Replica of 1973 Crystal Voyager poster.
Photo source: https://shop.tracksmag.com.au/products.
Jayne has a long history of surfing prone surf craft (mats, body boards and bellyboards) in Australia and Indonesia. Her story is one of determination, a sense of adventure and finding her place in line-ups at some of the most crowded surf spots around.
1. When and where did you start surfing?
This day I was fortunate to get a lift. I was 14 years old. Girls were last priority for a seat in the car. Only the older guys had licenses so it was hard to get a lift. We were heading down the south coast as these beaches were quicker to get to. After checking Stanwell Park and every beach on the way we ended up at the Farm at Shellharbour. I sat on the beach whilst the guys surfed and four hours later we got to get something to eat and drink. Well after four hours alone on the beach in the hot sun I was whingeing and complaining. They said: "If you don't like it don't come!" After lunch one of the guys, my boyfriend at the time went and borrowed a surf mat off some kid splashing around in the whitewater. I had my first paddle out, no flippers and after my first wave I was hooked. After that I was straight to the surf shop and bought my first Rip Curl surf mat and a pair of flippers which were replaced many times as they would fill up with sand and get washed off my feet. No flipper savers in those days and no wetsuits for women. S-M-L mens only.
2. What influence did Crystal Voyager have on you?
I loved that film. I was at the Opera House premiere in 1973. I was 15. Even though I was still at school it influenced me to just want to go surfing. The movie was brilliant. I bought the Echo's album (the soundtrack from the second half) and played it every night to go to sleep, imagining I was George on the amazing waves he surfed. I got my first board not long after that.
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Replica of 1973 Crystal Voyager poster. |
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Photo source: https://shop.tracksmag.com.au/products. |
3. When did you get exposed to bellyboards? When was this? What was your first bellyboard?
I had always wanted to go to Indonesia/Bali. My friends said, "You won't to be able to surf that Morey boogie board (which I had progressed to when they first came out) over there - You'll get killed". So one of the boys said he would make me a board. It was shaped a touch longer than a boogie board. It was blue on the deck and white underneath, with a black crow on it. The guy who shaped it was nicknamed Crow as his name was Dave Croman. I was about 15 ½ years old.
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Deck view of Jayne's Croman board. |
Jayne and her single fin Croman board. |
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Photos courtesy Jayne Seymour. |
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4. You mentioned that you lived around Kirra in the mid 1970s and shared a place with MP and others. How was that? Did this influence your surfing?
There was always named surfers visiting the house and up and coming grom surfers from other places, often came and stayed for holidays. The house was always full of surfers. They would wake us up early when the surf was on. I must say some of the best waves of my life, besides Indo, were out at Kirra Point. It definitely got the adrenalin going.
5. What board were you riding and where did you mainly surf?
I surfed boards that my friends made me. No one made them in those days. You couldn't go into a shop and buy one. After my Crow board got too dinged to repair the Goodtime crew made me my next board. It was shaped like an egg. This was the board I took to Indo in 1977. It had two plywood fins. In my young days we surfed from Stanwell Park down to Ozzie Pipe, Ulladulla and Narooma. We considered our home break to be Coalcliff (as there were no local surfers there). It was a right hand point break and there was also a bombie in the middle which was mainly a left. After leaving Sydney to the Gold Coast, it was usually Kirra, but all depended on the surf. Sometimes at Greenmount or D'bah. The superbank wasn't formed back then but you could get a wave at Snapper or Rainbow.
6. 1977 would have been the early days of Nias. How did you hear about it and get there?
