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SURF'S UP!

In print: Friday, June 6, 2008

Surfer Kyle Applefield tears into a wave while surfing off Sand Key Park during a recent winter swell.
	[Ryan Clapper / ESM]

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A mountain is predictable. A lake can be more forgiving.

But when it comes to testing Mother Nature's sporting boundaries, don't underestimate the vigor and capricious nature of the sea. One minute she'll lift you up on a wave and caress you in the palm of her hand and then, just as quickly, turn around, bend you over her knee, and spank you.

If you think that sounds too philosophical for a story about surfing, you've obviously never hung around with a true surfer. Neither had I until my friend Christian asked me to join him and his friends at Cocoa Beach one day in May.

I'd never even considered surfing before. Not many people on Florida's Gulf Coast do.

But in fact, there's a sizeable surfing community in and around Tampa Bay. The region gets good surf during cold fronts and hurricane season, and with a few lessons and the proper equipment, one can learn to ride the waves of Florida like a pro.

My question was: Could I?

Back in the day

Joe Nuzzo just turned 65, and not a day goes by that he doesn't check the surf report.

The owner of Suncoast Surf Shop on Gulf Boulevard in Treasure Island, Nuzzo helped pioneer surfing in St. Pete in the early 1960s. His recreational emporium of boards and wetsuits, which he opened in 1966, still stands as one of the state's oldest retail surfing outlets, and has more than 500 boards in stock.

But as he tells it, surfers weren't always welcome on the Gulf beaches.

"Believe it or not, surfing was illegal on St. Pete beach when I arrived here," Nuzzo said. "The cops used to wait for us on the beach with their bull horns and rifles. It's because we were different and we had long hair."

The law is a bit more understanding these days, but the surfing community still faces some hurdles. Most Gulf Coast contests have to be held on Venice Beach in Sarasota County because Pinellas County requires a 30-day notice for such an event — which surfers think is crazy, because you usually can't predict good waves three days out, let alone a month.

Still, anyone who says it's impossible for a Florida boy to hone his skills in the surf of the Sunshine State never heard of Cory and Shea Lopez. The brothers were getting their feet wet on Indian Rocks Beach from the time they were in diapers. Today, both brothers are championship-caliber mainstays on surfing's World Championship Tournament tour.

"Florida is an amazing place to learn how to surf," said Cory, 31, who's been ranked among the world's Top 10. "With the warm water and good waves we get on the East Coast, it's perfect to learn the basic skills here, and then eventually you can travel and grow into bigger waves."

The right equipment

The great thing about surfing?

Essentially, all you need is a board and the water.

An entry-level surfboard, made from polyurethane foam or resin, goes for about $200. On the high end, a board with a label like Lost, Quicksilver or Billabong will cost upward of $1,000, but experts say you can get a good board for $500. (Longer paddleboards can be a bit more expensive, averaging about $1,500.)

You'll also need a leash (a rubber cord that attaches to the rider's ankle and prevents the board from being swept away; most cost $17 to $25) and some wax (rubbed on the board for traction and to prevent the feet from sliding; typically a buck or two). Down the road, a wetsuit ($99 to $400) for cold-water days and a car rack ($80 to $200) to transport your board might make good investments.

How do you learn?

Greg Agerskov, owner of the Surf Shack in St. Pete Beach, was a semi-pro surfer in his 20s and now has two sons, Gregory, 16, and Christian, 11, who compete in the Eastern Surfing Association, the largest amateur surfing association in the world.

Agerskov charges $40 an hour for lessons, and guarantees that by the end of the lesson, he'll have you standing. After learning a bit about surfing safety, Agerskov will teach you to paddle, then how to read a set of waves and jump on one.

Experts recommend learning on a stand-up paddle board, which is basically an oversized surfboard that you stand on with a long plastic oar to help you balance and paddle onto a wave. Since the Gulf Coast isn't known for having big swells, this technique is be better suited for novices.

How long does it take until you're actually riding a wave? Good question. The learning curve varies; it can take anywhere from a couple of days to several months. "Getting down the line" — surfer slang for riding a wave from start to finish and knowing how to maneuver it — probably takes about a year.

But as Cory Lopez says: "That's the biggest draw of the sport for so many of us. You never really get to the point where you peak or master the sport. It's that feeling of always being able to ride a wave better, that uncertainty of what's coming and constantly trying to improve."

Where the waves are

Passionate surfers don't wait for the waves to come to them. "Have board, will travel," is the predominant mindset amongst the faithful. To become fully proficient, you'll need to make a pilgrimage or two to Cocoa Beach, Melbourne or Fort Pierce.

That's not to say St. Pete doesn't get good surf.

"When people ask me if there are waves here, I laugh," Agerskov says, pointing to a mural of snapshots behind his register that show surfers in pipelines on St. Pete Beach. "I got tired of answering that question, so I put the photos up and point to them."

Agerskov says the Gulf Coast gets anywhere from 60 to 100 good surf days a year, though he admits beaches on the other side of Florida can get a couple hundred. Beaches on the other side of the state, such as Cocoa Beach and the Sebastian Inlet, are more likely to have bigger swells with tame, consistent waves.

Ryan Clapper, a graduate of Brandon High School, and his buddy Dan Putnam are the driving forces behind Eastern Surf Magazine, based in Indialantic. Clapper says the Gulf Coast surfing is good during cold fronts and hurricane season. Places like Treasure Island, Sand Key Park, Anna Maria Island and the Venice jetties are your best bets.

Clapper recommends the surfing site Gulfster.com, which features an online surf report that's updated every morning. And if you're a student at the University of South Florida, check out the USF Surf Club (ctr.usf.edu/surfclub).

Patience, patience, patience

On my first surfing expedition to Cocoa Beach, my surfing sherpa, Christian, and his boys pulled up in pickup trucks and looked like a construction crew. I was expecting a Volkswagen van and long-haired skinny dudes who spoke like Keanu Reeves.

Lesson No. 1, they said, is humility. Simply paddling out to a set of waves is 99 percent of surfing, and it didn't take long to figure out what that meant. Lying facedown on a board that looked more like a coffee table (which is supposed to be easier for beginners), the waves pounded me relentlessly. Moving my arms as fast as I could, a giant wave would come along, smack me in the face and, within seconds, take me right back to where I began.

For a guy who went around an entire lake his first time on water skis and who was doing black diamonds his first time on snow skis, surfing was a humbling experience. At times, it was a lesson in futility. Before long, I found myself alone in the water, completely exhausted, and having to talk myself into giving it another go.

In four hours, I may have gotten to my knees three times and stood up once, for a half a second, just long enough to rub the saltwater out of my eyes before face-planting again.

But the people who surf regularly will tell you, it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. And it's definitely a journey I'd like to take again.

Only next time, I'll know what to expect.