Surf today

Unusual-for-me late morning trip (9am) to surf. I usually leave at three or four am but the conditions dictated otherwise today. Who wants to sit in a parking lot waiting and waiting and waiting?

Wickedly underestimated storm caused power outages, train cancellations, and enormous waves with powerful winds. As you can see from this graph- that was an enormous storm that kicked up decent waves.

Conditions were good but everyone and their brother was at the best spot. You can see the crowd through the spray. This is a sheltered spot, yet look at what the wind does to these waves.

This place had smaller yet great waves but too many people jostling for position- a game I do not like. Most people are decent but then there are the testosterone-laden punks who sometimes create agita- who needs it. This is possibly one of the best spots on the east coast to surf. I’ve seen barrels big enough to drive trucks through. When it’s big, it’s SCARY. Lots to lose if you screw up here.

Global warming erosion gets worse and worse after each storm. Asshole tRUMP needs to address this in a serious manner. Do not hold your breath for that to happen, he is so CORRUPT.
​This is a place where I used to climb back up after getting washed away during big storms. I’d climb back up through the weeds but the weeds have long since vanished.
This this is virgin soil and hasn’t seen the light of day since the glaciers dropped this sediment out of the ice 20,000 years ago. Geologists can firm up that guesstimate.

Looking over to my right was this wave. NOBODY surfing out there. The waves were 3X+bigger than spot number one but the currents four times worse and the wind ten times stronger. It’s a point break.

These waves are called A-frames. One can go to the left or to the right of the lip. Room for two surfers per wave. I don’t mind the huge waves, strong currents, nor the strong wind if it means that I can surf with just a few people, or alone. Conventional wisdom dictates “never surf alone”, but I do it A LOT.

NOW THIS is what I call a good swell, no wonder the oceans are eating up the land. The storms are POWERFUL now- not just the hurricanes. I sat there for a while thinking about nothing, watching, wondering why nobody else was in the water here surfing, and I kinda figured that I'll never know the answer to that.

I see waves like this, and I do not hesitate to get in. Most other surfers like better conditions and do not mind the crowds, whilst I do not like the crowds, and would rather surf in less than ideal conditions if it means that I do not have to fight for every wave. Some day I will opine on the type of human interaction that sometimes occurs whilst fighting for waves. 

I got in feeling a bit apprehensive due to the "do not surf alone" mantra, but once I started paddling, I got more comfortable with myself and my best friend, mother nature. 

I have another rule- you gotta surf for at least the same period of time as it takes to drive there and back- almost four hours. It's just kind of a habit of mine that I usually am able to keep up with unless the water is 38f. Then it's really hard sometimes to follow through on that self-imposed obligation. 

I sat there waveless for half an hour or so, just not in the right spot. THEN, all hell broke loose. I found my good karma, and took wave after wave after wave. Some others started getting in and things got a LOT more settled. Then it seemed that EVERYONE from the other spots got in with me, and the crowds I detest joined me. 

It is unlike me to end a good surf session without a song stuck in my cranium, and this was the one that my subconscious self pulled out of thin air.

Great unknownish band with good tunes. Ok, so the lyrics are a tad shallow but the tune sometimes gets stuck in ones head and stays for a while.