September 5, 2011 - Jeness Beach, Rye Beach, NH

Monday of the Labor Day weekend.  I had been studying the forecasts for New Hampshire and RI all weekend in anticipation of catching some decent surf from the low out at sea.  The surfing bug gets me every year around this time, because I know that any of these weekends could be my last surfing of the year.  Newport didn't pan out from our trip to Mattapoisett, but we got back Sunday night and the waist high swell was still happening on Monday.  So we set off after lunch for Jeness, since the tide was on it's way in (eventually).  I talked the parking lot attendant down from $10 to $5 for the "afternoon rate."  Even $10 isn't bad compared to Newport rates of $20.  The day was fairly humid with temps in the upper 70's, 10-15 mph sideshore wind out of the SW and the water was warm.  Waves were semi-choppy about knee-waist high with an occasional chest high set.  Most of the smaller waves required too much paddeling for a short ride.  These are the kind of waves I learned to surf on.  I got a couple of nice lefts on some of the bigger waves.  It was fun surf, but a lot of waiting for the right size wave.  I gave Melissa and Evan running rides on the tidal flats on the boggie board.  Feelin' pretty sore today.  The "Summer Sessions" surf shop moved into the plaza across the street..scored a great location.  We went to Las Olas Taqueria which was really good.  

August 13, 2011 - The Wall, Hampton Beach, NH

A free weekend, but the surf was almost non-existent. It was surfable until today when it got super small (figures). Laura's mom and dad came with, so I was able to try out my new Dakine cross bar pads which arrived an hour before. They worked really well. The waves were about shin- knee and kinda choppy with a SE wind, but nearly unsurfable. The water was warm though, maybe mid 60's. The ocean just looked ugly. I actually caught a couple of pathetic "rides". But the best part was I gave Melissa and Evan each rides on my board. They liked it a lot. Too bad there was no surf cause it was low tide. We played some frisbee and went to, ya, you guessed it, Fast Eddies. It was nice to spend some time with the kids at the beach.

August 6, 2011 - Nauset Beach, Orleans, MA

There's something about the beaches on the Cape that are so much more like being in the wilderness than other beaches. Our annual Cape camping trip had us slated to go to a "warm water beach on the south side, so my only chance to surf was to wake up at the crack and hit it. I got there about 7:00 AM. I knew it would be high tide, so surfing at all would be a crap shoot. When I looked, there were about 4 people surfing way down the beach and the area I was in looked like the waves were breaking kinda close to the beach, but it was surfable, so after pondering, for probably too long, I hit it. Waves were about waist-chest and you had to wait for a larger, further out wave, to avoid bailing in shallow water, or so I thought. I caught a few nice rides, but the bailout was not really a problem. The waves were actually pretty easy to catch and the drop-ins were really fun! Rides were about average length. Wore my full suit, but water temps were not that cold. Wind out of the SW at about 10. There was someone pointing a camera at me for a while, but I couldn't get anything going. More surfers kept arriving as I was leaving, some were stand-up paddlers. Also had a seal friend. The tide seemed to drop when I got out, but the waves didn't get any better. Surfed for about an hour. It was nice to catch some slightly larger waves in cloudy weather, solo in the early AM.  Not bad picture quality for a camera phone.

July 22, 2011 - The Wall, Hampton Beach, NH

I had been itching to go surfing for a while and Mike and his fam were up for vaction so we went to the Wall. It was a Friday that I took off from work. Based on the cam and the report, it didn;t look like much, and I was debating on just making it a beach day at Good Harbor. So we went anyways and stopped at Fast Eddies first for lunch. When we got to the wall, it looked like beautiful knee-thigh high groundswell, and that's what it was. This was the hottest day of a heat wave and it was about 97 degrees. The water in contrast felt like ice. I wore my 2 mil top in and my hands and feet got numb, but the air outside was HOT!. The tide was probably about mid tide and it was coming in, so we were loosing beach for the kids to play on. On to the waves. Small, but really fun and clean with a west/southwest wind. I caught some really nice long rights and Mike got some absolutely incredible shots with our new zoom lens. He figured out how to shoot in rapid succession. I had a couple sessions and got a fair amount of waves. I actually went back in with my full suit. Mike had a short session and caught one wave. The photos were incredible with the vivid blue/green water color. Went to the Beach Plum after for ice cream. I want to go back to the Wall soon.

June 15, 2011 - Assateague Island, MD

Well, I've added another state to my repertoire. We camped at Site #56 in the National Park. The Site was a walk-in site and was very secluded. It was incredible to wake up and have the ocean just over the hump. Beautiful weather in the 70's and 80's. We camped 2 nights and Wednesday was a full beach day. First time surfing this year and actually got in the water in June. I got a late morning session in with knee to waist waves and somewhat strong wind that made it choppy. Water was about 70 and I only needed by 2 mil top. I was the only one surfing, but there were some boogie boarders. Hardly any people around and wild horses on the beach. I caught some knee high waves and it was our first time using our new zoom lens to take surf photos. The waves totally flattened out in the afternoon and I just when I though there was no more surf, there was a decent pulse in wave activity and I got a second session in. Had to really pump and crouch to go anywhere. Seems to only work from mid to low tide. I'd definitely come back here for the camping and surfing.

September 2, 2010 - Jeness Beach, Rye, NH

The week leading up to this session was pure torture. Looking at the perfect forecasts and cameras all week from work. The plan was to meet Larry and Chris Pyott at Jeness. Mike Gagne was supposed to come, but bailed. There was a very uncomforatable heat wave all week, so it was great beach weather.. After heavy traffic coming from Boston to visit Bubbie, we didn't get there until 5:30 PM. The waves were defineity bigger than the forecasted knee to thigh, I'd say about waist-chest. A couldn't tell if these were the remnants of Danielle or the fore runner of Earl. Water was in the mid - upper 60's so I wore my 2 mil top, a near first for NH. This presented the problem of massive knee burns from the sand stuck in my board wax. I caught a bunch of waves, mostly rights, but the waves just did not provide the length of rides of the other day. Still it was really fun to surf with friends. After a while we all got really cold, even thought the air was hot. The relaxation factor was just not here though. I'm a little sore writing this the day after.

