Another Winter Surfing Piece by Lutha Leahy-Miller

Early winter, December windiness, January frosts. NY winter surfing – waiting for calm winds and pumping waves, but also, brightest winter sun. Arctic blast go outs may be fun for some, but for most long-time winter surfers fun is dependent upon winter-friendly conditions.

Calm wind / blazing cloudless sunny winter days with chest to head high surf aren’t all that uncommon in winter however. Two, three, sometimes four, five, or six times a month in January, February, and/or March the waves can be bombing and perfect. Flawless offshore conditions, wintry ground-swells and sun blazing down under a borderless Northeastern Winter sky. Sun that beats down nicely on your hooded 5mm or 6mm winter suit to the point where you feel warmth and comfort inside your black as night neoprene cocoon despite the frigid 36 degree NY ocean temps.

Usually, I take a sort of sabbatical in either late November and/or early December due to the droning days of endless blustery winds. But then, just after that yearly month of windiness, most often in December and this year a month later in January, we normally start to see less wind, more sun, and the beginning march of winter ground-swells churning up from the South from December through March…

It is much harder to surf and maneuver in all the winter rubber, and my winter boards are slightly thicker and longer than my summer boards, but many of my best rides of the year end up being in the dead of old man winter’s frosty eye.

Last year my best shack was in mid January at mysto spot X…

Big cliffs, earthen spiked peaks jutting skyward, dirt from up top fluttering down every once in a while in balled little clumps, a few gulls, a seal poking his head out of his blue-leaden crisp icy ocean, my feet in their rubber clad boots finding their own way over a cobble ridden path on the way down to the break. Ice surfer’s wunderland / no man’s land / winter emptiness / no crowds / unsullied animal experience…

On this frigid mid-January day the wind is NW at 15-25 kts and the wind chill was 26 below zero. Solid sheet glass mini ice-ponds in the Montauk parking lot where water-filled potholes used to be… On such Arctic winter’s days the azure sky rings clear and bright.

I stood on the beach for a few minutes scoping it out before I went in. This day I decided on riding my 6’2” x 18 5/8” x 2 ¼” kustom CI Tangent. I had had it made specifically for winter waves like this. The little bit of extra meat just to compensate for winter paddling in my 5mm Patagonia R4.

There was no one out in the green algaed winter water save a slippery grey spotted seal. The biggest sets were topping out at a good 3-4 feet overhead, and the wave was coming in hard and square out, off, and in front of the point. You had to drop nearly straight down sideways though the frozen almond green barrel right upon takeoff. Kind of gnar but compared to Hawaii it was nothing. (Except for the duckdives…) So you had to take off dropping straight down sideways into and through the barrel to make the section, and then on your side opposite the wave mid-drop there was the rock; a huge boulder inside of you. But then the one main side benefit of a 5mm suit, (beside insulation and warmth) is padding, body armor. If you get bounced of the rocks or your board in a 5mm it hurts a hell of a lot less than in a pair of boardies…

Anyway, a short while later I’m out alone in the lineup. Most of the waves are around head high but some overhead sets are coming in every few minutes and then every 10 minutes or so a nice big one rolls through topping out in the 8-10 ft range. Solid top to bottom open almond wintergreen barrels. Betwixt cobbles and boulders you had to lace your way, through the tube section upon take off, and then all the way to the inside. Not bad and only one seal around for company.

After a while paddling and negotiating the winter sea currents, I finally stroked my way into a solid one. I saw it start to rise up out at sea, then a swung around, began digging in as best I could against the resistance of the neoprene 5mil, and after some serious effort, began to free fall straight down sideways into the barrel, just barely hanging on with my one inside fin and the very end of my round-pin. The icy glass wall rose up on my right side field of vision in a weightless dropping free fall. Heaven and bliss time suspended. My wave of the year right there. Barreled off my nut in 36-degree water and donning more rubber than the Michelin Man. I got shacked and rode that wave all the way to the inside and then caught a few more. After about two hours and 15 plus waves or so, plus that one ride of the year, it was over.