I was off to Bali with my boyfriend at the time. We mainly surfed Kuta and Uluwatu. Hanging at the losman we met two guys who had just come back from Nias. They were so hyped up about it. We got in their ears and asked them how to get there. We were going on a surf trip until our money ran out, so we took notes and off we went. We flew from Bali to Jogyakarta. Then from there to Medan, then it was an uncomfortable 12 hour bus trip to Sibolga, Sumatra. We were cramped as they put boxes in the aisle for extra passengers and we couldn't move to stretch out. Every bridge we went under our boards and most of our luggage came off the roof of the bus, as it was packed so high. We were freaking out about our boards. After we made it to Sibolga, hell on earth as I called it, there were no boats running to get to Nias for two days, so we had to entertain ourselves in this hot, smelly place. The rubbish dump was piled up high in the middle of the road. People followed us everywhere we went. The kids would run up to me (having blond hair) and touch me, then run away. It was quite an experience being spied on in our room.
The boat trip to Nias was a 12 hour overnight trip. Little did we know we should have rushed onto the boat to get a decent spot. I was cramped between two sideways drums. I remember leaving Sibolga was a very picturesque experience until it got dark. We arrived at Teluk Dalam and had to hitch a ride to the village as there was no other transport. We jumped in the back of a truck with many, many locals. We arrived at Lagundri village and the only place to stay was with a local family. We couldn't wait to sus the surf. We had learnt a little Indonesian and the locals guided us to the point where there was one losman (Jamborai) and pumping waves. So many mosquitoes running through the jungle to the beach.
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Jayne at Nias. |
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Photo courtesy of Jayne Seymour. |
7. How were the waves?
The surf only broke on a certain tide. I think it was a high tide and it didn't break at all under six foot. I remember it being quite "heavy". It took a while to get my confidence happening. There were 12 guys all up on the island so we all agreed six at a time in the surf. It was a totally amazing experience! Lots of waves to be had
8. What prompted the move to the Yamba area? I've heard there were a few women riding bellyboards around the area.
I moved to the Yamba area as the Gold Coast was getting too busy in the surf and heard Angourie pumped so randomly moved here in 1980. There were not many women in the surf. I remember two ladies on stand up boards (one was Loueen Majors) and a couple on Morey boogie boards. Soon they were a number of women surfing fibreglass body boards. This included: Adrienne Dahlberg, Dianna Lobry, Kath Gorman and Belinda Chambers.
You mentioned women had a heat in the Pippie Beach Classic?
When we first moved to Yamba there were different locals at different beaches. There were the Turners crew, there was the Pippie Beach crew and there was the Angourie crew etc. Nobody sort of mixed, they didn't talk to each other. So my girlfriend and her boyfriend at the time decided they were going to open a surf shop, up at the top of the hill where Paradisio is now. They opened the surf shop and we were sitting around talking one day and said "how can we get all the surfers together". Like we were tourists, ring ins. We'd only moved to town three years previously. How can we get the surfing community together? She said, "Let's hold a contest". I said "They won't go in it". "We'll put up a surfboard as first prize then they'll go in it. I'll go out and sus the business owners and see if we can get any extra prizes", which she did. "If we can get them, we'll put on a surf contest".
Back in those days the board riders weren't formed, there was nothing going on with the locals, so we decided we would start the Pippie Beach Classic.
What year was that?
1983. Today it is still running but there was a break as it got to the stage it got too huge. After the first contest my girlfriend and her husband shut up shop and left town. Then I took it over with my ex Steve Seymour, Rod and Jan Jack. They organised the beach and I organised everything else. We used to sell food on the beach, have a fashion parade at the bowling club, a smorgasbord dinner and a band where we'd dance the night away . It was the biggest night out with all the surfers in town. It went from 48 surfers to 266 surfers. We had a double bank on the beach with two sets of judges for the whole two days. We'd have the presentation on the Monday night because we left the beach so late on the Sunday. For the last contest I organised there $23,000 worth of prizes. The main draw for people to enter the contest was the chance to win a trip for two to Bali. I organised it for 18 years then the board riders took it over. Once they took it over they didn't want the work that was involved. It took a lot of work. It used to take me six months to organise, with the sponsors. It stopped for a while, after 8 or 10 years it didn't run, then a guy moved into town and said, "I'm going to resurrect the Pippie Beach Classic". I thought, "Great, I'm stoked" because I used to call it my baby, that contest it was my baby. In 2023 it was the 40th year since the first contest. I've been on that beach since 1983 for every contest that run.