August 29, 2010 - Jeness Beach, Rye, NH

I got barreled! (I think)...or tubed or whatever. I was crouching low and holding the rails on a right when it happened. Awesome surf from Hurricane Danielle which was way out at sea producing some nice pacific style ground swell sets in the waist to head range. Mostly waist to chest high, but there were some occasional head high sets that would catch you inside. Got a lot of fun rides, rights and lefts,but there were a lot of swimmers to watch out for. I had to bail a couple time on the face to avoid spearing people. There were all kinds of surfers, old, young, girls, etc. The waves were really easy to catch and I actually got two sessions in! After surfing I helped Mel and Madison catch some little waves on their boogy boards. This was Mel's first time in surf and she did awesome! I was pretty tired by the end of the day. We got caught in a lot of beach traffic and went to Fast Eddies afterwards.

July 24, 2010 - Whitecrest Beach, Wellfleet, MA

So I'm writing this exactly a month after this surf session because I've been so busy this summer. I've realized that as of July 24th, I've only been surfing twice this year, partly because its been so flat and partly because we have been so busy with the new house. I was glad that I convinced everyone on our cape camping trip to go to Whitecrest since it is supposed to be a good surf beach and has easy parking access to the beach, however there were some comments from the back seat like "we passed a million beaches already." But we got there and it was flat, mostly because it was high tide. I figured it was so lake-like that I wouldn't get a chance to get wet. But as the day went on, the tide dropped and some people actually hit the waves. So I ran to get my board and 2 mil top from the car. The waves were knee high with a very occasional waist high wave or set. I caught a few fun little ones which were all rights because of the break. About 30 min into my session, Scott came over with his camera trying to get a pic or video, but of coarse I could do nothing but get snaked by some guy with an orange longboard. All in all, it was great to be able to go surfing when I thought there was no hope.

July 11, 2010 - The Wall, Hampton Beach, NH

The first surf of the year and of course, at the Wall. A great place for the kids to play at mid-low tide. The waves were semi clean and waist-head high, mostly chest high. Water was pretty warm and winds were from th north at about 10 mph. There was a bit of a rip current which would pull you out to sea unsuspectingly. You'd have to expend a lot of energy paddleing back in. I could some nice rides both rights and lefts. A couple of the were nice and long on the face. Had to either stay close in or go way out to catch waves, so I stayed in where there were more. The conditions kept changing with the tides. There was one time when I was trying to paddle out and about 8 chest-head high waves came in that I barely made over. Arms got tired and had some nice wipeouts. I almost hit some swimmers with my board, but they just said that was awesome and wished they were surfing. Seemed like tatoo day out there. Everyone was showing them off. The kids had a ball playing on the beach and in the water. Evan is loving the beach more and more. We went to the Grog in Newburyport after. Good food, good prices.

September 4, 2009 - The Wall, Hampton Beach, NH

I love the wall and in fact I think NH is my overall favorite place to surf. The great thing about the wall is that you can pay $3 to park for 2 hours and your car is right there. We all went up to get away from the house because we had several showings, and of course to get beach time and surf. It was a beautiful 75 degrees sunny, with a very light NE wind. The ocean was glassy and green with only a slight bump. Waves were small and only about knee to thigh with an occassional waist high set, but it was very fun and good exercise and water was really warm. I got a lot of fun rides, both rights and lefts. A couple I had to crouch down real low to keep going and one I had to pump around the white water. Surfed for about and hour and a quarter, but could have surfed longer. Since it was a friday in Sept. the beach was fairly empty how I like it. We got there at mid tide about 3 PM and stayed until almost low tide, so the kids had plenty of running area. After surfing we were playing with Evan's super ball and Mel through it towards the ocean. A seagull swooped down and picked it up with his beek and flew away. I have never seen anything like it. Melissa was not happy. We went to Fast Eddies afterwards.

August 25, 2009 - Horseneck Beach, Westport, MA

I'm not even sure this deserves an entry into the surf log, but what the hey. This was part of our week long Mattapoisett stay, which was really fun. I've been trying to go to this beach for 10 years and every time I go to check it out I get skunked. This was a couple days after the epic Hurricane Bill swell, so leftovers were likely, or so it would seem. The report for Newport looked like waist high and semi-clean and I know it was OK there, but we opted to go to the always SW wind blown poor wave quality Horseneck. I know there must be good surf here occasionally, but I would have to quit my job to find it. Anyways, it was knee-thigh and very messy short waves, so not surfable. I overheard someone say that it was clean right before we arrived so I think we might have just missed the swell since I did see a surfboard or 2 down the beach. Anyways, I went body surfing and it was pretty fun. Got some nice rides in warm water without a wetsuit. Parking was a reasonable $7.

July 19, 2009 - The Wall, Hampton Beach, NH

What a perfect beach day at the wall! Sunny 80 degrees, water 63 degrees, clean knee-waist, wind west at 10 mph turning south, full suit. There were so many people going to the beach today and even at 10 AM when we arrived. We checked out the wall first, but there was no beach for Mel and Evan, then we went to Jeness, but no parking, so back to the wall and lucky to get a meter. The tide was going out so Laura and the kids started with about 15 feet of beach. The waves were about knee to waist high and nice and clean. It was great to be back at the wall. The water was greenish yellow, fairly shallow and clear with no seaweed, much nicer than the cape was. I actually got to surf for about an hour and a half. I got several good rides including rights an lefts with some fun dismounts and a not so fun dismount where the fin hit my head. My best ride was a nice long right. Soo many people surfing, but soo fun!! Many party waves. Had to sneak by people several times. This was a renewal of my passion for surfing. But after ten years of surfing, I think it might be time for a new 4/3 suit.

July 11, 2009 - Marconi Beach, Wellfleet, MA

Based on the knee high forecast, I was thinking of not even bringing my board down for our camping weekend at Nickerson with the McKeons. But it being the cape, knee high really means waist high, kinda like the Hawaii mentality. We ended up going to beach on the windiest and smallest of the 3 days. The beach was packed and was still pretty small from the June noreaster erosion. There was a 15-20 mph south wind and the surf was choppy and bumpy but about knee-waist with occasional slightly bigger. I'm glad I brought my board. I got a few decent but short rides. Some rights and lefts. Although Scott and the kids walked up to watch and brought with them flatness. The waves were pretty mushy and kinda fizzled out at the end and you had to pump em. The wind blew me pretty far north and I got a good workout. After surfing, I put on my 2 mil top and rode some shorebreak with Zach. That hurt. And afterwards, you guessed it...the earlybird at Arnolds.

