Thoughts on this winter

Scored today pretty good. Few guys out, then only me and one other guy scoring back to back barrels. Sure it was only waist to chest high clean, but I had a fking BLAST out there and that's all that matters. My stoke jumped from 1 to an 8.5/10. Totally happy to score good waves, uncrowded, and cold.

 

winter sux, especially this one... except nail rips

 

VB looks like it might be fun tomorrow. I'll probably regret missing it. Will be up in DC for a day.
Water temp around 39 - about the lower limit for my 4/3. I got out last Saturday for an hour. Snow was all along the beach and in the parking lot. Don't see much of that down here.

 

Crazy how this winter just keeps producing...and producing. What was the forecast for today? waist high wind swell? OCMD this afternoon:

 

Waist to Chest forecast for MD.

 

Solid chest to shoulder in northern MoCo for the late afternoon sesh.

 

Crazy consistent for the past couple weeks. finally got a nice warm day to go with some waves (although that kid without a hood is nuts). OCMD this afternoon:

 

i know what you mean...up here in maine today had a super chilled out session from 7:30 - 10:30 am...the best i've had in a long, long time. the bigger days (chest, head) can be great and all with super strong rides, but i'm finding i much prefer the mid-range days here with a solid period, glassy conditions, no wind, a little sun. the waves here are so much easier to navigate in these conditions...exactly the ones we had today.

i paddles a lot today, but it finally wasn't to hold position, or regain position due to being blown all around by the wind. the paddling was only to catch waves, and to get back out past the break...to me the conditions today were what surfing is all about. maneuvers were just for survival and navigating the waves, it was really pushing to wave to be the best ride possible. and the sets were just about endless! only once or twice in a 2.5 hr span did i find myself thinking, 'i haven't caught one in a while.' sometimes i'll be out there and waiting and i'll wonder if i still know how to stand up if i happen to get one again...

hope you are able to find a day like the one we had up here for yourself soon...it's truly cleansing.

 

you get out today? higgins was spectacular early AM...if not, sorry you missed it

 

Glad you scored. Been wondering if there's been more than the nothing here in MA up where you guys are at. No scoring since Sat. Were you at a beach break?

 

beach break for sure...the mrs has the week off of school so i got really lucky in going out today...was the only one out for about the first 30-45 min and i couldn't believe it. but more eventually showed up, but it was real cool. i think the vibe i got was everyone was just so happy to have some not fargin north pole air temps, and no wind....that and there were sets everywhere for everyone...really haven't seen it like that...i think at all...it was just breaking everywhere and consistently. i'm gonna be holding on to this one for a while. been telling everyone about it (the conditions) and they don't surf, and they're just like, 'oh cool...whatever, dude'. oh well, you guys know what i'm talking about.

 

This winter has been an awesome one for me. At the end of november, I kicked off my winter season with nice chest-head waves and clean conditions. From then on, we've had a significant windswell almost twice every week! But with the good comes bad. I am getting very sick of the cold. This winter is lasting way longer than I thought, and i really don't want to be wearing my hood til may again like last year.

 

I know I keep saying how good it's been down here, but really, it's been really good... best Winter for me, maybe ever. Picking the right spot for the swell was key, not falling into the trap of hitting the same spot, knowing which beach reacts to what swell / wind direction is what made the difference this year for me.