who here has been surfing this week?

Swell surprisingly kept rolling in on Saturday. Went to the Washout with the LB, and plenty of waist hi swell to dabble in. A buncha ppl as usual crowded one side of a jetty, so it was just 3 of us guys on the other side doing our own thang. Girls churned out, a group of them learning or just plain new sat on the side. Lotta hollering and what not, but it made for a good 3 hr session and plenty of cloud coverage all wknd - no sunscreen. Also surprisingly, caught my 2nd ever fish - a young catfish found while setting up at a sandbar kayaking later that day. Some surprises are whalecum

 

Surf all weekend.

Both days we ventured north to the high tide spot, but Sunday was really the standout. We were up early to feed the animals and decided to get on it before the crowd. In the van and rolling by 8:05 (which is damn early for the weekend if you ask me). Hit Port City Java for coffee, bagels, and a big mango banana smoothie on the way. If you are ever in the Wilmington area I highly recommend stopping at PCJ for a quick breakfast or lunch. It's just about the best you can do with a drive thru.

I'm just finishing my bagel when we make the turn for this particular island. Wait... got a brain-freeze from chugging the smoothie... ok I'm good. We pull up to the parking spot, were the first car in the lot, man I love August. Walk over the dunes to see waist high peelers and not a single other person out. Just for the **** of it I at the WB cam: Shorebreak, crowded AF, at $5 an hour. Eff That.

We surf for 3 solid hours, sometimes going a half hour without saying a word to each other because we're catching so many waves. It was one of those, drop in, quick cutback to the peak, and ride the wave the opposite direction to the shallow runner section. At one point it got so glassed off, that you couldn't really see the contour of the wave in front of you. It was dreamy.

We surf till arms are dead and tide is high. Make a leisurely drive back to town and hit Taco Bell on the way. Second Sunday in a row with Taco Bell lunch, we earned it haha. I had a bunch of to-do stuff when I got home but ended up lounging on the porch with the wife and cats for the rest of the afternoon. Left over ribs and lentil soup with jicama slaw on the side for dinner. Life is solid.

 

I went for it at lunch today. It's building, Laura swell rise from the gulf, creating bumpy conditions with stomach + hi standout sets here on Folly. Should be chopped up this evening, lo tide round dinner time anyhow. Enough bump to get ya a headache for sure. Took a handful of rides, it did line up pretty well given the bump. Had a good left that i carved out a couple sections on the 7'2 Hog Molly before riding out the white wash to shore. Tomorrow is very promising

 

Dude... how do you go from Taco Bell to ribs/lentils/jicama slaw? You gotta stay away from that fast food shit... you got skills, so no excuses.

 

Surfed my local with 40 close friends and their kids yesterday. Good southeast windchopppe on the outgoing tide brought some nice peaks in the shoulder to head high range. Plenty of nuggs to go around. Got a good frontside right with some speed and couldn’t see over the top so it was HH, and it started to close and I got a good kick out with some air out the back of the section and the crew saw it so I’m baaaack. Last wave was a good right into a close out head high floater and it was slo mo so I put my hands over my head and said HO! and stuck the drop on the inside in front of the grom patrol. Life is goode!

Today it was big gnar, the new crew were actually jumping into the inlet on the outgoing and getting sucked out to the peak like in the old days. I took a pass for this old ass. But it was fun watching the new crew getting some big foamy semi air drops off the peak, where the south swell would come across the shipping channel and hit the outside barely submerged rocks and go off. It was VAS everywhere else today.

 

Low tide lucky yesterday evening. Roommate been working all day so he was itching. I complied and it was still waist hi + sets. I've also never seen quite as much kookery as i did yesterday, south of the Folly pier. I saw two guys hugging the pier who couldn't stand up on their boards, so i said that spot's ours. 20+ ppl rolled in like 5 minutes after we did and we were surrounded. not gonna bother with all that sht, but i moved away and got sucked back in with the drift. Got plenty on the LB, lotta trim and one left stood out which saw me go 75 yards into the pier all while barely hanging on. Todayis i'll be strutting out there with a shorty boart - can't wait

 

LOL. What can I say? You're right.

But when you're sunburnt and exhausted, there's few things better than driving up to a window and a stranger handing you a giant box of tacos for under $10.

