who here has been surfing this week?

You're a wise and honest man, RM. Wise to know what is and isn't, and honest to yourself and others about it. Stoke can't be fabricated, forced or faked. You either are or aren't, and you can't pretend either way. What I fear is that the day will come when the spirit will be willing, but the body can not. Will I be at peace with that, or will it torture me for all my remaining days? A question we all will find the answer to, some day.

 

Take full advantage of every surfing opportunity and give 110% every wave bro. No ,( I shoulda went or shoulda pulled into that ) JUST GO AT IT!!!!!

 

Asked similar questions many times. Plan to get into big wave surfing before then so I'll be OTF jaws asking this question, not the beach. Thanks for the food for thought LBcrew and Radabrad!

 

went this weekend.

Friday was weak and onshore...definitely stayed out too long (bad, if your gonna surf the next day). Highlight was a group of about eight dolphins doing some sort of mating ritual right next to me. Scared the sh!t out of me when four of them simultaneously jumped out of the water, five feet from me. I just curled up in the fetal position, sure at least one was going to land on me, but they missed. Don't know if they differ from Atlantic dolphins, but pacific dolphins are pretty huge, up close.

Saturday was overcast and cold, with a pretty stiff offshore wind. Even the small inside nuggets had some solid power, so I hung out there and got a few. Drifted into an area I call "suckers" (basically a long channel between sandbars) and kinda got stuck where the offshores were keeping me from getting into anything and the current kept me from paddling where I wanted to be. After too much effort, I was getting tired, so I drifted all the way down through what I call "graveyards" (that's where all the beginners and weaklings end up) which is a powerful, yet frequently closed out sandbar. I felt wiped enough that I let myself drift farther than I ever have and ended up catching one of the best/longest head high lefts I've had in years. Can't even count how many roundhouses I skashed on that one, all the way to the beach.

Sunday was sunny, junky and super crowded. Waves looked bad, so I just chalked it up to "morning sickness", waited a while...then paddled out anyhow. Surprisingly, some dude let me go on a left nugget, then I snagged a nice set right some kid bailed on for no apparent reason. Then it got to a five longboarders on each wave kinda deal, so I paddled out and walked all the way down to the spot I caught that kick-ass left on Sat. It was even junkier there, but bigger and only a few guys out. I paddled out and a beginner longboarder just handed me a really nice left...couple set up skashes, a solid roundhouse, then hauled ass down the line to a smashing fins out re-entry. Love it. Kinda pissed me off longboarder dude was letting all the good ones go (ones I couldn't get to in time), but that was also working in my favor. Anyway, got a few more before it got too junky for me. Good time, considering.

 

shot these before I paddled out last week...pretty much been like this for the last few weeks:



this spot loves south winds...unfortunately, we're getting an early shift into spring, which brings NW winds pretty much into September. No bueno.

 

thanks. Yeah, I'm definitely mellow...maybe too much. It does save energy...something of which I don't have excess. I guess the more mellow you are, the more you have to pay attention to what the other surfers skill levels are and keep an eye out for missed waves and nuggets that seem to pop up from out of nowhere. Good reflexes help, too, I suppose.

...and I hate crowds just as much as you do...just don't see the fun in it.

 

You'll find other routes for feeding the stoke. I've changed vehicles of stoke a couple times in my life out of necessity. Different platform, same stoke. You're right that there's no mistaking it, and it definitely manifests itself in different shapes and lights.

Raised the bar like James Cameron?

Tried surfing at OBSF last Saturday and the report had chest high swell with single digit offshoures. Those were fictitious as the notorious south wind whipped like mad. So I ripped the Carver through different areas of the city then unleashed a wrath on the skatepark. Total ham sandwich. Felt good. Real good considering I was sweating nutz and it's 0F back here on the EC.

Hey KR, good lookin out in your post the other day. I was only in Seattle for a minute on Sunday for work events. They were great but I had to fly back to Bostarctica on a red eye. I'll be back out there for sure in a couple weeks and you can count on charging bro.