June 26, 2009 - Nauset Light Beach, Eastham, MA

This was my first time surfing this year. Seems like I get a later start every year. It was our week long vacation at Ocean Edge. There was a noreaster earlier in the week and this was leftover surf from that. I tried to surf the day before at Marconi, got suited up and tried to paddle out, but decided not to risk it. The waves were about waist to head, but there was a nasty rip current and it was my first time this year. I was kinda nervous the whole day about going out in post noreaster surf. We got free parking on my parents Golden Age Passport though. This was actually my first time to Nauset Light Beach which is just north of Coast Guard. It was real nice with parking right at the beach. since it was not really a beach day and sort of sprinkling, I had an audience of family watching me surf. The conditions were nice and clean and about waist-chest, but the waves had to be caught very late and steep or they would roll under you. Unfortunately, I only caught about 1.5 waves with the audience watching with cameras in-hand. It was real nice to get out surfing finally. Surfed for about 45 min. Dad got a funny pic of me hugging a wave. We went to Arnolds afterwards...great seafood.

September 21, 2008 - The Wall, Hampton, NH

Usually surf conditions "look better than they are" or "are better than they look." These conditions weren't bad, but it definetly looked better than it was. The weather was perfect...low 70's no wind, but the water was cold so I wore my booties. Waves were about waist to chest, but for the waist high, which was most of them, you had to catch them late or they would not have enough steepness. At times it was glassy and green. For the most part the waves were close-outs, but there was some good potential for a long ride on a face. There were a ton of people surfing, and I was getting really annoyed at 2 long boarders that kept snaking me and everyone else. The worst was this slovakian guy with a shaved white head. no etiquitte whatsoever. I did manage to catch a few decent rides, mostly rights- the end result being enveloped by the wave. My arms weren't the strongest so I got fatigued. Laura, Mel and Evan were very patient hanging on the beach. Afterwards we got the worst pizza ever at "Tripolis" in Seabrook.

August 29, 2008 - Nauset Beach, Orleans, MA

Wow. the surf report couldn't have been much more off. It said knee to thigh high chop w/ NE winds. I guess the conditions changed throughout the day because at 6:15 PM it was waist to head with SW winds and fairly clean. I entered the ocean in an area which looked bigger but with less people than another area. The sets were coming pretty fast and some were steam rollers. I almost had a slight panic moment when some big sets came, but I was able to survive. Had to bail off my board a couple times and duck under. It was a lot of paddeling and being aware of being caught inside. I decided to stay just to the side of the big impact zone and caught a few nice lefts. I caught one really long left in the face crouching from the wind blowing me over. After that ride I got caught in a nasty ripe current. I kept paddleing to get in but was going nowhere. Finally I had to take a couple on the head to give me a push in. This other guy was in my area and was a beginner and had the same problem. He had some serious bug eyes and was kinda freaky looking. The photo is from the coast guard beach cam (7:00 PM) cause our camera broke the day before.

August 27, 2008 - Marconi Beach, Wellfleet, MA

Second surf of the cape vacation. The Chaskelsons came down for the day and we went to Marconi Beach afer the signs said that Nauset Light was full. We got free parking to the National Seashore Beaches with the Chaskelson's Golden Eagle Pass!! The waves were pretty choppy due to the northeast wind and about waist high. Unfortunately the best waves were in the no surfing zone right in front of us so I went down the beach. I talked to a kid who was on vacation, tried to give him some pointers. There were only a couple people surfing and lots of swimmers cause the water was really warm. I used my 2 mil top. As for the waves, I got a bunch of really fun rides, mostly lefts and a lot of them with diving dismounts. Had one nice wipeout and my top filled with water like a balloon, kinda weird. Fun surf. waist high chop wind-nne @ 12-18 mph High - 9:00 am Low - 3:00 pm the conditions are POOR today due to the unfavorable North-east winds & unorganized swell.

August 25, 2008 - Nauset Beach, Orleans, MA

Monday morning of our cape vacation. I woke up at 6:20 and go there before 7:00 AM. Parking was free if you got there before 8:00 and left be a reasonable time. There were only a few people fishing and no surfers. Waves looked really good about waist-chest and clean but they were breaking very close to the beach. I pondered it for a while and then saw some potential. I surfed for about 45 min and only caught 1.5 waves. The one full wave I caught was awesome (chest high) except for the end when I had to bail before the beach. I got totally worked in the wave after it broke, but luckily came up unscathed in about a foot of water. One other guy was surfing near me and couldn't catch anything. Another surfer that I talked to noticed that all the locals were driving down the beach with their 4 wheelers to the good breaks. waist high plus wind-sw at 12 mph High - 6:28 pm Low - 12:30 pm WE HAD CLEAN CONDITIONS THIS MORNING BUT TOO HIGH OF A TIDE SO IT WAS HARD TO SEE THE FULL POTENTIAL OF THE SWELL. IT LOOKS LIKE WAVES SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY. THIS SWELL WILL SLOWLY TAPER OFF TODAY AND GIVE WAY TO WINDY CONDITIONS TOMORROW. WE'RE HOPING FOR SOME BUILDING SURF AT THE END OF THE WEEK.

July 19, 2008 - The Wall, Hampton, NH

My 100th documented surf session! I can't believe I went surfing twice in 8 days. Lance and I planned this mini trip to see Gov't Mule and go surfing. It was a really hot day, about 95 degrees and we got to the wall and it was clean and about waist high. You could tell it was still Bertha swell. The water seemed super cold and I woare my full suit. Lance has his brother's friend's board, which was a thick long short board. I caught a few rides, but they were pretty short. If the waves were bigger, these would be really awesome waves for long rides. My best ride was a long right that I had to pump to get in the face and then crouch down. I caught one a lances board to that was a good left, could get some good turns on it. We surfed for about an hour and then suddenly the wind switched from offshore to onshore and messed things up. The air got cold too. We sat on the beach afterward and ate pizza and drank cheap beer. Then we hit the cheese strip to see the show. My idea of the perfect day.

July 12, 2008 Jeness Beach, Rye, NH

We finally got to the beach this year after the Birth of Evan.  He is almost 4 months, so we decided to give it a try.  Air temp was in the 70's and the water was low 60's.  Wind was from the east at 10 mph.  This was the beginning of swell from Tropical Storm Bertha. The wave quality was very good being not too steep and not too mushy and mostly waist high with some chest high.  Pretty easy to catch.  But the "sets" were far apart.  Sometimes there would only be one wave per set and all 10 of us would go for it.  I surfed 2 sessions and caught only about 3 waves per session due to the lack of quantity.  But the rides I got were quality.  Both rights and lefts and a couple nice long ones.  I was able to work my way around the white water and back into the fase on almost all of them.  Jeness wasn't allowing surfing in the center area where all the good waves seemed to be.  I was pretty sore for a couple days afterward even though I didn't do a lot of paddleing.  Evan's first surf trip! 

