5 questions with... Brianna Ortega
Slide into the new year with cold water woman Brianna Ortega, founder of Sea Together - a magazine empowering women surfers globally. Find out more…
#coldwaterwomenseries
Photo credit: James Quam (@slimjimandtherats)
Sea Together is more than a magazine; it’s a community. Built by Brianna to empower women from around the world, it’s a space for the diverse voices in women’s surfing. The message has certainly travelled across the pond and inspired us to create this platform; to bring cold water women to the surface. We reached out to Brianna and asked her to share her story with us!
1. Hey, Brianna! It’s been so nice to meet you through our mutual passion for creating communities for women of the ocean. Sea Together is a huge inspiration for us! Tell people a bit more about yourself and your magazine…
I'm a Fine Arts Masters student, artist, most recently a Pacific Northwest Marine Environmental Educator, Founder/Director of Sea Together Magazine, and autoimmune disease warrior. I love surfing as it’s a way for me to feel immersed in the ocean as a spiritual experience; a way of connecting with the love that created beauty on earth.
My love for the ocean runs deep inside of me, even before I started surfing and I’m so grateful to have been raised in an ocean family. Sea Together Magazine is a side project, created from my heart, which I started to make space for everyone in women's surfing. I set out to encourage women to believe in themselves and their unique identity within surfing, and to make others aware that every single woman surfer has a story and a voice. Everyone has a unique way of expressing their creativity and Sea Together is a place of vulnerability, boldness, positivity, empowerment and coming together to celebrate our love of the ocean and surfing. I honestly just started it with a little Instagram and couldn't even imagine shipping a little small-run print magazine around the world! I hope I can continue doing it for as long as people are buying the magazine.
I've been totally volunteering because I'm crazy passionate about this and have been so fortunate to have friends and other people worldwide who support my campaign. My Tumblr friend of 8 years, Angela Blumen, designs Sea Together for free. And my amazing cousin, Mikaela, copy edits the print magazine. This project has opened up doors to connect with so many incredible and inspiring people, and I'm so grateful. If the crazy hard work and countless hours I've put into this project comes to an end one day, I’ll just be grateful for the opportunity to inspire others to believe in themselves, empower women surfers, and for all the AMAZING new friends I’ve made from around the world.
2. That is incredibly inspirational and you have our support 100%! How did you get into it all?
I was fortunate enough to be taught how to surf by someone I grew up with who had been surfing for 40+ years; my stepdad. My first wave was in Waikiki when I was sma' kine, but I didn't really get into it until around 14 when I was super inspired by Roxy girls like Carissa Moore and Kassia Meador. I followed Carissa’s blog from when I was in 5th grade. It sounds super corny, but that's the truth - I wanted to be a "Roxy girl" haha! I didn't really get into surfing until I moved back to Hawai'i when I was 15 and that's when I picked up shortboarding - surfing shallow outer reef breaks, with long, long paddles. But, you get to know the different reefs like the back of your hand when you surf the same spots everyday.
I moved to Washington when I was in High School, and after moving around a few times, I stopped surfing. I moved to California, but didn't really surf. Then, I moved back to the Pacific Northwest where my passion for surfing was re-ignited. This was shocking because I hate cold weather. Now I'm a dedicated cold water surfer! Even in the middle of January when I'm shivering and complaining about how cold I am, I still try to get in the water. I end up being way more energized by nature and the open "wilderness" than I ever was surfing on a crowded and sunny Southern Californian day. The feeling of being out of control within nature inspires and rejuvenates me. Surfing in the Pacific Northwest feels welcoming to me, even though it’s unwelcoming to most. With the vast open spaces, crazy rip currents and weather that changes on a dime, plus close drop offs to sharks, your mind, body, and soul all surrender to nature and the ocean. And that's when I feel at home.
“It means getting a buddy to keep you motivated on the days you don’t want to paddle out. It often means being one of the few women in the water - if you get to see another woman at all.”
3. What does being a cold water surfer mean to you?
To me, being a cold water surfer means wearing booties, a hood, and gloves. It means surfing all year round in cold water. Here, even in the early summer the water temperature can drop to 45 (fahrenheit - that’s 7 degrees celsius!) due to upwelling from rivers and streams. This means sharks, sometimes rain, and rips that are like rivers. It means big swells in the winter time from Alaska, and sometimes weeks in the winter (even months) that are unsurfable or just plain bad. It means getting a buddy to keep you motivated on the days you don't want to paddle out. It often means being one of the few women in the water - if you get to see another woman at all! It sometimes means proving yourself on the first winter set wave so that a dude doesn't get in your way or drop in. It means cold hands, and sometimes blue lips if you’re out in the freezing winter for too long. It means sunset and sunrise shifts with the seasons, with the winter being dark and grey. It means putting on your bikini under your layers of down jackets, fleece, and (for me) earmuffs for my surfer’s ear.
4. Do you have any favourite spots?
My favorite spots are those which are uncrowded and don't have grumpy people. I don't believe in geotagging or hashtagging spots, especially in the PNW (Pacific Northwest), as I don't want to blow spots up. I really respect local surf culture and want to keep things on the DL (down low).
5. How do you stay warm across the pond? Do you drink tea?
Earmuffs are the key to happiness in the winter time, and even in the summer time. We get super cold winds in the summer and that's a recipe for disaster with surfer’s ear. I can get dizzy from strong cold winds or cold water, and earmuffs keep them safe and warm. Tea can help before heading to the beach to warm up core body temperature or having it after you get back from a session. Sometimes I just drive home in my wetsuit if it's that freezing out and I don't even care. I just put something down to sit on top of. My best tip to motivate yourself to get in the water; use the buddy system!
Join the vision and find out more about Sea Together!
Sign up on the website, follow the Sea Together instagram, and like on Facebook. There’s even a couple of spaces left on their wellness surf retreat in Oahu, Hawai’i! You can also follow Brianna’s own instagram here: @briandthesea.
Photo credit: Erin Hogue (@erinhogue)