We invite you to our fundraiser/party to kick off the summer.  Please see upcoming events on the right side of our page for details.  A short break down includes: bands, raffles, dancing and fun.  There will be a pre-party meeting at 6pm.  Please come down to “The Salty Rim” and have your voice be heard in our community.

Please visit making waves: Jessica Respondek was part of the original board that founded our chapter and has lead our campaign for years in an effort to  help restore Upham Beach. We are very proud of Jessica.  Click the link below to read about her.

Making Waves Magazine

Suncoast Surfrider Foundation

When people stop seeing the reminders that there is a problem we tend to forget.  It is when our guard is down that our coasts will be attacked.  Pinellas County is trying very hard to permanently alter St Petersburg Beach, FL (Upham).  They want rocks, whether they are proven to work or not.  People see sand on the beach in St Petersburg, but they forget about the huge sand dune that was present in the “repair” of the bags.  What they don’t see is that since this summer, the sand has almost already completely washed away from in front of the condos.  What they don’t point out is that much of the sand you see on St Pete Beach is from a number of different “repairs” that have taken place over the past few years.

The county should save the roughly 5 million it wants to spend on rocks and remove the bags that do not work as intended.  Then they should look at SAVING (something our govt seems to have problems with) the money for future re-nourishment of Upham. This process is proven to work. Why spend money on an unproven system?  We are not sure….  All that we do know is that many people have lost their culture and lifestyle, due to this unproven system.

We need your input.  We need your expertise.  You have talent that will help our coast!  Come to meetings, or be a part of an event.

NEXT MEETING MARCH 8th—- See upcoming events for details.

FREE UPHAM…

Make a difference!  Come on out and support our campaign.  You can make a difference by helping us clean the beach at a time when you can find something made of plastic every 3 steps (at least that’s what I found at the clean-up on October23rd on Treasure Island).

Mother Nature thanks you…

Typhoon Lagoon Surf Trip

DATE: Nov 12, 2011

TIME: 06:00 AM to 09:30 AM

LOCATION: Typhoon Lagoon

ADDRESS: Disney's Typhoon Lagoon Water Park, Orlando, FL 32830, Orlando, FL

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

November 12, 2011

The Suncoast Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation is holding a fundraising event at Typhoon Lagoon, Disney.  This event will be a morning surf session on Saturday, November the 12^th. The registration will be on a first come first serve basis.  Registration will start at the October 11^th Surfrider Foundation meeting at Jonny Reno’s on the pier.  Everyone is welcome to register, if you are not already a Surfrider member, your donation will include membership for a year.

Come be a part of this surfing event that will help support the Suncoast Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. We are limiting the number of surfers to 12-16 for a maximum amount of fun and plenty of waves for everyone.

• Maximum 16 surfers
• Limit: 25 people
  • Additional spectator fee over 25 persons
  • 2.5-3 hours run time
  • Water temp 75-80 degrees
  • Wave size 3.5- 5 ft.
  • Dawn Patrol Session!
  • 100 waves available
  • Participants are responsible for their own transportation.
  • No alcohol will be permitted for this Surfrider event.
  • The Wave Pool is the only part of the park we will be authorized to use.

Members: $ 165.00 each
Non-member: $190.00 each
1 year Surfrider membership included

Goal of 12 surfers
Maximum total surfers 16

*****If you are interested please call, John K (Treasurer) for more information***** (941)915-3439

Typhoon Lagoon

1. Bring 165 dollars if you are interested in purchasing a trip.

2. Must be a member to participate (if you are not, you may sign up online at Johnny Reno’s, or go through our treasurer).

3. The event will fall on Saturday November 12, 2011.

4. Limited spots for this “Fun-Raiser”

Clearwater Beach Plan

Friday Sept.23rd 9pm

This film attempts to answer the question: is surfing sport or art, and who is Jamie O’Brien? With an amazing soundtrack and footage from Indonesia, Micronesia, Japan, Fiji, Tahiti and Hawaii, Who Is J.O.B. is sure to blow your mind.

Here is the link to the video trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGBcIK_qeRo

1.Ron Henkel (Captain)- Fish, Long Board
2.Alfredo Vega- Short Board
3.Shane Webb- SUP
4.Russell Drevertson- Fish
5.Misty Wells and Post Card Inn- Sponsor
6.Dustin Smith and Sun Bum- Provided Shade and Sunscreen
7.Suncoast Surfrider Foundation- paid entry fees!

The Suncoast Surfrider Foundation competed in the state
wide surfing challenge from Cocoa Beach Surfrider Foundation
and “The Watermans Challenge”. The challenge was a friendly
surf competition between state Surfrider Chapters in a “winner
takes all” format! The big prize was a great trophy and
bragging rights for another year by the winning chapter!

In this year’s competition teams could have between four and
six people. Suncoast Surfrider competed with four of our
members! Meanwhile, Sebastian Inlet, Cocoa Beach, Central
Florida and the Miami Dade Chapter all competed with six
members. The Results were astounding as Suncoast Chapter
came in second in what was truly a close battle. Sebastian
Inlet won the event for the second year in a row, 160 points
to Suncoast’s 156! We were able to come out ahead of
Cocoa Beach, who battled hard, Central Florida (brought a
phenom), and Miami Dade (long board skills). Thanks to all that
participated and helped out with the event. Special Thanks to
Sean O’Hare and The Cocoa Beach Surf Museum.

presented by

The Cocoa Beach Chapter of Surfrider Foundation hereby challenges all other Surfrider Foundation Chapters to a team surfing competition to be held during the 11th Annual Waterman’s Challenge in the Surfing Capital of the East Coast, Cocoa Beach, Florida.

When: June 11, 2011
Where: The International Palms Resort in Cocoa Beach, FL (formerly the Holiday Inn)

The Surfrider Challenge Format:
• The Surfrider Foundation will have their own division within the Waterman’s Challenge.
• The Surfrider division will use a team format.
• Each team will consist of 4 to 6 Surfriders of any age, gender, and wave riding device.
• All ages, genders, and wave riding devices will compete in the same division.
• Chapters may enter as many teams as they wish.
• All team members must be active members of their Surfrider Chapter.
• Judging will be performed by qualified ESA competition judges.
• Surfrider competitors are encouraged to enter as many other individual divisions of the Waterman’s Challenge as they wish. Individual heats will not interfere with Surfrider heats.
• Team standings will be based on the cumulative scores of their top 4 Surfriders.
• The highest scoring team will take home the Surfrider Challenge Trophy.

If you would like to help represent the Suncoast Chapter please contact suncoast@surfrider.org