Hurricane Memories (Good or Bad)

Hurricane Bill was probably the best couple of days in a row ever. Sandy on the other hand, no so much.

 

As far as destruction goes, Isabel is the worst storm I've experienced here locally ... granted, that doesn't compare to the devastation of Hugo, Andrew, Katrina, etc., but it was still pretty bad. Some folks near me, because of all the trees and power lines down never got power restored for around a month. Every night smelled like I was breathing in lawnmower exhaust with all the generators running.

 

Irene was a good one... 10-12' and barreling. The biggest and cleanest in recent memory. Huge, easily makeable tubes. If you got on it right as it cleaned up, before the wind got too radical, it was totally epic... all-time.

 

In another recent thread we got to talking about the summer of '95. I was a youngin' at that point so spent alot of time on the beach, but it just seemed to pumping all summer. Clearly remember Felix sending over a week of head high or bigger surf. The one that stands out for me was Luis, as it was my first experience in sizable point surf. It was a point that doesn't break that often, easily 8ft, bigger on the sets, again, it was my first experience in really solid surf, and after not geting any waves I started to get nervous and thought maybe I was fu**ed. Got one wave that day, and i'll never forget that wave. Went to watch Judith after our sesh, and it was easily 3x overhead. There was a catamaran headed out(why, i dont know), and swell heights were significantly taller than the mast. The ride in to Judith was nuts, you could see salt spray in the air almost from the seafood joint at that last intersection. Never forget that day, prior to that i had no idea surf like that could happen on the EC.
Someone mentioned Isabel, that was a fun one for me too...got worked the weekend before from another cane swell. came back for Isabel and it was perfect, 4-6, offshores, and barrels.

 

Hurricane Agnes, June 25th 1972, most perfect head high ++ A-Frames in O C MD ever over pure glass. Most resent was when Leslie stalled, really fun 3 day Sesh's @ NS, even kook's get lucky .........................

 

I thought Leslie was a good storm, that sunday(the 9th?) was really fun and clean.

 

Hurricane Floyd is my 1st memory of surfing a hurricane swell, I know there were some tropical storms I experienced before but none that I can name, too many storms around here to remember them all. But Floyd was a beast, got my ass handed to me pretty good that day, mostly due to conditions being nearly VAS, I wasn't savvy enough back then to know when it would clean up w/offshores, so I just went when I could and paddled into the teeth of it. 8-10ft is what I recall and I only managed a couple waves in two hours before I gave up and paddled in before possibly getting killed out there. The adrenaline rush was worth it though, what a feeling!

Hurricane Bill was another one that I wasn't ready for, out of shape and got pounded, but that's when I think I got motivated and got into proper surfing shape. Been many tropical storms / hurricanes since then that I've had much more success with, but the sessions are all starting to run together, It's going to take an EPIC and I mean EPIC session in order for me to remember the storm name and recall the exact waves I got.

 

Irene hit RI on a Saturday night.....I started out Saturday morning at PJ, surfed beautiful waves all morning before it got real big and the current became insane, so I moved northward a bit for more protection. Surfed for another hour and half before it was too much for the beachie to handle, so I moved northward to a real protected point break, and surfed for a few more hours before the storm got too close and the winds were all over it. None of the breaks were the best I've seen them, but I've never surfed clean overhead waves for as long as I did that day. Probably spent a solid 9 hours in the water in one day, went to my parents' spot in Gansett after and rode out the storm (bit of a dud for RI compared to what they were talking about at first) while completely unable to move because my back was so locked from paddling.

I was at school in Colorado during Bill and have never been so pained looking at the internet

 

Yes!... I remember that, too. Mostly, I remember the lifeguards keeping everyone out of the water all day, and having to surf around the blackball hours all week. But that thing just sat there and spun... and the weather never got bad, either, as I recall. Beautiful, sunny summer days with pumping surf.

 

You mentioned Dennis. Here in Florida, Cindy and Dennis floated around in our swell window for a week, having mad hurricane sex in our offshore waters. We had the offshore powerboat racing grand prix, eight to twelve foot plus sets, sunny skies, and light offshore winds. I've surfed lots bigger, but these were groomed lines, easy take offs, and long long rides like a rock song with versus and refrains. Each wave was epic, and the walk back to the pier was very long and hot as hell, and you had to rest in the shade of the pier before each paddle out, and watch the powerboat racing about 400 yards offshore. It doesn't get much better than that in my book.

