It isn't going to get any bigger. We're limited on space. Hey, Cocoa Beach is a small town. Now we're focusing on increasing the quality of surfing, boosting the prize purse and creating more family fun.

She was a damn good surfer, really better than a lot of the guys. There were a handful of decent girl surfers up and down the whole coast, but guys weren't very good about giving up waves to women. It just wasn't accepted. A lot of kids today had no idea women surfers existed back then.

Our event is probably at its maximum now.

Some people think we just show up on the beach and that's it. But it's trade shows, city commission meetings, planning boards. Everything to make it better. Just the pleasure of seeing it all come together makes it rewarding and worthwhile.

We had to change. Times were changing.

Somehow, when she was 13, I convinced her parents to let us take her on the road trips. All the rest of them were guys, but she was treated like she had five or six older brothers. She was very good.