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Ryan Turner, 37, right, and his brother Timmy, 35, of Huntington Beach, are both well-known in the surfing community. They'll be honored for their achievements during the U.S. Open.
By LAYLAN CONNELLY | lconnelly@scng.com | Orange County Register
Which brother is the better tube rider?
Timmy Turner quickly points to his older brother, Ryan, sitting next to him on the sand at Huntington State Beach on a recent day.
“He is,” the younger Turner, 35, quickly answers.
Ryan, 37, is quick to debate that claim.
“He charges hard. I’ve always said it’s because he can’t see well, he’s blind,” Ryan quipped, dishing out a typical sibling dig at his younger brother.
The Turners are icons when it comes to the Huntington Beach surf scene. They grew up “pier rats,” as Ryan says, charging hard on either side of the iconic Huntington pier. They’ve served up hungry surfers for decades, since they were just salty groms, and continue to do every job from dishwasher to cook at their family-run Sugar Shack on Main Street.
Both are stand-out surfers who will be honored during the U.S. Open of Surfing: Ryan at the Surfers’ Hall of Fame in front of Huntington Surf & Sport on July 29, and Timmy at the Surfing Walk of Fame a day earlier at Jack’s Surfboards.
While Timmy grew up the shy one, it’s Ryan who now likes to be behind-the-scenes. Both grew up stand-out surfers who captained the Huntington Beach High School surf team. Both have a deep passion for Indonesia and barrel rides. Timmy is the award-winning filmmaker, while Ryan led the way as one of the first “freesurfers,” with sponsorships that allowed him to travel without competing.
Timmy is the one who battled a staph-infection that ate away at his brain and parts of his skull, and went into a coma as the community rallied around him. Ryan is the one who had to hear that his baby brother might not make it out alive.
Growing up in Surf City,
The boys’ father, Tim, worked a graveyard shift keeping the beach clean for the city, while mom Michele would load the boys up at 4 a.m. to trek down to the Sugar Shack on Main Street.
The brothers, and older sister Holly, would sleep in the family car in the alley behind the eatery, a popular place then, and still, for starving surfers. When the sun rose, they’d wake up to help set tables or wash dishes. Then, the brothers would hit the beach.
Ryan was the first to learn to surf. He was about 6 or 7 when family friend Mike Downey would take the boys down to Huntington Cliffs. The younger Timmy would ride a bodyboard, until he got a surfboard of his own.
One of Ryan’s first memories surfing was a tube ride he got when he was 11.
“That’s when I got hooked,” he said.
Ryan joined the Huntington Beach High surf team as a freshmen in 1995, and by the time he graduated in 1998, he was captain. A year later, Timmy was captain.
Their coach, Andy Verdone, calls them Huntington’s first family of surfing.
“They absolutely embody the spirit of surfing in Huntington Beach,” Verdone said.
Verdone said Ryan was better in heats, and has more titles under his belt. It was under his leadership that the team won the coveted National Scholastic Surfing Association team title, in 1998, an award that had eluded them since, until this year.
Timmy was a stand-out surfer, but his focus was on filmmaking. He always had a camera on him, the first a big clunker from his grandfather that he’d have to perch on his shoulder while filming.
The hard part was shooting from shore when the waves were firing.
While still in high school, the duo fell in love with Indonesia. It was before the days of the internet, YouTube or GoPros. The brothers laugh at how they’d have to find a payphone and calling card to reach their parents to let them know they safely arrived across the world.
Timmy’s filmmaking skills earned him awards for his movie “Second Thoughts,” based on their travels to Indonesia.
Sibling bond and rivalry
After doing a daily swim in the rain around the pier in 2005 to rehab a broken ankle, Timmy developed a sinus and ear infection that turned into a staph in his skull.
He fell into a week-long coma, waking in the hospital with stitches in his head and no memory of anything that had happened for several weeks. The surf community came together to hold fundraisers to help with hospital bills and wore bracelets that read “Pray for Timmy.”
It was a long journey to heal, with six brain surgeries. Turner had to re-learn to walk and for months wore a helmet to protect the area where his head had no bone. He still has to wear a helmet when he charges big waves.
Ryan remembers those days, pacing the hospital waiting room, awaiting word on whether his brother would live, his prognosis going from no hope, to he might be a vegetable.
“It was hard. I was angry,” Ryan said. “It was tough.”
Ryan looks over at his brother, who is deep in thought as he stares out into the ocean.
“But look how lucky we are, look at him,” Ryan said. “He’s better than ever.”
When asked if their close relationship helped with advancing their surfing, they both said they aren’t competitive with each other, but stoked when the other one scores a good ride.
Verdone thinks the underlying sibling rivalry has everything to do with their greatness.
“They’d fight like cats and dogs. There’s a lot of great athletes who have a big brother. Ryan has always been the big brother protecting the little brother, either on the water or on land,” said Verdone. “Timmy was always trying to keep up with Ryan and he is so tough because of it.”
Names in stone
These days, the duo don’t get to surf together as much as they used to. Ryan has three children, Timmy has five. They have to coordinate their schedules so one brother covers shifts at the Sugar Shack if a swell is headed to Huntington, or one wants to take a month or two off to go to Indonesia.
Both said they are grateful for the honors they’ll be getting next week, though Ryan said he’s nervous about speaking and struggling to come up with something to write next to his hand and feet imprints.
Timmy is stoked he’ll be joining his mom Michele’s name in granite on the Walk of Fame.
And no one is more proud of the brothers than their mom. She said while Huntington has grown through the years, the bigger it gets, the smaller it feels – especially when thinking of all the people, from police officers who kept an eye on the brothers to older surfers who helped them develop their surfing skills. “We’re blessed,” she said.
