12/29/01
Saturday |
West
wind continues. Was hoping for some wind swell at a certain
well known location so hung out from 12 - 1:00 PM yesterday
(Friday) and read a book. As a local said yesterday: Nadda!
Small lines out there but nothing working except small beach break
close out.
Is there a local RI surf shop that sells a 7 mil XL
glove (and has it in stock)? I was told by one store that 5 mil
was the thickest made! Right.
Showed him my current 7 mil Holy gloves that need upgrading real
soon now! "Uh, we don't carry that brand (Billabong)".
Beam me up Scottie!
|
12/26/01
Thursday PM
(posted 12/27 AM) |
Surfed
the afternoon shift at south side. For a while there were
some nice solid head high wedges that jacked way up for a nice
drop. Basic swell was still working but the intensity had
diminished. Saw Victor out there. About a half dozen guys
out in mostly waist high. Overcast, breezy, cool. Water
still not that cold (upper 40's) but air is and winter is
definitely upon us.
|
12/25/01
Tuesday |
The haus was head high and more
at times earlier this morning. Some really excellent clean
surf today. In the water for about 3 1/2 hours. Got smaller
and more crowded by noon time. Early birds made out the best
today. Saw Jay and Josh in the crowd. Caught a number
of set waves by hanging outside. Nice walls; sunny day; red
face from all the sun.
|
12/24/01
Monday
|
Merry
Christmas! My
family wishes you some quiet times during this next week: time to
think about the meaning of life and why we are all here.
Time to carefully consider the events of 2000 years ago and how
that can be relevant to your own life today. We wish you
peace in your lives; a lasting peace which comes from God.
And
(bonus!), I wish each of you an overhead, glass,
set wave with that roof curving out in front of you. Oh, and a
clean exit move!
Merry Christmas!
|
12/20/01
Thursday
2 one wave
stories |
No
wind @ 8:00 AM so drove around and ended up at Tunces.
Caught 1 good long ride, solid chest high, from the point through
the inside section and down the line from there. It just
stayed in front of me and I held on! Wind came up and
chopped it out so drove to the light where Bobby, Victor and Jeff
were hanging.
Jeff reports that last night at PA's there was clean
shoulder high. He caught 1 nice wave. As it jacked up
he grabbed both rails, watched the green wave cleanly curl over
him, completely inside, eyes open and then, badda_bing, the barrel
was gone and he was underwater upside down. He was still
stoked by that barrel this morning. Cool.
|
| 12/17/01 |
Been
out in Ohio at "Passage"
(Promise Keepers) for last 3 days. Got back to see flat
water. Need some water time real soon! Sleet this
morning - overcast now. Winter is upon us.
|
| 12/09/01 |
Surfed
several late afternoon hours at Tunces in a rapidly diminishing
small swell. Good to get wet the same day as the first snow
fall of the winter.
|
12/03/01
Monday Update |
It's flat today on Monday.
Surf Friday was fair but Saturday was the payoff.
Just about everything was going off with solid head high sets
at times. Lots of people at the lite but it was big enough
that you didn't have to wait that long if you lined up deep.
Just before sunset I found a break with no one out and scored some
clean chest high with some very long rides. Today a week straight
of good surf is over. |
11/28/01
Wednesday |
Surfed Tunces from about 2:00 PM until sunset. Waist to
chest on average with some short flat spells here and there
followed by an occasional closeout! Had to stay awake out
there, as usual. Residual swell from the last few days; warm
enough that a lot of hoods were peeled back. Took mine off -
it was good to hear the water again! Just a few guys out in
the PM with more showing up at the end. Very pleasant
session. |
11/27/01
Tuesday |
Checked out 2 breaks but the waves were fairly small so drove to
Tunces where the waves were peeling off one after another as if
being produced by a wave machine. Set waves were solid head
high and really excellent. Glass conditions. Surfed
8:30 - 11:30 AM.
I recall 3 waves in particular: the first was
hollow and rode the end of it with my left hand in the wall.
The next I was inside on a 3 wave set and managed to avoid the
crush and catch the last one by clawing down the wall into a nice
solid right. Sometimes it is hard to catch a bigger wave
without it passing underneath you!
The last one, just as I caught it, jacked way up and
I somehow managed to do a diagonal drop without any air and ride a
tight left wall without dropping off the wall. Woof woof!
Good to be alive on that one.