September 20, 2007 The Wall, Hampton, NH

The nesurf.com forecast gave it the green light for this day with waist high clean swell. So I decided to get in a mid-day session before going to my job site in Methuen. I got there around 12:20 and it looked lame. It was low tide and almost breaking on the shore. Maybe the tides have something to do with where it breaks at the wall. Seems like mid tide is usually the best bet there. Anyways, it was rather clean with a light SW wind. I had to be positioned very close to the shore break to get rides, which I got a fair amount of in my 45 min. session. But the rides were milisecond in length before the wave completely collapsed. I wore my booties, but might not have needed them. It was nice to be out surfing on a beautiful day regardless.

August 25, 2007 The Wall, Hampton, NH

I'm writing this about 3 weeks after the fact, so it is kinda hard to remember everything. It was a really hot day and surf was up, so we went to the Wall. The tide was low, so there was room for Melissa to play on the beach. The waves were about waist high ground swell, but there were some long waits between sets. There was an occasional chest high set. It was a warm south wind, but I wore my full suit anyways. I definitely caught some nice rides. Got some nice lefts and rights. Finally I took a picture, first picture of the year. We got ice cream afterwards that melted quicker than we could eat it. Pretty fun surf.

August 9, 2007 Nauset Beach, Orleans, MA

This was the first day of our annual camping trip to Nickerson. Good thing we went to the beach today, cause it rained the next day, although it would've been free parking. We paid the $15 bucks for parking at 3:30 PM. I only surfed for a little over an hour, but it was fun. It was kinda messy, but the waves were peaky and about waist high. Sometime an accasional bigger set would come through. You had to be lined up right at the peak and catch it as it broke. I got some nice lefts with diving finishes. There was a lot of seaweed in the water, but the water was warm. I wore my fullsuit to stay warm anyways. Seems like there is ALWAYs surf on the cape. We checked out Whitecrest the next day, which looked like fun clean longboard waves.

August 3, 2007 The Wall, Hampton, NH

I had the day off to go camping at Salisbury Beach with Mike and Lance, but we decided not to stay overnight. They were fishing at Sandy Point, but we decided to go to the beach before meeting up with them. (If i'm driving all the way to the ocean, I'm going surfing, not fishing.) We ate lunch at a really cool 50's diner called Fast Eddies, then got to the wall at around mid tide, but it seemed closer to high tide. It was really hot out and the water was really warm (in the low 70's). The waves were about knee-waist and clean with a SW wind. I got one great left on the face and had a nice dismount. Also some nice rights with good dismounts. There were tons of people and a lot of swimmers to avoid too. I had to bail out on one to not hit some swimmers. The tide eventually got too high and the waves flattened. Mel and Laura ran out of beach sand and were on the rocks. Used my 2 mil top again. Good waves and fun.

July 24, 2007 Town Beach, Narragansett, RI

Went surfing after EPA oversight in N. Kingstown. Didn't get out until almost 5:00 PM. The beach was super crowded as usual. Waves were typical Town Beach waves, knee-waist, clean, but closeouts for the most part. I only caught about 3-4 waves in an hour, but had a couple nice rights where I was trying to beat the white water. Used my 2 mil top and got kinda cold.

July 15, 2007 - Good Harbor Beach, Gloucester, MA

This was my first surf of 2007. We've been so busy with stuff this year, we haven't had the time to get to the beach. We left for the beach after Mel's nap at 3:30 and decided in mid drive to go to GH rather than NH. Free parking after 5:00 which is nice and the waves were kinda messy (south wind) and about knee-waist. There were bout 10-15 other people out. I caught some ok rides but you really had to crouch and pump to get anywhere. I got out of the water when the sky started to look like it was going to thunderstorm.

October 9, 2006 - Good Harbor Beach, Gloucester, MA

This was the first time I surfed MA this year...kinda weird. It was a beautiful day all sunshine, 70s and light wind from the SW so all of us went to the beach for the afternoon for one last day of summer? There was actually a lot of people at Good Harbor, but parking is free this time of year which is nice. The tide was super high and there was a strong current pulling to the north so I had to keep paddling to the south. The water was nice and crystal clear, not to cold, and you could see to the bottom. Waves were waist high and real fun and easy to catch. Wind was about 10mph from the SW which created sort of a chop. I caught a bunch of rides during my hour long session but no real memorable ones to write about. One wave I had a nice late drop-in on that was fun. Could have used a long board today, but it was pretty fun. We went to the new Brickhouse Surf Shop in Gloucester and Woodmans afterwards for fried hell.

September 22, 2006 - First Beach, Newport, RI

After looking at the log I noticed it has been exactly 3 years since I have surfed Newport. We came domw to spend the day in Newport and to surf for about an hour. Actually I only got 45 minutes in, but it was fun. This was continued swell from Helene, an it was waist to head high. The wind was from the southwest so it was kind of crumbly. It was pretty hard to get out through all the white water past the breakers. The water was reaaly warm though and some people trunked it. I caught about three shoulder high waves which were easy to get into. I got a couple of nice fast long rides and the last one was a very long right on the face. I got one ride where the waves was clsing in on either side and then enveloped me in white water at the end. It definitely was not for beginners. RI is awesome in the fall. Better than yesterday.

September 21, 2006 - Jeness Beach, Rye Beach, NH

I had been watching the conditions and forecast all week and this seemed to be the most consistent week of surf this summer. The swell was from Gordon then Helene. So I finally got some time off of work and decided on dawn patrol Thurday. There was definitely some ground swell from Helene, but unfortunatly winds were a brisk 10-20 mph NW which made it almost impossible to catch waves. The air temp was only in the 50's at 8:00 AM also so it was chilly, but it was sunny. There was a wait in between sets and when the sets came they were almost always total closeouts that were too steep to get into. I talked with some other guy who was having the same problem. I wore my booties which kinda stinks. I didn't get any rides, but from the looks of the picture, I should have.