 

Went out yesterday afternoon, really fun waist to stomach with a light offshore winds, cant wait to do it again today, it should be even better. This has really been one of the best winters for us in a while...got my stoke on.

 

that's what its all about

 

Like buttah!

I played hookey from work today from 9:30 till 11:30 and it was worth it! Small north swell about waist to stomach and very consistent with a light SW offshore breeze to hold the peaks up and groom it down the line. Water was warm, and clear and only a few spinners jumping well outside. No birds bombing bait and sun overhead with an incoming push on outside sandbar.

There was one SUP guy on the peak when I got there, but 3 waves per set = waves for me too! Another guy on a shorboard stuggling on the peak down the beach, it was kind of soft, the waves just rolling down the beach all orderly and clean and peeling slowly.

I took my longboard out, and got a bunch of long long rides, where the first move was to get around the section, then an off the lip or two, then a cutback to let the wave catch up, then a cheater five to the beach. Maybe 50 - 75 yard long cruises on a beautiful Wednesday morning. Tourists on the beach checking it out. Lucky for me the lifeguard showed up, but paddled out at the peak to the south - he is an expert longboarder who would have gotten half my peaks. Very cool of him to give a bit of space and keep the vibe mellow. The SUP guy would take off on the first one of the set, and I could line up the second ones, which were bigger, the thirds were ok if I wasn't lined up for the second wave of the set.

I got one extra one as I was getting ready to call it a session, and it was long and clean and smooth. Like buttah!

 

This makes two in a row, didn't get to surf this morning so I missed the head hi offshore wind thing, had to do that dirty four letter word thing....WORK... but did make out this afternoon, still a bit bigger than yesterday stomach to shoulder on the bigger sets and still had a little ssw wind which is still a decent wind for my break. The crowds weren't as bad as this morning so I caught as many as I wanted....all in all another great session. Have another round of swell coming this weekend....feeling strong.

 

Right on brother! I heard the inlet up there in Port Fierce is closed for navigation. Watch out for sunken barges.

 

Scored it like that in the morning and afternoon. Really fun jamming some lines on the new board. Even couple of cover ups. Man, 30 degrees is warm now…

Praying for more snow. That's an off day and potentially snow sesh. Whatchu Florida guys got on that?!??! Its like another dimension…and cold

 

Forecast was for about stomach high with NE winds. Woke up around 445, checked bouy. No luck it must be frozen or something. Decided to go give it a check anyway. Lately Iv been forced to surf a spot that hasn't been right since juno. To deep. So I get to the beach and an looking at it from the dune. Nice lines coming in, but small. Big thigh/small waist type thing. The had a fairly nice peel to them but looked alittle fat. And pretty lully. Tide was dropping so I decide to go. 98% of the waves were not worth it, they weren't offering much. I did get two right though that totally made the day worth it.

Both were rights, both were pretty damn similar. First one was a nice steep takeoff (considering the conditions) with the first section standing up a bit for me, right into one big smooth pump, into a little lip love tap/rentry sorta thing. Than the wave just die out. Second one was the same thing except on the rentry I threw my front foot forward and got into a cheata5 like stance and the wave stood up for a bit longer than the first. So I got a nice short pocket ride like that with white water coming down on my head. Than it died also. Nothing insane but on both waves my surfing felt smooth and fast. Felt good. And considering every other wave was a dud, those are the two I'll be replaying in my brain till tomorrow.

Besides those two it was a pretty skunky day. If you get skunked, but have fun anyway, did you really get skunked? I think not! Have a good one gentleman!

 

That's a good score report BM2. Could see the rides you were talking about. Those are all I want out of a session and would make it good for me. Planning on paddling out tomorrow into this frosty schitt. Report looks chest and clean...for now.

 

granted, I've never surfed long island (coldest I've surfed is 45F water in South Carolina), but getting my head wet early seems to help me from getting as cold as I would without...something about dropping your core and acclimatization.