 

kinda bummed on the lunch sess. Buddy and I escaped work and tried escaping the crowds too, went up North Washout. Waves were just not hitting right on the incoming hi tide. Lil mush, inconsistent, and short rides. Went in with hi expectations, so kinda my fault but i think lotta forecasters got this one wrong. Will likely try this evening, somewhat a redemption for the handful caught

 

Good reading from everybody else! Always cool to see the surf lifestyle that everybody's living

I had a great time in Santa Cruz California I think I stayed just the right amount of time. Just like a few of you mentioned yes the water was cold but for just the four days I was there I was able to grind it out. Nothing epic to ride of except for just an epic great time. Waves were anywhere from waist to chest hi the four days I was there and just unbelievably long rides. It's always amazing to me after leaving the East Coast Florida and going to the Pacific Ocean how much better I seem to surf! I definitely believe there's a difference and how you catch waves in each of the different oceans.

As soon as I landed in Santa Cruz my friend scooped me up from the airport we went back to her place I literally threw my backpack in her garage and we both picked up a surfboard and walk to the ocean. You all know after a long flight how tired you can be but how invigorating the ocean is and how your mind will just work with you to get out and get that session in. We served two sessions everyday and play lots of music with some really fun folks. I don't think I could have been treated any better if it were family. Nope it's always nice not having to travel with a surfboard and having some solid friends in different areas is priceless.

I'm headed to Puerto Rico for 3 Days on Friday and I got my covid-19 style squared away today. My girlfriend's father passed away and we're going to attend the funeral who is part is she says it's okay that I surf while we're there. So I guess it will be a celebration of life!

I've been looking at the Dominican Republic her nice little surf spot get away as its borders are open to Travelers from the US. So I guess that's enough of my rambling I really enjoy reading all of your posts and I'll post up some pictures tonight or tomorrow morning.

 

Following this thread has taught me something: This time of the year, when the swells come from the south, whatever @UnfurleD surfs, generally gets to me about 12-24 hours later. Makes sense when you think about it.

Last night was awesome. Got out after work, in the water by 6ish. Big crowd at my normal spot out front, couldn't even get parking on my favorite street. I paddle out maybe 100 yds from my normal summertime spot to get away from the pack. Easy paddle out between sets, seemed to time it perfectly by chance, and just as I'm making it to the lineup there's a solid set looming on the outside. I dig in to get as far out as I can, turn around and do a no-paddle-takeoff right into a nugget. My wife is still paddling out so I do a deep bottom turn around her and slide into the pocket ahead of the white water.

I'm pumping (on my 9'6 noserider), floating sections, and racing to the inside. The wave kept lining up so I kept at it. I ended up on the other side of my regular spot. I must have rode a 1/8th mile. And this was just my first wave. I paddle back out and wifey is pulling into one. She makes it so far down the beach she ends up getting out and waking down to paddle out again.

As the sun starts going down the wind and swell pick up. I'm dropping into some solid nuggets with no chance of making it down the line, but it's so damn nice to pull into something with some actual power for a change! My last wave I get 4 turns and step off in 6 inches of water. Pick up some Chinese takeout on my way home. Between working 50+ hours a week and all the swell I haven't gone grocery shopping in weeks so the cabinets at home are barren. We eat and watch a couple re-runs of "Survivorman" and call it a night.

 

I paddled right after work. It was only me north of pier so i was pretty amped. Took out the 6'9 loehr fisch boart and made the most of a couple rides i could scramble on. Long period sets, so it was a waiting game which gave time for everybody to join up. I find myself joined by 20 or so ppl, one of them who recognized me the day before and talked about the kookery that day. I got a couple more and walked a block or so to get some more. Nothing epic, lotta of them just suicide drops, but better than that hi tide afternoon. Going around lunch once more, should be dying out. Got my eyes on the gulf yesterday evening tho after the sess. PCB is looking good, and like S.FL's swell i would like to be in the gulf in the white sand seeing head hi waves. one day, i'll make that trek

 

probably last post for a while. Leftovers today around waist hi. Long lines. Saw a buddy shredding on a short stick, but I was having a good time on the LB. They weren't dumpy neither, clean lines on the mid tide from lo to hi. Maybe sumtin on the wknd, but i'm not banking on it

 

So what's up brother? Everything okay?

 

Snuck out last night to a very disorganized HHH and caught a few but as it got dark it was hard to see anything in between swells. But I got to say when it's like that and a little on the Erie side and it's questionable getting past a head-high Shore pound it is quite a rush to get over that first bomb

 

I need a surf trip bad. Haven't been anywhere since Puerto Rico in February. Really need to get out of NJ for some waves. Crowds and conditions really getting on my nerves here. Total buzzkill. I could really go for a surgical strike mission to the Outer Banks for a distant hurricane swell.