Tired and happy, I caught one last wave to shore and began the walk alone back up and away from the state reserve. Back to the world of tar and parking lots and motorways and commercialism and bullshit rhetoric and honking horns and ego trippers and conceited bankers and real estate salesman and sleezy politicians and post 80’s dweebs with obnoxious hair helmets and bad ties and faux locals who only dwell here on weekends or summers, and so on and so on.

As I was leaving one of the old rust patched diesel Montauk fishing boats clunked by and at least, I felt, there was still some realness left in the world. At least there are still some uncrowded days and some real people and a day free of salesmanship. Inner peace starts with reality and unfabricated experience. No BS = happiness, wintry bliss and no one around, save a seal…

NOV 2011 DAWN PATROL

Dawn patrol last Weds. Super frigid air-temp conditions hovering just above the 20 degree mark in the Pine Barrens when I awoke at 5am. I groggily sneak to the back door so as not to wake the wife and kid and crack open the door. I can hear the swell pounding outside my house, it must be big, or at lest head high in worst case. Out in the front yard I see delicately frosted pale-green-grass curls, swirled perfect circlets, all over in repeating patterns. Out the door and down into the basement I go to select three boards for the day. In the end, what look good to me are the RPD 5.8 rocket-fish, my 6.2 CI Tangent if it’s big enough, and the 5.10 RPD swallow tail. I load them into the hatchback, grab my hooded 4/3, boots and gloves and I’m off.

An hour or so and a 20 oz 7-11 cup of coffee later I’m out in MTK checking spot x; no one else around… It’s huge!! Double overhead at spot x, but the wind’s wrong. Spot y is more manageable, but too much whitewater and again, the wind is still wrong. But, the sound and the smell of the briny salt sea morning air feels incredibly good, even though some of my knuckle joints ache from the decades of cold water surfing. It feels a little circular disks of cartilage are lodged between my thumb and pinky knuckles in the 1st and 2nd joints that emanate from the base of my hands. Slight gnarl from winter water-time spent, and going gloveless in 54-degree waters for a few decades on end. Brine morning mist and young winter’s stark sunshine peel over blue and broadly, from the far out ocean horizon to the little and shrunken, cold dirt-sodden cliffs on the beach. Cobbled rocks, stones, pebbles, and grainy sands roll under the swells lashing the beach as Atlantic waves do, in their rhythmic/timed cold water fashion.

I spend about 30 minutes carefully looking over ‘spot y’ from a few different angles before deciding to move on to more peaceful waters. There is still no one else out, and my medium-large wave alter ego is nowhere in sight, nor is Sammie with the 8’ CI gun which I am hoping to ride… Or rather, that I am hoping to paddle out on. Lots of water moving, too much in fact for the 6.2 chippy chip that I have erroneously brought in the back of my car. I should have strapped the semi guns to my roof, but, the buoy was down and I really didn’t think the waves would be that big…

Ditch it is I guess, and so I pack it in, and walk back up the trails to the parking lot and get back into my car, driving off to waves of lesser glory and smaller posture, but at least my boards will work there. And, maybe the wind will be better. Damp NE winds are never really any good in Montauk’s hinter Atlantic regions. Oh well.

Back in ye accursed olde dirt lot, bright-pale brilliant-blue cloudless winteresque sky expands wide overhead, and nothing beleaguers it—perfect/clear. Dirt lot nearly empty. The dreaded dirt lot. More kooks in a square mile than is possible anywhere on earth, (except maybe LA). There’s only two or three cars. A kind of van of some sort, and two Range Rover surfers who just keep wandering around in circles wondering if they are really going to have the balls to paddle out in the chest high burgers or not. Over and out to the right, where the jetty used to be, there’s a small gaggle of paddle-faries, some doing well, most looking ugly. Out in front though, there’s only two guys out, and the set waves are coming in clean and regular every few minutes, with the sets topping out in the head high range every so often and with clean and friendly November conditions.

I stand there on the grass bluff puff thing for a while. Just above the beach trying hard to decide what board to ride. Then, all of a sudden there is some yelling in thick NY or LI accents;

“Motha-blankety-blank! MUTHA-A-A-BLANK!! CALL ME FAT MUTHA BLANKETY BLANK!?!?!”

And then the other voice yelling back, “Yeah you fat %$^&!”

