Bring on the winter days.

Nothing felt more familiar than the bite of the cold offshore breeze as I suited up for the final ESA surf contest of the year. Memories of years passed surfaced in my mind as I drove to Narragansett and donned my wintersuit for yet a second time this year. It was as if I were re-playing each of the passed 9 seasons of surf in slow motion. Every wave, every turn, every barrel streaming across my inner vision like a cluttered collage. Honestly, I didn't care who won the contest. I didn't care how the waves were. I just wanted to qualify for the Regional Nationals. Didn't even check the cam before rolling out on an hour trek to Gansett. Just called the hotline to make sure the comp. was still on and it was. I arrived to find SUPER clean knee-waist high peaks strolling across a primed sand bar. To my relief, it was contestable. I found my way over to Pan's truck to see what the deal with the contest was. He and Ron were stoked to see such clean conditions. "Yea, you're the first one here, we're gonna run it reguardless at 10:30am. We'll see how many people show up.", Said Pan.  I was pumped for the small surf. I LOVE SMALL WAVES just as much as I love the gigantic stuff. Small waves take skill and finesse it's SO EASY to over power a wave and get spit off yet the reward for tossing a huge turn and flying down the line of a 2-3 foot face is something only a surfer can tell you.  Everyone was stoked to see waves for the contest and practically everyone was free surfing before the event took place. It was tough not to get in the water before hand. Yea, the surf was a bit weak but it was still playful. We all made the most of it and if there's one thing in surfing that's important it's HAVING FUN. I'm sure we all did. Next up: 43rd Mid Winter Classic in Feb. Hope to see you all there making history for yet another year. Ride or Die! JB