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Oct 19, 2006
Double Take
From: Vol. 1, Issue 31, October 19-25, 2006
By Rebecca Nordquist
San Clemente Times
Mark and Debbie Gale, San Clemente’s
most decorated tandem surfing team, turned in their
roller skates for a surfboard and a world title.
How many surfers can say they were once professional
roller skaters? And on top of that claim to be the 1980
National
Lampoon roller skating champion? Mark Gale can. From
1974 to 1982, he pleased crowds at amusement parks and
skated his way into commercials and movies—Roller Boogie
(1979), Hustler of Muscle Beach (1980) or Xanadu (1980),
anyone? And it was this career path that led him to
his wife of 18 years, Debbie. “Some people may not remember
this, but in the ’80s, roller skating was really popular,”
says Mark, 50, now an emergency planner at San Onofre
Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS)— a curious departure
from professional roller skating. “That’s how I met
my wife; we were a pairs team.” They, in fact, met at
the Fountain Valley Roller Rink in 1987 when Debbie
spotted Mark throwing a girl 11 feet in the air. “That’s
not something you see very often,” Debbie says, laughing.
“Soon after, Mark and I started skating together.”
  
The next year, the duo married, moved to San Clemente
and, in 1989, had their first child, Heston. Naturally
their focus changed from pairs roller skating to raising
a family and developing their careers: Mark continuing
to climb the ladder at SONGS and Debbie beginning as
a court reporter in Santa Ana. But there was one problem:
the couple missed their once active, athletic lifestyle.
And that’s when they met Steve and Barrie Boehne, tandem
surfers and owners of Dana Point’s Infinity Surfboards
and Surf Shop. “We were looking at photos of tandem
surfing with them, and Mark said, ‘I can lift a girl
over my head,’” Debbie recounts. “And to that Steve
replied, ‘You can do that on the ground, but can you
do that on a wave?’” Good point…but the Gales were intrigued
enough to try. So in 1992, Mark and Debbie found their
way to what would become their true passion—one that
would bring them a championship title. With the Boehnes
as their mentors, the couple started practicing together
at San Onofre after the birth of their daughter, Jessica.
“Falling in the water is way better than falling on
an oak floor,” says Mark of one major difference between
roller skating and surfing. Debbie adds quickly, “At
my age [46], he can drop me all day long in the water,
but on the floor, my bones might shatter.”
 But
it’s not often that Mark drops her—in or out of the
water—and after 14 years of tandem surfing, the Gales
proved their mastery of the sport. They won their first
world title (Legends/Masters) in August 2006 at the
International Surfing Association (ISA) World Tandem
Surfing Championship in Waikiki, Hawaii. “The Boehnes
played a huge role in bringing the sport worldwide,”
Mark says. “There were 36 teams from different countries
at this competition—compared to four or five teams at
others in the ’80s.”
For the Gales, who are members of the Doheny Longboard
Surfing Association, claiming the world title was a
great way to end the summer. “Now that the summer’s
over, we’ll be making a lot of trips to the desert to
ride dirt bikes with our kids,” says Mark. But, of course,
as Debbie reiterates, “Surfing is our number-one sport.”
When the couple talks about their life together, it’s
no wonder that they excel in a sport where they rely
heavily on one another. They finish each other’s sentences,
tell stories together with laughter and share pride
in what they’ve accomplished as husband and wife. “In
tandem surfing you get to experience the same wave and
you get to share it with someone—talk about it and say,
‘Wow, that was fun!’” says Mark. “It’s romantic.” Yes,
it’s romance, with a competitive edge.
Hot Links
www.infinitysurfboard.com
www.itsatandem.com
www.dohosurf.org
source:
http://www.sanclementetimes.com/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,print,0&cntnt01articlei...
7/10/2008
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