When we started the sponsors all used to get written by letter and I had to go to the post office. Then fax machines came along, then computers but I had passed the contest on by then.
The first contest was held in December 1983 and there a Junior, Opens and Mens divisions. In the second contest in January 1986 there was a bodyboard division. After a few years a lot of women started surfing, so we added a women's division. Some have gone on to be famous like Kate Skarratt and Lily Young, she's surfing on the circuit now. They went up through the Pippie Beach Classic and onto the professional circuit.
It started off with three divisions, then it ended up with nine divisions. As we got older we had to add more divisions. There was a mal division and a fancy dress board riding event. We had novelty events for the kids and we wanted it to be a family fun weekend. The novelty events included egg throwing, sand modelling, prawn eating, wheelbarrow races etc. Now it has become a serious contest.
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Pippie Classic contest banner. |
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Photo courtesy of Jayne Seymour. |
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From Left: Adrienne Dahlberg, Kath Gorman, Jayne and Belinda Chambers. 1986 Pippie Beach |
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Photo courtesy of Jayne Seymour. |
How was the surf at Angourie?
When I first paddled out at Angourie I thought the locals were too heavy. It took me around two months to paddle back out there. I would surf in town or backbeach. The local boardmakers eventually made fibreglass boards for their girlfriends which were similar to my board. They used arm leashes which I felt would dislocate my shoulder. I always used a legrope. My Gold Coast board eventually got too smashed up so I asked Wayne Williams (Wilderness Surfboards) to make me a new board and I loved that board so much I went on to surf it for 30 years.
Do you have photos of the Willy board?
Yes, but only in the Rote surfing photos below. What happened to that board was that I kept going around to Little Daz to fix the dings and he said "Don't bring me back that board, get a new one. Look how heavy it is", but that's probably why I liked it so much.
9. Have you travelled much?
After my first trip to Indo I just wanted to keep going back. I went to Sri Lanka the same year as Nias and have mainly surfed many places in Indonesia: Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa and Java and my latest adventures have been to Rote, Timor.
10. Who has made your boards over the years. Have your boards changed much over time?
My first boards were egg shaped but I changed to a wider tail because my legs slid off the side of the narrower tail and and a narrow tail got in the way of kicking onto a wave. I also use my foot to swing me around sometimes. I've also gone from two plywood fins to two normal fins to four fins and also five, but I've found lately that four fins work well. As mentioned above my favourite board was my Wayne Willy board as I called it. That board was amazing with two fins and channels underneath. I could surf that board in any size waves. I had time out from travel when my kids came along - so I did the mum thing raising them alone for most years. As soon as they left home I was back to Indo. My Wayne Willy board was too much of a challenge over there. Rote is windy and I was being held up at the top of the lip and doing late takeoffs and sometimes not making the wave. It just felt like a cork in the ocean so I asked Woody Jack to make me a suitable board for Indo/Rote. I call it my Mal body board. Big days in Rote the guys are surfing nine foot guns. I also have a smaller board made by Nick Pope which I surf Angourie in, in small conditions. It's hard to get a good body board. The shapers don't really get it and I've had a couple of boards I surfed one or two times and discarded them.
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Nick Pope board: bottom. |
Nick Pope board: deck. |
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Photos courtesy Jayne Seymour. |
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Woody Jack board: bottom. |
Woody Jack board: deck. |
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Photos courtesy Jayne Seymour. |
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From Left: Pope (46" x 21 7/8" x 2 1/2") and Woody Jack (51 1/2" x 21 7/8' x 2 1/2") boards. |
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Photos courtesy Jayne Seymour. |
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Nick Pope board: tail view. |
Woody Jack board: tail view. |
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Photos courtesy Jayne Seymour. |
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What didn't you like about these boards that you discarded? You said one was made by Thornton Fallander.
