02/23/01

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The Drought is Over (02/23/01)

You've already read yesterday's bad news . . . the 02/22/01 surf report said:

"A 'Surf Drought' was officially declared this morning in Rhode Island as hundreds of surf starved veterans (some locals also) were checking into rehab centers across the state. Do not, I repeat, do not bring boards and wet suits or dry suits with you as surf shelters are almost filled to capacity at this time.
   Local airports were jammed by the mass exodus to Puerto Rico and flight delays were widely reported.
    Video stores report thousands of overdue surf videos exacerbating an already tight inventory supply. Even the webmaster of this domain was cited by a local for predicting a 2 day surf event last Sunday and Monday which never happened. As he was being dragged before the local chapter of Surf Riders he was heard to say "I taught I taw a wave. Sumtin' moved out dere." He refused bail when reruns of "Point Break" were scheduled at the Watershed during his pretrial waiting period.
   If you are also suffering acute withdrawal, write and let us know how you are dealing with the situation."

Well, a few hours after this report went up on this site a funny thing happened - all the signs suddenly started pointing to a surf event the next morning - Friday, February 23, 2001. Normally I just put up the report of "surf on the way" and think nothing more of it. However, the previous weekend I had been completely wrong so it would not be a good idea to put out another All Points Surf Bulletin and be wrong again.
So, the following e-mail went out last night:

"Since there will be no surf again tomorrow (Friday) I do not plan to get up early to check intel in the early AM and do not plan to surf one of two secret surf breaks in the morning. Since I won't be surfing (because there will be no surf) I do not plan to have great fun out there. Maybe this will work?
-Ray"

This morning at 6:00 AM the outside temperature was 20 degrees (F), there was 5" of new snow on the ground, a certain buoy was at 8.2 feet, the wind was from the North at 6 knots and the forecast was for North to Northwest winds of 10 to 15 Knots. Duh . . . now let's see . . . should we go surfing? Better still, how fast can I get the vehicle warmed up and get on the road? And the answer is . . .

10 minutes flat. The snow was powder dry so it was down the drive way and on the road in record time. The main break was about waist high so drove to another spot. Paddled out into some decent head high with 2 other guys out. Wind light offshore and nice sets. I haven't surfed in so long (22 straight days) that I had a new found sympathy for guys who come out in the late spring after not surfing all winter. All I could say was a loud "A-men!" After a while the wind completely stopped and the ocean became glassy. The clouds lifted just above the horizon so the incoming sets visually stood out clearly a long way off. There were a few short quiet spells but mostly it was firing.

   Finally came in, drove to get some lunch and then on to another surf break. The front row was filled in so grabbed a parking spot in the balcony. Shot film on and off for maybe 40 minutes when Fred walked up the bank. His eyes were bright red, and his face was a light blue and he could hardly speak at all. So, I asked threw him a question he would normally hit out of the park:
   "Are you cold?" I asked.
   He said something like "Fluh glumpf flerby schlush kolldt." Which I interpreted to mean "Yes" with perhaps several modifying adjectives attached.
   I felt genuinely sorry for him. The good news was that he was no longer suffering surf withdrawal; quite the opposite.

Saw a other few regulars before heading out myself to catch an hours worth in the water. Wind was quite strong and waves were fast. Choosing the right wave was important and, as always, it was a lot bigger out there than it looked from the shore.

And that's the way it was, 12 short hours after the first "official" winter surf drought in Rhode Island in 3 years.

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