A few weeks ago Paula Bushardt sent me an email regarding photos of east coast surfers in a new book by Linda Chase, called Surfing, Women of the Waves. I finally followed through and ordered a copy to add to my ever growing surf library. It’s funny how sometimes I cannot put two and two together. I remember photographer/filmaker Elizabeth Pepin traveling to Wilmington – she and Sally Lundberg were showing their award winning documentary One Winter Story at the Scene First Student Film Festival. Elizabeth and Sally took some time off their hectic schedule to meet with a group of East Coast Wahines at Paula’s house on Figure 8 Island. Well these photos transpired into an entire chapter of Linda’s book!

When I opened the book, it’s coincidental how I just happened to turn to page 94 to see my name highlighted in red with a quote, talk of the East Coast Wahine Championships, and another quote from this very website. A little light bulb went off in my head and I recalled receiving an email from Linda many many months ago- she didn’t give me a lot of details, only to say she liked what was written about our contest and could I give her a quote about women’s surfing. That said, there are some great photos from that weekend (we used to have them linked up through our site, but I just checked and the link is no longer active) and talk of east coast surfers like Lisa Andersen, Mimi Munro, Frieda Zamba, Connie Arias, Christa Alves, Karina Petroni, and Jo Pickett.

I have only skimmed the rest of the book so I can’t offer a full fledged review, but I will post the synopsis from the publisher, Gibbs Smith.

“Surfing is art on waves, a form of self-expression.” —Lisa Andersen, four-time women’s world champion

As the official counterculture sport of the 1960s, surfing was not just a sport but a lifestyle, one long, sun-drenched beach party with endless waves and music, as well as an unapologetically masculine culture. This notion has since been disproved by generations of amazing female surfers who have made an indelible mark on the sport. Surfing: Women of the Waves highlights some of these extraordinary women of surfing, from Linda Benson and Joyce Hoffman in the 1950s and 1960s to Layne Beachley, Sofia Mulanovich, Bethany Hamilton, and the great Lisa Andersen, four-time women’s world champion. Today, women of all ages and skill levels have taken their place among the waves—longboarders, shortboarders, goofyfooters, hotdoggers, young girls, and surfer moms—these are the women of the waves!

Women featured include: Bethany Hamilton, Jessi Miley Dyer, Melanie Redman-Carr and Layne Beachley: Australia Sofia Mulanovich, Punta Hermosa, Peru (small town outside of Lima); won 2006 U.S. Open Lisa Andersen, Florida Megan Abubo, Hartford, Connecticut Emilia Perry and Alana Mock, Northshore, Hawaii Monyca Byrne-Wickey, Hana, Hawaii Kristen Steiner, Big Island, Hawaii Melanie Bartles, Hawaii Lisa Benson, Encinitas, California Kim Hamrock, Huntington Beach, California Jennie Useldinger, Ashley Lloyd, Jamilah Star, Savannah Shaughnessy, Katherine Carter: Santa Cruz, California

Linda Chase attended Occidental College in Los Angeles, where she obtained a degree in economics. Soon thereafter she pursued a career in publishing that included a stint as researcher, writer, and editor, and later as editorial director and publisher. Linda researched the sport while living in Malibu for five years and subsequently wrote an article in Preferred Way magazine on her surfing experience.

Elizabeth Pepin currently works as a Producer and Associate Producer at KQED-TV in San Francisco. She is one of four women in the country who specialize in shooting female surfers. She also makes independent documentaries outside of KQED and has won four Emmy Awards for her documentary film work. In addition to filmmaking, Elizabeth is also a photographer and author.

I was in the bookstore the other day and started skimming through a book called “The Toxic Sandbox.” It’s geared toward parents concerned with the chemicals and pollutants that are effecting children as early as inside the womb. I spent most of my time reading the chapter about plastics. It really has reinforced my want to get the most plastics possible out of my life. My first step was over a year ago when I purchased the reusable, collapsable bags from my local grocery store. They are well-made, hold a lot of weight and I keep a few in my car and home at all times. At my local Surfrider Foundation meeting the other night we talked about a campaign against plastics- not just bags, but bottles, take-out food containers, plastic cutlery, etc. A little lightbulb went off in my head and I realized I had managed to stop using plastic at the grocery store, but I was still guilty of accepting  bags from Target and other similar stores.                  (Image note: that’s a bag not a jellyfish! Photo from NOAA)

I am now researching all the ways I use plastic in my life and what within reason can I get rid of. Did you know your plastic shower curtain is full of pollutants, or when you nuke cling-wrap covered food in your microwave you are cooking chemicals right into your food? I’m no expert on plastics, but I am definitely concerned enough to try and find an alternative wherever possible. I would love to hear any ideas on how you have stopped using plastics. Glass jars for storing food items? A cloth sack for produce? What can we use in place of Zip-locks?

