March Madness, warming up

First on the plate this week, we have to mention Swellinfo CEO, Micah Sklut, gave a killer seminar Wednesday evening at his former high school in Delaware. The seminar was put together by the Cape Henelopen High School Surf Club and Micah gave a talk titled "Introducing Ocean Wave Science and Surf Forecasting". The talk engaged the crowd for about an hour and sparked some great discussion and feedback afterwards.

Moving on... This past Wednesday also provided us with one of the most beautiful and warmest days of the year with temperatures in Delaware reaching close to 75 degrees. While warm weather is nice, it is never as fulfilling unless there are surfable waves. Mother nature came through for the Mid Atlantic, as many areas saw a nice 3-4ft+ range E swell, with cleaning conditions in the afternoon. On top of the surf and good weather, we had an extra hour of daylight - it's Starting to feel like Spring! Below are some photos I took at a certain beach break north of Virginia and South of New Jersey.

The final stop on this weeks article brings us to an interesting topic with multiple sides and opinions. It is the "cool" persona and image that affects thousands, maybe even millions of people who come across the surf culture of today. So what is cool these days? In my opinion, doing something you love, something you have a passion for in life, is cool. Scoring fun waves with just a few good friends, not only cool, but all-time.

I see too many people concerned about their image in the surfing world, and to me it seems like a joke. For example, you won't enter a Hollister clothing store at the mall because only kooks shop there, so they can think they "surf". Well, holy crap if someone you know catches you in there - you too, will be considered a kook. Well I got news for you, what you wear, where you shop, the music you listen to, that has HANDS DOWN nothing to do with how you surf. Get real and get over this insecure feeling you have about yourself to think you are better than others. If you take a look at a number of individuals that are legit in what they do, whether its surfing, bodyboarding, snowboarding, they aren't concerned with how others are behaving. You know why? Because they are more concerned about going out and actually performing in the water, on the slope, or on the street. We can take this 100 different ways and chances are if you find this offensive, you know I am right. If someone rips, who cares how or what they are riding.

Earlier this week, I posted a video of Tyler Danek bodyboarding at the Wavehouse in San Diego, and many ridiculed him for riding this fake wave. In my opinion, the way he performs on that wave is unreal. If you can't appreciate his skills then buddy you need a reality check. Think about it, have you ever tried it? If you have, do you know how hard it is, or how much fun it could be when the waves are flat.

Turning this positive, how about the next time you see some one out in the water just learning to surf, give them a pointer or two, instead of labeling them a kook and making fun of them. Ok, enough ranting.