When did Winter surfing become crowded?

Valid points and agreed, although it was offshore this morning where I surfed

 

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winter surfing has always been crowded... your just a lame a$$ follower and surf the most crowded breaks. do some exploring and you'll probably find better peaks all to yourself//

 

We were having this same conversation 20 years ago aboot our local break. Ebb and flow my man, ebb and flow.

 

lol a 4/3 keep me fine in 44 degree water we had last year in sc...my face on the other hand.. but i paddle a lot and catch a lot of waves i dont just sit there.

 

No no no...I never admitted discomfort, I said my stylee changes to basically survival mode on bigger cold days...I'm more likely to cruise on the shoulder and carve than to pull into barrels I would in warmer conditions.

The change-up after? Alright, it's a little chilly, but the warm up in the car after is heavenly. You'll never appreciate heat that much.

My 6/5/4 is the bee's knees, and my hands and neck are actually warm.

 

I have no experience with answering that question for New England, but I would say for the Delmarva area the uptick in crowded winter surfing happened about 10 or so years ago and might be a combination of several factors.

Surfers reaching retirement age, moving closer to the coast, and are now around in December and January where 20 year ago they weren't. This influx of retirees has completely changed the winter economy around here, which used to be non-existent. Year around jobs = year around surfers.

The kids of fathers who surfed are now old enough to drive and surf in the winter without needing dad to be around

Surf-predictin' websites and surf-showin' cams came about 10-15 years ago...Far easier to justify driving in cold weather to waves you already know are going to be there when you arrive.

Wetsuit technology crossed a line in the late 1990s - early 2000s. We (well...we who are old) all know how warm they are now and how much they sucked by comparison 20 years ago.

Anyway...thats my long winded, over analytical way of answering the question when did winter surfing become crowded. More than 10 years ago less than 20.

So with that said...theres a little wave out there today, sun seems to be peeking out, so I'm heading out to surf!

 

I miss what winter surfing was in the late 90s and early 2000s. Back then when school started the crowds of outsiders disappeared leaving the surf, particularly during the work week, to a small band of locals. Back then you knew all the guys in the water in the winter cause it was always the same crew. It was also the most dedicated and generally the best surfers........no kooks. There were a lot of surprise ground swells back then that only a handful of locals who checked the surf in person every day or multiple times a day would pick up on.

Surf forecasting, Surf Cams and cell phones put an end to all of that. I wish surf cams would become a thing of the past.

 

Say what!? I'd say surfing in NH has gotten *less* crowded, to the point where I'd prefer some bodies in the water on the bigger days. I surfed 12/31 in head high offshore conditions at NH's most popular spot with about 10 guys out spread out over various peaks. Even the points, when they're breaking, have been completely manageable, where in years past I would shake my head and go elsewhere.

Just look at ole Barry, he surfs virtually every NH session solo.

Better check yourself.

 

dude your complaining that one of the most consistently crowded regional spots in new England is....crowded.

theres SO many good uncrowded spots within a 10 minute drive of there. In fact every day this season I surfed tunic, i surfed better spots either before or after my session there. tunic is ok, but on days it was chest high mushy I was cruising into overhead barrels down the street. 80% percent of the time tunic's crowd is not worth the mediocrity of its waves (ive had some exceptions when its big). There is always a crowd regardless of the season if its worth riding and in my time spent surfing there (the better half of a decade) there always has been.

Blame the URI f@gs for that not the surf industrial complex that brainwashes the youth and sends em all up here.

 

at the end of the day,u have to realize the eastcoast is beachbreaks.well maybe new England has some reefs and points,but the vast majority of ec is beachbreaks,which means theres no special spot.u can literally surf anywhere aslong as theres a sandbar.

for example,il semi-blow up my spot lol,which is nothing new.im in nj.i live 10 minutes from sandy hook,so I usually surf between sandy hook and mb,depending on where theres a good sandbar and the crowds.go to the surfers cove in sandy hook any day of the year and youll see what a crowd looks like.most of these people are from pa and staten island,not even new jersians.now sandy hook,i don't know the exact length but id say its probably around 8 miles of beaches.u got fishing beaches,nude beach,surfing beach,and plenty of extra beaches.instead of going to the cove,try a different beach and youll see perfect empty waves.

right now after that wicked storm last Tuesday,where iv been surfing,at an undisclosed location on the island,the sandbars are really far out,id say maybe 70-80yards offshore.it kind of looks like how it did right after sandy,perfect sandbars,perfect beachbreak.a frame barrels,go either way u want.iv been surfing almost everyday last week by myself,with no other cars in the parking lot,nobody on the beach,nobody on the beach or water to ur left or right,just empty deserted beaches.and sea bright starting to come alive again.i don't have to travel far to surf,and I don't need to fight any crowds.it would actually be nice to paddle out with somebody else,its either paddle out by yourself,or paddle out into a 30+ people in the lineup.i see no difference in winter surfing from today to back to 2007

 

First person in the water determines where the crowd will be.

 

that basically sums up everything about winter surfing lol,to the fukin t!!

 

I'm very stealthy how I paddle out,iv had people try to follow me before,i just hop in the car and drive down the road lol.where I surf,u have to get out the car and walk down the beach for 5 minutes to see how the surf is.il see a car wait for me to come back to see the look on my face,il shake my head,they drive away,i take my gear out and paddle out