My absolute love and adoration for the ocean grows exponentially each time I go into the surf. The ocean somehow reconnects me with my origins, whatever they are. I feel whole when I enter the water. When I slink along into deeper and deeper water, it’s like a monarch butterfly pupating from the caterpillar stage into the butterfly; I leave all the BULLSHIT behind and focus on survival.

I paddled out on my shortboard and surfed happily until I realized that my out of shape shoulders couldn’t power me through the water efficiently anymore. I slunk back in and switched to the bodyboard, and went right back out. Four or five hours later I realized I was DONE. I paddled back to my truck, got dressed, and relinquished my coveted parking spot to a lucky recipient.

My little ditty doesn’t end here. When I got home, each time I bent over, a tablespoon of salty ocean water gushed out of my nose. That’s what happens when waves tumble you shorewards. The sinuses store ocean water under pressure from crashing, and releases it when you bend over up to ten hours later when you least expect it.

Then, today, I felt like I was under the influence of schedule 1 illegal drugs (I WASN’T!!!). I was god damned high as a kite from the endorphins gotten from exerting my physical self for two straight days in mother nature’s fury.

Now, I do not know how anyone out there feels about what I just said, and I really don’t give a shit.

My point is that if you want to feel good about yourself, the world as a whole, politics, your financial situation, a crappy relationship, work, etc, find a sport!

Sink your teeth into that sport!! Attack it! Regain your youth by rediscovering how good it feels to leave your world behind you and become YOU again. That’s something too many people forget about (or never knew about to begin with).

Work. Relationships. Finances. Children. Aging parents. Customers. Siblings. Personal issues. ASSHOLE pWesident tWUMP’s degradation of our democracy (tRump is America’s number one ENEMY), all get left behind when you enter the ocean. All you want is to have fun and live to tell people about it.

Never surfed?

​I highly recommend that you give it a try if you haven’t. Without the hope in my life that surfing gives me, I would be dead inside.

70f, full summer, still wind, 17 second periods, big and growing waves.

It’s really exciting to surf in conditions like this. Not that crowded.

I surfed for hours in warm clear water, just waiting for it to build up but I guess it will not be getting bigger like it was supposed to. That’s ok, season just started. I’m going to sleep really hard tonight after four hours of non-stop paddling!

The sky gets lighter little by little, minute but minute, mile by mile.

HOWEVER, I do not give one shit about that surf session. It was solely preparatory work for the upcoming winter season which starts tomorrow, with the upcoming hurricane “Teddy,” a category 4 hurricane that will pulverize ships at sea and give surfers waves for four days. Big waves. Dangerous waves. Fun waves.

This is Tuesday, and if you would like to see the power of global warming combined with the ocean, hop in the car and go see it for yourself Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Not quite dawn patrol, but close. Phone cameras are really getting better.

Just a few in the water.

This winter the storms are coming at steady one week intervals. FOUR SUNDAYS IN A ROW, this one makes five. It looks like one hell of a storm too fri/sat/sun.

The color indicates the obvious, and the length is long fetch for large period groundswell. Long periods gather up all the little shitty waves at less than nine seconds and shoves them all into huge waves over 12-13 seconds (time between the peaks). These waves are not to be underestimated, and can do lots of damage to shorelines and boats and people. Ireland, England, Spain, France, and Portugal will be the beneficiaries of this storm in a week with waves over 50-60’ tall. Killer conditions.

Wind shifts between noon and six into favorable conditions, and that’s when you’ll see my truck there.

Just heard this again. Can’t wait for Friday, Saturday.

Songs in head. Water and coffee in belly. Testosterone in veins. Heart in throat as we slide down ten foot wave faces in 30f air with 25 mph wind.

Keeps us aliiive.

Wave sizes and intensity is growing from this morning’s predictions. Gonna be a doozy \/\/\/

Newest update:

Ok- the reality:

I got there- holy shit I have never been in stronger wind. Full throttle wind gusts almost knocked me over the cliff and down the global warming eroded muddy slope. My favorite place to surf looked like World War Two-era North Atlantic naval warfare movies. More white than water, totally unsurfable.

It sure was interesting to go there and see the unmolested wrath of Mother Nature having her way with mankind. Dangling state park signs whipping around dangerously on their chains. Large trees toppled over on top of power lines stretched down almost to the ground, about to snap. People’s clothing pressed against the upwind side of their bodies.

I seriously almost got knocked down a few times.

Typical winter sky. Drab. Bleak. Possesses just a smidgen of hope, like our threatened democracy.

Ok, I got there and got in around 9:30, parking lot completely full, 100+ surfers in as if it were a hurricane swell. Crowded!

Sky dreary, waves loud, front row seat as I get my wetsuit on.

No wonder the parking lot was completely filled. It was a large, perfectly formed blend of nice weather, weekend day, powerful waves, and storm winds.

It was cold- I got out and warmed up a while then got back in and surfed another three hours... didn’t get cold again!  More surf coming fri/sat. Winter surf is great.

Add incoming tide- 2-3' and it looks ok. Bringing longboard just in case. Two wetsuits too in case I want two sessions.

Sometimes going to surf is a crap-shoot. Sometimes I surf like a pro, sometimes like a beginner. The waves looked ok but I just couldn’t surf on them. I’m thinking it’s been a long time since I went, and maybe it’s the short period- who the hell knows? I don’t really care as long as it doesn’t happen too often.

This is a sport that doesn’t recognize those who deserve recognition. If you are an out of shape fat lazy slob (self description), Mother Nature will remind you Just who it is that’s in charge out there. It won’t be long before you wish that you hadn’t had that extra food, how you should have taken up a getting in shape attitude while you weren’t surfing.

It was great to surf again, but on this particular day I was reminded how important it is to stay in shape so when extraordinary swells arrive, I can go out there for HOURS. As it was, I surfed about four hours and felt it for three days afterwards.

Hopefully, I’ll have great stories this winter from the storms that visit during the kkkkold months.