Stay Up, Stay Alive

Fun afternoon waves yesterday. Windy, sunny but cold by the afternoon, the weather wasn't bad at all for January, which completely made up for the 35 degree water. I managed to find a spot not too far from this little shack (which if I could move to my yard, I would. Thing looks like an amazing hangout spot). Fun waist to chest high waves that were kind of a mix between peaky and closing out. If you waited to one of the peaks to roll in, you had a pretty clean line, but if you took a closeout...well, ice cream headaches. Stayed out until sunset by myself, and while I wish it would have stayed lighter longer, what I was able to grab was really good. Hopefully, a small bump on the way for Sunday.

Payday

Waves today. A few randoms...

Motivational terminology
Notice the lack of footprints on the steps. First one there.
Ended up at a spot I haven't surfed since the summer. I was alone and it was really fun.

The Hanged Man

Forecast was calling for groundswell and offshore winds yesterday, so I thought I'd give it a look. It was bitterly cold and thought about bagging it a few times, but the combo was too good to pass up without checking things out. I knew daylight would be an issue, so I figured, I wouldn't be out long enough to get cold.

Rolling up to the south end, I was greeted with a beautiful sight despite the cold. The view from 57th is a wide angle: swell lines stretching from the pier all the way down to 55th coming in clear and strong with the wind keeping things lined up perfectly. Although the picture was a pretty one, the winds were strong enough to make me question just how fun thing would actually be. Had the weather been a bit warmer or a bit earlier in the day and it would have been crawling with boards and bros, but thanks to the cold, it was just me and a duck sitting in the line up.

Adjustments and positioning aside, it was pretty fun. I love how easy offshores make waves. Easy take offs, long lines and gentle closeouts to pull into make you feel like you're a better surfer than you actually are. A good mix of clean lines and fun closeouts were to be had for about forty minutes, until the sky gradually went from grayish-blue to a purplish red and the daylight necessary to continue my session quickly disappeared.

It was all downhill from there. Sprint to the car. Peel off my gloves. Try and get my frozen fingers to function well enough to get my board on the car and tighten everything up. Some guy tells me, "Isn't it kind of cold for that sort of thing" and while I'd like to tell him to fuck off, I just respond with "yeah, I guess so". Crank the heat and head home. Peel off the wetsuit. Blast the hot water in the shower and try and thaw out.

Finally, hang the suit up in the garage and hope that it drips dries until the next swell rolls in.

Living Daylights

Planning to surf this time of year is a pain in the ass. Planning to surf after work in the winter is even more of a pain in the ass. For all the effort of getting your gear together and suiting up, you're battling conditions where it starts getting dark at like 4:30. Getting out of work early helps as does rolling up to a break and finding clean, comfortable conditions like at this spot last week. About waist high and fun without a lot of hardwork. Fun session minus the guy I surfed with whole pulled the whole "itsmylastwavesoillsnakeyouandrunto mycar" bit. Real awesome, guy. You were shredding.

Floating Boys

Check this out:
http://cbs3.com/video/?id=75419

Someone posted this on the 7th street site. Some guys in Ocean City out taking advantage of the swell that the snowstorm brought. The first minute or so is just them sitting and paddling but around a minute in, a longboarder is one screen for about one second taking off and then things pick up around 2:06. At different points you can see it snowing on camera.

Whatdja Expect in a Cold World?

Here's my day yesterday in a nutshell.

Waking up to a couple inches of fresh snow:



Realizing the end is near (the snow not the world).



Having to go to work, but really wanting to do this.


Watching the 7th street camera all day, hoping the offshores don't blow it out by the afternoon.

Getting a look at the snow and sand while suiting up. Paddling out into 36 degree water with air temps in the low 30s and no one in sight, let alone in the water. Realizing that these things aren't so bad when it means an empty break to yourself.

We Are the Snowmans

Surfing in the wintertime means walking around all day feeling like this:
Yesterday's snow didn't amount to much and didn't last very long, but we tried to make the best of it.

Hand in Glove

There were waves yesterday...well sort of. The forecasts were showing a small bump, but the cameras were showing what looked to be less than that and with the air temperature and lack of daylight, it was one of those days where I was really on the fence. I knew that if I didn't go, I wouldn't be missing much, if anything at all; but at the same time, I hadn't been out as much as I'd like, so I ended up grabbing my gear and headed over the bridge.

Although the days are starting to get longer, daylight is still at a premium, so its a race against sunset in the afernoons during the winter. After checking one spot and seeing how tiny it was, I drove around until I found a spot that still tiny but at least ridable. It was cold, but nothing too bad. Little wind, the air and water were probably both in the thirties. As I paddled out I suddenly felt a rush of water in one of my gloves...not good. This was the first time I used my thicker winter mittens to surf and it was very apparent that there was a hole somewhere in it. Each time I went to paddle, the glove would fill with icy salt water slowly numbing my hand and crawling up the sleeve of my wetsuit to chill my arm. Sitting out in the line-up, I studied the glove to find a nice puncture hole in the palm of the glove making the 5mm glove pretty much worthless. I surfed for about forty five minutes, which wasn't bad considering my hand was slowly turning into a claw. With the tide coming in, it looked as if the waves were inproving slightly, but my hand could take no more. Here is a post-session shot of the claw: