Visitors and locals alike enjoy
the waves of West-port, and a lucky few actually get up on their
boards, like Devin Brewer (above).
Check out the website at http://westportwa.com/
Westport Wipeout
The Westport waves offer
visitors an 'addicting' pastime
By Andrea Abney
Vidette Reporter
This article first appeared in 2002
Coming from Eastern Washington, the only image I had of surfers
came from beach flicks and The Brady Bunch in Hawaii. Surfers
spent countless hours in the ocean, yelling "Cowabunga"
and looking much like Greg Brady with outstretched arms, easily
gliding on the large waves.
So, when I decided to try surfing at Westport, I figured it'd
be easy. I'd wipe out a few times, get back up and be riding
like a pro in no time. I was wrong.
Westport is considered by many to be the surfing capital of
Washington. With average water temperatures between 40 and 60
degrees, a cold-weather wetsuit is essential.
Rob Brown, an avid surfer and custom surfboard builder, estimates
hundreds surf at Westport, most coming in the summer months.
"On a busy week, there can be as many as 250 cars with surfboards
on them," he said. "About one-third come from Vancouver,
Canada, and two-thirds from Washington and Oregon."
Brown added that most surfers are skaters and snowboarders who
come to enjoy the waves in the summer.
For the beginning surfer, summer is the best time of year, Brown
said, with "small waves, sun, high pressure and no wind."
Cinco de Mayo was the first time I tried to surf. On a whim,
I entered the Surf Shop, rented a board and wetsuit, and slapped
my Mastercard on the counter. It was a calm, warm day, and the
allure of the waves was too much to bear.
After zipping the wetsuit, looking - and smelling - like the
missing section of an inner tube, I took to the waves.
Two minutes in, I met my first large wave and, seconds later,
the ocean floor. Ten minutes in, I took my first board shot to
the face.
Brown has surfed at Westport since 1992, coming to Washington
from Maui. He opened the Boarding Factory in 1997 and, after
surfing 39 years, still tries to get out at least eight hours
per week.
"Once you're hooked, you'll never quit," he said.
While Brown said the waves may not be the best he's seen, or
the weather the nicest, he did admit it was the most consistent
spot he's surfed in his life.
"There's always something to ride at Westport," he
said. "It might be rainy or windy, but with a wetsuit on,
who cares?"
Even the windy days attract surfers. Evergreen State College
students Scott Shadler, Devin Brewer and Sean Egan often brave
the elements in search of the perfect wave.
"The waves are like a flow of energy," 22-year-old
Shadler said. "If you get on it, you're stoked, pretty much."
Brewer, 25, began surfing in Australia two years ago and decided
to keep it up at Westport.
"It's fun to be out," he said. "It's pretty intense.
You can't call time-out and come back."
While an animosity by locals toward visiting surfers is timeless,
Brown said Westport isn't nearly as bad as more popular places,
like California or Hawaii.
"Westport has only a few old grumpy men and a couple young
kids that are good surfers and demand respect," he said.
Brown advises any first-time surfer to deviate from my example
and take a lesson, either from him or any of the other shops
in town.
"A lot (of surfers) come out here and it's totally Greek
to them," he said. "Take a lesson with some basic fundamental
tips and showing things on the beach. It can be a dangerous sport
for the unknowing."
"It's the hardest sport in the world to learn," he
said, "but it'll keep you young. Once you're hooked, you'll
never quit."
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