UPS AND DOWNS: Shots From The Weekend

I remember winters when there was overhead surf 3 times a week. I remember having the leisure of planning surf ventures days in advance. This has by far been the least sizeable and consistent winter surf season I have seen in over 6 years. I remember New England for giant swells in the middle of January and February. I remember howling offshores and blind take-offs on walls the size of buildings. I remember the Ocean scaring the crap out of me. I am sure I haven't been desensitized. I am positive I am not remembering false occaisions of epicness. I had so much anticipation for this season to out do the last. I can't complain too much, however, our Hurricane season kept us pretty satisfied.

        We can only cross our fingers and hope that our nearly swell-less winter will give way to a consistant and busy spring. I DO remember the years when all hope seemed lost in the months of January and February that the coming spring season seemed to explode with all the energy that was missed in the winter passed. Let's hope that jet stream shifts in our favor.
       On the bright side of things...there has been swell for the past few weekends and there is more forecasted for the upcoming weekend. Desperation is starting to set in. Hunger for double overhead. We can only wait, hope, and pray.

Thanks again to RJAMC for the water shots!!!!

Puxatauny on the money!

       It's Feb....the month after January and things seem to be warming up quite nicely. A 40 degree day with light offshore wind sunshine and 6 feet of swell were the last things I expected to be wrapped up in on Superbowl Sunday. Surfed a double session with some good friends. Our morning session was alright not so much power on the face but a mellow head high point break is what we ate for breakfast and by low tide the ledge was exposed and I was one fin box less. Went back to the house to grab another board and surfed __________ for 1 more hour.

        Lunchtime was easy going. The swell was stable and holding so we took our time eating and relaxing. Around 2pm we decided to check a different spot and it paid off in some draining barrels and some decent water shots. Needless to say it felt like Spring had arrived. The chirping birds and warm pavement made the walk back to the house surreal especially after the score we made. Mid-winter's 43rd annual contest coming up on Feb. 19th!! Enjoy. JB

Much thanks to Ray of NESURFADVENTURES.BLOGSPOT.COM  and JA for the photos!

Flatness

     There's nothing worse than a swell-less Ocean. In times of flatness I'd do almost anything to have 6-12ft @ 13 seconds. You have to look on the bright side of things though. We got a good amount of snow to play around with. I don't know about you but I love snowboarding just about as much as surfing. Backyard setups are something I love almost as much as charging through a glade in 3 feet of fresh powder. Just the thing to take my mind off the flatness. Just as the novelty of our make-shift quarter pipe wall ride and mini step down wore off a swell found its way to the coastline. I love how different swells turn a familliar break into a shifty mind game. Hopefully we're falling into a bit more of an active weather pattern from here on out. Where's the epic winter swell???? JB

Winter

    
     We have been lucky so far with a mild interlude from fall into winter. Now it is here and it isn't so mild anymore. The recent swell event was dark windy and cold. There were less than 1/2 a dozen surfers at choice spots in the area. The waves were pumping and the offshore wind was gusting up to about 40-50mph. Solid waist-chest+ with a rogue over head 1-2 wave set. SO CLEAN.
     It was empty when I showed up. One soul was looking at the break. It wasn't lining up so well due to tidal factors. This could only make you drive around out of curiosity. I checked a couple other spots and it looked worse. The wind was beating on the solid lines rolling onto various point breaks and sandbars. Not too impressed by the size or cleanliness presented by this swell I put hopes of riding my 6'11 to bed and focused more on my 5'6 LSD twinzer. That shape has proven itself time and time again in a variety of conditions.
     You can imagine it may have been a bit difficult to paddle into these waves. Timing and positioning were everything. Some waves seemed to drift right to you effortlessly holding back JUST enough for you to turn and go. Just 2 strokes and you felt the momentum of the wave pick you up. The wind would send beads of water off the back of the wave so violently that it was literally blinding on a few occasions. "It's like skiing through a snow gun" one surfer remarked. It wasn't exactly a warm paradise out there. In our own silent ways , however, we had found a piece of paradise in New England. Dark and stormy tubes all around. Empty waves up and down the beach and barely a handful of surfers in the water. On face turns were a challenge as was timing the perfectly etched barrel sections reeling through. All in  all I'd say Santa was a little late this year delivering surf but I'm not complaining. Surf on! JB

Strange Waves In Familiar Places

 SECRET SPOT IN MY OWN BACK YARD!

     Nothing is more exciting than finding a new spot. Nothing beats the feeling of discovery. Nothing beats living a mere 1/4 mile from the beach you surf at. Unfortunately I don't. I drive and drive and drive. Burn that petrol! It's only $3.06 / gal. It was a stormy Saturday afternoon. The surf reports were calling for building swell into the evening and peaking out in the morning. I kept a sharp eye on the cams and the wave heights. Nothing enticed me to shove $20 into my gas tank and put on 30lbs of wetsuit.

     I live in a small town with not much else to do but drive around play music and skate. So I got to driving around. Little did I know I should have had my boards and my suit with me. I have always had dreams of surfing my harbor town. I never fathomed it would actually work. I never imagined I would see what I saw.

