Easter Surf Fest success comes in waves
COCOA BEACH – In spite of storms, blustery winds, rip currents and gloomy skies this weekend, organizers of the 50th annual Easter Surf Fest said waves were better than expected for their 200-plus competitors.
"We have been fortunate to have waves all three days of the event," Dick Catri, co-organizer and an East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame inductee, said Sunday afternoon during a break atop the announcers' stand by the Cocoa Beach Pier.
"The first day, it was big and gnarly out of the northeast. But we got through that with the rain and the storms. Saturday, we had very, very good, clean waves with the offshore wind. I'd say chest- to head-high," Catri said.
Contest officials worried that Sunday's surf would be a dud, but Catri described the waist-high waves as "very, very contestable."
By 3 p.m., the sun was peeking through holes in the gray cloud cover while a biplane flew overhead. Surfers in black wetsuits awaited sets along the south side of the pier with a cruise ship on the horizon, and hundreds of spectators lined the beach and pier railings.
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Spectator fashions ranged from warm-blooded kids wearing bikinis and boardshorts to hunched-over, huddled-up adults bundled in winter-weather attire.
A variety of vendors sold sunglasses, jewelry, beach clothing and nautical artwork, among other colorful items. Foods included wok-fried soba noodles, chicken kabobs and frappuccinos.
Catri said forecasts of lousy weather reduced the typical "Orlando flow" of Central Florida surfing spectators. He said the festival's online live video feed drew viewers from more than 50 countries, "including Russia — who love seeing these girls in bikinis."
Saturday morning, a 51-year-old Tennessee man died after he was pulled unconscious from rough surf off the beach end of Young Avenue, two blocks north of the pier.
The National Weather Service issued a high-risk, rip-current warning Sunday for Brevard County beaches. However, citing cool temperatures and overcast skies that deterred swimmers, Brevard County Ocean Rescue Assistant Chief Eisen Witcher said lifeguards did not make any rescues.
Lifeguards rescued 13 swimmers Saturday, Witcher said.
