"Surfing is like sex," says a sly Michele Fleury, one of the six stars of Logo's new dykes-on-boards reality series, Curl Girls. "Everyone thinks they look really good doing it--but they usually don't."
Reality shows about lesbian surfers, on the other hand, are for fans of sex--or at least fans of sex among flat-abbed, well-tanned women who also can grab a rail, hang 10, or shoot a curl. Originally an hour-long documentary in 2005, Curl Girls got such a positive response from the lesbian audience that Logo morphed it into a six-episode "docu-soap" that's part Work Out, part L Word at the shore.
The six "girls" bring varying levels of surfing expertise to El Porto beach in the L.A. suburb of Manhattan Beach, Calif. There are old-timers like 32-year-old Michele--who's been surfing since age 16--as well as surfing newcomer Gingi, 25, who doesn't catch her first wave until episode three.
Also on hand in their bikinis and wet suits are serious surfer Erin, 30, an attorney; clothing designer Vanessa, 33, the self-described "comic relief," who attended this year's Dinah Shore White Party in a banana suit; the tall, modelesque Jessica, 24, a human resources exec who had to relearn surfing skills after a serious car accident; and the tough-but-vulnerable Melissa, 30, an online advertising sales rep and extreme-sports enthusiast who's even happier on a snowboard.
Jessica and Melissa provide the requisite dyke drama for the season, alternately breaking up and having second thoughts. "Every time we filmed," Melissa points out, "we were either fighting or crying or making out."
Most of the cast members, however, are in relationships with non-Curl girls, including Erin and no-nonsense Michele. "Even if I was single, I wouldn't be in the dramas," says Michele, who was once The Advocate's photo editor. "I'd rather go surfing."
The show opens a bit cagily without really explaining how these particular women ended up surfing together. After a while, though, it doesn't matter. You begin to plunge with them into the water and their adventures (surf contests, fashion shows, dressing in drag).
The question is, Why surfing? Would softball or golf have been too obvious? "Based on anecdotal information, there are a lot of gay women who love to surf," says Logo's senior vice president and general manager Lisa Sherman.
The jury's out as to whether the show will encourage a new generation of gay Gidgets. "I think it's going to at least inspire some people to try [surfing]," says Vanessa. But Erin hopes that isn't true: "There are so many surfers already!"
