Making Merry By the Sea

The Beach Boys could have written a song about it.

The sand brimmed with blond surfers in baggy shorts, longboards from the 1970s, bikini-clad gals and melon juice refreshments. The feeling was so funky, so Southern California and so upbeat but dorky, it had to be Ventura.

Saturday’s fourth annual Surf Rodeo and Seaward Street Festival was a surfing contest with a little bit of MTV babe-fest glitz, and a little bit of Ventura corniness.

More than 200 contestants donned fluorescent cowboy hats with matching wetsuit tops and grabbed old-school boards before charging out with hoots and cheers to ride the decidedly underwhelming Pierpont waves.

The finheads had 15 minutes to wow the judges with 10 booty-kickin’ rides. If the hat came off, the ride didn’t count. The best rides won, and surfing style, not fashion style, counted.

“Look at us, a bunch of surf kids from around here came up with something new,” said Mike Mooney, one of the boisterous organizers yelling through a homemade, cardboard megaphone.

A television crew from the Surf Channel, based in Hawaii but active on beaches like this one, according to Mooney, filmed the spontaneous dancing as well as the groaning about the hats that didn’t seem to fit right.

Spectators spread out blankets, judges marked scores and an announcer delivered a constant stream of information in the background.

Hundreds of locals, many barefoot and wearing bathing suits, made their way down the block-long business corridor on Seaward Avenue, past the 55 booths, the jammin’ band and onto the soft sand to watch the contests.

“These are superstars. All of them,” Mooney said.

Jeff Chandler, a die-hard fan who comes every year to watch the merriment, said he only has one beer a year, and it’s at this festival.

About 11 a.m., he was savoring it, while rooting for an 8-year-old named Ruby competing in the open-division against two women.

Ruby enlisted her daddy, Toby Emery, a Pierpont native, to work with her. He pushed her onto the wave, retrieved her afterward and waded around offering support.

When the little girl stood on the board for one 11-second ride, the crowd cheered. An audible “Ohhh,” rose from the spectators a few minutes later when she just barely made it, but didn’t quite make it standing up.

When she came out of the water, a train of fans and friends trailed after her. “You did great, Ruby.”

“Way to go, Ruby.”

Toby said his daughter had a few butterflies before the event, but “when she got out there she was really confident, she kept saying, ‘Let’s get another one.’ ”

Watching from the sideline, Chandler said the surfers were having a good time negotiating the typically small waves.

“This is horrible--15-mile-per-hour winds are flattening it,” he said. But the low-standard leveled the playing field. “I don’t care how good you are. You are going to get a lousy wave regardless,” he said.

None of the spectators minded. Aside from the surfing, they could henna their hair, custom design the artwork on a Frisbee or ride a bucking, spinning electronic bull that threw most riders within seconds.

Mark Musco, 30, who lives in the Ventura Keys, sat atop the bronco for almost half a minute. His face twisted in a grimace. His right hand was defiant in the air, and his thighs gripped the bull’s neck. He felt invigorated afterward and declared himself a fan of the festival.

Bud MacNair, who called himself the unofficial mayor of Pierpont and the festival’s organizer, said he came up with the idea because he had watched so many drivers exit the freeway at Seaward Avenue, drive down to the beach, look around and get back on the freeway. “This is the perfect spot for this because it’s so close to the beach--and the freeway,” he said. They should close off this street permanently and redevelop the area, he said.

The events continue today with finheads hitting the water at 7 a.m. One unusual event will be the so-called grease pig competition in the afternoon. Surfers and their boards will be soaked with baby oil. The surfers must paddle around a buoy, then catch a wave and stand up.