PORT ANGELES — Pristine beaches, perfect waves, music and wine will be feted at a food and wine celebration of the ninth annual International Surfing Day from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday.
Olympic Peninsula chapter of the Surfrider Foundation’s International Surfing Day beach cleanup fundraiser and surfing celebration will be at Harbinger Winery, 2358 W. U.S. Highway 101.
Admission will be $20 at the door. It includes wood-fired pizza, a glass of wine or beer, a surf-related art show and live music from Good Machine, a Port Townsend “bluesy bluegrass” band, and Wet Betty, a jazz band from Port Angeles.
“If you don’t come to be around the surfers, come for the wine and pizza. If you don’t come for the wine and pizza, come for the music,” said Shawn Canepa, self-described “mascot” of the Olympic Peninsula Surfrider chapter and spokesman for the event.
Proceeds from the event will be used to fund the Surfrider organization’s “extreme cleanup events,” he said.
Surfboards on display
Lib Tech surfboards from Carlsborg will be on display, along with surfing products from Port Angeles surf shop North by Northwest, 902 S. Lincoln St.
A $5-per-ticket raffle for a painted surfboard or a one-year membership in the Harbinger Winery’s wine club will be offered, and a $1-per-ticket raffle will be sold for a selection of surf-related items.
The Surfrider chapter is hoping for a strong response to the event, Canepa said, which drew more than 80 in 2012.
“There is a lot of support in the community,” Canepa said.
Beach cleanups
Surfrider has removed hundreds of pounds of trash from West End beaches, many of which are difficult to access, either by trail or water.
Much of the debris removed from beaches is simply trash tossed overboard by boaters, left by beach visitors or washed into the ocean by rivers and streams, but since October 2011, some of the debris is from the March 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami, which devastated the northeast coast of Japan and washed millions of tons of debris into the Pacific Ocean.
Surfrider volunteers found and removed what is thought to be the first identified piece of tsunami debris, a Japanese oyster farm float, in October 2011 from an isolated beach near Cape B in the Neah Bay area that required rappelling down a steep slope.
Later, many similar floats, as well as boats, sports balls and household items that could be traced to Japan, were found on U.S. and Canadian shores, from Alaska to California.
In April, the group hosted an Earth Day Washington Coast Cleanup at Hobuck Beach.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
