Surfing isn’t just timeless, it’s genderless and ageless.
nice to have a sisterhood.” Caren has joined with sister surfers Paula Maloney, Sherry Copeland, Amy Pallenberg
If you’re out at Cisco beach and think you’re watching
and Melanie Kotalac who, in Paula’s words, “Came
longhaired surfer dudes riding waves, look again, because
together because of our communal love of surfing.
they are ladies and they’re over the age of forty. Nantucket has long offered some of the best surfing on the East
“We have what I call ‘surf breaks’ that we go to pretty reg-
Coast, attracting all ages to our South Shore breaks. But
ularly. There’s a crew of people, and not necessarily just
only in the last several years have surfing moms bonded,
women, but we definitely hang out for sure,” says Sherry
and banded together, to ride the waves alongside male
Copeland. “A lot of it is just talking together. It’s a time to
surfers who view age as simply a state of mind.
catch up out there where it’s quiet. I’m a therapist for Family and Children’s Services here so, for me, surfing’s a
“I started here 22 years ago,” recalls veteran lady surfer
stress-relief, and it gives you a great feeling of empowerment.
Caren Öberg-Gomes, who once competed on the circuit
It’s amazing.”
for the Eastern Surfing Association. “I was 18, and back then I was the only girl. Then, little by little, the girls
For Paula Maloney, who is a partner at Country Village
popped in and it felt really nice to have some women to
Real Estate, it’s also the element of the unknown that
relate to, because we’re not as powerful, physically. So it’s
draws her and her friends to Cisco beach.“When you go
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