     There it was! solid waist + high reeling along a man made pier. I was in shock as the sets kept increasing in size and consistency. Incoming tide was forcing lines to pile up perfectly along this stone wall. I watched in awe. I noted the conditions in case it would happen again. I had only seen this spot break during hurricane Bob and a few others. It never lined up like this however. The take off was sketch RIGHT next to the pier. Maybe a 20 yard section. I was satisfied just to watch it work. If I had gone home to grab my things it would have been dark by the time I returned to jump in. It looked like a great time for a long board. I still can't believe it. A bit choppy, not so clean, but RIDE ABLE! Next time.......

This Is Dedication

    An early morning alarm clock sounds. It seems all the rest of the world is fast asleep, all the rest but for a few dedicated souls. Darkness still casts its shadow over the land. Dawn is approaching quickly as is the time to arrive at work. All work and no play will only make matters worse. So you pry yourself from your warm bed. After all, it IS 28 degrees Fahrenheit and it COULD be colder. IT IS colder elsewhere. The water is a brisk 45.8 degrees and is dropping slightly every day. IT COULD BE COLDER. IT WILL BE COLDER. You arrive at an empty beach to find the first hues of pale greys slowly turn to hindered shades of the darkest most gloomy blues. The first signs of daylight. IT LOOKS COLD. Not too far off the beach you begin to notice white walls of water turning end over end. You notice it's lining up. You think it's head high. You won't know until more light finds its way to the horizon. You listen for the larger waves crashing like thunder on the reef. Excitement begins to gnaw at you much like the cold slowly eats away at your finger tips. You stand outside your warm vehicle trying to get an idea of what's going on 100 yards off shore. You've got nothing left to do but wait. Suit up. It's looking fun out there and you are all alone.  This is home. This is what you live for. This is what you love. This is what you need to survive, much like food and water. This is New England. We are a breed of our own. We have hypothermia breathing down our backs. We surf until we lose feeling in our feet and we'll do it all over again tomorrow. Eat Sleep Dream Live & Breathe Surf. JB
 

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

Cape Cod

Nothing beats a summer session anywhere on Cape. "Cod" Island has such a variety of sandbars to choose from. If the variety of waves isn't enough, it's got about 60 miles of shoreline. On top of that, the aquatic life to be seen out there is up close and personal. Whales breaching 1/4 mile off shore can be seen occasionally from the lineup and seals are not shy of surfers what-so-ever. The water is cooler than the usual spots which is nice to feel again. I could not help but to see an empty snow-covered beach with only but a few fresh tracks heading for the water. The restiction of a 6mm suit, the threat of hypothermia, the feeling of being the only person on the planet bearing witness to gargantuan Cape Cod waves heaving into perfectly groomed winter sand bars.  That is a feeling only New England can bring to my soul.  That is my true feeling of being "home".

GIVE ME A BREAK!!!

Here it is...the months we've all dreaded. Looks like our flatspell is over with a weak SW flow developing for the next few days or so. Even though the forecasted SW winds are not to exceed 30kts....there is still SOMETHING to stand up on. So yea, I'm taking an early lunch, running home, packing my gear up (including the water housing), and heading back to work with high hopes of a dusk session worthy of at least waist high water shots. Someone has to do it right? You can't really complain about windswell during the summer....but you can go out and destroy mini-peelers!!! My quiver is without my 5'6x20 5/8 fish(turned so hard I busted a fin bite out) so the old 6'0 Webber Taj T-Lite will have to do the job. Getting my gutless summer mush board back on Wed. XB has hooked up yet another FLAWLESS ding repair job. I heard they might be doing SUP tours around local estuaries and rivers (away from surf populated beaches)...anything to beat the flatspell and the heat...right? Oh, the summer crowd waist high windswell will bring....will there be 1 guy out, 5 guys, or 35 guys? This should be interesting.

ATTN: 8 foot baby Great White just got picked up by a dragger no more than 2 miles off the coast of Rhode Island. There's this certain spot....near this certain break where they have been consistently pulling baby greats out of the water for 3-4 years now....less that 1 mile crows eye from spots I surf.... What is this Africa? What's next?....Tiger sharks? Peace. Live to Ride. JB

Make Something From Nothing

       It's not quite summer yet. It's not quite flat yet. It's not quite tourist season yet. It's not that crowded YET. The coming weeks are truly the calm before the storm of tourist season. Shortly our early morning dawn patrol drives will be swarmed by shoobs from the greatest reaches of our globe. Our 1 hour 15 minute commute to Cape Cod surf will soon turn into 3-10 mile back ups that will put even the MOST core surfers ' patience to the test. If the traffic isn't enough NOW is the time of year we have to pay $15 to park at VARIOUS locations around the area. Of course (if you know the right people) there are many ways around closed lots and beach parking fees. Get creative....go meet some locals....get to know the right people. It's the only way you will survive another summer in New England. Nova Scotia is looking very temping right now with the brunt of this past S/SW wind field driving surf far into the northern reaches. Not too many crowds up that way. Stay warm, keep the sun block on, don't drink too much in the sun, and try to keep your composure no matter how hectic these summer crowds are about to get!! We'll see if they're still around come November. Peace. JB.

Loads of thanks to Joey Jones for shooting photos.
More to come.
Can you say Cannon with water housing?
Hope for surf! G'day