The Surf Event We Planned Our Entire Route Around

Four years ago my husband went surfing for the first time and to see he was immediately hooked is an understatement. The boys of course wanted to learn the new cool hobby that Daddy loves and, at ages 4 and 6, jumped right in.  A few months later we bought a camper van for more comfortable surf camping trips to the (cold, damp, windy) Washington and Oregon coasts. A year after that we spent a month in said camper van which became our gateway adventure to living in an RV full time. And now we get to spend about half of our year close to the beach and close to surfing. The boys love it and are quite good, they’re strong and light, a great combination for a sport that, while called surfing, is about 90% paddling. When we learned about the Otter Rock & Roll, a family surf event in Newport, OR that is held each June, we planned our spring and summer route around being in Newport for the event. 

Yesterday was the big day. We weren’t sure what to expect. We have watched adult surf competitions before but we have never attended a kids’ surf contest and certainly had never been part of one. We arrived at Otter Rock, one of our very favorite beaches in the world, at 8 am on a classic Oregon coast morning: cool and foggy. The boys were extremely excited and a little nervous. My husband and I were probably more nervous but keeping cool in front of the kids. We weren’t stressed about them taking home a medal: we worried that if they were unable to catch a wave during their fifteen minute heats that they may walk away disappointed, discouraged, and jaded. We were worried that if it went really poorly they may be turned off of surfing.  As a family who prioritizes a casual approach to family action sports, this would be the first time our children were ever competing in any kind of sport. 

Yet none of us were there for the competition element. We were there for the community. Living on the road lacks having one, regular community, and being part of this surf event felt like a cool way to be part of the Oregon coast surf community. We even signed up to volunteer with the clean up crew the day after the event, wanting to contribute and be part of this huge community effort. 

The kids got their wetsuits on, we grabbed boards, a beach bag full of snacks and walked down the steep stairs to Otter Rock. The sky was grey and overcast. The waves were bigger than we had ever seen them. We love Otter Rock because its protected cove usually makes it a calm and easy place for the kids to surf. That is not what it looked like on this particular morning. There were lots of families all over the beach getting ready to surf and the kids were stoked to be part of such an event. 

Our youngest was in the child with parent event, the most popular age group of the competition. Parents go out into the surf with their child to help them get out into the waves, push them into waves and be there to support them. Normally our son is fine surfing the white water waves all on his own but with the big waves and rough surf that morning, we were all feeling extra grateful that he would be out there with his dad. Each age group had two heats: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. A heat is a 15 minute period where the kids try to catch as many waves as they can and the best waves that they can. They are judged on their best two waves. My husband and I secretly just hoped they would catch a wave. We knew they were good surfers but a 15 minute window is not a lot of time in tough conditions. 

Our youngest headed out with his dad, absolutely thrilled to be surfing in his first ever surf event. His brother and I watched from shore. He caught a wave almost immediately. Then another. And another. He did a front flip off the end of his surfboard after riding the wave, a move he has been practicing for this very moment. I caught it all on video and could not have been more proud. I watched the young surfers and especially admired all the parents out there with their kids, pulling them back out in rough surf, pushing them into waves they had the best chance of riding, holding their ground in the strong current. They were working even harder than the kids.

As soon as his brother was out of the water, it was our oldest’s turn to grab his colored jersey and get ready to paddle out. He just turned 10 and competed in the 12 and under boys age group, a group with mostly 11 and 12 year olds. As he paddled out with the other kids I wondered if there was an adult who was ready to dive in and go rescue them if the surf got too rough or one of the kids got pulled into a rip. I reassured myself that there were plenty of adult spectators in wetsuits, most of them strong surfers themselves. Now that we had just watched his brother successfully catch about a dozen waves in just 15 minutes, the stakes felt even higher. Again, I just hoped he would catch a wave. The paddle out was rough. Most of the kids got caught inside and couldn’t make it out to the break. But that didn’t matter. He caught a wave. And another. And another. As he came back to shore, his brother ran out to greet him with a high five. They had both done it!

We had the next few hours to eat and relax before the next heat. The kids were glowing with pride, joy and a love of surfing. The fog started to burn off and the sun came out. Everyone got a slice of pizza delivered right to the beach. The surf event organized a beach clean up in between surf sessions: motivating young environmentalists with a competition for who could find the biggest piece of trash and pick up the most trash. We were horrified by the amount of broken plastic that hid beneath piles of driftwood at the edges of the beach and glad to be part of an event that valued protecting our beaches and keeping them clean. We vowed to do more beach cleanups on a regular basis. 

It was time for the afternoon heats. It felt like a completely different day than the morning. The sun had come out and everyone peeled of the jackets and sweatshirts they had arrived in. The waves had calmed down and looked much more manageable. The kids were ready for their second chance. 

Our oldest lined up alongside his competitors, turned to wave to us and headed into the ocean, determined and excited. My husband and I teared up, wondering how our baby could possibly be old enough to be in a surf competition and out in the ocean all on his own. He caught a wave almost immediately, riding the wave for an amazingly long time. We beamed at each other from shore. Riding the wave so far in meant a tough battle trying to get back out, and we could tell that all the kids were tired from their first heat. He caught a few more waves and was more than ready for his heat to be done. He worked hard and was completely exhausted. 

The kids were done surfing and we still had about an hour and a half until the awards ceremony at the end of the competition. They ate some snacks and changed out of wetsuits. We discovered that their swag bags contained gift certificates for free ice cream cones at the little ice cream shop by the parking lot. We hardly ever go out for ice cream cones— it’s so much more expensive than just eating ice cream at home— so this was a special treat. We decided to pack up the rest of our beach gear and take it back to the truck before getting ice cream and then coming back down for the award ceremony at the end. We were so grateful we did this because by the end of the competition we had been at the beach for eight hours and were  completely exhausted. 

The sun was blazing and the sky bright blue, a total 180 from the morning weather. The boys licked ice cream cones while watching the end of the surf competition from the bluff above the beach and we made our way back down for the awards. This being our first competition, we weren’t sure what to expect of the awards ceremony and were pleasantly surprised. All the participants for each age group were asked to come up and given a round of applause. The top three in each age group received a medal and were individually recognized. Every single young surfer received a gift card from a local surf shop. After the awards, names were drawn for the kids to pick a prize from an impressive display of surfing accessories. There were surfboards, boogie boards, shirts, wetsuits, hats, and surf leashes. Every name was called and everyone got to pick something out. 

On the drive home, we reflected on the day. The kids were proud of themselves for competing in tough conditions. Our oldest lit up talking about the local businesses that had sponsored the event, pointing out how many people had come together to make it happen for the kids. It's the kind of thing that's hard to explain to people who ask whether we miss having a home base. Moments like this remind us that community isn't a place. You don’t have to live somewhere year round to find out you belong there, at least a little bit. We'll be back next June.