Then they’re both on the ground. Two bald-grey old men rolling around in the nearly empty Dirt Lot at 7am. And one of them is for sure, a bellowing heifer of a man. The ‘MUTHA-BLANKETY-BLANK’ guy must weigh in at a minimum of 245lbs, and his pork-barrel gut sticks out of his t-shirt and clothes like a pregnant women’s belly pulling 9 months to the day. Not a pretty sight. I’m wondering if I should step in but I see quickly that they can both handle themselves and that they know each other and then two friends of theirs show up and break it up anyway… Besides, they’re both waay bigger than me…

Ditch, the heaviest spot in Long Island?! Has it come to this? Ridiculous wankerism being fought over not even the waves? To what deepest low have we now sunk to as a subculture? Oh the shame of it…

Let’s just go surfing to have fun again!! That’s the whole point of it all anyway. To go have fun delving into nature’s watery folds and to feel and experience, the ‘glissante divine’ of it. The cool-glide feeling of the briny saltwaterness, flowing over our rails and cutting in deep with our fins. That’s it!! The whole point of surfing is to have fun, in the weightlessness, the effortless glide, or the g’s of the turns, or of the style of execution of it.

Pure aqueous joy…

Anyway, the day turns out to be fun in the end. Every 5, 10, or 15 minutes or so there is a solid head high peeling left that, although a bit on the slow side, is long and fun and bending all the way in, to the little old beach. There is something to be said for length of ride alone sometimes I guess, even when snappiness and pockets are not a regular occurrence.

Anyway, 2-3 hrs of semi-regular head-high sets and peeling slow backside lefts are still fun, and even though I was on a board somewhat too thin and too short, I had fun just riding drop knee all the way to the beach nonetheless…

After a few hours, it seemed to be slowing down a bit, so I decided to get out of the water and maybe head back home. I caught one very long drop knee ride all the way from the left end of Railers Beach to the inside right section on the beach nearly one parking lot over. I couldn’t imagine how fun it would have been on one of those 6.3 Christenson Submariner’s that Marko and Timmy sometimes ride…

Backside drive off a single fin alterna-shortboard with perfect rails-a-floating, nothing like that… Nothing…

Anyway, after 2-3 hrs, I was tired and so got back in my car and headed home; to East Quogue…

Fun day.

©2011 Lutha Leahy-Miller

Summer Surf 2011 by Lutha Leahy-Miller

Summer 2011 was a summer of shifting beach breaks, fat small wave swells, thick boards and booming crowds. Even the good days were fattish and a bit on the weak side, not as crunchy as usual. Was this because of higher sea levels? Lack of swell? Or am I just getting older and fatter? Perhaps all of the above..?

Well, in reality I am lighter than I was in 97, so that’s not a factor. Plus, I’m in better shape for the most part. In reality it just was a summer with very few head high swells, and so the 5.6 Merrick Biscuit was my board of choice nearly all summer long. Many other guys and girls were riding the Motorboat or lust logging it up all summer long.

Local beach breaks right by the shop were the place to be, and Ditch nonetheless was more crowded than ever. Bankers, hipsters, trustafarians, and ye olde time locals clogged the place to the max! Not to mention the surf camps blowing up everywhere from Westhampton to Montauk. People were heading from Ditch to Southampton Hospital in record numbers this summer due to endless array of surf accidents between surfers and stand up paddleboarders alike. Two or three serious injuries resulting from SUPs caused Lars here at Main Beach to re-enforce his advice about taking SUP boards very very seriously in ocean waves.

There were a few good days however, and those days were excellent! Although, they were still barely overhead. Another big thing this year was the Quik Pro, and that contest held in Long Beach, NY at summer’s tail end proved very exciting for nearly all of the surfers in NY. After the final with Slater vs. Owen Wright, Channel Islands’ Fred Rubble, the board Slats rode in the contest, became the most sought after board in the shop!

