March 2011
1 post
February 2011
1 post
sickening snow, fickle sea
It pains me to sit at my window and watch all the glorious snow that fell upon us this winter quietly but inexorably melt away. Worse still, though, is to wake up each morning and through the eye of the Liquid Dreams cam, see the Atlantic flat and equally quiet. I don’t normally crave warm climes in the winter - I relish our New England snowstorms - but right now I can’t explain how bad I want to...
January 2011
3 posts
November 2010
6 posts
10.11.13.Long Sands
I think this was the day the tweet on the Liquid Dreams said, “A great day to be a surfer.”
I would definitely second that emotion. The air was warm, sun out, waves still chest high, and definitely more organized than the previous evening. Being a Saturday, Long Sands was relatively crowded: 20 or 30 spread out along the breaks north of the Sun ‘n’ Surf.
Not much specific...
10.11.12.Cable Beach
I can’t remember the last time I surfed New Hampshire. For my first few years surfing the breaks around Jenness were my home spots - changing out of my wetsuit on the small strips of lawn that flank the side street that runs parallel to Straws Point spots was weekly, sometimes daily, ritual. But now that we’ve been in Maine for the last year and a half, even though we’re exactly...
10.11.11.Braveboat Harbor
Yesterday, my friend Brian and I decided it was time to actually explore the oft-mentioned and ever-mysterious break at Braveboat river mouth. Oddly, it’s referred to as a river mouth break, but as far as I know the location itself is called Braveboat Harbor and from what I can tell - looking at maps and stuff - it’s not a named river. Whatever. I guess that small point of fact...
October 2010
3 posts
10.10.07.Long Sands
Dragged myself out of bed this morning for (almost) dawn patrol. In spite of the clouds having cleared, I was greeted at Long Sands by still-stormy surf. Short period waves, difficult paddle out into messy chest-plus mush. I only had about a half hour window, but I still managed to catch a few decent rides. Though the best part by far was watching the two dudes with the alaias - it didn’t...
10.10.04.Gooch's Beach
Second evening session in a row at Gooch’s beach. What a difference a day makes.
Met up with friends Trevor and Lisa, and their friend Kate, a fearless newbie who paddled out with the rest of us into the roiling cove. That’s the thing about Gooch’s - at least in my limited experience - the waves there are completely unpredictable. Surging up from out of nowhere, and collapsing...
10.10.03.Gooch's Beach
It’s not that I haven’t been surfing in the last month - in the last 30 days we’ve been lucky enough to see two hurricanes flirt with the Northeast coast (combined with some stretches of unseasonably warm weather) and I made sure I got as much of that swell as possible - but work on 3S seems to have drawn on every other moment of my free time, or left me with just enough energy...
September 2010
3 posts
Long Sands: 10.08.30 & 31
Monday afternoon’s disappointing onshore winds and diminished swell were unequivocally made up for on Tuesday, arguably the best day of the Danielle swell. It was a two session day (god bless this summer of freelance lifestyle).
The morning was better. Taller waves, peeling just right and the tide mitigated the effect of the many bathers in the water. It was one of those mornings where I...
Long Sands: 10.08.29
Our day started at 7am after a long and complicated night of car-packing. On the road by 8:30, we made it to lovely little town of Johnson, Vermont just after noon where we waited outside the Vermont Studio Center offices until 1, when Rose could be officially received. We unloaded the minivan into her studio (in sweltering heat) and I was back on the road just before 2, racing to meet my cousin...
August 2010
8 posts
Long Sands: 10.08.27
Going left just north of the Sun ‘n’ Surf is perhaps always a dangerous proposition - I discovered this yesterday afternoon. Thinking the tide had gone out far enough that I wasn’t in danger of running into one of the breakwater’s cast off boulders, I took off left on a wave and after few seconds found myself staring at the top of a large, flat, barnacled rock directly in...
Long Sands: 10.08.26
Tempting as it was, I just couldn’t be moved to suit up and go out in the massive and massively windswept storm swell earlier this week. Partly was knowing that so much good, clean swell and beautiful weather is likely headed our way.
