I actually stopped by there Saturday afternoon to watch my buddy’s kid in the finals. They are in the SeNC region. Surf was really good...
Lol, CJ you are from Jersey...I was standing beside some Jersey folks at the contest...they were under regular round umbrellas not square tents. Between the two rows of square tents. My buddy was hanging out with the dude with the cow bell (which was kind of lame)...I remember a guy walking up with a nice camera set up...I wonder if that was you.
I don't like a backpaddler, and will burn them. At a pier or jetty though, in order to have priority you must maintain priority. Sit deeper and more outside, and if someone strokes out along the rip and sits on the(your) peak, you should paddle around him immediately and give him the stink eye. If you just sit where you deem you should be, and the guy that just caught the conveyor belt out is better on the peak, it's your DUTY to paddle battle him so deep that when you let him have the first wave of the set he's behind the peak, and is obligated to go (you have to tell him GO!), and wipes out and hits or almost hits the pier or jetty. Then you can go back to the peak propper, and catch one of the better waves of the set. IMO Old Boogers have no priority. LOL And the kid's WTF hands are priceless.
That one isn't mine. Mine was the one getting snow balled. My little guy logged more tube time last week than some people get in a lifetime. Just an incredible week to be on the Outer Banks.
Don't know the cow bell people. They weren't with the South Jersey crew. I was one of about 6 people with good camera rigs on the beach. Big white lens on mine. I spent most of my day standing way down in front of the Comfort Inn to get the angle and light I was after to shoot the free surfing that was going on. I shot over 2000 pictures and haven't even scratched the surface of processing them. The best ones I'm sending off.
Post up some when you get through them. Agree with Smitty you take some quality pics. How did your son do? You would have remembered the cow bell guy from southern Carolina...it was king of obnoxious. Don’t remember seeing your boy with the jersey crew beside me...a young clean cut grom with dark hair (looked Italian)... I remember him b/c he came out of water frothing and all smiles.
He surfed great in Round 1. In round 2 the waves were big and messy and he sat kind of out of position near the pier and his wave selection killed him. 15 minutes is a pretty short heat in conditions like that if your wave selection isn't on point. His first ride was a long one but just a mid range score and the run back up the beach and paddle back out used up nearly 7 minutes and a lot of energy. Just a bad heat. The level of surfing in U14 is off the charts right now. There were a dozen boys with enough talent to win it. The cool thing with him is he is just always having fun and frothing non stop. Contests are just an excuse to have fun and he doesn't care much about the results. Was kind of glad he got to free surf all day on Saturday when it was firing without having to think about the contest. He loves tube riding and he got to do plenty of it. This shot is part of a long sequence. Just like this frame with the other boy paddling out.
He looks like a pretty solid 14 year old. My nephew is a little shredder and has been surfing all these contest since he was like 8 (16 now...out of Kitty Hawk). Anyway, when he hit the 14+ level, it all changed. The competition was much higher. He still is involved but on this day, he was getting pitted and just being stoked (even uncle Jay was getting some!!!). That is what it is all about...
hanks. He's only 13. He loves bigger waves and hollow conditions. This was his first Easterns and this week was his first time surfing Jennette's Pier. I think if he had some experience free surfing the contest zone by the pier it would have helped a lot.
Freaking gem right there....tending to the lineup is a duty...you can't just witness bad shit happening and bemoan it! haha