Intense at times; flat calm at other times. 3
hours today seemed as long as yesterday's 5 hour session. I
saw a lot of nice moves out there today. There are a bunch
of men and women in RI this afternoon with big grins! |
11/26/01
Monday |
Surfed 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM today at 3 different breaks. Waist
to occasional solid head high. Some glass at times as the
wind dropped. Excellent session. The high average
skill level out there indicates that the winter season has truly
begun and the summer crowd is gone. Talked briefly with Russ
and Jeff - lotsa other locals out too. Good stress free
session, some nice drops and a few good long walls with fast
sections. Perfect warm sunny day! It was still firing
at 2:30 but I wasn't. Need to rest up for tomorrow. |
11/24/01
Saturday AM |
3 day forecast shows a big developing ocean storm moving East,
swells and E - SE wind. However, the (current) land forecast
shows NW winds. Update
at noon time now shows SE winds. So, we're watching
and waiting just like everyone else. By Monday AM the situation
should be clearer. It would appear at this point that the tipoff
will be a long swell showing up on the buoys. If the swell
period is greater than 15 seconds immediately visit the Christian portion
of QuietWaters.org! |
11/21/01
Wednesday |
Fifth consecutive day of surf. Surfed Southside, eastside
and mini-breaks in between in a 4 1/2 hour session. There
were some occasional hollow sets and, whenever possible, they were
occupied by the likes of Bobby, Jeff and the Doctor. Very
light offshore breeze, clean surf with some slow times also.
Patience was the key to success today. Good sunny session;
cloudless sky |
11/19/01
Monday |
Third consecutive day of surf. Surfed the AM shift with Fred, saw
Jay out there also then had to take a break for an errand in town,
came back and surfed through lunch until 3:00 PM. Lite in AM
was shoulder at times with a SW wind swell helping sets that came
through every couple of minutes. Pilave was good at times in
the PM once the wind really picked up. Caught a few nice
ones. Jeff was out there in the PM and said something like
"@#$%^ *&^%$ ^#(&%
kayaks" so I know he was really glad to see me! Love ya
man! Finished out the session at Conans.
Surfed my brains out for many hours. The
surfless flu is completely gone. Another Monday at the
office . . . |
| 11/17/01 |
Wow, the surfless streak is over! "Solid" knee to
waist high this afternoon at tunces! A few of us out sharing
waves and enjoying the very light offshore breeze. Small but
good. Had it to myself for the 1st hour. Woof, woof! |
10/31/01
Tuesday AM |
Yesterday's surf caught me completely by surprise! Was on
the road (working) from 6:00 AM 'til midnight and heard about
chest high this morning. A high pressure over us combined
with North winds is not a typical prescription for surf, to say
the least! Was focused on the World Series game last night
and not surf. Just shows that you never know . . . |
| 10/24/01 |
Surfed the lite for 3 hours. Glassy at first and the wind
came up later on. Variable size and no consistent take off
zone but there were some decent drops on the sets. Not a day
to go to sleep out there! Nailed a few nice rides.
Later came in and drove to another winter break and surfed until
5:30 PM. It was really starting to fire clean bullets with
medium long rides, lefts and rights, when I left but had an
evening commitment that was calling.
10/25 Intel: If the wind drops Aves
will be good at sunset. |
10/23/01
Tuesday |
Looks like surf tomorrow (Wednesday). Stay tuned.
10/24 AM update: - forecast
downgraded overnight. |
10/22/01
Monday AM |
Got to the lite about 9:30 AM and no one was out; parking lot
empty; waist high, glassy conditions. No brainer: got wet.
Some times you don't need a meeting to make a good decision.
Another Monday at the office.
Fred "evil man" (why advertise?) showed up
immediately. Victor a little later and Bobby took care of the
clean up position. Wind eventually picked up from the North
and chopped things out. Good session, warm air, no gloves
needed, water about 60 degrees - perfect! |
10/14/01
Sunday PM |
Just got back from 3 days in Atlanta, GA last night to find out
there was a tropical storm off the coast. Checked out all
the breaks and only one was firing. Got wet after lunch and
got out at 5 PM. Sets were occasionally solid head high but
I'd call it shoulder on average. Some waist high "dry
spells" and some nice sets too on occasion.
Lots of guys and girls out today enjoying the waves
today. Good session. I was told the best waves were
Saturday afternoon but today wasn't that bad either! Had a
few walls but also got crunched once while not paying attention to
an incoming set. Oh well. |
10/10/01
Wednesday noon |
This is a direct cut and paste from the current marine weather
long range forecast: "Thu Night through Sun: NE Winds near 25
kts and swells approaching 8
Ft Sat and Sat night, otherwise wind less than 25 kts."
I see nothing in my other surf predicting tools to
substantiate this "irrational exuberance" but I like it
when someone goes out on a forecasting limb. Will be back
Sunday so plan to check out how this turns out at that time! |
10/06/01
Saturday PM |
Got the surf flu about 3:30 PM today and drove directly to a
favorite winter break to find the cure. It was about waist
high and fairly slow but went out anyway. About a half hour
before sun set there were some really nice clean glassy sets that
went through. One was a beautiful right that really ripped!
