Virginia Beach surf legend Pete Smith celebrates 85th birthday
VIRGINIA BEACH — Surrounded by more than 50 friends, Pete Smith, the pioneer of East Coast surfing, celebrated his 85th birthday Sunday in true surfer style with the ocean as the backdrop.
The party was held outside of the historic de Witt Cottage at the Oceanfront with musicians performing live beach music from the 1960s. For many who attended, it was a chance to reminisce about the early days of surfing in Virginia Beach.
“He was one of the premier surfers here in the beginning,” said Nabil Kassir, who first met Smith in 1961. “Before, there were surfers who used to surf on these wood boards, but he came with his Hobie. He changed the whole thing.”
When Smith was a child, his uncle John taught him how to surf on a 14-foot, 100-pound wooden board. “A real log,” Smith has called it.
In 1962, Smith and a few friends traveled to Long Island, New York, to compete in a surf contest at Gilgo Beach. The following year, they held the first Virginia Beach Surfing Carnival, later to be known as the East Coast Surfing Championships. It’s now the longest running surfing contest in the world. The 62nd annual ECSCs will be held Aug. 18-25 at the 1st Street Jetty.
Also in 1963, Smith and friend Bob Holland opened Virginia Beach’s first retail store devoted to the emerging sport of surfing: Smith & Holland Surf Shop. They caught the attention of popular California surfboard maker Hobie Alter and began carrying his designs, which transformed the local surf scene.
At Smith’s party, guests wore “aloha attire” and donned flower leis. After they sang “Happy Birthday,” Smith blew out the flame of an oversized candle on the cake and summed up his excitement with his signature surfer rally call.
“Cowabunga!”
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