Finally, this fall, the very first SUP race ever to be held in the Hamptons went off in the town of East Hampton. Lars won 1^st place, and from now on Main Beach will be organizing a series of SUP races every summer. This will sure to become a staple event in Hamptons’ summer sporting events…

Now it is nearly November, and the water is just about cold enough to start wearing winter booties and 4mm wetsuits. The dark half of the year is nearly upon us. Six long months of the surfing year when come epic waves, Nor Easters, and the most frigid of temperatures when we are forced to don our super-thick hooded winter wetsuits, booties, and gloves. Six long months of little light, short days, and lonely winter lineups. An endless march of pumping swells, and rarely anyone to share it with except the seals. Paradise…

Fall & Winter Paddling in The Hamptons

October 21, 2011

As the autumn winds started to blow this October it reminded me that my paddling routine was about to change. During summer, one can get out on the water, literally any day of the week in a bathing suit and rash guard and be totally stoked. User-friendly surf sessions, beautiful flat water touring, challenging race training paddles, thrilling down winders, truly there is always a session to be had with minimal gear requirements. Of course, UV protection should be part of every paddling session regardless of the time of year.

During the fall, the local paddling is still first rate, but you will need to keep your beach vehicle packed with a wide variety of gear. I will often have 2 or 3 wet suits, as well as, a couple of pairs of booties, along with multiple paddles and boards lashed to my truck so that I am ready for the variety of conditions that may be presented on a given day.  A plastic tote box or gear bag is a nice addition to a beach vehicle in order to keep items organized and the interior of vehicles dry and clean.

The early fall (up to Columbus day) is a fairly user-friendly time frame with prevailing light winds, warm days and cool nights. Usually, a spring suit (short arms, short legs) or board shorts and a neoprene top along with a pair of reef booties will provide plenty of warmth for outings on the bay. For some really warm days, also known as, Indian summer days, this line up may prove to be too much and in that case you can substitute a rash guard for the neo top. Should you elect to venture into the ocean for an SUP Surf session or down winder you can get away with a spring suit, but you may require a stitched 3/2 mil full suit with your reef booties.

The late fall season brings more North winds and rougher surf. Both of these contribute to fun paddling sessions, along with the need for different and heavier types of gear. North winds are synonymous with clean surf; something all traditional and Sup surfers look for. Fall storms and Nor Easters can bring great waves and winds that make for amazing down winders and super challenging big wave surf conditions. If you are looking to charge big waves or scream down the beach during a down wind paddle session, this is a great time for you to be on the water. On the bay a stitched 3/2 wetsuit matched with 3 mil booties will suffice, occasionally, you may want to add a wool beanie or lightweight neo-cap.  Going on the ocean will require a taped 3/2 mil or even a 4/3mil suit, with a minimum of 3 mil booties. On colder or windy days, some people will add a light weight neoprene cap.

One notable factor associated with fall and winter paddling is the changeable weather we encounter. The nice, warm weather stretches we enjoy in summer are usually shorter in the fall and often we will go from warm and pleasant conditions to cold and windy or vice versa in a given day.  My personal experience has been if it is nice in the morning go for it, if you wait until the afternoon, conditions may have changed adversely.  Similarly, if it is nice on a given afternoon, do the session, tomorrow may bring completely different conditions.

As winter approaches in early December, air and water temperatures are dropping by the day and this marks the end of paddling season for most folks. For those of us that continue to paddle locally, we will need to have top quality gear that will protect us from the cold weather and waters of the North Atlantic winter season. In addition, we will work longer to prepare and enjoy shorter sessions in the water. Choose your time on the water carefully in the winter. Light winds usually equate to more enjoyable time on the water. Windy days are usually associated with frosty wind chills that can cut through the best water sports protective gear. Always dress for water temperature! Even the best paddlers fall in and can get in trouble.  Hypothermia can set in quickly and being dressed properly is your best defense against such a scenario. On the bay a 4 mil taped full wetsuit with 5 mil booties and gloves along with a neoprene cap would be an appropriate outfit. A 5 mil wet suit or a dry suit would be fine for colder days. Most SUP-Surfers will wear a 5 or 6mil wet suit with 5 or 7mil booties and gloves in the ocean. There is no better feeling when entering frigid water than knowing you are warm inside of your quality winter wetsuit outfit. When in the water, be aware of your body temperature during cold water sessions, particularly feet and hands. These will get cold first and sometimes will start to sting if you wait too long to get out and get warmed up. Not unlike skiing in the mountains ignoring cold hands on the water can lead to frost bite.

