RITA’S DIGEST
by
Kevin Welsh/SurfNRG.com Less than one month after Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc upon the Central Gulf Coast states another bitch of a storm followed in her wake. Her name was Rita and she came in through the doorway between Cuba and Key West. She quickly roared up to 175 mph sustained winds and dropped to a near record setting minimal central pressure making her the 3rd strongest hurricane ever recorded in the North Atlantic basin. This time I found myself onboard the Etnies Tour Bus along with teamriders Keith Malloy, Jun Jo, CJ Kanuha and CT Taylor. Keith had flown in from Argentina where he was Heli-Boarding just two days earlier with Laird Hamilton. CJ Kanuha was fresh off a flight from Paris where he was eager to dig his chops into some fresh USDA grade Prime Rib upon celebration of his 22nd birthday. The others were all amping to get it on the road since we had an all nighter ahead of us so with a turn of a key and push of a pedal we were on our way in search of some Gulf Coast hurricane swells. Several hours later we woke up to a setup similar to a smokin’ Cape Hatteras beachbreak complete with thick heaving lips and brown spitting barrels. Malloy was stoked to have CT Taylor give him one of his BAT Surfboards that he had recently shaped since all he had was his Burton snowboards. Within minutes the entire bus was emptied and the tube fest began. Hawaiian pro Jun Jo was the first back in the bus after complaining of the red tide that was irratating his eyes. After a quick flushing he was back out in the water unable to resist the temptation of the perfect "barbeque" pits. One local surfer named Zach came up to me and stated how stoked he was to see the pro’s out ripping and how it just made him want to surf that much better. Another local from the campground across the street offered me a beer – an indication of the genuine southern hospitality of the Panhandle posse. As numerous waves were ridden we all hoped and prayed that Rita would not have the negative effects of Katrina. Luckily she weakened in strength before making landfall near the Texas /Louisiana coast, still causing damage, but nothing in the tune of what New Orleans experienced a few weeks earlier. |
