It's almost time

Man I never could wear a hood. Sh*t just freaks me out. It doesn't get lower than mid 40s here. How cold does it get up north.

 

You would have done it if there was no other choice. I mean 7 channels on the tv, no internet, no video games etc. in the winter you went out of your skull and had to do something. For me it was drugs or surfing. I chose surfing even though it meant suffering.

 

and this was our swellinfo:

 

I wish! My only report was the feeling of the wind and eventually graduated to this phone number (842-4024) anyone from the Sandy Hook area of NJ would know this number.

 

About 5 years ago on lake michigan by bro didn't have a wet suit when he visited me in January. he went full ski gear, with snow suit and swimming cap under the beanie. He doubled up the snow gloves and wore ski goggles. if anyone has been to chicago in January, you understand that the ice covering the shore pylons and packs in the water is pretty thick. i had the jugs of hot water waiting on shore and he made about 3 long board rides before running in with an ice cream headache.

 

are u talking air temp or water temp at 40degrees.id definitely wear a hood if the waters in the 40s.here in nj,water drops down to around 36degrees,coldest month is January/February.believe it or not,on these days its actually warmer in the water than standing on the beach.this past winter was super cold.surfing in 2 degree air temp and 35degree water temps with howling 30mph offshores,getting sandblasted walking down the beach.these days separate the men from the boys

 

-32

 

lol - I swear some of you guys are retarded.

I grew up on the gulf panhandle. I wouldn't go near the water after oct...and since I never even saw anyone doing it (late 70s), never dawned on me anyone ever would. Water there never got below 60, but winter air temps hovered in the low 40s and frequently dipped to freezing, so, along with the low sun angle, the beach just felt creepy and arctic to me.

Now, I live where water temps rarely even get up to 60. I wear a hood all year long (keeps the sun and ear problems to a minimum) and booties for 8 months.

 

I can really relate to this. As kids (early high school), we'd get the grab bag wetsuit gear on sale at the local dive shop (Dive N Surf in Redondo Beach), whether it fit or not. Two left booties or 2 right hand gloves? No problem, just turn one inside out. The old, cracking, hand-me-down beavertail front zip wet suit tops were usually way to big. The tops made us too buoyant for diving so we'd fashion together weight belts from a several old SCUBA weights we found on the bottom.

We weren't surfing but diving - exploring, gathering abalone, or attempting to spearfish with cobbled together Hawaiian slings. We'd dive off Palos Verdes - Malaga Cove, Flat Rock Point, etc. Occasionally getting out to Catalina was a treat. SoCal in the early 70s was a fun time for our gang.

 

I'm sometimes hard on myself and wondering why it took so long to become a good surfer. I mean today there are kids surfing as good or better than me after 5 years in the water and I've got over 3 decades under my belt. Then I remember how bad the equipment was and how little money there was available to get the equipment that would help us excel. Seems even the poorest kid today has wetsuits and surfboards that are light years ahead of my jumble of hand me downs. It's funny though, I probably wouldn't still be surfing if it all came easy. It was struggling with all that crap that made me appreciate the whole thing even more. Not to mention the crazy stories that came out of it all.

 

As if the wetsuites weren't bad enough, most surfing was done on a 6'6" X 18" X 3" thick single fin pintail in 1'-3' mushy beachbreak. But nobody knew any better, and didn't really care. We were surfing, and that's all that mattered.

 

it still is. the web pages use '2 foot' as an ofuscator.

 

Dis tread is gnarly. Inferior wettys that don't come near to fitting. Ski suits on Lake Michigan in January. Keep talking about the good ole days, please old guys. It's refreshing to know that kids and people can be tougher if they wanted to. People are so soft now.

Question - how often did you guys go hypo? Like really bad hospital type hypo.

 

only twice that required a hospital trip. Sure plenty of other times with more mild symptoms.

 

I used to get minor hypothermia symptoms regularly. I can remember sleeping for almost 24 hours straight after surfing extremely cold waters in my old 4/3 suite with exposed stitches. My head would feel like it was on fire for 2 days. I miss those young and dumb days.

 

Suite thread.....enjoyed reading through it this morn.

Really gotta get some work done here though so i can paddle out this afternoon! Secret spot here i come!!

 

How'd you feel the days after that? Cold water can be real good for our bodies, within reason at least.

Keep the stories coming! This is why we respect elders. Lots for us to learn.

 

My biggest issue besides the neck is very poor circulation in my feet. I'm convinced its due to all those super frozen sessions. The knee down numbness was a blast.

 

I lived in central NY (North of Syracuse) then western NY for my first thirty years. Frostbite and Hypothermia on more than one occasion. Obviously not from surfing... Same deal with the lower extremities. I need booties when the water hits 60 or I can't feel my feet to pop up. It's weird with the hands though. Maybe so much nerve damages that I can't feel pain. They go numb at 70 degrees. I never wear gloves.

 

Agreed. Decades of working and surfing in the cold have ruined the circulation in my feet. I think it has made my feet even more susceptible to the cold. Those 1980s suits were so sh!tty but man we had fun.