. We all traveled as a group to Durban first to compete in The Gunston 500. As soon as we landed in Johannesberg, the Native Hawaiians were pulled into secondary inspection and detained there for 17 hours. We decided we were not going to leave the airport without them and Randy Rarick worked tirelessly to get them released. Finally, we all boarded a bus to a hotel and got some much needed sleep. After the contest in Durbin, we loaded up the combi buses and headed south to Jeffries Bay. It was during apartheid and everything was segregated: water fountains, restrooms, hotels. Native Hawaiians had even been refused breakfast service at the hotel in Durban the morning before competition. We were all relieved when the contest was over and we started our journey to JBay. When we arrive there the surf was a consistent 6 to 10 feet for over a week, with howling offshores. The headland had a small dirt parking lot but there were no homes, or structures of any kind, on that whole coastline. The sunrises were as spectacular as the surf and being an under gunned goofy-footer was a challenge that I loved. There was no shortage of waves despite the group being some of the best surfers in the world: Dane Kealoha, Michael Ho, Bobby Owens, Randy Rarick, Critter Byrne, Andrew McKinnon, Lynne Boyer, Becky Benson, Shaun and Michael Tomson, Ricky Rasmussen. My surfing improved by leaps and bounds from having access to constant high quality surf. We all reveled in the beauty of the pristine coastline and the slow paced fishing village where are accommodations consisted of sleeping bags on the floor. After a day of paddling back out at Jeffries Bay, sleep came easy. I felt so at peace and loved the camaraderi

I later returned to finish college at University of Hawaii Manoa in 1992 after Kauai, the island I was living and working on, was destroyed by Hurricane Iniki. I had been working full time at The Westin Kauai located at Nawili'wil'i Harbor in Lihue when the category 4 hurricane struck. Kauai was devastated, all the roofs had been blown off the houses, the hotels were destroyed as well. There was no where to live safely and out of the constant rain. The first two weeks we all helped each other and the local boys would barbecue the frozen meat, chicken and fish everyone had stored in their freezers. These supplies soon ran out and the camping experience grew old as the rain kept falling and the wind continued to howl. The ocean was reddish brown from the constant run off and I decided it was time to go to Oahu and get a warm shower, finish college and find some work over there. UH Manoa accepted me as a student, offered me a dorm room, a part time job on campus and, a tuition waiver. I dived into my studies and quickly found surf friends from the old pro surf tour days to go surfing with. I got a job on the weekends giving surf and kayak lessons by the old Natatorium, near The Outrigger Canoe Club. Life was good again and I counted my blessings.

I surfed town year round and drove to the North Shore in the winter months to get my big wave crave fulfilled. I worked in the multi-media lab on campus and produced, shot, and edited two broadcast shows for O'lelo, the public access station in Honolulu. This gave me access to the state of the art editing bays and large music catalogues available for the non-profit broadcast station. I produced two shows which aired weekly: "Water Women," which covered the competitive and free style water sports that engulfed the different shores of Oahu, and "Local Talent," which followed the amazing musicians who blessed the island with live music and spontaneous concerts on the University campus. I was the traveling videographer for "Hawaiian Style Band" which featured female singer Robi Kahakalau (who was also my Hawaiian Language teacher) and male lead singer Fiji, who gave commanding performances everywhere we went. My dorm room was located by The East-West Center and looked out on the Japanese Gardens that surrounded the building.I bought a moped to get around town on and kept my Jeep Scrambler stashed up in Manoa Valley. I surfed everyday on the South Shore at the various breaks from Diamond Head to Kewalo Basin.

I graduated from University of Hawaii Manoa in the spring of 1996 with a Degree in Communications. My brother brought his two sons over to watch the graduation ceremony and surf friend Lynne Boyer and her wife Reka also joined the celebration.

CHRONOLOGY OF WHERE YOU'VE LIVED, WITH APPROX. MOVE-IN, MOVE-OUT DATES:

Linwood, New Jersey from birth, 1955 to 1967.

Ocean City, New Jersey from 1967 to 1972.