In summary, I would like to leave you with a few simple guidelines to follow when embarking on a fall or winter paddling session.

- Always be prepared for the conditions you are paddling in to.

- Check your gear before every session. Board, Boat, paddle, leash, wetsuit must all be in proper working order.

- If the surf looks too big or you are unsure if you can handle the conditions you are facing on the bay or ocean, do not go in. Wait for conditions to calm down or go to another spot that is more user friendly.

- If you are not sure what equipment to use, check in with a more experienced friend or contact a local paddle sports shop for advice.

- Always use a leash. When Stand up Paddling, it is what keeps you attached to your board. When kayaking wear a PFD.

- Never enter the water if you do not know what you are doing (i.e. surf protocol, paddling skills, cold weather experience). You will hurt yourself or someone else.

- Always dress for water temperature. Just because it is a nice sunny day with light winds, will not change the fact that the water temperature is near freezing.

- Always paddle along the shore when on the bay in winter and always have a partner in the surf zone or on open water.

- Educate yourself about winter paddling and the proper equipment that is required. – Visit a local paddlesports shop and try on wetsuits and check out other gear. Most shops will be happy to spend time with you during the colder months when business slows down.

- Have fun out there as that is what it is all about.

Rick

Main Beach Surf and Sport

http://www.mainbeach.com

Main Beach Surf and Sport Stand Up Paddle for Ocean Rescue

October 9th, 2011: Lazy Point, Amagansett

Main Beach Surf and Sport Sponsors the first ever Stand up Paddle Race in the Hamptons.

Conditions were perfect as racers lined for the start, blue skies, temperatures in the low 70′s. As the gun sounded racers pulled for the Western end of Hicks Island.

Scott and Lars got out to an early lead and the battle for first place in the 14 foot elite division was on. Surftech’s 14 foot Bark Dominator was the board of choice for most competitors in the 14 foot division.

As racers made there way along Hither Woods the winds shifted to the West and conditions improved, setting up for a real down-winder..

Rounding the corner into Fort Pond Bay, racers started to feel the effects of sprinting 6 miles.

It is very gratifying to cross the finish line in first place. Notice the chocked up grip on the paddle for the final sprint.

It was great to have the East Hampton Ocean Rescue Squad on hand to set the course, time the race and keep everyone safe!

In the end a great time was had by all! We look forward to 2012 and the start of “The Main Beach Hamptons 2012 SUP Race Series”. The first race will be held on May 19th, 2012.

Please visit http://www.mainbeach.com for more information.

Loggerz, Kooks, SUP-ers, and Shortboarders…

Pre summer doldrums are harsh this June. Only a few days of waist to chest high waves so far, and those few days weren’t even that great. Even the longboarders are getting antsy. I’ve been hearing complaints about stand up paddleboarders from longboarders, but that just seems waay too ironic for me. I mean, longboarders have been annoying shortboarders for decades now! Seems only fair and just that a bigger, longer, fatter, wider chunk of foam would come along and up the small wave ante.

But complain they do. Shortboarders complain about longboarders. Longboarders complain about paddleboarders. People used to complain about boogie boarders, but there are hardly any left… In the end, it’s just a whole lot of whining. The fact is, the waterways are overcrowded, at Ditch especially. So if you are having issues at Ditch, then forget it, because that place has been overcrowded for a very long time now. Find someplace else and enjoy the hunt looking for uncrowded surf.

As for me, I’ve finally caved in and started hitting the bay on my 11’ Laird SUP. I go whenever I get up early enough to catch the sunrise. Early, when the winds are light and the birds are still all over the place just happy to be around and eating and lolling in the waters and unafraid due to lack of passing boats or other people or windiness.

I still don’t really understand all the grumpiness surrounding the different watercraft. I mean, in Hawaii everyone and their mother is out there on SUPs, logz, shortboards, sponges, whatever and no one really cares unless you get in the way or cause a danger. Here in NY where almost everyone is a bonafide kook, everyone is grumpy. But as soon as the waves are head high plus, there’s almost no one out!! WTF!!??