September 4, 2006 - Jeness Beach, Rye Beach, NH

Feels like its been forever since I've been surfing because the summer is slowly coming to an end, and August was very flat this year. Larry and Loretta came out this weekend so that me and Larry could catch some surf from TS Ernesto. The surf reports hyped it up pretty big, but it was very managable. Larry and I went up in the morning and the girls followed later. The waves were only about waist-chest and clean with a medium west wind, and actually dropped a bit throughout the day. I think it was bigger in the early AM. Waist-chest and clean is usually perfect, but these were the sort of wind swell waves that you had to get into when they were really steep and only got a really short ride (like 2 or 3 seconds). Just the opposite of that Cali groundswell. I got a lot of rides most all of them rights or straight closeouts. My best ride was one where I totally snaked Larry and got a nice long right. The water was pretty warm but it was really crowded. We surfed for about 2 to 2.5 hours. Fun waves regardless of the short rides.

August 3, 2006 - Cowell's Cove, Santa Cruz, CA

After yesterday I was actually content with not surfing anymore, but Lance was in town and Chris was coming down with his board from San Fran, so I guess it was going to be another surfing day. I can't really complain. Chris and I decided that Cowell's would be the best place to go because it is mellow. Lance and I rented NSP epoxy boards at Cowell's surf shop. I got an 8'6" and Lance got a 9'2". Based on how flat it looked on Monday, I was a bit concerned it might suck, but when we got out to the beach it was going off...one after another for a bout 10 in a row. I was actually concerned for Lance and was giving him pointers to make sure he wouldn't get caught inside. By the time we paddled out, it calmed way down. The lineup was packed as usual, but you could still score waves because it is mostly a beginners area. The timing of the sets was really stange. It would be flat for 5-10 minutes and then sets for a couple minutes, then an occasional wave. Some of the sets were chest high. I caught several real nice long rides. My best ride was on a chest high wave and I got the face of it the entire way. It was closing in on both sides of me, but I kept riding it past people all the way until it collapsed. The waves would build and build but if you were too far out you would miss them. Lance took a beating on his way in from a wave and his arms got sore. We were pretty tired from surfing for over 2 hours but the water was warm again. The others didn't get any good pictures, just flatness.

August 2, 2006 - Capitola Beach, Capitola, CA

JR knew I wanted to go surfing, so he called his friends Sara and Rebecca (twins) who had 4 surf boards. JR said they were sponsored. We met them at the beach and they had twin longboards (9') for use to use. This break was great for long boarding with about waist high clean waves. The main break was very crowded and almost impossible to get a wave. There was also lots of kelp to avoid. After about a half hour of not getting any waves, I paddled over to were JR and the girls had found their own break and the four of us were sharing waves. These were really fun little waves. I caught maybe 5 or 6 for about an hour. The waves would build for a while and you'd have to get in them when they were almost cresting, but you could get a pretty long ride. Longboards are fun! It was really cool of the girls to loan us the boards and it was more than I could have hoped for.

August 1, 2006 - The Cove, Santa Cruz, CA

We are on vacation in Santa Cruz for the week! I didn't actually go surfing this day but tried body boarding for the first time. J.R., myself, and his friend Shante went to their favorite spot, a small cove in Santa Cruz. I borrowed J.Rs body board. This spot seemed treacherous because the waves came in fast around this rock and were rather large. It was tough because you had to use your feet (fins) instead of your hands which is tricky. Everyone was piled in the exact same spot to catch the wave, but when one came you just had to go for it and disregard the other people. I finally caught one, but was unable to get onto the face and ended up taking a wild ride in the whitewater....I swallowed some water and then got tangled up in the leash while more waves came. My limited opinion of bodyboarding is that it is more dangerous, more difficult and not as fun as surfing. The water felt pretty warm though.

July 23, 2006 - The wall, Hampton Beach, NH

We were supposed to meet Lance in Hampton beach but he totally bailed on us and went fishing at Sandy Point...again? I don't get it.. how can fishing be more fun than surfing? Anyways, the whole fam went up regardless and it WAS fun. There was a big low pressure system off shore after TS Beryl. The water was so warm it felt like RI temps maybe upper 60's. I could have trunked it. Mel went in too (up to her knees) and had lots of fun. The waves were about waist high and clean with a light NW wind at 5-10 mph. Really good conditions for learning, but loads of people. It was those kind of waves that build way out, but you have to wait to catch cause they don't materialize until close in to shore. I caught a lot of waves today, but most were pretty short rides or closeouts, however a couple were nice long rides. One of note that Laura saw was a long ride on the face where I had to turn to avoid some swimmers that I freaked out. I actually got tubed for what a waist high wave is worth. Surfed for over and hour and a half till I got tired, but I could have surfed longer. We took a ride down to Salisbury beach and there were some nice clean looking waves there too.

July 14, 2006 - The wall, Hampton Beach, NH

I got up really early on this Friday to go surfing before some field work in Methuen. The cam looked really small, but when I got there it was really clean, and knee high. There were actually a couple of waist high waves. It was like 80 degrees at 7:45 already, so it was the perfest morning to surf. There was only one other person out there, so I basically had the waves all to mayself. I actually caught a couple of nice long rides on the face of some knee-thigh high waves. The water was really clear too and you could see the bottom. It was just really nice to get out there early and have the rest of day to myself. I surfed for about an hour and 20 minutes until it got really flat. The water was pretty cold but not as cold as last time. I want to try to do this again!

July 2, 2006 - Jeness Beach, Rye, NH

Well, I missed surfing in June, but we camped at Wakeda Campground in Hampton Falls this weekend. The campground was filled with RVs, some permanent residents. We went to the beach on Sunday and I managed to go surfing for a grand total of about an hour and 15 minutes which is pathetic considering how decent the surf and weather was. The linup was relatively uncrowded and the waves were mostly thigh high but fun. I caught a couple that I got good distance on the face and worked around the break into the face. The wind was rather strong from the south/southwest, but it didn't really affect the quality of wave which was good. The water still feels like ice on my hands and feet, but you get used to it. It was fun, but way too short. I could have surfed for another 2 hours. We checked out the wall the next day (beautiful and sunny) and it was super clean and about knee high but looked fun. However, I did not surf due to family obligations.

May 20, 2006 - The Wall, Hampton Beach, NH

Its been 4 months since I've been surfing and 8 months since I've been surfing in New England. The report said kne-thigh high, but it was definitely waist-head high. The water was still very cold so I wore booties an gloves. My suit is starting to get old and I can really feel the cold water rushin when I go under. It was kinda tough getting out, being out of shape and all. The waves were definitely bigger than I bargained for, but I did manage to get a couple nice lefts on some chest high waves before I got too cold. It was fairly clean with a southwest wind. There was one head high wave that I was about to drop in on, but chickened out. I probably would have bit it anyways. Only lasted about 45 min.

