sc Life — The Tides That Bind: Surfing in South County is more than an activity, it’s a lifestyle
Kristen Fraza waxes her surfboard in preparation to surf at the Pt. Judith Lighthouse in Narragansett. Fraza is one of the many older surfers who have followed a decades-long passion for the sport to the shores of Southern Rhode Island and beyond.. Photo: Michael Derr
July 8, 2021
By Bill Seymour — NARRAGANSETT — Looking out into the Atlantic Ocean recently at Narragansett Town Beach, Allen Santucci, 27, a surfing instructor, reached back into time.
Surfers bobbed up and down on their boards in the waters ahead, waiting for the right wave to glide them — or carry them standing up, if lucky — at least a few yards.
“About 10 years ago, I had this fellow who was 97,” he started to explain. “He wanted to stand up on a surfboard. It was on his bucket list, one of the last things he wanted to do.“
“I worked with him and after three hours I had him riding a wave, standing on the board,” Santucci said, adding that he never saw the man again.
Yet for this man, the allure of surfing — if only one time — drew him to make real this dream of standing on a board in water, a symbol of rebirth and life continuing.
Peter Panagiotis, 71, David Levy, 70, Tony Sciolto, 73, and Kristen Fraza, 52, make that same surfing dream happen each week — sometimes several days during the week.
They, too, defy historic trends that surfing is only for younger folks. This crew likes to challenge the odds. Instead of calling it a day, they are clenching the “Endless Summer” of their lives.
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