Bah! NY surfing, whatever… At least it’s fun and uncrowded 9 months out of the year. So what if all the aspirant Hamptonites are out in full force, do any of them really surf? Do any of them even really matter at all whatsoever in terms of your personal favorite local surfing spot? Is it not a fact that 90% of all the NY area wankers converge on Ditch Plains, which is the most gutlessly lame and slow wave in all of the Hamptons? YES!! By God, that’s the way it is!! So quit yer bitchin’ and go find your own little hideaway spot.

Best of luck…

–Lutha

Late May SUP Morning Solitude by Lutha Leahy-Miller

Got up early, looked outside, foggy morning, creaky joints, no surf to speak of on the buoy. Oh well… Dragged out the zafu, cranked up the kettle to make some tea, lit the butterlamps, and then sat three sessions of ten minutes each. After that, breakfast with my kid, the wife too, and then showered and off to the shop.

Before leaving I strapped the old 11’7” Jimmy Lewis to the roof and was off to the shop. En route I found out that I didn’t have to be at work until an hour later than I thought. So, I decided to stop at the zendo before work for a second meditation session. As I was on my way there I noticed that the winds were calm in some of the estuaries, and so instead of continuing on to the zendo, I decided to stop and spend 30-40 minutes before work stand up paddling.

There was a slight-damp chilliness in the morning seaside brackish air but I had my 4/3 and boots in the car, so I knew I would be comfortable…

Morning green-gray glass, swaying water reeds and red-winged blackbirds speaking to one another in the morning dampness and other little winged creatures flitting about as I silently slid through the still estuary waters. Every so often as the liquid-glass slipped beneath the board below and rippled around the paddle-blade there would be a crashing reed or two running upstream from me as a fish or crab or frog or whatever it was underwater was hurriedly running away from the giant surface fish creeping after them. Poor things, ‘not again’ they must have thought! Or maybe they were plagued by some pre-historically rooted fear of sharks or some bigger fishes out to eat them..?

Anyway, there were little birds and the rustling NE vegetal cousins of bamboo shoots, the reed-grasses of the pond, and scared fish underneath, and gray but pleasantly solemn skies, 35 Minutes of peacefulness and mantras for the animals and maybe some people lolling over the little waterside bridge in their trucks or cars and rippling waters off in the drift ahead and… silence… and… lapping water… Morning bliss, and then a crazy day ahead at the shop.

April Green Glass Sunlit Tubes by Lutha

Bright sunshine, finally, crisp air, at least that’s the way it was two days ago when I finally went surfing. As I write this a massive low pressure system that brought tornadoes and flooding to the midwest is now bearing down upon us here in the NE. Grey skies and damp creaky bones fill the consciousness… But, maybe we’ll get some waves out of it..?

Nonetheless, two days ago it was beautiful and sunny, probably the nicest surfing day thus far this year. I had arisen early, at sunrise, groggy, but greeted by the soft meow of my cat just before sunrise. Pinks and yellows a touch of red and some stars still twinkling in 30 plus degree morning clear sky weather dawning.

Looking out the door as my cat slid into the house beside me I realized that the cloudless early dawn sky meant that the wind had finally tuned offshore, and so the waves would probably be excellent!

I booted up the computer and checked the buoys—the swell was running solidly out of the SE but there was still some ESE wind-chop on it from the day before. The NW winds hadn’t yet kicked in enough to clean things up, but according to the NOAA forecast the NW winds were supposed to pick up lightly and so smooth things out by the early afternoon, and so my day began…

There was lots to do before surfing this Thurs morn; get the kid to school, make  breakfast, milk the cows, flog the dolphin, get the wife showered and off to work, and then figure out where exactly I should go surf…

Anyway this was all happening from 6-9 am, but I wasn’t actually ready and out of the house until 10:30 or so. Reports were coming in left and right from my friends. ‘It’s still choppy’, ‘it was epic at spot X this morning but now it’s no good.’ ‘Spot D is so so but looks like it’s getting better’ and so on. Realtime reports and speculation and cellphones and texts and internet reports and on and on and on while the sun shone brightly outside. Blue shiny sharpness and brilliant light and cawing birds and the neighborhood empty since most everyone else was off to work…

I threw the 5’6” Biscuit and my 5’11” Rich Price Quad + 1 into the Honda Hybrid, grabbed my Patagonia R4, some 7mm boots and my 3mm Psycho gloves and drove off with my tunes blaring on the radio. (Actually I threw in my Tibetan Chanting CD and chanted along with it for nearly 45”…)

Thank god for that CD!