Good drop, solid fast wall a little too far out ahead for comfort
but that's how most good rides start out. Fast, definitely
vertical and coming down just behind me. Cool ride.
Woof woof! |
10/05/01
Friday Noon |
Current forecast of SW winds and 5-10' for Saturday is very
unusual because SW usually doesn't yield surf that big. May
be a wrap around wind swell that is rideable if the Westerly wind
that follows isn't too strong. Stay tuned. |
| 10/02/01 |
Surfed AM at the lite in a diminishing swell. |
10/01/01
PM
Posted 10/02 AM |
Going off! Drove to one break that was waist high dribble
but 2 others were head high. It was a tough choice but I chose the
head high. Surfed 9:30 to 2:30, got some lunch and rechecked
the break before heading home. It was STILL FIRING and
very clean so I got back in the water again from 3:30 'til 6:45.
The sun set was incredible - so much so that many in the line up
were missing good waves just looking at it. Horizon to
horizon - yellow, orange, red, purple. When God paints there
is no comparison!
Amazing day today. Had one exceptional wave
mid-day with a long feathered top showing on the takeoff and that
"hope I don't get crushed" feeling in the stomach!
Nice drops, some barrels, (generally) slow outside, fast inside,
good vibe. Average skill level is increasing with the cooler
water and air temps. Another 2 weeks and order will be
restored to the line up.
I love it when the snow reports from the ski resorts
start! |
10/01/01
Monday AM |
Sunday 9/30 it was going off! Can you believe overhead and
some barrels at Tunces? Can you also believe that too many
people were out at some of the more well known breaks? A few hardy
souls ventured out at a certain secret break that was firing also.
Surfed 1:30 'til 6:10 PM in wind and rain but the waves were good
at times. One guy out without a wet suit! The ladies
were also nailing some drops too. Did the crowd avoidance
thing this time. Getting to prefer surfing with buddies
nowadaze. Saw Jeff and Eddie and surfed some with Bob and
Jay. When I got back home called the State Policia to file a
"missing persons report" on Fred.
More rain and wind today as we start the 3rd day of a
Nor'easterner. Expect some good surf today also! |
09/26/01
Wednesday |
Definite swell out there but the strong west wind made it tough.
Predictions of 10-15 kts was more like 25 kts. in reality! I
didn't get wet. Jeff reports that 32nd St was excellent
yesterday late afternoon into darkness. Said the wind just
stopped, it glassed off and was shoulder high. This was
about 2 hours after I left. |
09/25/01
Tuesday |
The wind was a major factor this morning. Sail boards were
having a blast. There is a basic swell but it was tough to
ride. Stayed out a few hours at 32nd St. and caught a few
long rides but it was mostly wait wait wait. Got out around
1 PM. Maybe tonight or tomorrow? Stay tuned. |
09/23/01
Posted 9/24 AM |
Surfed mostly boat wakes at the Haus this afternoon! Nice
sunny afternoon, water is still warm and an occasional rideable
set. On the road Tuesday morning in anticipation of a
Humberto swell. Long range looks excellent also. |
09/19/01
Wednesday AM |
Surfed the Lite in some solid head high stuff. Caught a few
walls deep in the shadow and, at times, it felt like being a fly
on vertical wall paper. Very fast rights. A fair
number of people out. As the morning went on there were some
thundering close outs and the wind eventually chopped things out.
Best conditions were from dawn to 11:00 AM. Summer crowd is
still around and the 3/2's are coming out of storage. |
09/18/01
PM |
Surfed Tunces for several hours. Waves were fun and there
were some solid head high at times. Lots of out of state
cars and the vibe was generally unfriendly. Tons of people
at the Lite in the PM. Jimmy was making some serious dawg
money! |
09/18/01
Tuesday
0440 Hrs |
On the road this morning to catch the swell from Gabrielle.
Heard one public prediction last night that there might not be any
swell at all. Wrong! Gotta have patience - it is hard
to see that hurricane off shore and not have a swell immediately.
Don't know how long it will
last but I'll be out there starting today. |
09/12/01
Wednesday PM |
Just
finished 2 days of excellent surf from the hurricane offshore.
Tuesday the swell was cranking all day and today only Tunces was
rideable. Sun burnt face after 2 days. The real story
has been the terrorist attack against the USA. That is on
everyone's mind and I've had many conversations about this with
many people. I personally believe that God intervened and
stopped the destruction by whatever happened aboard that plane
that crashed in Pennsylvania. That this plane crashed and
did not hit some target, perhaps in Washington, is a testimony to
the brave people on board who rose above fear for their personal
safety and acted. May they all rest in God's great arms.
