funny, i noticed a considerably less amount of people/surfers in the monmouth county area all weekend. i think the high gas prices have brought less people to the shore.
I got stuck at home in VB this weekend, typically the family and I have the family truckster packed and are headed south to Nags Head and surf rodanthe all memorial day weekend typically. Well a family thing kept us at home, but low and behold we had playful summer surf here. North end VB Sunday morning was sort of fun, a boat load of people on it and alot of folks that think they are alot better than they are also which causes issues. Anyway nothing great to reallly worry about though. Sandbridge on Monday saw some decent waves, south side of the pier in the mroning was fun, then the 10 a.m. black ball came for that side of the pier and moved to the "surf friendly" north side. Holly crap was there a bucnh of fpeople on it, it looked like first street but with less talent .
From Memorial day to Labor day I typically only head out for a dawn patrol before work or about 1.5 hours before sunset. Over the years I have found that it is not worth the effort to deal with the BS associated with the tourists. On the rare occassion I do head out during the day...it will always be an off spot that is a bit smaller and less formed, but away from the crowd.
Fun surf all over this past weekend.... to bad it felt like surfing in a kiddie pool. Other than that, I'm not complaining.
Nothing major, but the surf was definitely fun, and still is! Looks like another couple days of this ground swell.
pssh also stuck in sandbridge this weekend. Nothing like seeing a nice quiet beach turned into a barney festival just because of memorial day... I didnt even bother surfing, It looked weak for it but great for body boarding. Got some sweet ones and an even sweeter buzz. Now its on, I guess, barneys on logs and punks that float around on their custom 5'11s trying to look cool... This weekend reminded me how much I hate... other people
Stud, I employed a new tactic this weekend that works great. When you see a kook, especially the 'punk on the custom 5 11' types, point and laugh. they usually skulk away.
I usually do the same. i look at time them then look away with a smirk on my face. it works. or i'll paddle 50ft to the left, everyone will follow, then i slowly make my way 50ft to the right again and viola!
i ignore everyone,drop in on any wave,let them know i live here,they eventually flip out on me,then the reality sets in that they just showed up at my beach for the first time since labor day,get the hint and paddle down the beach
I didn't intend to do this Monday, but that's exactly what happened. I saw the usual 20-person gaggle in North End & headed several peaks up to avoid the "pros" that congregate on top of each other and play ASP wannabe. Sure as shlt, after catching 2 undisturbed waves, up paddled a pack of 3. Once they got there, I slid down to the next unpopulated peak that they passed on their way to me, which actually seemed to be lining up better.
everyone with a beach house and a pop out was in the water. I've never seen the crowds like I did this weekend. It looked more like a july 4th than a memorial day in the water.
NO doubt. supeeing seems to have hit the mainstream. so now you have all of these people who have never surfed before going out to 'play' in the waves without a clue about etiquette. someone's def gonna get hurt but it ain't gonna be me cuz i always find my own peak in the north end far from the crowds. i will paddle as far as i have to to be alone. luckily, since most sups seem to have never surfed they don't know about dp - yesterday morning was beautiful and empty in the far north. sure enough, as i'm leaving at 9:30 after a 4 hour session here come the dads with their new beach toys...
My main gripe is that someone new on a SUP doesn’t have the same disadvantages as the newbs on a standard surfboard. The latter will never be able to out paddle you, and eventually they’ll run out of energy and just become buoys in the line-up, at their worst they’ll just be in the way. The SUPs on the other hand can move fast and is a wave hog machine. I’ve always been willing to share, but my rule is if a SUP, sitting out farther, can’t catch the wave by the time it gets to me, then shame on him/her, that wave is mines.
Cain't wait for the first guys to plunk down 5 grand for the Walden jet-powered board. That'll make us think much more highly of the 'custodial crew' on their sup's.
\r\n \r\nShould have seen 1st street! Kook central; half of them with out leashes, life guards allowing swimmers in the surfing area and a contest that took up the entire weekend. Was quite entertaining to watch at times though.\r\nWanted to head south which I heard was good.
Yest (Mon) in Sandbridge was small but clean, not much pop, but surfing with friends is always a hoot. Today (Tues), dawn patrol in VB was a lotta fun. Had the North End to ourselves for hours until the crowd showed up around 9. Only other guy out early was one SUP dude who looked like the throwin' Samoan (cool guy, actually, most SUPeers could learn etiquette from that fella). The guard in the chair in front of the Cavalier was cool, too, just letting everyone surf because the teeming masses of turistas were gone & the beaches were nearly empty. Today, low to no winds was true glass; the water was so clear instead of the typical VB brown; & decent rides on decent sets were there for the taking. Actually one of the fun-est couple days the crew has had in VB. Props to Micah for calling this one spot-on.
BTW, 1st St was crowded this morning, even early. Croatan looked really good, and empty, but we cruised up to the North End - - it was the right spot. Good, fun waves, Micah, you nailed it on this one. (Just providing some feedback for future forecasting reference, if that's of any value.)
I'm doing the same thing, DP on weekdays. Early bird gets the lineup. But I was surprised how many youngsters and beginners had full wetsuits and boots. Because the cold usually is more of a deterrent. Plus I've yet to see a SUP'r that can go from flat water to actually controlling their craft on a wave.
the only problem i have is when a surfer brings 2 or more of his friends and they all cant surf. and all they do is just sit on the inside like bouys and then us good surfers have to swerve in and out of them all. like today i was surfing and i had some girl who was just learning go off on my wave and she fell and her board was 2 ft away from my head. thankfully i knew the guy teaching her but she apologized and all was good.