Satellite Beach, Florida from 1972to 1973.

CHRONOLOGY OF YOUR WORK LIFE; PLACES OF EMPLOYMENT, JOB TITLES, DATES:

Macs RestaurantSomers Point, New Jersey, 1967-1972

Satellite Beach High School, Florida Janitor 1972-73

San Diego Mesa College, On Campus Science Lab 1973-1977

Pacific Beach Surf Shop, San Diego, CA. Ding repair 1973-1975

International Professional Surfing, World Tour 1977- 1982

Association of Surfing Professionals 1982-85

Kiahuna Plantation, Margo Oberg's Surf School Instructor 1985-1992

Weston Kauai, Nawiliwili Harbor, Lihue, Kauai, HI. Convention Banquest Server 1985-1992

Waiohi Beach Resort, Poipu, Kauai. Convention Banquet Server 1983-1992

University of Hawaii Manoa, Honolulu, HI Multi-Media Lab 1992- 1996

Public Access Television, Olelo, Producer, Director, Editor of two broadcast shows. "Water Women" and "Local Talent" Oahu, HI. 1992-1996

University Town Center Apartment Complex Manager, La Jolla, CA 1996-2000

State of Hawaii Court Officer (Juvenile Probation), Lihue, Kauai approx. 2001-2013

Surfing Heritage, San Clemente, CA Docent and volunteer 2015-present.

California Surf Museum, Oceanside, CA Fundraiser and volunteer 2016-present

1967 Eastern Surfing Association Established by Cecil Lear. I competed in first contest at Belmar, New Jersey. 2nd place.

1967-1973 Eastern Surfing Association Amature Competitor.

1977 Gunstun 500 Durban, South Africa. IPS sanctioned event. 3rd place.

1977 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil IPS sanctioned event at Aproador. 3rd place.

1978 Bells Beach Velcro Easter Classic. IPS sanctioned event. 4th place.

1978 Coke Classic Narabeen, Australia. IPS sanctioned event. 5th place.

1978 First woman to compete in man on man heats against the men.Stubbies Pro at Blacks Beach, La Jolla, CA Advanced to quater finals. Have photo evidence.

1978-1980 Lightning Bolt for Gals Pro Team Rider.

1982 Mazda Women's World Surf Sport Championships August 6-8 3rd Place behind Freida Zamba (her first pro contest) and Rell Sunn, 2nd place.

1981 Charter Member of WindanSea Surf Club

1996 Graduated with a BA Communications University of Hawaii

2020 Ocean City, NJ Town Council awarded me a founding member of the7th Street Surfing Beach approval in 1970.

2022 Elected into the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame Advisory Board

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR CAREER IN SURFING, ACHIEVEMENTS, ETC:

I first competed in the local amateur contests in Ocean City, New Jersey specialty surf events which were scheduled during school breaks and drew contestants from neighboring school districts. These surf contests were the brain child of Mr.Pellegi, an Ocean City, NJ Rotary Club member and avid supporter of young, local surfers.We had the "Turkey Trot" during Thanksgiving Break, the "Polar Bear" during Christmas break and a steady stream of contests during the summer months.I was 12 years old when I entered my first contest at 14th Street in Ocean City, New Jersey. It was the Turkey Trot and for my second place finish I got a cool trophy and t-shirt. These contests resulted in a strong group of competitive Ocean City women surfers who were all close friends. We went to school, played music and surfed together.

My career in surfing continued as the Eastern Surfing Association was formed by Cecil Lear and the first event took place in Belmar, NJ in 1967. A group of us from Ocean City, equal men and women, piled into a friends surf van and headed up the Garden State Parkway and competed at Belmar. This was the start of ESA which evolved into an amateur organization that fostered competition up and down the East Coast. The East Coast Championships were always held at Cape Hatteras. It was there that at 16 years old I met East Coast Champ Mary Anne Hayes and ended up traveling back to Satellite Beach, Florida to live. Mary Ann found a free duplex apartment on the beach with a secret spot surf break out the back called Conova. Mike Tabeling and Gary Proper would show up on the best days and never brought anyone else with them.I attended High School at Satellite Beach High and graduated in1973. I immediately headed out to live and surf in La Jolla, CA.,my mind set on surfing the lefts at Windansea and Big Rock.