A-men. |
09/10/01
Monday
6:15 AM |
No
swell yet but it's on the way. The wind is currently
forecast to be unfavorable: NW and possible small craft warnings.
If that happens some breaks may be blown out. Still, looking
forward to Tuesday - Thursday time period. High tide in
mid-afternoon this week. Watching and waiting - always
hopeful! |
09/08/01
Saturday |
Been
flat for a week. Two storms in the Atlantic now.
Advance heads up for around mid week next week - Wednesday -->
Thursday time frame for a possible swell. I'm looking
forward to it, aren't you? Meanwhile, it's back up on the
roof with the roll roofing and tar. |
08/29/01
Tuesday |
Surfed
the Haus from mid-morning to 1:00 PM in small but increasing waves
(small easterly swell). It was thigh high and definitely
rideable and clean fun summer waves. Rare chest high.
Even some of the winter chargers were out there! Couple of
kayakers dropping in on surfers. Guys - surf diagonally to
the wave and look before you take off on a wave!!! Had
a Jimmy Dawg special for lunch and then headed off to the big city
in the PM. |
| 08/25/01
Saturday |
Forecast
changed completely. Flat this weekend. |
| 08/24/01
Friday |
Marine
forecast looks good for Sunday and Monday. |
08/21/01
Tuesday 3:00PM |
Average
chest high in AM with a few decent sets - very foggy.
Fog lifted for awhile then came back in around noon. Got in
maybe 3 hours in the water. Waves were still working as of
1:00 PM |
08/21/01
Tuesday 7:30AM |
Today
there is a predicted swell coming - waves are 6'
offshore everywhere; coming this way? I'm on the road again
just in case.
The surf C O N T I N U E S . . . . |
08/20/01
Monday |
Last
night waist high and rideable despite the threat of thunderstorms.
It was great to cool off in the water! There were 3 other
guys out ALL digging for the first wave that came through and
getting in each other's way. That left the rest for me!
Love those part timers! |
|
--->
Special note: Buoy 44025 (wave data) is scheduled to
be repaired the week of August 20th. We shall see who is
right - the webmaster or those who schedule the repair visits and
do the real work! Update: Buoy is back
up 8/23/01. Webmaster Phil was right! |
08/16/01
Thursday |
Definite
solid swell working today from dawn to dusk. Surfed 8-11:30,
ate lunch and hung out, then surfed the PM shift for many hours.
Glass early today. Varied from waist to head high plus;
average chest high. Shot some film. Everyone was there
at one time or another. A few classic drop ins were
observed. That sort of thing will stop once the summer crowd
thins out in 6 weeks. Real surfers surf 12 months a year. |
08/15/01
Wednesday |
Waves
today - especially late PM. Love surf - the anticipation of
getting in the water with 217 of my best friends all at the same
time with 10 percent of us going for the same close out.
<big grin>
7:00 PM report: Lite was
small and slow but working. Went looking for bigger stuff
and found it at Tunces. Occasional sets were head high and
clean. In water 4 hours on the incoming. Nice session. |
08/10/01
Friday |
Probable
wind swell today; wrap around at point breaks. Waist
to shoulder high - peak size at noon - diminished size in late PM |
08/08/01
Wednesday |
At
the Lite surfing boat wakes. Unbelievable but true.
Desperate! |
| 08/04/01 |
Just back from an extended road trip so it's update time.
The waist to head high swell from that offshore storm was really
working for 3 days. Surfed Tuesday 5 hours and Wednesday at
3 different breaks 'till I couldn't surf no mo. Many surfers
out - an odd mix of very skilled with novices. Many close
calls. In the winter people look both ways before going; in
the summer, many don't. Check out the fan
mail page for more. |
07/20/01
(Posted 7/21) |
Surfed the early morning at one break - no one out - set waves
jacked up to solid shoulder high. Hooked up with Bobby and
surfed South side in the late morning in knee to waist high.
Exceptionally pleasant day - warm and sunny and light offshores.
Rumors of surf in New Jersey but divided opinions as to whether it
will get here! |
| 07/13/01 |
Up at dawn, threw the gear into Large Pickup, classic Beach Boys
on the CD and off to the water. West breeze and no one out
anywhere in early AM. Had whatever I wanted. Thanks
God. Mostly knee to waist and fairly clean. Surfed the
AM shift and went to get some Jimmi Dawgs for lunch. Fred,
Bobby, Jeff, Josh and more were hanging out so we shared the stoke
of waves, sun and a clear summer blue sky.
Jeff got asked to dance to the music on the radio.
Can say no more. Jeff said "Flies bite when the wind is
off shore." Sounded profound at the time . . .