Contact the writer: lconnelly@ocregister.com
By LAYLAN CONNELLY | lconnelly@scng.com | Orange County Register
Which brother is the better tube rider?
Timmy Turner quickly points to his older brother, Ryan, sitting next to him on the sand at Huntington State Beach on a recent day.
“He is,” the younger Turner, 35, quickly answers.
Ryan, 37, is quick to debate that claim.
“He charges hard. I’ve always said it’s because he can’t see well, he’s blind,” Ryan quipped, dishing out a typical sibling dig at his younger brother.
The Turners are icons when it comes to the Huntington Beach surf scene. They grew up “pier rats,” as Ryan says, charging hard on either side of the iconic Huntington pier. They’ve served up hungry surfers for decades, since they were just salty groms, and continue to do every job from dishwasher to cook at their family-run Sugar Shack on Main Street.
Both are stand-out surfers who will be honored during the U.S. Open of Surfing: Ryan at the Surfers’ Hall of Fame in front of Huntington Surf & Sport on July 29, and Timmy at the Surfing Walk of Fame a day earlier at Jack’s Surfboards.
While Timmy grew up the shy one, it’s Ryan who now likes to be behind-the-scenes. Both grew up stand-out surfers who captained the Huntington Beach High School surf team. Both have a deep passion for Indonesia and barrel rides. Timmy is the award-winning filmmaker, while Ryan led the way as one of the first “freesurfers,” with sponsorships that allowed him to travel without competing.
Timmy is the one who battled a staph-infection that ate away at his brain and parts of his skull, and went into a coma as the community rallied around him. Ryan is the one who had to hear that his baby brother might not make it out alive.
Growing up in Surf City,
The boys’ father, Tim, worked a graveyard shift keeping the beach clean for the city, while mom Michele would load the boys up at 4 a.m. to trek down to the Sugar Shack on Main Street.
The brothers, and older sister Holly, would sleep in the family car in the alley behind the eatery, a popular place then, and still, for starving surfers. When the sun rose, they’d wake up to help set tables or wash dishes. Then, the brothers would hit the beach.
Ryan was the first to learn to surf. He was about 6 or 7 when family friend Mike Downey would take the boys down to Huntington Cliffs. The younger Timmy would ride a bodyboard, until he got a surfboard of his own.
One of Ryan’s first memories surfing was a tube ride he got when he was 11.
“That’s when I got hooked,” he said.
Ryan joined the Huntington Beach High surf team as a freshmen in 1995, and by the time he graduated in 1998, he was captain. A year later, Timmy was captain.
Their coach, Andy Verdone, calls them Huntington’s first family of surfing.
“They absolutely embody the spirit of surfing in Huntington Beach,” Verdone said.
Verdone said Ryan was better in heats, and has more titles under his belt. It was under his leadership that the team won the coveted National Scholastic Surfing Association team title, in 1998, an award that had eluded them since, until this year.
Timmy was a stand-out surfer, but his focus was on filmmaking. He always had a camera on him, the first a big clunker from his grandfather that he’d have to perch on his shoulder while filming.
The hard part was shooting from shore when the waves were firing.
While still in high school, the duo fell in love with Indonesia. It was before the days of the internet, YouTube or GoPros. The brothers laugh at how they’d have to find a payphone and calling card to reach their parents to let them know they safely arrived across the world.
Timmy’s filmmaking skills earned him awards for his movie “Second Thoughts,” based on their travels to Indonesia.
Sibling bond and rivalry
After doing a daily swim in the rain around the pier in 2005 to rehab a broken ankle, Timmy developed a sinus and ear infection that turned into a staph in his skull.
He fell into a week-long coma, waking in the hospital with stitches in his head and no memory of anything that had happened for several weeks. The surf community came together to hold fundraisers to help with hospital bills and wore bracelets that read “Pray for Timmy.”
It was a long journey to heal, with six brain surgeries. Turner had to re-learn to walk and for months wore a helmet to protect the area where his head had no bone. He still has to wear a helmet when he charges big waves.
Ryan remembers those days, pacing the hospital waiting room, awaiting word on whether his brother would live, his prognosis going from no hope, to he might be a vegetable.
“It was hard. I was angry,” Ryan said. “It was tough.”
Ryan looks over at his brother, who is deep in thought as he stares out into the ocean.
“But look how lucky we are, look at him,” Ryan said. “He’s better than ever.”
When asked if their close relationship helped with advancing their surfing, they both said they aren’t competitive with each other, but stoked when the other one scores a good ride.
Verdone thinks the underlying sibling rivalry has everything to do with their greatness.
“They’d fight like cats and dogs. There’s a lot of great athletes who have a big brother. Ryan has always been the big brother protecting the little brother, either on the water or on land,” said Verdone. “Timmy was always trying to keep up with Ryan and he is so tough because of it.”
Names in stone
These days, the duo don’t get to surf together as much as they used to. Ryan has three children, Timmy has five. They have to coordinate their schedules so one brother covers shifts at the Sugar Shack if a swell is headed to Huntington, or one wants to take a month or two off to go to Indonesia.
Both said they are grateful for the honors they’ll be getting next week, though Ryan said he’s nervous about speaking and struggling to come up with something to write next to his hand and feet imprints.
Timmy is stoked he’ll be joining his mom Michele’s name in granite on the Walk of Fame.
And no one is more proud of the brothers than their mom. She said while Huntington has grown through the years, the bigger it gets, the smaller it feels – especially when thinking of all the people, from police officers who kept an eye on the brothers to older surfers who helped them develop their surfing skills. “We’re blessed,” she said.
Contact the writer: lconnelly@ocregister.com