Surfers are hoping for bigger waves Sunday at the Cocoa Beach Pier for a huge surf festival going on this weekend.
Some of the surfing heats were postponed Saturday because of smaller waves.
“These are actually somewhat small for here, but since it’s summer it’s kind of what we expect,” said Cocoa Beach surfer Mary Payzant, who is competing in the women’s pro longboard division. “It’s not too bad, we’ll definitely see some good rides and a lot of good surfers out there.”
The 30th annual National Kidney Foundation Rich Salick Pro/Am Surf Festival is a Labor Day weekend tradition in Cocoa Beach.
Surfing Hall of Famers Phil and Richard Salick created the festival, and millions of dollars have been raised over the past 30 years for kidney patients.
“One of the bigger expenses post-transplant is the medication,” said Phil Salick. “Richard at one time was on 23 different medications. He’d have a handful in the morning and in the evening and those are very expensive and that’s where we try and help out first.”
Richard died three years ago, just as he was preparing for his fourth kidney transplant.
Phil keeps the surfing festival going to honor his brother’s legacy.
Thousands of people pack the beach to watch the competition.
They even have tandem surfers.
The festival continues through Labor Day.