That all started yesterday with leftover swell from that coastal low that had been dogging us. As raw and uninviting as it was Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday,...
Long Sands: 10.08.18
Clean knee-high leftovers in a gentle wind as the tide went out this morning. I paddled out at the north end of the beach as a raft of various types of seaweed and scattered items of man-made debris - a plastic soda bottle, a blue foil balloon - drifted somewhat repulsively towards the shore. This more sheltered area of the water tends to collect stuff like this after the “dust” of a...
10.08.16 & 10.08.17: The Carloni Sessions
Sometimes the waves alone make the session, sometimes you’re lucky enough to paddle out with someone - a sage, a comedian, an old friend - that makes the time worth it waves or no.
Tuesday afternoon, out of a combination of desperation and fulfillment of obligation, Justin Carloni and I paddled out into a roiling sea of mushy chest-high sets. As far as I could tell, save for one (friendly)...
Long Sands: 10.08.10
Quick session just as the sun was setting, I was out maybe half an hour. Four other guys on longboards in the vicinity. I couldn’t feel any wind, but something was disorganizing things. Low tide, knee-high, pretty short period swell with not much oomph. But I had a couple of fun rides.
Tucker needs his log back on account of a big family visit, but according to Bryan at Pioneers my Junod...
Long Sands: 10.08.09 (Libby's)
Yesterday afternoon, with winds pushing lightly from the south and a super low (new moon) tide, Libby’s was the spot. First time I’ve surfed there this year for sure. First time I’ve really noticed anyone else setting up out there either. The waves were nothing to write home about - thigh high, disorganized with some serious texture - but it was good to get out after so many days...
July 2010
8 posts
Long Sands: 10.07.30
Between an uncooperative ocean, an out-of-town wedding, and a perpetually late-changing schedule, it’s been awhile since I’ve gotten out. Yesterday morning, though, a hopeful report from the Liquid Dreams site sent me beachward.
Extremely short period waves and moderate winds out of the west-southwest made for a challenging session - the waves weren’t easy to get into and, for...
Long Sands: 10.07.15
Make that four, and yesterday was the best day of the week. Winds light at best, and waist high sets rolling in one after another, with hardly a wait between (a little break would have been nice, to make the paddling out a bit easier.) Again, I tucked myself into the “north” end of the beach and enjoyed an hour and a half session almost entirely alone.
Thanks to Steve at Pioneers...
Long Sands: 10.07.14
Three days in a row!
With an early meeting in Portsmouth, a short session this morning was all I could manage. Winds out of the NNW turned most of the beach to chop, but as it often goes, tucked under the Nubble headlands was about a 300 yard stretch of mostly clean, knee-high plus lines. For the second day in a row I forgot my leash at home, this time Liquid Dreams was not open for me to borrow...
Long Sands: 10.07.13
Picked up my Junod log this morning from Pioneers, not yet repaired, but assured that the sun cure would hold up a few days till the ocean goes flat again. After a couple of waterlogged sessions, I was feeling very excited at the prospect of some substantial flotation.
Despite my relatively late arrival - 11:30am - I was met by a thick blanket of fog just off shore that precluded any clear view...
Long Sands: 10.07.12
Stopped home after driving back from a long family weekend in western MA only long enough to grab my suit, towel and board. It’s always great to spend time with the Lightfoot/Ryans, but with mid-summer swell being such a rare occurrence it was just the slightest bit distracting to know I was missing a weekend of waves. Oh, and I did stop at Beach Pea bakery for a quick snack and a...
Long Sands: 10.07.07
Finally a surf-related post. For years I’ve been meaning to keep a wave journal, a regular record of my time spent in the ocean. This time in the water, it seems important, right? And never, ever the same. I’ve made plans. Purchased a fancy, ocean-blue journal, but have thus far managed to avoid it. And I can’t even tell you why - I’m tempted to say laziness, but I’m...
June 2010
5 posts
May 2010
14 posts