Whenwe arrived San Diego, CA in 1973, Mary Ann Hayes and I went to Pacific Beach Surf Shop, run by local legend Bill Andrews, and asked him if he needed any ding repair work done. Bill kinda chuckled at us and said, " I tell you what, you girls come around tomorrow and I will let you work on some surfboards that need repair. If the boards look good, you got yourselves a job." The next morning we did an early morning surf session at the end of Pacific Beach Drive where the shop was located and then headed into the shop for a day of ding repair. The next morning we went back to the shop and Bill hired us to do full-time ding repair. He said he had never seen such detailed polish and finish work on dings.

Bill also started taking us surfing to Blacks Beach but my heart was set on surfing Windansea. The reef at Windansea had an amazing, hollow left that was perfect training for Hawaii and also had a wide channel to paddle back out to take off spot with. I would take off to go left where the swells hit the rock bottom and jacked up.Most of the crowd wanted the right but occasionally someone would shoulder hop on me. I would ride behind them, staying close to the critical part of the wave: their friends up in the parking lot would make fun of them when they came in and tease them saying," you should have seen the girl surfing behind you." I also was always supported by Chris O'Rourke, who was hands down the best surfer in the water. He always stuck up for me and with his support I earned my place at Windansea. La Jolla photographer Kirk Aeder started taking water and land shots of me. I was progressing rapidly as a highly respected free surfer in La Jolla and contest ventures were limited. It was the early mid 1970s and there wasn't any coordinated Pro events taking place yet and the Western Surfing Association contests were generally held on really bad beach breaks. I was working and attending Mesa, Jr. College so I kept my weekends free for surfing La Jolla rock reef breaks.

Rusty Preisendorfer offered to shape me a board under his label at the time, Music. The 6'3" swallow tail was a game changer for me. It worked like a charm at the La Jolla reefs and built my confidence. Big Rock became my go to spot and I learned to love the steep, free fall drops and inevitable tube ride.

In 1979, after placing third in The Mabo Pro at Haleiwa, Oahu, HI, Margo Oberg and her husband, Steve invited me to come stay and surf with them on Kauai. I had earned $80. for my third place finish, which was just enough for airfare, board bags and some change. The first location Margo took me to surf was a lefthand point break on the Southwest corner of the island, called Pakala. Being a goofy-footer, it felt like finding Heaven on Earth. The whole island and culture is surf utopia and I vowed to return as a permanent resident. Margo and Steve also let me try some of their handcrafted Bill Barnfield Lightning Bolt Surfboards which were magic island sleds. When I returned to Oahu, Bill offered to shape me some boards and he called up Jack Shipley to recommend me as a Lightning Bolt Womens Team Rider. I was accepted onto the Team and Lightning Bolt had some posters of us made up for their new marketing campaign of women's athletic wear.

CURRENTLY LIVING IN: I currently live in San Diego County, California. I am actively involved in volunteering and fundraising for California Surf Museum in Oceanside, CA and Surfing Heritage in San Clemente, CA.

In 1981 I became a Charter Member of The WindanSea Surf Club which was revitalized by Hans Neuman and established as a nonprofit.

In 2016 I was inducted into The East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame at The Surf Expo in Orlando, Florida. It was a super fun reunion with many of my childhood surf friends from the East Coast showing up to support me.

In 2017 I was inducted into The New Jersey Surfing Hall of Fame which took place in my hometown of Ocean City, N.J at The Flanders Hotel. It was another great celebration seeing old friends.

In 2020 the Ocean City Town Council awarded me as a founding member of the 7th Street Surfing Beach which we got approved in 1970.

In 2022 I was voted in as one of the first female members of the Advisory Board for The East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame,I will be participating in the nomination process, writing bios on candidates and participating in fundraising.

Ordille, Sandy

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