October 28, 2023 - Sawyers and Jeness, Rye, NH

 Exactly one month after my last surf.  Last day of a 4 day indian summer at the end of October.  I figured this might be my last time out this year.  Some ground swell was forcast, but looking as yesterday's camera, I didn't think it would be this good or big.  The northwest wind was a little strong at 15 MPH, but kept it supper clean.  I set off alone again for this one and was pretty discouraged on my ride up, but surfing always puts me in a better mood.  Checkout out the wall, which looked good, but I decided to go to Sawyers where it was a little smaller.  It's also free parking after Oct 15 there.  Standing on top of that cobble berm, it was windy!  I wore booties, which were hard to put on and take off.  I need some new ones!  Also tried my new gloves.  They fit snug and all, but man, do they fill up right away with water and make your hands that much heavier when paddling.  Not sure I want to use these again, but probably will for a short session.  I didn't need them, so I took them off right away.  

I surfed for 2 hours, which is a long time for me.  There were some really nice waist to head waves, but the wind would often blow me back trying to get into them.  Probably could have had twice the amount of rides, if not for the wind.  My best ride was a left on the face - beautiful wave and as I get up on it I see a duck just hanging out in the face of the wave.  I really didn't care if I hit it or not, it was my wave and duck was not going to ruin it...lol.  I missed it by about 6 inches.  The wind really proped these waves up for a while, so you were better off catching them very late.  Getting into a wave, and one slightly wrong turn and the wind would stop your ride or stall you in place.  There were some cleanup sets where you ended up in a sea of foam, and a lot of that over the top spray with rainbows.  Somewhat of a battle, but it was a marathon.  I surfed for as long as I could knowing it could be my last session of the year, but maybe not.  The wind took me from Sawyers to Jeness, so I had a long walk back on the beach fighting the wind with my surfboard in hand.  Included the CR photo to show size.

September 28, 2023 - Jeness Beach, Rye, NH

There has been more surf this September than any other I can ever remember.  If I lived closer, I'd be there more often.  This was kinda spur of the moment "Its sunny, I don't have much going on at work, and it's a shame to miss all this surf" trip up to Jeness.  It was high tide when I got there, so Jeness was the best option.  Parked at the beach access trail for free.  It was pretty scare of people, but good waves.  Just a few surfers and dog walkers.  The ocean was very Pacific-like.  Seaweed, ocean smell, no wind, but sizable waves.  Just something about it, maybe it was that swell that is coming out of nowhere that is always present in the Pacific.  I realized that I could not put my modified booties on because there is too much neoprene that won't stretch.  Didn't need then anyways.  Used the RC again, my go-to board.  Got a few decent rides.  It was mostly waist-chest, but there were some occasional big sets.  My flat out best ride was a left that I caught at just the right time to get into the face and pump it.  It started to close out, but I worked my way around it and kept the ride going on the face for a while.  Sick!  Took some random shots with the SLR.

September 17, 2023 - Jeness Beach, Rye, NH

 This turned out to be a great day.  Hurricane Lee swept by the day before with really big clean surf, too big for me.  We planned to go to the beach this day because it was going to be sunny, warm and good waves, and we planned to pick up Melissa at UNH and take her to the beach with us.  It was great to see Mel after her initial first 3 weeks away.  Got a good parking spot right near Cable Rd.  I wasn't even sure I was going to surf after my ankle swelled up from a bee sting. I made the decision after I put my wetsuit on and it felt OK.  Mel did not want to surf, maybe too much on her mind or the waves too big.  I used the RC again.  Really liking the versatility of this board, not too big or small, light enough.  These may have been the best waves of the season for me.  Caught several rides, but you had to get in them rather late, or you would expend a lot of energy.  My best ride of the season was a right that I kept pumping and turning on the face for a while.   Caught some rights and lefts on the face, but after a while the waves were closing out more with the higher tide.  Great day of surfing and I'm sore today, but my ankle did just fine.

