As my series on Babe On A Mish continues it should be no surprise that I would be finally ( as in can you believe it wasn’t sooner? ) be featuring a surfer. This humble soul needs no real introduction, except who she is to me and why I choose her.
For starters, in case anyone is unaware of this phenom female athlete, Carissa Moore is 4x World Champion in Women's professional surfing. She is Hawaiian. And she lets her surfing do the talking. If it could speak in literal words there might be an F-bomb in there.. even though I doubt this humble lady ever curses. It’d be more like a F- yeah. Carissa’s technique on waves is like a hot knife thru butter, effortless. And extremely satisfying to study and watch. ( Pardon me while I nerd out )
Besides Hawaii being an island and special place of a little over a million people, the surf community is well very small.
And for those of you that don’t surf, its one of the only or maybe it is the only sport where you can actually be rubbing rails with these professionals in the water, see them in real lighting time as they spray you in the face, or hear the whomp of their board as they hit the lip so square you actually watch the wave obliterate in your face. You can see the laser focus switch from a casual convo to a spin around and one strong paddle into a wave you didn’t even think was- umm *gulp* worth it?
Can you imagine? Like actually surfing next to a world champ?? After you get past that fact.. living here and surfing for a number of years will def do that, you get used to seeing them at the store, in your yoga class, you may even frequent their locally owned business, wave high after a while, because like I said, it's a small community. I’ve been lucky enough to share my actual physical community with Carissa. And tho I’m not sure she ever really remembers me, she always says hi- always smiles- I mean I act like I know her.. One time after surfing Rockies a few years ago, I screeched when I saw her- because she had just cut her hair.. Lol- and OFC I said something.. It was like 3 min convo but I felt like we were fast friends.
Photos clockwise from top courtesy : Hurley Women & Ocean Dreamer, Ryan Miller, Peter H Hamblin
What I especially have really admired about Carissa is how she has carried herself as a professional- woman. You see, in a sport where it has also capitalized on marketing women for being beautiful, this beautiful woman has never given into such advertisement. Remember when I said her surfing has always done the talking? She was named first ever female King of the Groms at age 14. Yeah she beat the boys. She beat another world champ you might be familiar with too actually.. on top of that, this local wahine gives back- through her foundation www.moorealoha.com - Using surfing as a platform, it is a program aimed to bring young women together in and around water to share, encourage and inspire each other. I die.
The epitome of an actual BABE ON A MISH. In her latest film RISS, you see how this Queen had a vision set early on in her life..
She knew she wanted to be a professional surfer and nothing was going to stop her. She gets up early and puts in the hard work. She carries a motto of More ( or Moore ) Aloha- to quote the great Kelly Slater “In Hawaiian culture it is more than this, it is a way of living and treating each other with love and respect. It is a deep meaning that starts with teaching us to love ourselves first and then to spread that love to others” As Carissa would simply say. “It means more LOVE”.
Inspiring on so many levels, I had to ask this Babe the 10 questions that move past the film, the surf, and instagram posts.. And naturally I needed to know what she has to get every time she goes to the grocery store..
Photos were derived from WSL, Trevor Moran, and Hurley.
I’d be lying if that last question didn’t actually get me choked up. Something truly special is that of a relationship between both a Father and his Daughter. What I really pull from this Babe On A Mish, is her consistency, out of the water. Yeah we all have bad days, experiences, tragedies, but how you choose to channel that energy .. that is something to admire. I love how she chooses to share her aloha with the next generation, and never forgets where she came from. I love that she maintains a smile, with a fierce edge she applies in the water. It’s no easy feat, to be a professional woman, maintain style with that grace.. be a savage competitor and come out the other side alive, using your scars as token lessons.