January 30, 2006 - Juno Beach (north of pier), FL

Its been a while since I've been surfing. We were down in Fl for a whole week and I was hoping to a get a couple sessions in but this turn out to be the only one. Air temps were in the 70's and water was about 70. Scott came up from Boca Raton and we came down from Stuart to meet half way. I used his 6' fish and he used one of his short boards. It was monday so the beach wasn't very crowded. The surf was about waist high and mushy and there was minimal wind, but a strong northerly current to fight. Waves were pretty hard to judge and you had to get into them late. I did surprisingly well considering I hadn't surfed in 4 months, and I was using a fish. I only caught 4 or 5 waves in the 2 hours we surfed, but it was fun. The fish was awesome and I am sold on one. It is very floatacious and manouverable!! It was great to wear only trunks and a 2 mil top! My whole body ached for 2 days after. Thats me in the photo.

September 25, 2005 - Jeness Beach, Rye, NH

We made plans to meet Lauren at Jeness this day as we had seen her the day before at Larry and Loretta's wedding. There was supposed to be good long range ground swell from Hurricane Phillipe. The report in the morning said waist-chest and clean...of course that was before we got there and the winds switched. The ocean looked so ugly and disappointing. It was super choppy with a stiff south wind and you could barely see sets through all the chop. I was able to get a few rides, some even on a face, but it was a fight against chop and wind. Occasionally there was a cleanup set that cleaned up all the chop (and people) for a minute and left a lot of foam. I only stayed in for about an hour. It was just too ugly to take any photos. Hope I can get 1 or 2 more sessions this year.

September 8, 2005 - Good Harbor Beach, Gloucester, MA

It's hurricane season! I met Larry after work and we carpooled to Gloucester on this dry sunny day. We didn't get there until about 5:30 and surfed until after the sun set when we were cold. This was long range ground swell from hurricane Maria which was giving all of New England good surf. Winds were light out of the south, so it was kind of bumpy and choppy, but there were definitely big sets in between the chop. Waves started out about waist high then it flattened out for 15 min and then it suddenly picked up with some real cleanup sets (head high?). There were times when you had to watch out for the big sets and not get caught inside. I had to jump ship a bunch of times and just dive under the big ones. I caught some nice lefts and caught one nice right where I cruised past Larry. My best ride was a wave that I got into way up on the peak and dropped in nice for a left. The wave just kept reforming and I had a nice long powerful left ride on the face. I thought I was going to have an easy dismount, but I just got piledrivin' into the ocean as the wave closed out on me. There were quite a few people out even after the sun set. Probably one of my funnest sessions at Good Harbor. I forgot to take pictures until we were leaving and it was dark.

August 21, 2005 - Jeness Beach, Rye Beach, NH

I had to update my surf log at the request of Scott V...there's actually people that read this. Larry and Loretta stayed over the night before and me and Lar went up in the morning and the girls, including Melissa, met us there later. Larrys friend Lauren (the long boarder)also met us there. There was a low off shore. The day started off cloudy, but turned into a hot summer day. Surf was about waist-chest high and kinda mushy and bumpy in the morning but real fun. We got a lot of good rides. Got a nice long 2+ hour session in the morning before the girls arrived. There were a lot of people to avoid, but the water was warm and there were some sizable sets. A caught a few nice chest high lefts where I was crouched low and pumping past some people paddling out. I felt pretty cool. We went in for session 2 (bout 45 min) in the afternoon and it cleanud up a bit. Caught more rights this time. I was super tired after surfing this day, but had a load of fun. Can't wait till hurricane season.

August 1, 2005 - Whitecrest Beach, Wellfleet, MA

This was another vacation day (monday) that was part of a camping, cape, wedding trip this weekend. It was a nice day around 80 and we wanted to go to a new beach we hadn't been to before. It's a real nice drive along Ocean View Road and then there are two small lots for Whitecrest Beach with a steep decline leading down to the beach. There were 2 or three spots that every one seemed to be suring in and the other areas were flat. The spot I went in was a shallower point area where the waves broke. It was packed with people, mostly kids. The waves were about knee high with an occasional waist high. I don't know why I did this, but I rented a super heavy foam board for $15. It sucked. I caught only a few crappy waves and it was just a waste of money. I had only my 2 mil top and it wasn't that cold. There was a lot a seaweed, so it was kinda gross. There were also seals in the water. The waves weren't bad for a fiberglass long board, but those foam boards suck. I will never rent one again, no matter what the surf. Cool beach...I'd go back again.

uly 29, 2005 - The Wall, Hampton, NH

Took the day off from work for this one. Tropical storm Franklin was out there producing nice swell. Me, Laura, and Mel went and the tide was on its way out. Air temp was around 80 and the water was pretty warm too. Wind was light out of the west. The lineup was pretty full, but you could find an open spot if you tried. Waves were great (bout waist-shoulder and clean)when I got in and I caught a few real nice ones before they started to break. Got some nice rides on the face of the wave and zoomed past some people paddeling out. As the tide changed, it got harder to catch the waves cause they flattened out. I think I was just in the wrong spot and got caught in a rip current. I went back in and the waves were much easier to catch as they jacked up quicker, but the rides were shorter. My best surf session of the year so far...

July 2, 2005 - Good Harbor Beach, Gloucester, MA

This worked out good...we were going to a party in Beverly at 7:00, so Gloucester was close. There was a due south swell which works well at Good Harbor and actually gives the waves some more angle and less close-out. We got there a little past 5:00 PM which is when they allow surfing. It was about 75-80 degrees, dry with a 10-15 mph NW wind...perfect conditions for clean waves which were about waist high on average with some knee and some chest-shoulder high bombs. When I got out, it was sparce, but got pretty crowded in about a half hour. I had some good rides and the length of ride was above average for the usual GH close-out. I had one awesome ride where I got into the wave late to go right but stayed in the lip up high as the wind held it up. It was pretty cool. More rights than lefts. Water felt like the low sixties., not too bad. Wish I could have surfed for longer... felt like I was in better shape than last time. That's Melissa in the photo...and her hair showing the NW wind.

June 5, 2005 - Jeness Beach, Rye, NH

Well...Its been almost 6 months since I've surfed. But it was worth it because I have a new daughter!! The reports said about knee high with occ. waist so I hit it early. Got to the wall at 9:00 AM and it was a good solid waist high with some bigger sets. The tide was so high that I ended up at Jeness again. The air temp was at least 70 degrees but the water was absolutely frigid without gloves so I had to go back and get them after a half hour. All the summer beachers were out too. There were quite a few people mostly long boarders out, but managed to stay away from them. Waves were clean with no wind and quality was pretty good. I managed to catch a bunch of long rides, but my arms were definitley out of shape. I could have done much better if the water was a bit warmer and I had more arm strength. Surfed for 2 hours. I need to do this more often...

December 12, 2004 - Jeness Beach, Rye, NH

Guess what?... We went to Jeness again. That's were we surf now, and its OK with me. Air temps were in the low 40's, water temps around 46, but there was almost no wind, so that kept us in the water longer. I wore my 2 mil top underneath my suit which is very restricting. I gotta get one of those hooded vests that Scott bought. So it was the three of us Scott, Larry and Me surfing together for about 10 minutes cause Scott was real late. He didn't get my messages the day before. Anyways, the tide at the wall was way too high to surf, water was crashing over the wall. I was kinda worried I'd be real cold, but I kept the white-washes to a minimum and it wasn't that bad. Waves were knee-chest high and clean. Beautiful surf conditions to start out...I was getting all kinds of nice long rights and lefts positioned on the face of the wave and rocking the board back and forth sidways to maintain speed and my position of the wave. The conditions changed a bit as the tide dropped, waves were more close-outs with less face. Had some nice drop-ins too, one where Larry said I could have got tubed if I went the right right instead of left and crouched. I ssurfed for about 1.5 hours, but Larry was in for longer with his winter suit. Took some videos with our new Canon camera.

October 31, 2004 - Jeness Beach, Rye, NH

Halloween. The last 4 times I've gone surfing, its been at Jeness. It seems to be a consistent break regardless of the tides. This was the tail end of a week long of head high surf that we both missed. Scott and I arrived at the wall at almost the exact same time. The tide was WAY to high to surf, but it looked like it would have been good if the tide was lower. It was clean (WSW winds) ground swell in the knee-waist range. The air temp was nice and warm in the 60's, but the wind was 15-20 mph. I wore my gloves and Scott wished he had a pair. The tide was real high at Jeness, but the waves were breaking much better and there were a bunch of people out, but it was only about knee-thigh high. Still these were reael fun waves. They didn't have much power, but the wind held the wave up long, so you could get long rides. I was getting lots of really good rights and some lefts. You had to angle yourself into the wave as you were paddleing to stay on the crest and get a nice long ride. Some of the rides you either had to pump or crouch down real low because of wind resistence. We had a 2.5 hour session and then checked out the wall again but the tide was too high. Scott went back in at Jeness, but I called it a day cause I was cold. Would have been a great long board day. Fun little waves regardless! Didn't bring a camera.

October 17, 2004 - Jeness Beach, Rye, NH

Scotty came down the night before to watch the Sox playoff (disaster) game and stayed over. We checked out the wall which was pretty clean and about waist-chest high with some closeouts. Decided to go to Jeness and park along the rock wall. It was about the same quality but a tad smaller but with a lot let people. The air was only in the 50's and wind was out of the southwest at 10-15+ mph so it was chilly. I wore my hood and then went back for my gloves. Alright, lets talk about surf. I got some good rides rights and lefts, but the winds and cold were a little harsh and frustrating. Scott had a few long good rides. They were nice and peaky so you could catch a direction, but it was tough to get around the white water and back into the wave. My best ride was nice long right that kept me going for a while. I got a couple of pics of Scott on his last and best ride where he did some cool turns. That's Scott in the photo. Surfed for about 2+ hours. Fun, but cold.

October 3, 2004 - Jeness Beach, Rye, NH

Met Scotty V. for some surf on Sunday morning. The air temp has cooled down to the upper 50's but the water felt really warm. Surf was kind of a mix of ground and wind swell with pretty choppy conditions. The water was a soupy mix of seaweed and brownish-green cloudy water. Winds were out of the NE at 5-15, but were out of the NW before we got there at 9:30 AM, so that messed it up a bit. We went in on the southern end first wich pretty much blew. The waves were really mushy and hard to catch but we did manage to get a few rides. We were kind of bummed before we went back in on the northern side of the beach and wind calmed a bit. There were some waist high maybe bigger mushy sets coming through. I caught a bunch of pretty decent rides, some that actually had some length although a lot were closeouts. Scott didn't have as good of luck with wave placement and being in the right spot. Could have used a longer board today too. Surfed for about 2.5 hours. Fairly fun.

September 24, 2004 - Jeness Beach, Rye, NH

Sizable ground swell from Hurricane Karl which was in the middle of the Atlantic. I took this Friday off, but I was surfing solo. Nice weather sunny in the upper 60's with no wind. Checked out the wall first which was flat with big sets far apart and kind of closeouts as usual. Parking meters were also still up in Hampton so I went to Jeness. ON my way up I saw someone ripping it up on a big wave at Foxhill. Jeness was about the same size as the wall, but you could catct a left or right on the waves. As I paddled out there were definitly some bombs coming through. There would be periods of almost flatness and then a monster set would arrive where you'd have to paddle out not to get wipped out. Some of the sets were head high and bigger, but not overly menecing because they were somewhat mushy. I surfed for a while on the most northern end of the beach, but I had a hard time catching a direction before the wave closed. Nonetheless, I caught some big ones! I then tried down on the main beach in my usual location and caught some nice lefts on some chest-head high waves. I was able to drop in and then carve back up the face and drop in again to try to work my way around the white water. It was pretty cool. A lot of paddleing and a real fun workout.

September 10, 2004 - Good Harbor Beach, Gloucester, MA

Its been a while since I've been surfing in Gloucester. I am still on half day Fridays and the report was waist-chest+ for today. I think this was accually the remnants of Frances. Scott and Alyssa were in town so I met them at Good Harbor. It was a half decent day with WNW winds, but the winds were about 15-20 mph when were were surfing at about 1:15-2:45 PM. The surf was definitely clean and about waist w/occasional chest, but they were total close-outs as you can see from the photo. Still it was pretty fun getting into the waves, but the rides were real short. We heard that it was better in the early AM w/ bigger surf and less winds.

