Just these Days

The Painted Sky

There is nothing better than getting up and heading to surf before sunrise. Southern tip of Ocean City about two miles from my house taken a few minutes before heading out to a perfect morning solo session a little further down the road.

Got To Get On

Supertouch Preview of the new record. Excited:

Searchin' For the Light

I have a reoccurring dream. It's one I've had ever since I was like ten or eleven and was "bitten" by the surf bug. Basically, in the dream, I will be attempting to surf, but something happens and keeps me from getting away waves. In past dreams I've shown up with a board that turns to cardboard, a board that I end up realizing is broken just before I paddle out, boards that are too thin, waves that are uncatchable, unmanageable crowds, etc. Either growing up and getting in the water a limited amount of time had an impact on my psyche or a I have a fear of erectile dysfunction.

On a related note, fuck this time of year. The other day, the wind had died, swell was rolling in and clean lines were to be had running all up and down this stretch. Everyone knows that first look when its good: that first glimpse is better than any drug. Sitting in the water, there was little current, no crowds, bearable water temps, perfect walls headed toward the shore and the sunlight was fading more and more with every wave ridden. I felt like I was living the dream, but not in the horribly cliched sense. Instead, it was my bad dream come true. Squinting to distinguish the horizon from the water in the absence of light, I snagged one last wave that felt like it went on forever and headed in, feeling completely amped and disappointed all at once.

I took this shot on the ride home. Fuzzy, but some interesting colors.

The Earth is Flat

...and so is the Atlantic. I hate flat spells. It takes me out of my rhythm of checking forecasts, thinking about surfing and basically rearranging my day's schedule around getting in the water. The longer the days go by without waves, the more I start catching myself forgetting these things. Some days, it gets to be pretty late in the day and I realize I haven't given getting in the water that much thought. That's when things have gotten really bad.

Here's a shot of the lake that's parked right next to Cooperstown NY. I figured it'd be appropriate in honor of lake Atlantic.

Searchin' for the Light

This time of year is probably my favorite time of year, mainly because of the amount daylight that's available. Are there better times of year swell-wise? Yes, but any time you can be in the water at 5:00am and there is actually enough light to see, that's pretty rad. It's a weird feeling to be on the road at quarter to five in the morning, but a lot of times, it can be worth it.

Unfortunately, Friday was not one of those mornings. Surfing before work means your on borrowed time. One more spot check, one more step that you forgot to take care of the night before means minutes shaved off what could already be a short session. Upon checking my first go-to,pre-work, spot, and it looked like tiny junk. Uh-oh. Immediately, my mind began to race as to what do to: Head home, drive around, paddle out anyway? All had their positives and negatives. No waves, lost time, lost sleep were all factors, but I bolted for the north end.

I avoid the North End in most instances, mainly in the months of may to september. Better waves, sure, but I hate dealing with crowds, bros and the inevitable pissing contests that usually occur down there. I realize that maybe I'm just being a baby, but I hate sitting in a line up and look to shore and see one, two or even three guys making their way out to the water. Total buzzkill. The wave quality to crowd debate is always a delicate one to me, but I guess for me, I'll take quantity of quality.

But whatever, the clock was ticking and I was hoping to get something decent, somewhere on the island. Checked one spot, no good. Checked another and it was lining up good enough to justify paddling out and that's exactly what I did. The waves were junky, but they were larger (relatively) and lining up better than anywhere else I had seen.

Despite it being 5:00am, I had the place to myself for a total of fifteen minutes.
In the end, there were only two other guys, it was a fun session and it was good to make an unexpected trip to the North. The building in the first photo is a dead giveaway as to what street.


Sunrise on shoreburbia.