Back in the water for a few hours in waist to
shoulder high and really clean. A few feet bigger and and it
might have been a super session. It was simple excellent.
Really happy to begin putting the surgery into the past. |
06/17/01
Sunday
8:30 AM update: |
The remnants of Allison are coming by way of land, not by sea and
will be out of here in less than 24 hours. Sure does
not look to me like there is much surf on the way.
The opinion from this porch is the marine forecast for 3-6' surf
is greatly exaggerated. We shall see soon enough!
6/18:
One local surf report this AM: "Skunked" (no surf)
|
| 06/15/01 |
Waist high surf Tuesday 6/12, Wednesday 6/13, flat Thursday 6/14,
and on 6/14 (at the beach) overheard rumors of a swell (Big
Eddie). Nothing yet but stay tuned.
Surgery confirmed for a week from today.
Bummer. I'd really prefer confirmed surf and rumored
surgery! |
| 05/21/01 |
Well, the surf season has been interrupted for Dr. Surf. On
Saturday (5/19) really twisted my knee playing wiffle ball with
about a dozen cousins and am hobbling around on crutches for the
immediate future. Survived the winter surf season with
hardly a scratch and then one foul tip at bat and life becomes a
move into the slow lane. My best friends for the immediate
future are an ice bag, a heating pad and Ibupropfen.
Impressive looking knee however! |
05/17/01
Thursday
(Posted 5/18) |
Left the house at 6 AM on a mission - to find surf when none
apparently existed. The predicted and overhyped Tuesday and
Wednesday East swell wasn't - nothing going on at the usual
East breaks - from dribble to solid knee high close outs.
Had almost given up but checked one last break on the way home and
Pay dirt! Solid chest high left
sets pealing off and 1 guy out. One 4/3/2 overcoat and away
we went.
Surfed over 4 hours with a few long rides and a few
dry spells also. Glass early and a light on shore breeze
later on. Thigh to rare head high and a very agreeable
session. I'm cool for a few days!
Verdict: Dr Surf scores
while other locals go hungry.
Lesson learned? Surf cams and buoy readings can't
compete with "eyes on" intel. |
05/11/01
Friday
(Posted 5/13) |
Friday had a busy schedule so surfed from 7-9 AM at Tunces. At
times it was very big. Drove around and checked all the spots
really early but Tunces was the biggest and cleanest. Actually,
there were some "carpet sweepers" that rolled through so
there was no sleeping on the job! Reports of good surf at 2
other locations. Nice swell that lasted 3 daze.
5/13/01 6:30PM - Just scored 2 tickets to Tom Petty a
few minutes ago. Excellente !!! |
05/08/01
Tuesday |
Some surf here and there with more on the way. I'm going on
the road in anticipation. |
05/05/01
Saturday |
Report from Big Bob that he and Josh nailed some
"crotch-stomach high" at 2 different breaks today. |
05/01/01
Tuesday |
As the weather gets warmer and the waves get smaller the updates
here are behind schedule! Had 3 sessions in the last 10
days: knee (barely), waist and shoulder high. One local surf
report had one of those days as completely flat - maybe it was
flat at the Town Beach but not at Dr. Surf's secret spot
 .
At 2 of the 3 sessions there was nobody around and the third (Tunces)
was kinda crowded. I saw a lot of shaky legs out there as
the summer crowd begins to stretch out those atrophied muscles not
used since last fall . . . |
04/20/01
Thursday |
Drove around looking but the beach was unrideable. There
were little lines coming in, however, so I was intrigued.
Checked out all the local spots far and near. Got to a
famous watering hole at 11:30 AM, tide was wrong, no wind and the
parking lot was EMPTY. There were the same lines so got out
of the vehicle and checked further when what to my surf starved
eyes should appear but some clean waist high rights pealing off.
Whoa Nellie - an unadvertised special! Jumped into the 4_3_2
and was out there in record time.
Caught several in a row and then, suddenly, the wind
picked up strong from the SW and chopped it out. In 15
minutes it was mostly gone. That's the news for now; there
was surf but it was hard to find.
Dr. Surf_less
scores |
04/16/01
Monday |
Water temperature is now 44 degrees (F). It's time for the
annual "norubbah_kook"
contest. If you spot a surfer out in the water locally with
a board, bathing suit and no other gear: no wet suit, gloves,
boots, hood let me know the date, place, and particulars and I'll
put the first responder's message up on the fan mail page.
Winner gets a free
"that's my
wave" call out there in the line up. Right. |
04/13/01
Friday |
In the water at 9:15 and out at 12:30. Lite was firing on 2
cylinders then 4 then 3. Hung around at least an hour with
Fred waiting for it to clean up a little. It was a weird
swell that went off at times as the breeze shifted from N to E to
S and at one point stopped and got glassy. Fog varied in
intensity and was thick at times making lining up on incoming
waves interesting.
Waves were generally waist high but some of the
takeoffs jacked right up there for some nice drops! Most of
the time there was no defined clean zone so everyone had the
chance to score at one time or another. About 11:00 the
swell got bigger. Good session. |
04/10/01
Tuesday |
South side was "head high and glassy" early this morning
according to Fred and Eddie. About 2:00 PM an easterly breeze
strengthened and the small swell chopped out. If the
wind drops tonight it should be rideable . . |
04/09/01
Monday |
In the water about 6 hours today. Dense fog early. Lite was
inconsistent early so went to Aves and got wet. Mostly waist
high but there was no one out! Stayed right on shore due to
the high tide and had some nice clean rides. After a while
went over to the lite where it was bigger but less consistent.
Mostly shoulder high and a lot of guys out. Looked like
everyone had Monday off . . . Caught one wave of the day a
little too deep but it held up. Tried PA for a while and
caught the longest, cleanest and best waves of the day there with
no one else out. Nice day on the water. All the
regulars were out today - word gets around fast! |
03/31/01
Su_pah Day! |
The Haus was a solid 1 1/2 with some long big close outs every few
minutes. No defined take off zone. I need to check the
film again to be sure of the size but the close outs were
attention getters. Drove around and found a nice clean
occasional 1 1/2 without the close outs, got dressed and went out.
Whoa! 5 wet hours and back on terra firma.
There were some nice set waves and a few close calls! Goin'
off outside, inside and all around the break. Big, clean,
really jacking up on the takeoff. Wind went all the way
around the compass but when it hit S around noon time the place
lit off. By then the place had cleared out and you could
take your pick of the litter. Enie menie Whoa! |
| 03/30/01 |
The predicted 30-40 knot East winds through midnight tonight
actually were West to NW and so the surf dramatically diminished
at mid-day with the wind shift and tide change. In checking
the Boston marine forecast late this
afternoon it appears someone there looked
out the window to see what was actually
going on and then changed the marine
forecast to match real time conditions.
Got in 2 hours in the water in the rain downbursts
but most of that was hanging around. Looks like the early
morning crew got the prize today. |
| 03/23/01 |
Swell gradually decreased in size all day. Checked the lite
in the late PM but didn't go out. Strong West wind and quite
a few boards out. Random close outs + short boards dropping
in on each other. Shot a little film but ehhh . . . yesterday
spoiled me so I stayed dry. |
| 03/22/01 |
It was Big today. Early AM studied the water for a while
trying to figure how to get out and then how to come in! The
right was the only way because the left was randomly closing out
big time. Walked the gear a long way to the right and went out.
Caught a few waves but not nearly as many as usual; couple of
really big rights with double and triple drops with a solid fast
wall like a flying wedge in what is a traditionally slow wave.
It was hairy at times but there were some great waves if you were
in the right place at the right time. I'm happy to be back
on dry land! |
| 03/17/01 |
What a nice day it was to be on the water today. Locals
were lined up like cord wood along a certain wall in Rhode
Island watching the average chest high rolling in. Lefts and
occasional rights; clean; warm sunny day; light SE breeze. Peaks
were jacking up with some occasional "solid head high"
drops. A good day to surf and then hang out with Josh,
Eddie, Fred, Bobby, Jim and many others.
If you are a local and you weren't there today your
status has been revoked and
you are sentenced to 3 consecutive sessions at N. Town Beach.
Gag. |
03/14/01
Wednesday at the office |
Water at the light was occasionally closing out. Aves were
the place. Goin' off! Maybe a dozen guys out all kinda
bunched up and riding the right. Bigga Fred pointed out the
chest to solid head high left that was unattended after he got out
of the water so I did the reasonable thing and took over from
where he "left" off (poor joke). Nice and clean
with some decent walls on set waves. Had 'em all to myself
so aimed for the "setties". Down, up, back and
forth with plenty of room on the face. Got a rare backwards
insta_barrel just as I bailed out of one wave. Really excellent 3
hour session. Offshore wind held the waves up nicely.
Nothing but good news to report tonight! Big smile! |
03/13/01
Tuesday at the office |
The fog was super dense today. It was a classic case of "no
peek 5 card stud" surfing (where you bet on each step you
take but don't know the hand the ocean is holding!) Couldn't
see - got dressed; 3 cars parked at my favorite secret spot -
walked to the water's edge; nice close outs near shore and the
roar outside from somewhere in the pea soup "white out"
fog - paddled out.
