TIDAL TANGO; TANDEM SURFING REGAINS POPULARITY.

Byline: RICHARD COUCH On Board

You could say that San Clemente tandem surfers Steve and Barrie Boehne are a little bit country, while Bobby Friedman and his partner, Anna Schisler, are a little bit rock 'n' roll.

The Boehnes epitomize the classic style of tandem surfing. They profess the beauty and coordination of the sport with the wide range of lifts and maneuvers they've perfected in 30 years of surfing together.

Relative newcomers Friedman, 37, and Schisler, 26, are well-versed in the classics, but once in a while they like to turn up the volume and enter a mosh pit. They rode a 35-foot wave at Todos Santos in Mexico's Baja California, but they also did some slam dancing that day when a series of big sets caught them in the impact zone.

Whether the conditions are serene or extreme, when you see tandem surfers interlocked on their longboards as they paddle into the lineup, then sliding across the face of waves together, you can feel the love.

``Tandem surfing is like pairs figure skating - technical and graceful,'' said Steve Boehne, 51, a successful surfboard maker and one of California's most respected tandem surfers. ``In most sports, men share the experience with a guy. But when you're surfing with a girl, there's a special relationship. It's really fun.''

And that's really what tandem surfing is all about - the mood, the feeling and the companionship. With surfers like the Boehnes and Friedman and Schisler leading the way, the exotic sport is experiencing a revival as more couples discover the pleasures of surfing as one.

According to ``Surf's Up: An Anthology of Surfing,'' the fun began in 1910, when Hawaiian surf legend Duke Kahanamoku became the first modern surfer to ride a wave with a passenger on his board.

The Duke once regaled Huntington Beach's Kimberly Slaight with the story of his first surfing duet while she was a guest aboard the Duke's boat, the Naduke, off Waikiki Beach in the 1960s.

``He was telling me, `You know how I introduce tandem surf?' '' Slaight recalled. ``I said, `No.'

``He said, `We were out here surfing one day and I grabbed one of the beach boys. I put him on my shoulders and I surfed him in. And that's how tandem surf originated.' ''

The late Pete Peterson, a Santa Monica lifeguard and recognized as the nautical man of his day, saw Hawaiians tandem surfing during a trip to the islands in 1932. He learned some of the techniques, and a year later couples were tandem surfing in Southern California.

After riding big waves with his fiancee at Sunset Beach on Oahu's North Shore in 1966, Peterson passed the tandem surfing torch to the Boehnes, who are credited with keeping the sport alive during a lull in longboarding brought on by the advent of the shortboard.

Although tandem surfing was an event at the first Makaha International Surfing Championships in Hawaii in 1954, when Walter Hoffman and Joan Jones of San Juan Capistrano won first place, interest in major competition also suffered.

Until now.

The 11th annual Malibu Club Classic scheduled for Sept. 12-13 at Malibu Surfrider Beach will contribute to the renaissance with tandem surfing heats. Going for the title will be Malibu Surfing Association members Bear Woznick and Andi Broccoli of Thousand Oaks.

Woznick, 42, an accountant, and his girlfriend, Broccoli, 31, surfed tandem on their first date. They learned their aggressive style from close friends Friedman and Schisler, who will be the favorites at the inaugural Association of Surfing Professionals-sanctioned tandem competition that will be held in Australia in March 1999.

The ascent of Friedman and Schisler in the tandem surfing world is a remarkable story in itself.

Friedman, raised in Southern California, is an all-around athlete with a strong skateboarding and gymnastics background. Schisler was a scholarship student with the Chicago Ballet.

When they got together 4-1/2 years ago, they were novice surfers. But they were quick studies. After mastering the arabesque, shoulder stand, falcon and other requisite lifts, the daring couple was swept up by the allure of big surf.

They subsequently broke down tandem surfing barriers by riding 20-foot-plus waves in Tahiti, Mexico and Hawaii's Sunset Beach, Waimea Bay and Pipeline. Their newfound fame landed them professional sponsorships and guest-starring roles on an episode of ``Baywatch.''

``I like the way it makes me feel being out there,'' Schisler said. ``It's different when you surf by yourself. I like the feeling of looking up at him when we ride these beautiful waves.''

However, their harrowing experience at Todos Santos, a life or death situation when they were churned by three huge waves in a row, brought them back to earth. But one more challenge looms large: tow-in tandem surfing.

``It might never happen,'' Friedman said of the big-wave craze involving riders being towed into outer-reef monster-size waves by partners on personal watercraft. After Todos Santos, ``We know when to say when.''

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Bear Woznick lifts partner Andi Broccoli during practice at Malibu Surfrider Beach.

(2--Color) Tandem surfers Bear Woznick and Andi Broccoli paddle out for a wave at Malibu Surfrider Beach.

Michael Owen Baker/Daily News