Montauk Pioneer - August 8, 2008

As the skies grew cloudy over Ditch Plains last Saturday morning, hundreds of surfers sat in the dunes, waiting for waves. Surfboards of all colors and sizes were lined up along the sand, as men and women from all over Long Island were waiting to see if the scheduled surfing contest, sponsored by Espo Sports, was going to start.

It wasn't just the huge black rain clouds descending over the water that determined the fate of this contest, but the fact that the waves were "just too small," according to Charles Rogovitz, head judge of the Eastern Surfing Association.

"It looks like we'll have to cancel this contest, because we need bigger waves to make it happen," he said. "In the last five years, we've only cancelled this contest once, so this is the second time."

He said the night before, the entrants had up until midnight to call a number and see if the contest was on. And up until midnight, the conditions looked good.

"The problem was, that we had a high tide at 10 a.m. this morning, which held the waves off, and they weren't good enough for a competition," said Rogovitz, a 46-year surfer of Babylon. "You gotta give the competitors a fair chance of having decent waves."

He said the waves on Saturday were only about one-foot high, and they needed to be about two feet high for a contest to happen.

"But lots of people, including myself, were out there anyway today on our boards, and although it's slow moving, we still had fun surfing here," he said.

His friend, Ed Fawess, another 46-year surfer of Babylon, who also has the distinction of being in the Surfing Hall of Fame in Florida, was drying off near him on the beach, after taking a spin on his short board.

"I came out here to enter this contest, but you never know what's going to happen, and it's still a fun summer day in Montauk," he said. "I've entered and won many contests here at Ditch Plains over the years. I always make the finals." He said he got his interest in surfing from his mother, who always took him to the beach, and it was when he first saw the surfers at Gilgo Beach in 1964, at the age of 12, that he got psyched to try this sport.

"I walked up to the water, and saw all these beautiful boards, and I was hooked," said Fawess. His girlfriend, Kim Romagnesi, of Islip Terrace, walked out of the water with her board, and joined Ed on the beach. "The waves are small, but fun," she said. "It's so crowded with all these people who now have nothing to do, so we're all surfing-it's insane." Romagnesi, a former gymnast, has been surfing for eight years, and said she just "saw it and liked it."

Fawess said that when Ditch Plains is good, it's really good. "When there's a good swell here, it's world class surfing," he said. "Maybe it's not the extreme size or consistency of the West Coast or Hawaii, but when it gets good, it's as good as any place in the world."

A local surfer who calls himself "Hawaiian Ed" was standing around chatting with his friends, and also waiting for the waves to whip up. "I love to surf here in the summer, and I plan to go back to Hawaii this winter, where I plan to manage a new "Margaritaville" bar owned by Jimmy Buffett," he said.

Two brothers, Cameron and Mike Gliganic, of Centereach, were carrying their boards down to the water for a try at the small waves. "We're always out here surfing, and we came here to enter, and to try and place in the men's age 18-24 division," said Cameron. "The surf is small and choppy, but we're going to make the best of it."

At Ditch Plains, lots of people were also trying the new craze of standup paddleboard, where they stand on their surfboard and use a long paddle to push them along.

"This looks easy, but it's a lot of work, and it's easier for an experienced surfer to do than someone who is learning for the first time," said Ed Fawess.

As the day grew later and the skies grew darker, with a huge black rain cloud overhead, many people started to leave the beach. Lilly Adams, owner of the Ditch Witch hot dog stand, looked out her window and said, "The rain is coming!"

One young woman, Mareva Valayer, 16, of Dix Hills, said she was disappointed to miss this contest. "I got up at 4:30 a.m., and drove out here by 7:00 a.m.," she said. "The water was glassy and the weather was fine-it looked like it would be a good contest, and then it just didn't happen," she said. "At least they managed to have a small contest for the little kids this morning. The waves were big enough for them."

The surfing contest is rescheduled at Ditch Plains for August 23, so pray for waves!!