By Kevin Herrera
Daily Press Staff Writer

OCEAN PARK BEACH Despite heavy rains that washed pollutants and debris into the Santa Monica Bay, dozens of surfers rode the waves here this weekend for the first ever, 24-hour Surf-a-thon to help raise awareness and funds for the protection of the world’s oceans.

Some surfers were concerned about water quality after showers drenched the southland, but fears of contracting sinus infections, rashes and diarrhea were not enough to keep Frank Carrona out of the water.

“The cause is too great to scare me away,” said Carrona, who runs Natural Surfing Techniques, which offers surfing lessons up and down the bay. “I think I’m more immune (to the urban runoff) than others, but the first rain usually isn’t when you see a lot of the pollutants flowing into the water. Usually the first rain brings a lot of debris and that’s what was out there (Saturday). There were a lot of plastics.”

The Surf-a-thon, which ran from noon on Saturday to noon Sunday, was organized by the Make A Wave Project, which was founded by Alex Winston and Tanna Frederick, avid surfers who organized after becoming distressed over the garbage and poor water quality they continue to encounter while surfing in the bay. While in the water, Winston said she has seen used condoms, diapers and potato chip bags floating by her surfboard.

Marine debris, including Styrofoam, derelict fishing gear and plastic bags, is believed to be responsible for the deaths of more than one million seabirds, 100,000 marine mammals and countless fish, who mistake the floating garbage for food and ingest them, reducing their appetite by inhibiting nutrient absorption.

Winston said the event raised $25,000 as of Sunday morning for Oceana, the global ocean protection organization. An auction was planned for later in the evening and Winston expected to raise an additional $10,000 to $15,000 from those willing to bid on items such as a private surfing lesson from international surfing legend Laird Hamilton.

ZJ Boarding House and Val Surf provided boards and rash guards for the surfers while The Victorian restaurant provided breakfast as well as a cooking demonstration during which the restaurant’s head chef made appetizers.

“Everyone has been so generous,” said Winston, who was dripping wet after spending a few hours in the water. “We couldn’t have done this without the support from all of our volunteers, the sponsors and the lifeguards, who were out here with us all night.”

Groups of surfers went out into the water in three hour shifts. At night, they carried glow sticks so they could see and be seen by those on the beach, who passed the time dancing to hip-hop music or participating in sunset yoga and tarot card readings. There was also a beach cleanup event, live music and a drum circle. Many arrived at 8 a.m. Saturday and spent the night in sleeping bags on the sand.

“It rocked,” said Abigail Fletcher, a transplant from Kansas who hopped on her boogie board for an early morning shift. Fletcher, who lives in Santa Monica and has fallen in love with the power and peacefulness of the ocean, said she planned to surf for the first time Sunday.

“There’s all these incredible surfers out there so why not get a free lesson,” said Fletcher as she sat in her wetsuit at the edge of the sand, watching the waves roll in. “But really this is all about raising awareness about this precious natural resource that we have really failed to protect.”

Winston hopes to make the Surf-a-thon an annual event and draw at least 500 surfers next year.

“I really think it’s important to emphasize the irony of this,” said Winston, co-owner of the Hey Kookla gift boutique on Montana Avenue. “It hasn’t rained in 160 days and then on the day of our event it came down hard.”

So hard in fact that the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued an advisory Saturday warning people to stay out of the water for three days because of high levels of bacteria and viruses due to the rains.

“You can’t go in the beach for three or four days and that means a lot of surfers,” Winston said. “It’s really sad and frustrating, but that’s why we have to make a change ... Of course we are concerned about our health, but this cause is really important and some rain wasn’t going to stop me.”

kevinh@smdp.com