September 6, 2004 - The Wall, Hampton, NH

Worst surf (if you could call it that) of the summer. This was supposed to be the tail end of Hurricane Frances swell. I knew it would be a little messy with a SE wind, but the reports said knee-waist and the WAM was showing a 3-6 long line. The waves that did come through wouldn't break until the beach. It was really lame. There were a ton of people around with boards, but not as many in the water. I stayed in for about 15 minutes and called it a day. This is almost not worthy of an entry and there was no point in taking a picture of a choppy lake.

August 28, 2004 - Coast Guard Beach, Eastham, MA

This was our official yearly camping trip to the cape so it was a crap shoot as to waves. Scott, Alysa, Larry and Loretta were camping with us. The WAM looked pathetic as the wind chop arrows were going out to sea, but when we got to the beach it wasn't all that bad. There were a lot of other people with surf boards. It was clean and about knee-thigh high and I actually scored some half decent rides given the small conditions. Larry should have brought his board, then we could have all surfed at the same time. What a goon. I hope he reads this. Seems like there is always some surf on the cape because it is so far out to sea. The water was super cold again and I only had Scott's shorty to wear. Nothing all that great, but fun. Photo was taken with my film camera which has a better zoom.

August 14, 2004 - Jeness Beach, Rye Beach, NH

This has been an awesome summer for surf! Me and Laura met Scott and Alysa in Hampton for swell from tropical storm Bonnie on this sunny Sat. We met at the wall and it was big and clean with some people really ripping it up. Scott was gung-ho to go out at the wall, but I looked for a while and saw some overhead sets and some nasty close-outs that made me think twice. There were definitely some barrels. I convinced Scott to go to Jeness and we paid 10 bucks to park cause the lot was full. Jeness was definely more tame and fun looking than the wall, but the water was frickin freezing! Winds were out of the WNW at 10 mph so it was perfect! There were beautiful clean sets coming throug in the waist to occasional head high range. I got a lot of good fast powerful rides, but most were rights and a lot of them closed out at the end. Scott was getting even more rides than me. A lot of them were hard to judge and you had to catch them as they were almost peaking. No too crowded with surfers either considering the good weather and surf. My arms were jello by the end of the day. An awesome day of hurricane-like surf! Best day since the cape.

August 7, 2004 - The Wall, Hampton Beach, NH

I guess the wall is officially my home break. I coordinated with Scott to meet him at the Wall this Saturday morning, but conditions were questionable. We went to Pioneers and CRs and Scott traded one of his boards for a WRV fish. Winds or lack there of were good, but size was a bit small. There were a ton of people in the water and the summer surfing zone was between the red lines. Waves were pretty pathetically small to start out (for about the first 1.5 hours.) Then waves suddenly picked up on the incoming tide. There were actually some nice clean rides to be had in the waist high range and occasionally bigger. I caught a ton of rides, as many as I could without getting in the way of other people. We surfed for about 4 hours straight until our arms were spaghetti and the tide was so high that catching a wave became dangerous. A fun day!

August 4, 2004 - Jeness/Wall, Hampton Beach, MA

This was the very start of ground swell from Hurricane Alex but it was pretty weak. (Reports in RI were chest and clean.) I met Scott at 2SI after work and we checked out the wall. It was about 80 degrees with no wind so the waves were clean, but the tide at the wall was too high so we went to Jeness. The waves reminded me of Cowells in Santa Cruz because the water was flat and super calm with no wind and then a knee or thigh high perfest wave would come. These were perfect small longboard waves. I got some long rights where I was crouching down low on the face of the small wave like longboarding. We stayed at Jeness for only about an hour and then went to the wall which was kind of disappointing. It was smaller, weaker, more crowded. You had to wait about 10 minutes for something that was big enough to ride. If the waves at Jeness were a foot bigger, these would have been ideal conditions. It was fun none the less. We surfed until 7:45 PM.

July 25, 2004 - The Wall, Hampton Beach, MA

I went to the wall for the second day in a row because Laura was going to Hampton to meet friends. I dropped here off at the mobbed south beach and I went to the wall. It was pretty crowded with surfers, not because the surf was good, but because it was a nice summer day. The surf looked pretty lame, and when I paddled out it was even lamer. There were a ton of people crowded into the only breaking spot and the waves were only breaking on shore. There was an occassional chance of getting an outside wave, but they were really flat. I caught one on the outside after paddleing my arms off, then decided to catch the shore break with everyone else. The last half hour I was out, it actually started to pick up with the incoming tide and the NE wind calmed down to almost nothing. The waves started getting more definition, size and length. It was about knee high for the first hour and knee-waist high for the last half hour. Overall probably a little better than yesterday.

July 24, 2004 - The Wall, Hampton Beach, MA

Me and Scott met at The Wall this rainy Saturday morning and it looked pathetic. It was clean when I first got there, but the waves weren't breaking until shore. In a matter of minutes the wind switched from NW to NE and made it choppy. It was so small and pathetic, but we went surfing anyways. There were about 10 other people out too. It was about knee high occ. thigh rides into shallow water. I got about 2 decent rides.

July 17, 2004 - Coastguard Beach, Eastham, MA

Forget Costa Rica...we have Cape Cod! This was part of our camping trip at Nickerson SP with the McKeons. Scotty V. Met us at about 11:00 AM. There had been a low off the coast for days giving a south swell. Ving got the surf report from Pumphouse which said knee-waist occ. chest. At the entrance we asked the park ranger how the surf was, and he said knee-thigh and mushy. Ok, this guy couldn't have been more wrong. We get there and its consistent waist high with chest high sets and clean with a 10 mph offshore SW wind. There were hardly any surfers in the 55 degree water too. Even though it was sunny and in the 80s, I'm glad I brought my full suit. We get out there and it is AWESOME! The waves are perfectly formed peelers and super easy to catch. I have never caught so many rides and so many good long rides in one surf session! I must have got 30 rides, rights, lefts, some of them real long like 12 seconds on the face of the wave, even did some carving. If you crouched really low on the biggest waves, you could almost get tubed. We surfed for over 3 hours and I wanted to surf more, but we had to leave. There were a bunch of those boxy headed seals not far from us either. I think there were actually more boogie boarders out than surfers. It was awesome, you could move to any location and still get great long waves. My WRV worked AWESOME in this surf. I wish it was like this every day. I'll even be bold enough to say that this was probably my best day surfing ever of anywhere I've been!!