The Inland Empire, ??

[zach619]

So, as per another post, I will put this out there...

Is it truely possible to be an avid surfer/waterman from an inland location..???

While no opportunities are areally around the coast for us back home, we have a ton of family and opportunity in Baltimore, which is 2+ hours from the beach...

With a baby on the way, its crazy for me to think too much about it, but I am wondering, do guys who surfed everyday for a decade, and then move to some inland locations, hours from the beach... Do they still surf???

I mean, I look at it like, there isnt a whole lot of consistent surf in OC MD, so one would think, hey, I will just time the swells, and make the drive when it looks good. But the problem with that is that the east coast is equally as fical, so I would assume a 2 hour drive to get skunked is enough to make one suicidal...

So, do any of you inland guys actually make it work??? If you have kids and stuff like that, do you ever actually have the time, when the swell comes to get out there and get on it?

Its like, do I want a questionable job, with high cost of living, so I can live at the beach, where there is a wave less than 15% of the time anyway? That way, when there is ANY swell, I will be all over it???

Or is it just more reasonable to make money, do your things and make sure you have time when those swells come????

Do you guys make it work? Have any of you lived AT the beach for years, and then moved inland? How do you cope?

My natural thoughts are that... You grind it out a couple years, take care of the family, maybe invest in a condo in OC MD that you can use as an investment property...

So, I would think that in 5 years, you can make it so you have some more time and opportunity to spend out there...
Any advice from you guys who have families now and had to go through a huge change like that?

[dirtythirty34]

you are from here.....as your location states....then shouldnt you know the answer to this question

[Zippy]

I grew up on the Jersey shore and surfed there my whole life until I moved inland at 22. I was 2 hours from the beach and tried to surf every swell. It was miserable, I would get up at 4 am and drive down on a predicted swell only to find the wind ****ty and swell/tide not quite right. Sometimes I would surf, other times I would turn right around and drive the 2 hours home. I even started a phone/internet surf report and payed guys to feed me info every morning, Even that sucked because as we all know even a bad morning can turn into an epic evening session out of the blue. I hated it and gained 20 lbs and was bored out of my skull. On the brighter side I did become a damn good fly fisherman over those years.

[ECSURFR]

Yes it is possible. I am a die hard surfer living in baltimore now and working just outside of DC. Yes it sucks that you dont get to surf as much but it makes it so much more worth it when you do get to go. Being that the surf is fical here i have taken to alot of skating at Landsdown which is the oldest park on the east coast and PERFECT for surf style skating. Check out some videos on youtube. Also i have taken to Kite Surfing so i can still be in the water when its blowing in the fall/winter and the waves arent good. I put straps on a 5'10 beater thruster and i fly my kite when the winds good and theres no waves.

Theres plenty to do you just have to keep busy and find the right crowd. People from Baltimore who have lived here all their lives just go to the bar and drink. The people here are so fuking lame. Theyre all so ugly too. I believe Baltimore was voted 2nd ugliest city. I used to work down in the Inner Harbor and bodies would float in all the time, its so disgusting. But i have managed to find a few of the right people who are into all of the things i am.

It does get very aggrivating some times because 80% of the swells occur during the week but i just save my days off and make the drive when it counts. It is rare but i remember 2 or 3 hurricane seasons ago there was a point of like 6 weekends in a row with great surf in ocmd.

Also there [I]are[I] other places to surf in the area .

[surfingboy65]

not possible you can try as hard as you can but things will come up... you can still surf but you wont be able to be die hard surfer or waters men. i grew up on the bay block away from the beach and wont ever change it i will never be able to live inland i would go crazy

[oceanisnotasbigaswethink]

Zach-
I think the key point is to live at the beach and work inland. I have a 6 month old (best thing I ever did with my life--enjoy it they grow too fast- although not fast enough to get him in the water on a surfboard) I drive an hour to work everyday---full time job and literally surf every good swell. And for the term "watermen/waterman"......it is overused. If you charge 20 ft swell, pull in, get spit out and then later free dive 40ft to catch your dinner....someone can call you a waterman......you cant claim it yourself......
Anyway, move to the beach! Work inland! Condos in OC are not too expensive right now. The Makai is advertising brand new condos for less than $200K 1 block from OC perfection

[Zippy]

One thing that I thought of is the fact that the surf is often more consistant than forecasted or reported. You just need to be close enough to get it for that short period of time that it's good. There are plenty of days with knee high dribblers in the morning and for some reason the tide pushes in a swell in the afternoon that only lasts for that tide change. 6 hours later it's gone and flat the next day, or even the next week. Being 2 hours away really sucks and all of those swells are missed by everyone but the locals. This is one consolation for local people in the age of over reported/predicted swells that bring huge crowds on the big advertised swell events. Thank god for those days. Here is a picture of a day that was barely surfable in the morning and for 2.5 hour mid incoming tide this happened.

[smitty517]

it's just like everything else; you gotta weigh the pros vs cons. Its easy to say (when you are young) I am never going to move away from the ocean but sometimes you have to. I work in a field in which I can't work by the beach (in maryland at least) but I have family, we like the area (anne arundel cty), like the schools, kids have good friends so I choose to make the sacrifice (may not be worth it for some but it is for me). I ain't gonna lie and tell you I surf as much as I want or I never miss a swell because that simply isn't true (you know swells come and go quickly round here). the trick is not letting moving inland be a death sentance; you've got to get your ass to the beach every weekend (no matter what the reports say) and every day off or holiday should be spent surfing. You also gotta have a place to stay as cherry picking the swells is impossible (my parents still live in oc so I am lucky in that area)

good luck with your decision

[DaMook]

One thing that I thought of is the fact that the surf is often more consistant than forecasted or reported. You just need to be close enough to get it for that short period of time that it's good. There are plenty of days with knee high dribblers in the morning and for some reason the tide pushes in a swell in the afternoon that only lasts for that tide change. 6 hours later it's gone and flat the next day, or even the next week. Being 2 hours away really sucks and all of those swells are missed by everyone but the locals. This is one consolation for local people in the age of over reported/predicted swells that bring huge crowds on the big advertised swell events. Thank god for those days. Here is a picture of a day that was barely surfable in the morning and for 2.5 hour mid incoming tide this happened.

Yup...bottom line-the closer the more you surf. I know guys who moved 15-20 minutes inland and they dont surf as much as they did. Plus if you have kids...forget it.

[schweez]

its spelled FICKLE, not FICAL.

sorry, just a pet peeve of mine