As veteran surfer Bob Sykes surveys the pounding waves in the Atlantic Ocean at Avon, he compares the surf to a washing machine.

Its disorganized and has a lot of current, says Sykes. Its more work than fun. The ideal waves are head-high and glassy, with the wind blowing over land.

Despite the choppy conditions, Sykes and other die-hard surfers are competing in the Outer Banks/Eastern Surfing Association (ESA) contest. About 110 surfers from age 6 to 55 participate in the all-day competition.

As the horn blows, Sykes and other surfers paddle out on their long boards to where the waves break. Dressed in wetsuits and colorful shirts, they disappear in the brutal surf until they find a good wave to ride.

When the surfers find a good wave, they stay up on their boards for only a few seconds before disappearing again into the soapy, brutal surf. The contestants look like break-dancers on the ocean as they leap on and off their boards.

When surfing conditions are good, surfers from all over the country bring their boards to the beaches along the Outer Banks, which have developed a reputation for some of the best waves on the East Coast.

What makes the Outer Banks a good surfing spot?

If you want big surf, you go to Cape Hatteras on the Outer Banks, says Stan Riggs, professor of marine geology at East Carolina University (ECU) and a former North Carolina Sea Grant researcher. The continental shelf at the Cape is very steep and narrow, allowing the full brunt of the Atlantic Oceans waves to reach the shoreline.

Northward into Virginia and New Jersey and southward into South Carolina and Georgia, the continental shelf becomes increasingly wider and shallower, causing the ocean waves to expend their energy dragging across the shelf rather than on the beach.

Other good surfing spots include Rodanthe and Oregon Inlet to the north of Cape Hatteras and Frisco, Cape Lookout National Seashore and Wrightsville Beach to the south.

Each Sunday, Bill Hume, co-director of the ESAs Outer Banks District, joins fellow surfers on the northern side of Oregon Inlet. There are a lot of sandbars here and consistent surf, he says.

Because of the Outer Banks wave-dominated coastline, some avid surfers have relocated to the area.

Surfing is better here, says Barbara Corey, a veteran surfer. Thats why I moved here from New Jersey. I had been coming to the Outer Banks since I was a teen-ager.

As surfing has grown in popularity, the ESAs Outer Banks membership has swelled from 185 in 1995 to more than 400 this year. It has also become more family oriented.

When I started in the association, parents used to drop their kids off at the beach and leave them for the day, says Julie Hume, who is co-director along with her husband. Now the parents stay.

Families arrive at the competition with their children, dogs, coolers and beach chairs. Many of them make it a daylong activity.

The Barnes family has three generations of surfers. Betty Barnes, a 70-year-old artist, rides the waves, as do her two sons, John and Rex Barnes, and Rexs two daughters.

I started surfing when I was 35, says Betty Barnes. My kids were teens, and I had to watch them on the waves.

She taught Rex how to surf on a long plank board.

I knew on the first day, I would do it the rest of my life, says Rex. It was wonderful-the thrill of riding the waves. You have to take a wave and master it. You have to make it work for you.

Since paddling on her first board at Virginia Beach, Betty Barnes has seen many changes in surfing. When I first started, we didnt think of it as a sport, she says. Now it is a now it is an organized sport. The equipment has also improved. In the early days, we had to make our own boards.

Now surfers can buy different styles of boards, including long boards and short boards used for maneuvers.

As the sport has grown, participation among young girls has also increased. Recently, the ESAs Outer Banks District started a Wahines Club for female surfers all ages.

More girls are into the sport because they are health conscious, says Rex Barnes. If you surf a lot, every muscle stays trim. It is a beautiful sport.

The increase in older surfers has given these enthusiasts more political and economic clout.

As baby boomers get into their 50s, you see more older people surfing, says Mike Orbach, a long-time surfer and director of Duke University Marine Lab. It has also become part of the political economy. On the North Carolina beaches, you see three times more surf shops as a decade ago. Surfing has become a style of clothes and line of auxiliary products.

Surfing is an ancient beach activity that was practiced by Hawaiians before becoming commonplace in California in the 1930s. However, it didnt become a popular leisure activity in North Carolina until the 1960s, when the Southern California subculture spread to the state through surf movies, clothes and music.

Early on, surfers developed a reputation as beach bums with irregular work habits. In recent years, the image of the surfer has changed.

Surfers are misinterpreted because they have a laid-back lifestyle, says Missy McMillan, former chair of the Surfrider Foundations Outer Banks Chapter. There are lawyers, judges and cab drivers who surf.

Rex Barnes, a contractor, exemplifies the casual lifestyle of a surfer. He lives in a cedar house built on stilts. His livingroom is decorated with surfboards, surfing photos and bongo drums. He trots around the globe to surf--from Hawaii to Costa Rica.

I love the sport because it doesnt cost anything, he says. You get as many waves as you want for free.

Surfers also are good Samaritans.