 

I recently looked up it's track for sh*ts and giggles and it was pretty neat to look at, just meandering out there.

 

Ya, Isabel wasn't the best for waves, but I did see how the network news hypes up their hurricane stories. We walked down to 16th Street after the worst of the storm passed. It was still onshore around 40mph-50mph with higher gusts. We get in between the hotels on 16th and there is that major wind tunnel effect, so it was probably more like 80-90mph+ in there. Kids were on skateboards letting the wind push them towards Atlantic Ave, you couldn't really even walk against the wind there, it was that hard. I look over and see NBC's Brian Williams and his cameraman just inside the parking garage for one of the hotels, just out of the wind. After a few minutes, they go out and do their live, on air bit right in the wind tunnel, but facing the beach, so it looks like they're pretty much on the beach. It was a total misrepresentation of what the wind really was at the time, but I guess it made for pretty good TV.

 

not meaning to switch coasts, but the best hurricane surf i can recall was Guillermo and Linda in 1997. could never forget that. back to back biggest storms ever recorded in the eastern pacific. lasting over a week each. both were cat 5 and went due north within 500 - 700 miles of Socal before turning out to sea. in fact, guillermo went to Alaska and ended up sending us NW swell a week+ later. still the biggest, best run of swell i've ever seen in Santa Cruz (which never gets hurricane swell), and it happened in early August.

Pleasure Point went from 4-6-8ft to 15ft - 18ft+ in a matter of hours when Guillermo peaked. no more sets....just endless waves. pure corduroy. i remember being out on a 6'0 when it started to step-ladder. one big set cleaned almost everybody off the whole point. i managed to make it over it and was stuck way out at the end of the kelp beds by myself. stayed way out there dodging everything just waiting for a chance to tuck tail and get back to the beach. the top of the point looked like mavericks or sunset beach. each wave was one giant, angry wall down the whole point, but clean. dudes i'd never seen before came outta nowhere on full blown Mavericks guns. mind blowing sh!t. thank god for the little lull that let me paddle in and catch a smaller one in (double overhead+ and foamy). made it to the bottom and my fins couldn't grip. needless to say i got dragged back in.

walking back up the point was a trip in itself. people eyes were bulging outta they're heads. just standing on the cliff staring out to sea like a UFO was landing. priceless

 

Floyd? '99ish... Standup barrels in the the Chesapeake Bay...best I have ever surfed it

 

G-L-O-R-I-A.......ha, I just moved back east after living in Cullyfornia. Was just advancing from clown status back then. Went to Seaside Heights to check out the scene on the day before it brushed us. It was huge and clean. I was all wow, " This place is great." I was young and stupid.

Saw "that island" in the Chesepeake going off during Hurricane Gabrielle(1989-90?). Went nuts from the bridge. Couldn't believe what I was seeing. Those were real waves. They were almost peeling to the friggin bridge. Almost.

1995 or 1996........there was swell from a hurricane from August through September. It was crazy. Nothing real epic but you could plan a surf with your crosstown bro for the next week knowing that there was going to be waves. Also took a trip to New Hammy and caught one dem points just as the swell was filling in and it was all mine(and a pals). Clear water. Beautiful little groundswell pouring in with enough punch to make the points work. Long workable walls with the colorful rocks below the surface making everything "Gruvi."

Isabelle got my court case postponned in Dare County Superior Court. And gave me like, 10 days off(with pay), and then it made the rest of the fall dead for tourism on the banks, which made me happy. Work was cake that year.

 

I was living in Cape May at the time... that was one big mutha of a swell, but maybe not as big down there as it was up here. Only vague memories of it, though... actually... only one wave: I dropped in on Mike, the owner of Kona Surf and Sport in Wildwood at Poverty beach... big gaping left. Cape may dudes couldn't stand it when the Wildwood crew, including Joe Gratolla (who I now admire and respect as a Jerzy Legend), would invade on the best days of the year.

 

Ernesto in NJ 2006. All time

 

gabrielle, bill, gloria, felix, bertha, floyd... all were glorious in there own way. lily was a personal favorite.