East Coast Wave Rider
1978 — Bob Rohmann
“Ocean Breeze”
((( Sebastian Inlet )))
robert sanchez
By Robert Sanchez
Alligator Staff Writer
It’s early morning and a misty breeze sends the sweet smell of the tropics over an azure sea. Astride his board, the surfer squints against the glare, his tan legs wrapped securely around nine pounds of resin, fiberglass and foam. Scanning the horizon, he watches and waits.
Suddenly, the calm of the ocean is broken. A dark mass sneaks quietly over the shallows, its shape becoming thick and steep as it deflects off the bottom. Tinged golden by the sun and feathered by the wind, it whispers the rhythms of the sea.
In time, the surfer experiences a heightened awareness of his physical involvement. He loses a self-conscious sense of himself and feels a timeless joy. For many, this feeling becomes the single strongest influence on their lives, and its pursuit becomes a never ending adventure. As one surfer put it, “Nothing really matters. I can always put whatever happens into perspective, because the waves will always be there.”
“I probably spend four or five months away from home every year.” says Bob Rohmann. “I just spent a month in Barbados, a week in Puerto Rico, and I’m getting ready to fly to Europe in a few days.”
Reflecting on the sport’s growing popularity, Rohmann stressed the participation of younger enthusiasts.
“I see surfing gaining a much wider acceptance as it sheds the beach-bum image of the past. I gives kids a healthy respect for themselves and their environment. But best of all,” says Rohmann, “it’s fun.”
Tall, lanky and quick to flash a smile, Rohmann’s easy demeanor suggests an assurance of his own ability.
“Surfing gives me a sense of self-satisfaction,” he says.
“I’m doing exactly what I want to do and every day I surf I try to push my performance to the limit.”
A sucessful competitor, Rohmann was awarded the American Protessional Surfers Association Rookie of the Year Award for 1980-81. An impressive list of contest victories has led to several sponsorships, including a major sportswear company and Natural Art Surfboards, for whom he is a public relations figure and design consultant. This arrangement enables Rohmann to travel, all expenses paid, to some of the more exotic wave spots around the world.
For some, the surfing lifestyle is being enjoyed on a daily basis. At 22, Bob Rohmann is representative of the current crop of talented young wave riders from Florida. He grew up surfing the warm waters of the Space Coast. A thin strip of land that begins at Cape Kennedy and runs south, ending on the palm-lined beaches of Sebastian Inlet regarded by many as Florida’s best surf spot.
Rohmann’s local experience has been augmented by extensive travel. He has ridden the waves of Mexico, Hawaii, Central America, Europe, and the Caribbean with an explosively powerful style.
He credits surfing with the popularity of the “beach look” in today’s fashion, saying the sport has been instrumental in the multi-million dollar industry.
Ocean Pacific, a California-based beachwear and surfing company: successfully marketed the surfing motif last year with $93 million in sales.
But Giardano is quick to point out that surfing will never possess the appeal and spectator following of say, tennis or football. “The average person just doesn’t realize what surfers are doing in the water, let alone appreciate the subtle aspects of style and individual maneuvers,” says Giardano.
“If you’re from Zit, Kansas, how can you be expected to know?”
Even our own landlocked city of Gainesville boasts a surf shop and many surfing enthusiasts. For most, the hour-and-a-half drive east to the beach is a welcome escape from the rigors of school.
Spinning around, the surfer takes long hard strokes toward the shore. The ocean around him begins to move, slowly first, then quickly he feels the surge of energy as the wave lifts his board and he snaps to his feet. The board chatters across the ocean’s surface, its smooth curves conforming gracefully to the subtle bends of the wave. The wind rushes past his eyes and ears. He remembers, and he smiles.
Surfing is a sport that takes a natural wonder and changes its energy into a freeform dance of athletic and artistic expression.
Tony Giardano has been a waverider for more than 20 years, and an astute observer of the surfer subculture. He owns a successful retail surfing business which enables him to live comfortably and still enjoy surfing.
It is ironic that surfing — once considered the sport of Polynesian kings — has turned into a classless phenomena that transcends social boundaries. Waves are a wonderful equalizer. In fact, surfing has been introduced quite successfully to low-level consumer economies and Third World countries, including a number of islands in the Caribbean. Thoug it is still early to suggest how th sport will evolve, the avenues open to surfing and promising and varied.
robert sanchez
In addition to being one of Florida’s best wave riders, a master of Sebastian Inlet, his home break, Bob Rohmann was one of the best shapers. Understanding the ocean and its physics, he knew what shapes and dimensions to make, for a surfer to ride to his or her full potential.
—30—
Rockets
HOME IS WHERE THE ROCKETS FLY
Oranges
INDIAN RIVER CITRUS
•A BEACH FOR ALL SEASONS (A1A) MIDWAY
SPACE COAST (NASA) TIMELINE
road trips
ON THE ROAD WITH CHARLES KURALT
A1A (FLORIDA’s EAST COAST)
CASSADAGA (PSYCIC-DELIC)
WEEKI WACHEE / 301 / SEMINOLE WIND
A BEACH FOR ALL SEASONS (COCOA BEACH)
ENERGY DANCE (SEBASTIAN INLET SURF)
ENERGY DANCE (SEBASTIAN INLET) ALT.
HOME IS WHERE THE ROCKETS FLY
BOUND FOR PORTUGAL
SUMMERTIME
SAIL AWAY (FORT LAUDERDALE KEY WEST)
IN THE PRESENCE OF THE POPE (JOHN PAUL II IN NASSAU)
SUMMER IN THE CITY
NYC (A FACELESS CITY)
SATURDAY IN THE PARK
MARDI GRAS MAGIC (TRIP TO NEW ORLEANS)
CEDAR KEY (BACK IN FLORIDA TIME)
CRESCENT BEACH
CROSS CREEK
MIDNIGHT LIGHTNING (TURTLES IN THE MOONLIGHT)
I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
DAY TRIPPING
yT
(FROM THE TOP)
Bob Rohmann’s son, who had followed in his father’s champion surfer steps.
A short interview of Bob Rohmann, by Australian World champion, Peter Townend at a 2012 surfing sales convention.
Bob Rohmann was named the East Coast Surf’s rookie of the year in 1980/81 when Pancho Sanchez wrote his piece for the Alligator. Thirty years later, Rohmann was inducted into the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame, and in his acceptance speech, ends with a thank you to (Pancho) Sanchez and Satellite Beach High School mate, Buster O’Connor, who was an Alligator illustrator way back when in 1980.