I have seen surfers rescue people who are caught in the rip tides near the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, says Ray Gray, a surfer and principal of Cape Hatteras Elementary School. A couple of years ago, another guy and I saved two girls who were drowning near the lighthouse.

Despite the increased interest in surfing on the East Coast, it is still more accepted on the West Coast, says Orbach. In North Carolina, the dominant water-related activity is fishing.

Surfers also have to follow more regulations on the East Coast than on the West Coast.

Since piers are publicly owned on the West Coast, surfers arent restricted from going under piers, says North Carolina Sea Grant researcher Jeff Johnson, an ECU sociologist who has traveled the world to surf. Piers make good surfing spots because of sandbars and better waves, he says. In contrast, most piers on the East Coast are privately owned.

In North Carolina, the legislature has given municipalities the right to regulate surfing as long as the rules dont inhibit a citizens constitutional rights, says Walter Clark, North Carolina Sea Grant and coastal law and policy specialist.

The state has jurisdiction and ownership of ocean waters and land under the ocean from the mean high tide to three miles out, says Clark. However, the state recognizes that local governments have an interest in certain activities that occur in state waters which are adjacent to their jurisdiction.

Most coastal municipalities have adopted surfing regulations. At Atlantic Beach, surfers have to stay 200 feet away from the fishing piers and cant surf in heavily populated areas. In Nags Head and Kitty Hawk, surfing is prohibited within 300 yard of a fishing pier. Wrightsville Beach requires surfers to stay 500 feet away from commercial fishing piers and from the jetty at Masonboro Inlet.

Most townships also require surfers to have leashes on their boards. If you have a leash on your board, your board wont get away from you when you fall off and possibly hit someone, says Julie Hume.

Except for the regulations around fishing piers, most surfers have free access to North Carolinas waters.

Dare County does not have any rules banning surfing at certain times, says Julie Hume. Some places on the East Coast dont allow surfing at certain times of day and only in designated areas. We are fortunate we can surf at any time of day or any place on the Outer Banks.

Because of surfers affinity for oceans and beaches, some have become advocates for coastal issues. One of the most active grassroots organizations is Surfrider Foundation, which has 25,000 members, 42 chapters in the United States--including one on the Outer Banks and one in Wilmington--and four international affiliates.

I am a water enthusiast and believe in the foundations mission statement: clean water, clan beach and access to beach, says McMillan. We do this through conservation activism, research and education.

At Rodanthe, members worked with public officials to increase public parking near a private pier, thus offering greater beach access.

The only access for the public is at the private pier, says McMillan. The pier owner wanted his pier used for fishing and not surfing. Our chapter tried to smooth matters over with the pier management and worked with Dare County to donate land and build a parking lot. The group also received a state grant.

The organization also supported the relocation of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. Nationally, Surfrider is against hardened structures like jetties and sea walls, says Joan Van Newenhizen, co-chair of the group. We believe nature should take its course.

Occasionally, the ESA Outer Banks District advocates for surfers rights. When the Currituck County Board of Commissioners wanted to ban surfers in the water during red-flag days, the ESA convinced them to allow surfing during turbulent weather.

Experienced surfers know when not to go into the water, says Julie Hume.

The Surfrider Foundation also is environmentally active, encouraging good stewardship of coastal resources.

As keepers of the coast, the group educates young people about preserving the beach. Each year, they sponsor a Respect the Beach poster contest for middle and high school students. Last year, they sponsored a half-day Respect the Beach camp for youngsters between ages 5 and 9. The group also gives an Outer Banks Surfrider Scholarship to a high school student.

The group conducts research when needed. After a Halloween storm in 1992 flooded the bypass in Kitty Hawk, the town proposed an outfall pipe for storm runoff. The Surfrider Foundation countered with an alternative plan.

We had concerns about the petroleum runoff, says McMillan. One alternative was putting a gate valve on the pipe. When we have a big storm, the valve is opened.

The Outer Banks Surfrider Foundation also initiated the first Adopt-A-Beach program in 1993 in Dare County, covering over 20 miles of public beach. The program is modeled after the Adopt-A-Highway Program. It has been a very successful endeavor and involves various segments of the community working together to keep our beaches clean and beautiful, says Van Newenhizen.

Each September, the organization helps coordinate Dare Countys Big Sweep, part of a statewide waterways cleanup. For the last three years, the chapter has provided trash bags across the state for Big Sweep.

Other surfers continue the cleanup year-round. Once a month, ESA members clean up a beach on Oregon Street in Kill Devil Hills.

The Outer Banks Surfrider chapter was formed in 1991. Our main impetus was stopping offshore oil drilling by Mobil Oil, says McMillan.

Since then, the chapter has been involved in a number of coastal issues.

After a campaign by the group to raise awareness of poor water quality, Dare County began a water-testing program.

Over the last 50 years, the surfing culture has evolved from sport to business to environmental action, says Orbach.