Pipeline: Cody Purcell Interview

 

The Purcell family arrived 15 minutes early to my interview and all I can think of is that this is the perfect surfing family for a TV sitcom.

It would be like a surfing “Leave it to Beaver.” Cody Purcell’s father, Cameron, and mother, Michele, are nice, well-rounded, uplifting personalities, with their focus on Cody growing up with the same values much like Alex Grey and his family. Cameron plops down on the sofa gazing at my “No Pants Nance” surfboard while Michele takes the Lazy Boy but can’t sit still. She is running around the room capturing all the excitement on her cell phone.

The 15-year-old, darkly tanned young surfer, Cody, has hazel eyes and sun bleached streaks running through his long brown hair. He  stands at 5’6” and weighs all of 120 pounds. The radical regular foot started out riding boogie boards standing up at age ten. His mother would give him a ride to the beach everyday after school starting noticing his surfing enthusiasm. She invested $80 on a Cosco Styrofoam Pop Out called The Shredder. When Cody mastered his Cosco Shredder his father purchased a $50 fish at a garage sale and surfed with Cody whenever he could, expanding his son’s surfing boundaries. Cody currently rides 5’4” SPDR Spyder and a Lost 5’5” Beach Buggy.

Cody started surfing at Longfellow in Hermosa Beach and now surfs the Manhattan Beach Pier with his Mira Costa surf teammates Douglas Golubovic and Clay Norian. Cody is the star of not his surf team but the South Bay High School Surf League. He started surfing at 12 in the South Bay Boardriders Surf Contest and lost his first heat. Last year Cody finished the season first in the 14 year old division and 3rd in the 18 and under division.

Cody centers his surfing on the basic roundhouse cutback.

“It’s all about carving deep cuts back to the tube, not the big airs and tricks,” he said.

As for for his favorite wave, on a recent travel up the coast he fell in love with Santa Cruz’s “Steamer Lane.”

“It breaks so far out and just peels forever in front of the cliff. It’s the perfect cutback wave,”  Cody said.

It was during this trip he had has one near death experience surfing a 6’10 in 20 foot surf that was breaking a mile out in the middle of the ocean.

“A huge set broke right in front of me and my friend. It was one gnarly avalanche of white water after another making it almost impossible to get a breath in betwee,” he said. “Every time we dove for the bottom we thought our leashes were going to break for sure. We were doing underwater somersaults while our surfboards tombstone on the surface. I don’t know how we survived.”

Some his best trips include scoring some righteous barrels in Nicaragua. Last fall, he went to Hawaii with his father. Cody and Cameron got really good waves on Oahu’s West Side surfing the very diaphanous wave,  “Maile.”

Cody credits his dad being his biggest surfing influence. He also idolizes  John John Florence and Alex Grey.

“John John is so explosive leaving everyone transfixed on trying to figure out what his next outrageous move will be,” Cody said. “ Alex has no fear charging the biggest waves out there but can shred in small waves anytime he wants.”

Currently Cody is sponsored by Spyder Surfboards, Captain Fin Co, and Fish at Sea clothing.

I have no doubt that Cody will carry on the South Bay surfing legacy as a fine representative. He is honest, polite with an undoubtedly healthy surfing attitude with full support of his wonderful mother and proud father. I feel proud knowing the surfers and families of South Bay surfing future legends like Alex Grey, Dayton Silva, Noah Collins, Mike Siordia and now Cody Purcell. ER

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