Because they didn't float me? They were copied off my Wayne Willy board but nobody could make me the same thing.
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Thornton Fallander board: deck. |
Thornton Fallander board: bottom. |
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Photos courtesy Jayne Seymour. |
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What do you mean by swinging your leg around?
Most people who surf a body board take off on a wave and hang on. I didn't surf like that. They don't paddle out, they just use their flippers. I paddle. I've had to adjust the boards to me, because a boards a board and I have to surf different boards, different ways. If I want it to turn when I want it to turn I'll put my arm in the water and swing the board around or I'll put my foot sideways at an angle and use my foot as an extra fin, to turn it. Sometimes in different positions on the wave the board wants to go straight but I want it to turn. Sometimes I want to go left on a right hander to get back into the section. It's a different style of surfing on a hard board. The soft boards, they bend and they just curve into the shape of the wave. Hard boards don't.
A guy I know makes really thin boards and he tells me he twists the board and uses body torque.
You lean over to get your board to go a certain way.
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Highline at Rote. |
Off the bottom at Rote. |
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Photos courtesy Jayne Seymour. |
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11. Do any surfs stand out over the years?
Of course lots of sessions at my home break Angourie. Kuta Reef in Bali was also remarkable when I was a grom. I had a paddle out at Uluwatu also when I was young and it kept picking up whilst I was out there. Now that seriously freaked me out and I got washed practically down to Padang Padang. It took me ages to paddle back to Ulu in the current and then trying to judge getting into the cave was scary. There was no road into Ulu back then. It was a hike across the countryside. I've had fantastic surfs in Lombok and Lakey Pipe which also was a challenge and heavy. Lately I'm just loving surfing Bessialu at Rote. I've surfed the biggest waves of my life out there. Sometimes being held under til I think it's all over, but fortunately it's not my time yet.
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Takeoff. |
Down the line. |
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Photos courtesy Jayne Seymour. |
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12. What do you enjoy about riding bellyboards?
This is a classic question as I've thought to myself. If only that guy on the beach lent me a a stand up board all those years ago I would be ripping these days. but it wasn't meant to be. Being close against the waves and getting inside a barrel that a stand up surfer can't do is a bonus. I just love being in the ocean doing my thing. Bodyboards are super fun and I like to swing my board around and still do cutbacks and re-entries, and line up if there's a barrel. It's just a great feeling as they say and everyone out there expresses themselves in their own way. It's definitely my number one fun love!
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Arm in the face and hand on the nose. |
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Photos courtesy Jayne Seymour. |
13. Prone surfers are generally down the bottom of the pecking order. How was it as a woman contending with this?
As a grom there were no other women surfing the south coast. I got abused most surfs and told to f.. off out of the water, but I'd give the abusers the finger and hold my ground. I'd sit out the back and go for it. It took a few years but I eventually got respect. I was confident so I wasn't going to leave the surf. It was more difficult when I hadn't surfed the break and people didn't know me. These days lots of women surf and I don't sit out the back anymore and hustle. I've earned my place in the lineup and am happy to let the hotties do their thing out the back and I now sit on the inside where the barrels are and where there is still a good section to have fun on.
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Eyeing off the section. |
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Photos courtesy Jayne Seymour. |
14. Any other comments?
In the days before I was old enough to get a license, if there was no room in the car I used to hitch hike alone to find the boys. We would camp at the beach and go to the movies at night. Sometimes I would just hitch to where I thought the waves were and surf with whoever was there. When daylight saving came about I would hitch down the coast after school and get home after dark. It was different in those days.
Eventually they made flippers for surfers and flipper savers which helped a lot. My first wetsuit was a small mens which was a bit big and felt weird around the groin area and flattened my chest. Before that it was a t-shirt over a bikini. In Winter the surfs were around 20 minute sessions then in to warm up around the fire on the beach, then out for another session. I'm nearly 67 years old and the oldest woman surfing Angourie and proud of it. I've certainly had some awesome experiences being a surfer.