September 1, 2023 - The Wall, Hampton, NH

 There were a couple storms out at sea, and this turned out to be the beginning of a week long swell.  Too bad this was the only day I got, but it was good.  It was a Friday morning work day, so I woke up at 5:30 and was at wall just before 7 AM.  Surfed at 6th street to try to avoid crowds, but they came after a while.  People were already leaving, but the waves were solid.  It was probably waist-head and clean with some decent power.  A little tough getting out, but glad I took the RC, which is a little smaller and lighter.  I caught about 5 waves and a couple of them were just killer rights on the face.  Water was pretty warm, but air was cooler.  Was back home by 9:30.

August 19, 2023 - The Wall, Hampton, NH

 I really wanted to get out and do something this weekend, the beach or something outside since summer appears to be winding down.  Everyone except me seemed to be busy, so looking at the surf for Saturday morning, I decided to go it alone.  I wasn't expecting much, but it turned out to be a nice clean swell.  It was one of those clean, but short period where it builds, but you have catch them at the last second.  I took the RC and went to the Wall.  Water was not that cold.  I was at 14th Street and there were a lot of surfers being coralled south of 14th st by the life guard.  Waves were nice and clean though and I caught many.  There was a lot of wait time and if you missed a set you had more wait time.  Good workout, but I rubbed my chest a bit due to missing a bunch of waves.  

July 18, 2023 - The Wall, Hampton, NH

 I took the afternoon off from work so me and Mel could go to Surfing with Smiles, but it got cancelled due to chance of thunderstorms.  There was surf, so we went anyways.  But first we went to UNH to see Mel's dorm and eat a free lunch at the dinning commons.  We also got ice cream at the Dairy Bar.  From UNH to the Wall is a half hour on back roads, so it's not that close.  At the wall the swell was big enough to catch some decent rides, but it was somewhat messy.  The waves were too big for Mel to get past the breakers, so she stayed on the inside.  I think she has really been struggling with the conditions this summer.  We just need that perfect day and she needs to commit!  I caught several and few decent ones, but nothing too epic.  I had many nose dive wipeouts due to the conditions.  After we surfed, we did some body surfing.  We went to Cinnamons afterwards.

June 30, 2023 - Jeness Beach, Rye NH

 This was the Friday before an extra long 4th of July weekend and I took most of the day off.  Melissa and I planned to get up early and go to beat traffic and she had to get back for her Ed Sheeran concert.  We got there at 8:45 and parked near Cable Road.  There was some decent swell, probably waist-chest, but it was too big for Mel to get out.  Tide was high but the waves didn't calm until we left.  I had Mel stay on the inside, but she was struggling with positioning, timing and paddling.  I caught several good medium length rides, but they all ended in white water.  I think Jeness is our new beach.  Free parking.  Photo is from the Wall.

June 18, 2023 - Jeness Beach, Rye NH

 It was Father's Day and Laura and Melissa had just left for Puerto Rico.  Evan asked me what I wanted to do today so he basically couldn't say no to my request.  I haven't been surfing since October.  It was in the 60's and mostly cloudy, so perfectly no crowds.  Surf was about knee to waist with defined sets.  Parked at the beach access entrance for free.  So my goal here was to get Evan surfing.  He wanted to try, but I did not know what to expect.  I figured that the 7 ft WRV might be the most managable board for him because it's light and so is he.  I rode the RC.  He actually fit into Melissa's suit, so this was good - he would be warm, and he was.  Well, the first 5 minutes were awkward for him learning, but, not gonna lie, he caught on quick.  He was able to balance and he caught a few rides in mostly on his belly, but tried to get up.   I heard him hooting and having fun.  It was great.  His session ended when a set came in and he was off his board and the board ended up hitting him on the head, but not that hard.  It could have been worse, if a fin hit him in the head.  I told him to abandon the board and dive into the wave and let the board go behind him, something he has to learn if he wants to keep surfing.  I stayed in a little longer and caught some nice ones.  We went to the new CR's store after and he tried on a wetsuit, but wasn't sure if he wanted to buy.  I finally also tried out the action CAM and got a couple of videos.  They are very clear.