Obstacle after driving obstacle was in the way on the roads to the beaches!! Tree companies forklifting trees into place on rich person’s properties, Southampton Town roadworks crews laying mass amounts of pipe and cables down Bridge Lane, yet more traffic in Southampton due to roadwork! What a freaking nightmare!!

Finally, after nearly 1.5 hours driving and nearly 12 spots later I pulled up to secret local beachbreak spot No. 145 and saw some nice sparkling spitting green glass tubes with only four guys out and perfect offshore winds; paradise…

I suited up, grabbed the 5’6”, specifically bought for backside head high barrels where you need the foam and the round-pin just to get over the ledge and float you through the tube-line. I had only surfed once or twice a month since Nov, so I was a little out of shape, and I was a little worried that I wouldn’t have enough energy to paddle enough to get into a few of the ledgier ones, but as soon as I was out in the lineup those concerns evaporated with my first wave, a perfect 6 ft plus backside barrel…

I saw that one coming, it began to stand up, three strokes and I was in, and BAM!! Drop knee backside barrel all the way to the inside for a good 30-40 yards!! Yah!!

Stroking back out with a huge grin I realized the only other guys out there were good friends of mine, and so it went with us all happily shredding sunlit April green glass barrels for the remaining 2 hours.

George and Matty and I were having a blast!

At one point, a kind of heavy one came in and I decided against the neck breaker only to see a 2^nd one come in and George’s late drop right into the tube! Gerogie scored the heaviest 30 yard shack of the day!!!

2 hours later we were all surfed out and giddy as schoolchildren on a snowday, life is good…

Tin at Ditch - Photo by Ingrid Silva

Sunniest of winter days, windless, blazing-white-winter-sun, sparkling, on icy 39 degree waters and lapping surf.

Offerings...

I get a text from Tin at 7am saying the waves are good. I’ve just finished my morning Buddha offerings and am getting ready for my 2 hr. Buddha-yoga practice. The gears start turning… Hmm, I think to myself, waves or meditation waves or meditation, … surfing wins, I haven’t surfed in well over a month. I call Tin back after wrapping up the offerings and cleaning up the kitchen and teapots. He tells me the waves are really good at Ditch, and that although the swell is dropping it’s still really good on a longboard.

—“I’m loading up the car right now; I’ll see you in an hour!”

And so starts the process…

Down into the basement: musty stone cellar bilco doors, rows of surfboards on hand-hewn cedar racks, and a scent-hint of sex wax and a slight whiff of old tobacco smoke from an ashtray my wife uses for winter smokes when its too cold to stand outside in wintry darkness after stressful days at work.

Fingering though my boards the choice is obvious—a dying S swell and freezing-cold winter temperatures = the 9 Hank Byzak shaped Hansen Competitor. I haven’t ridden this board since June! I throw it under my arm, it pressing the fluff down of my Patagonia winter coat flatly against my side and I climb back up the concrete, cinder-block stairs back up into the wintry sunshine and gusty-cold air.

Some birds are cawing and the bird feeder still has some seeds in it for them…

I make a left once I’m up in the Arctic sun and walk shortly down the bluestone drive to my car, where I place it ontop the Honda and then strap it down with the Block soft-rax which work so well even up to 80mph.

Last thing to do now is grab my winter wetsuit gear, some strong Peruvian coffee and two power bars and I’m off to Montauk.

45 minutes later I am finally rolling through Montauk village and I get ahold of Tin on the iPhone to tell him how close I am. A few minutes later I’m pulling up into his driveway by the beach—winter trees laid bare as sticks creaking, winds blowing though their bareness/nakedness groaning wintry, summer six months gone away, only the now, the wintry cold present and smiling sun of February smacks again of nowness, a cold hard smack in the face full frontal, and we are going surfing. Dirt lot is empty…

But where’s Tin? I don’t see him in the house or anywhere after looking around the property and peeking into his studio windows to see if he is there. All I find is the empty house, and an old weather-beaten wooden deck running up from around the house from the east and a funny Radio Shack home alarm system sticker stuck to one of the windows—how funny it looks with that old late 70s early 80s ‘scooter-computer’ font…

“Oh well, he’s probably checking it” I think, so I pull out to drive over to Dirt lot and see if either he’s there or if the waves are any good. About two seconds later he calls me and tells me that as I was backing out of he driveway he was waving but I couldn’t see him and so I turn around and we meet up.