Conditions turned out to be chest high but where to
line up? Not a reference point in sight and you couldn't see
the shore. Around noon time it lifted a little and the place
lit off. Nice head high sets and the breeze stopped and
water became glassy. Way cool 3 hour session. |
| 03/12/01 |
If the current forecast holds there may be surf tomorrow
afternoon. |
| 03/12/01 |
Last week there was an extended period of head high with several
breaks that rarely fire going off. I missed the whole thing
do to a rare extended work project that should be completed this
week. Converting to oil heat so the time I usually spend
carrying firewood logs out of the woods, etc., will be better
spent on and in the water in
the future!
Thanks to everyone who sent me mail about the surf! |
03/05/01
7:15 AM |
Having ISP problems this AM so have only managed to FTP this file
to update this page. Must be snowing down in Philadelphia!
Unable to update marquee on the front page, unfortunately.
Sometimes there is nothing a webmeister can do!
This morning there is almost no snow outside and one
buoy is at 13 feet and the wind is 15 knots. I know
what some of you are thinking about . . . Be very careful.
Conditions will be changing rapidly in a few hours as this big
snow storm comes closer.
My advice - stay home. All 3 RI surf cams were
down this AM but 2 are back up. Tides are really unfavorable
with low tide at 10 AM . . . For more on the Rhode Island storm
experience go here |
02/26/01
Monday at the Office |
Aves was chest high early but by 10 or so there were some really
nice sets coming through. The low early morning sun
was behind the waves and you were in the deep shadow in the lefts
near shore. Surfed 8:00-1:15 in some excellent stuff.
Classic winter surf and quite a few guys out. Jay and Russ
were back in the line up. Victor showed up a little later
on. Jay was on top of every set wave for about 2 hours
riding at least 13' long board! :-)
West wind fairly strong early on; slacked off for a
while and then picked up after noon time. Excellent session.
Lefts and rights. Really tired at the end. Slight sun
burned face. |
| 02/23/01 |
Head high 3 1/2 hour session in the early AM and Chest to Head
High 1 hour PM session at a different break. Glassed off for
an hour in the AM. Excellent session. A few solid
walls. For a write up of this session go here.
Shot some film in the afternoon. |
02/22/01
Warning |
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. |
| 2/16/01 |
Drove around at 2:00 PM. Nothing anywhere. One board
out at Tunces: sitting and hoping. Forget_it. |
02/10/01
(posted 2/12/01) |
It was going off Saturday morning but I missed it completely.
I knew about it - just chose to focus instead on some domestic
issues like fire wood and getting the taxes done. On rare
occasions I put surfing second and that's simply wrong . . . but
it's real :-)
Had
an offer to go out at 11:30 but by then the winds were roaring
from the west. Looks like there will be some possibility of
waves later this week. |
| 02/01/01 |
Haus was going off all morning and early afternoon. Chest to
overhead and rideable. Some nice sets. Good 4 hour
session. Thanks to Amy for lending me a pair of gloves after
I left mine at home! It was like spring time out there today
except for the water temperature . . .
Had the steepest drop of the winter season on one
double up. |
01/31/01
Soopah Wednesday |
What a way to end January! Buoys were 8 to 13 feet and
almost no wind in the AM. 4 hour session today was:
- classic but
not epic
- glassy but
not smooth
- a little
crowded but there were plenty of waves
- sunny early
and cloudy later
- rights and
lefts
- waist to
solid large and . . .
- no one was
out at my favorite secret winter break except a few hundred of
our closest friends!
It was a surfers
"Who's Who" Hall of Fame. "My Wave"
Fred, "No, it's my wave" Bobby and "They're all MY
waves" Sir Jeffrey were ripping. There were some
classic rides and some closeouts too. Waves were
"thick" early and got better later. Set waves were
big.
Got a sun burned face and and a big grin. Life
is good.
|
01/27/01
Saturday |
The Haus was going off in the early morning. Solid chest to
head high +. Technical surf - occasional solid close outs
and a shifting take off zone that was very narrow at times despite
the wave size. Quite a few excellent surfers out there.
Mostly short boarders but there was a long board now and then that
showed up the slashers! Generally not a friendly wave
sharing session, that's for sure. Oh well.
Good to be out there anyway and hooted for a couple
of nice tight rides by some new school riders. Mr.
Wavewalker even showed up in a Gliss and promptly headed off solo
to the class 5 boulder field. I stuck with the occasional
set waves out in the open. Somehow nicked my cheek and the
blood was a 3
thumbs up
"most realistic" move of the day for the Dr. It
was that kind of session. Took a nap after getting home . .
