I was absolutely giggly when I watched Tropical Storm Alex moving its way across the Atlantic. I was bummed when it dissipated, but no worries because we still had chest high swells! The Thursday before the contest Karen and I were surfing chest high, slightly disorganized waves at Crystal Pier saying to one another," Oh yeah, we can hold a contest in this, oh yeah, this is going to be fun."

When we woke up Friday morning there was fear and disappointment in my eyes. Karen and Paula set me straight saying,"It's okay Anne, the little girls might have had trouble with those waves yesterday, they can ride these just fine."

By Friday evening, Crystal Pier was crowded with surfer girls. As I surfed with my girlfriends and met girls who had traveled in for the contest, I felt warmth in my heart. I couldn't believe the weekend was actually here. We'd been planning for months, and I was amazed that we pulled it off.

I laughed at all the guys in the water; they just didn't know what to think. They seemed a bit embarrassed, staring at all the girls, trying to decide if they should surf with us, or just get away. It's nice to out number the guys for a change.

My friend Katie had just returned from a three-month trip to Australia, Indonesia, and Hawaii. She brought back some leaves from Hawaii and told us that locals make wishes by wrapping an object in the leaves and placing them behind a waterfall or under a sacred tree. We decided to make an offering to the sea gods, asking for blessings from Rell Sunn, to bring us surf for our contest this weekend.

Surfer girls from all over joined us on the beach. We passed each leaf around the circle, everyone asking their silent wish or blessing. We placed them in the landscaped garden on the hotel lawn where many of the girls were staying.

And we were truly blessed. The waves were there for us, the entire weekend. The best spot on the beach was right in front of the contest area. We surfed, we laughed, and we got to know one another. We drank lots and lots of water.

So many girls were there to help set up each morning and break down in the afternoon. Everyone was so generous and wanted to pitch in. I was truly grateful to have so many helping hands.

The banquet on Saturday night was a success. Photographer, Donald Stone, presented a slide show of last years contest. We ate dinner, and hooted for our friends. I had tears in my eyes when pictures of Tammy popped up. We would never be here if it hadn't been for her. Thanks Tammy, you rule!!

After dinnner we had a Rusty fashion show and then we did all the chit chat thanking all the awesome people who supported us, worked for us, gave us money, donated prizes, etc. We had give-aways, so much stuff I just started throwing it into the audience! Everyone loved it! And then Bill Bolduc, who works in the communications department at UNCW presented a seven minute video with music, (a sampling of the documentary he made of us last year). It was amazing, absolutley professional, just like a good surfing video. At the end, it said "For Evan" which touched those of us who lost one beautiful surfer girl to suicide two years ago.

I hope each and every one of you had a memorable experience at the Wahine. I invite you to share your experience. Let me know what you thought, what you liked, what you didn't like. This contest is for you, for us, East Coast surfer girls. Send me an e-mail, or post it on the chat room. Send me your photo; tell me about yourself, where you live, what the surf is like. I'll put it on this site, that' what it's here for.