Funny that I should be blogging on plastics, as just a few minutes ago I coincidentally received this message from StopGlobalWarming.org :
New York’s City Council passed a bill requiring large stores and retail chains to collect and recycle plastic shopping bags. According to a New York Times report: “New York is by far the largest American city to enact so broad a measure to limit the environmental impact of the bags. Altogether, each year the country is estimated to use 86 billion bags, which end up blowing down city streets, or tangled in the stomachs of whales, sea turtles and birds, or buried in landfills where they enjoy free rent for 1,000 years.”

Other cities like Melbourne and San Francisco have banned bags outright. San Francisco was the first city in North America to ban non-recyclable and non-biodegradable bags made from petroleum products. Africa has moved toward a continent-wide plastic bag ban, and just last week, China’s cabinet issued a directive banning their production, prohibiting stores from handing out free plastic bags after June 1st and imposing fees on their usage. People in China use up to 3 billion plastic bags daily! Help keep the momentum going here in the United States and just say no to plastic bags!

So maybe I’m on the right track. And I’m not stopping there. I have big issues with junk mail, disposable coffee cups, and what’s happening to China. But, for now, here are a few useful links regarding plastics

http://www.checnet.org/HealtheHouse/education/articles-detail.asp?Main_ID=24 http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Plasticizers/Out-Of-Diet-PG5nov03.htm

I was in San Clemente, California over the New Year digging through some boxes in our storage closet when I came across a box filled with old photo albums. The one I lingered upon the longest was filled with photos of surfing. It began with the first annual East Coast Wahine in 1997. After getting over the shock of how young, thin, and physically fit I was then compared to now, I was able to rejoice in the memories. There were photos from Eastern Surfing Championships in 98, my first trip to California, US Champs in Hawaii, and several other East Coast Wahines. Familiar faces like Marty Mentzer, Sara and Maggie Willis, Eileen O’Connor, Barbara Corey, Kelly Kane, Erin Whittle, Katie Coryell, Patti Hook, Mimi Munro, Shannon Sommers, Colleen Hanley, Elisabeth Funderburk, Karen Allison, Paula Bushardt, and the list goes on and on of the women I’ve surfed and traveled with. The experiences I’ve shared with so many of you and the waves we have ridden together. I feel like my venture to the west coast and into the heart of the surfing industry- starting out with Surfing Girl Magazine and moving onto Surf Life for Women, all while continuing to direct the East Coast Wahine could have never have happened without all the women surfers I’ve met along the way. I felt like all the east coast girls were rallying for me, keeping me afloat in the big bad “bro” world of surfing. You all have been my inspiration and my motivation.

Just now, as I write, tears well up in my eyes. I honestly didn’t know I was going to write this, share these emotions that tug at my heartstrings and pull me back to the east coast over and over from so far away. So while I’m so open and raw I’ll just say it. It’s time to move on, to let go, to set myself free. For ten years I’ve given my heart and soul to the East Coast Wahine Championships. I don’t want to see it go. I don’t want to let it go, but I must in order to grow.

There are options for the East Coast Wahine Champs to continue. I have three ready to go in my head. But I’m going to hold them here awhile, hoping that someone is going to come along with a likewise or better idea. I’ve always felt that surfers should give back to the sport they love. The East Coast Wahine has been such a joy- quite possibly the best thing I’ve ever done with my life (aside from marrying my husband and birthing my daughter). If it is to keep on keeping on, then I’m holding the space and will gladly share all the intricacies of running the first-ever and longest running all-women’s surfing contest on the east coast. If it’s the end, so be it. Nothing is permanent.

Thank you east coast wahines, every single one.

-Anne Beasley Weber 1/6/2008