. |
| 01/25/01 |
Nice surf today and semi_glass at times. Sunny, in low 40's,
not many guys out. Had "Thres Picos" completely to
myself for over an hour. Would go completely flat for a
while and then the sets would come back nicely. Caught some
long rides and several times made it through the three close out
sections in one continuous ride. 1 sorta almost barrel and
one definite thumping! The thought process on the thumping
was like this: "It's gonna close out - go up and
over!" "No it's not!" "I can make that
section." "No way." "It'll hold up"
"Not possible." "Drop down now!"
"Oh no, it's coming over." "Thumpity.
Crunch." "That was a dumb move!"
5 hours in the water. Sun burned face.
Big grin. |
| 01/24/00 |
It's a quiet day with not much surf happening and an outgoing
tide. Going to drive to the beach and start reading a new
Max Lucado book I got as a birthday present from my best friend.
Will have the gear with me - you never know! Could run
across some "solid knee high" screamers! Off to
the beach front office. |
| 01/20/01 |
Excellent sessions today. 9-12 at Tunces, broke for lunch
and then tried out a super
secret winter spot
(known only to several hundred people throughout the East coast)
from 1 - 3:30 PM. Firing with occasional solid head high but
the main news was the predicted big winds never materialized and
the surf swell was muy bueno! Been a few weeks since I
surfed in real waves. At the 5 1/2 hour point caught a nice
juicy left all the way to the beach. Bone weary at the end.
The regular winter crowd was out. Water in the
upper 30's and the sleet and snow were occasionally tough on the
eyes. Good surf makes January a tolerable month . . .
Snow storm tonight . . . |
01/17/01
Wednesday AM |
Hung out at the haus for an hour with 3 other equally red
eyed desperate
surf deprived desperados
as we talked about the real things in life (surfing, surf
equipment and past run_ins with other desperadoes) and stole
secret looks at the incoming unrideable "solid" knee
high. The 40 degree temps were a foretaste of warmer weather
in a few short months.
Might be surf on the way with a multi-day NE event
forecast for the weekend. Time will tell . . . |
| 01/15/01 |
Surfed the sand bar in occasional screaming ankle double up (knee
high?). Rare waist. At the outer limits of surfability
but I was a desperate hombre in need of a surf_fix. I wasn't
the only one either! Got wet and stayed out 2 hours.
NE wind; temp. in mid 30's. |
| 01/09/01 |
Surfed Tunces for maybe an hour and a half in mostly waist high
with some intervals between the small sets. One other guy
out. Snow changed to freezing rain and those ice bullets
were hard on the eyes at times. Steel gray skies and ice
gray-green colored water. Most refreshing! Now using
full winter gear. Takes 10 minutes to get dressed. Try
to avoid getting caught inside now that the water is cold.
There was a group out at a another well known spot
but the 1,000,000 watt stereo system blasting every 20 seconds
kinda killed my enthusiasm for going out again. They need a
new note for that system. Drove around again looking for
waves but not much going on elsewhere so went to MD's in Wakefield
for lunch. The Burger King next door disappeared!
Bulldozers leveled it. Generally quiet day. |
| 01/08/01 |
One report of waist to chest Saturday afternoon (1/6) at the Haus
but I missed it. Yesterday (Sunday) it was basically knee to
thigh but not really rideable (at the Haus). Looked at the
small water and decided to go out to lunch with my wife instead.
Storing up points for the first 4 day swell of January,
whenever it arrives. <g>
Winter has settled in much earlier this year so we
should soon be seeing those storms that bring more E and NE winds
(and, hence more rideable surf) and a little less of the strong NW
winds which so quickly knock down the swell.
Expect a surf event 1/13/01 because a commitment will
prevent me from being on the water for a day and a half. Oh
well! |
| 01/01/2001 |
Surfed the Haus from 10:30 to 1:30 in chest to waist high in a
dying swell on a just above freezing and bright sunny day with
fairly light NW breeze. Got a couple of nice waves and one
unexpected closeout, ,er, barrel. :-) Jeff and
"Bobby" were out and some other regulars also. I
suspect the best conditions were earlier this morning.
No crack of dawn club this AM - got to bed too late
doing the New Year's thang. It was more like the Crack
O' Noon club!
Well, so far we've surfed every day in 2001.
|
12/30/00
9:55 AM |
People are loading up on Watr and Koker-Koler and Bret and Millk.
I fully expect the first snow flake sighted to prompt both a
multiple snow plow pileup on Rt. 95 and an immediate emergency
statewide parking ban throughout the state of RI. The TV
weathermen are beginning to believe their own hype. The
real Rhode Island story is this:
Will those who bought First Night Providence Buttons get a refund
or will the money go to the Mayor's
Marinara Sauce fund?
Me? I'm wondering if the post storm wind switch
to NW will knock down the swell. Stay tuned! |
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