We go into the house and he shows me around the studio and then we suit up and head over for a surf.

Tin decides on surfing his 9’7” gato heroe and I have my 11 year old mint-green Byzak.

When we get to the lot we are greeted by; wintry sunny skies / dancing sunlight / wintry waters / no crowd emptiness / one guy out. Stoked!! Dalton the photog is there snapping off pics as Tin poses and shows off a bit in the dirt lot—small wave matador / Argentinean pride, indigenous American transplanted from lattitiudes South to North, and now native to his watery NY surfer’s home. Shamanic wave slider small wave bliss and cold water emptiness—no crowds—dancing on logs—wintry mix…

I paddle out sluggishly a few minutes behind Tin with my carcass weighing a good 40lbs heavier than his and my board a solid 7 inches shorter. But no worries, I’m just having fun today. Right away tin starts off on a perfect little chest high peeling left and rides it all the way into shore, glissing blissfully along, lightly, also having fun.

The next two waves pass me by and then I catch a third which, I can’t get as far along as Tin can but, it’s long enough and at least I can feel the drive off and under my back foot and hip even though I haven’t been logging in well more than seven months. The next 1.5 hours goes on much the same way. Perfect little waves, chest high sets every 5-10 minutes, Tin getting a shitload of perfect noserides / head-dips / cover-ups and me just cruising along laughing at the fun of it all in 39 degree late winter February waters. After a while more people show up. Some of the dirty Ditch crew who have only migrated from NYC in the past few years. The grumpy over-serious ones who think they’re locals and that I’m not and who yet don’t even realize that I’ve been surfing Ditch and Montauk since 1989, and that my dad has been surfing there since 1966… A comedy of egos for sure… (Mine included perhaps..?)

Anyway, I keep on having tons of fun in the little winter waves and Tin keeps ripping it up longboard-style and all the while I can’t help but constantly laugh to myself quietly at the super-serious/dorky NYC guy who, can surprisingly surf better than I ever thought he could. He’s really still a wanker because of his whole grumpier-than-thou demeanor but, at least he can surf a little, so I guess he’s not a total waste of flesh…

After two hours we’re done and so we head back to Tin’s place to change and warm up with some espresso and then blaze over to Naturally good for a well deserved after surf lunch session and thetas it, done and over for the day. Time to drive home and get back to my son who is hanging out with grannma (my mums) who is taking care of him for me so I can finally get a surf in after a five week hiatus.

After a perfect cold day of shiny winter surfing, seeing my son at home, woodstove blazing, is the perfect finish to what could only be described as a tasty day…

MBX SURF CAMP 2011

MAIN BEACH TEAM RIDER - JARED BONO

MBX CAMP SUMMER 2011!!

MBX surf camp is a great experience for kids and counselors. Every day campers spend hours in the water, surfing, swimming, kayaking, or windsurfing; an amazing time for everyone! At MBX the kids always have a blast. We start the day with a little bit of stretching to get everyone loosened up for a days activities, and then we head straight to the beach.

We like to get the kids surfing right away, with one-on-one instruction for the kids to learn to surf and enhance their abilities. If not on a board surfing, the kids are body surfing or boogie boarding, just being in the water as much as possible. Weather permitting, every day is in the water, either in the ocean, the pond for SUPʼs or kayaking, or the bay to windsurf. Lunch is on the beach or at a picnic ground, and a little down time is good for everyone before we head back to the beach to surf again!

One of the best parts of the week is the Surf Olympics. On the last day of the week teams compete against each other at beach games, obstacle courses, lifeguard games, and surfing. The kids get super-pumped for their team and itʼs a great day when everyone gets to show off what theyʼve learned in and out of the water. From a counselorʼs perspective It’s always great to see how much all the kids have improved from their first day, and a kick to see how happy and excited the kids get from the camp!