2002 Surf Reports

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- 2002 Surf Reports -

You may have surfed today but the experience isn't complete until you find out how good it was by reading about it here. :-) Also check out the Road Updates (currently not up and running) page, especially in the summer months. Surfing X-Files now up and running. Ever wonder who is in that black limo going 85?

If you don't see any updates for a while then there's probably no surf :-(
or, it's one and a half, and I'm on the road until it dies out :-)

Date

Comments:

01/01/03
Wednesday

At 9:00 AM Lite was almost firing - some peaks but not a whole lot of walls - definite occasional chest high+, glassy and no one out. Parking lot empty! I did the right thing: got dressed and went out; it was good to have an easy decision to start off the New Year with. Surfed almost 3 hours and the best was early before a light breeze came up from the NE. There were other breaks working but I was done at noon. Nice little session. Took a little nap this afternoon to catch up on the lack of sleep last night! Happy New Year everyone! Everyone who slept in this morning is really appreciated . . . . . . dr. S u r f

12/27/02
Friday

   Haus was a solid knee high at 2 PM but it was a sunny late afternoon and glassy so I got dressed and went out. Nothing special to write about . . . good to get wet and catch a few small waves for about 2 hours.
   Yesterday (12/26) was maybe shoulder high at midday and only one board out there. I suspect the locals grabbed the early morning shift and were gone by noon but you never know.
   Looks like no surf for the next couple of days.

12/14/02
Saturday
Supersession

Pretty intense 4 hour session today. Glass, very big sets, not a consistent take off zone but the lefts and rights were firing. A locals hall of fame session today. Edgar, Bobby, Josh, Mike (but no Jay or Fred). We were lined up waaay out there in no mans land and even that seemed inside at times. Some of the drops and walls were pretty good. I'm lacking words to describe it right now but if I close my eyes I can see that horizon turn black and guys wasting no time moving out. As far as I'm concerned the best I saw was Edgar with almost a "no paddle" drop over a big wave as if on automatic pilot. Right place at the right time!

12/13/02
Friday

Got out early this morning and checked a few breaks. Settled on the haus and spent maybe 3 hours out there. Bright, sunny, glassy, morning with very little surf. Later in the morning there was an occasional waist high. Some times you just go out there get wet; waves are a bonus. Slight sun burned face - a bonus situation in Rhode Island in December!

12/12/02
Thursday

10:00_AM

Marine prediction last night was 10-15 K breeze from the N. Actual this AM was near 30 from the NW. 2 breaks were knee high at 8:30 AM. Another was head high but that wind was tough. I saw one short board out there doing the right thing. I lost interest with the wind situation this AM. Maybe another day . . . Saturday? If the wind drops later on today then there are possibilities . . .

12/06/02
Friday
Updated Saturday AM

*Unable to publish this update yesterday - service provider was down*
   The water was a major challenge today. High tide and a fairly good sized swell working. It was a challenge to get out through the shore break. I made my first wave - a medium fast right with a nice wall. On the second wave I took off too deep, the lower wall bulged out, the top came over and down and Dr. Surf got mashed by thundering cold water. Ugh. Really light headed. After that I got really conservative out there!
   Finally switched breaks and rode for a few hours all alone. One other board out there - he took the lefts and I had the rights. Sets were walls of water with some excellent drops and verticality. Haus was deserted today - no kayaks and just a (very) few boards. Surfed 3 1/2 hours today and got out at 1:00 PM. All points and reefs were going off.
   Surf conservatively out there from now on 'til next May. Water is cold and getting caught inside can leave you disoriented.

11/30/02
Saturday

The sun was just beginning to rise as I got into the water this morning; surfed until 5 minutes of noon. Waves were often challenging to catch but there were also some nice makeable sets that came through. Haus wasn't clean so went to a favorite winter break. Saw Mike, Mike, Jay, Bobby and Josh and many other locals out there. Kinda tired tonight - took an hour nap at home after a rather large junk food meal on the road. Remember taking off a number of times and going left 'til the last second; then doing a fast 180 and coming backside along that nice inside wall. Surf died out about 25 minutes during the tide change and then came back even stronger as the wind dropped to nothing for a while. Had 2 waves that looked like certain close outs but they just hung vertical and were good to this ole surfer. A good session; good swell working.

11/19/02
Tuesday

Excellente!

Been out to Indianapolis at a national conference for men who minister to other men (www.ncmm.org) for 4 days and completely away from the surf scene. Arrived back in RI Saturday at midnight light headed from extreme salt water deprivation. Did the dawn patrol this morning. Arrived at the haus and saw glassy shoulder high rights peeling off like the Cranston Surf Patrol used to dream about around mid-July before they got too old to surf. :-) No one out there when I arrived but there were a half dozen guys getting the wet suits on in record time!
Surfed about 2 1/2 hours in some nice wedge shaped drops that were solid head high+ (sets) and some long rides. It was really excellent today. There were also large schools of fish and sea birds following them. A little before 10 the breeze came up from the NW and the swell got smaller. Perfect session this morning!

11/12/02
Tuesday

Last night surfed the late afternoon shift until dark. The later it got, the cleaner the surf. Excellent head high session. This morning nailed some stuff in a declining swell at another break. Occasional nice clean set came through in a no stress session. Got in a whole lot of water time in the last 24 hours.

11/09/02
Saturday
11:25_AM

Hung around yesterday hoping something would happen but it never did. So, did the dawn patrol thing this morning; just drove to my favorite break at 6:30AM with the stereo playing music that matters! There was surf being analyzed by a couple of locals but it was small and sloppy at first. It slowly built up and cleaned up so by late morning there was an occasional nice wave. Mostly rights. Good session today!

11/06/02
Wednesday

It was very big when I got out there at 10 AM this morning. Left was closing but the right was awesome - good drop and curved, fast face if you didn't grab the closeout wave! Had the right all to myself the whole time! Later rode the left and the set waves were very big. Alternated catching some solid walls with the Pan Man who, for a while, was the only other person out there with me. Ripping some of the time and avoiding being crushed the rest of the time! The inside break wall was holding up some of the time for that old "fly on the wall" feeling. Got in 4 hours plus and immensely tired at the end. Perfect day but I'm a little out of physical shape with the infrequent surf lately. That will change, hopefully. If you worked today instead of surfing - I gotta say . . . thanks, podner! I grabbed a few for ya.

10/31/02
Friday

It's been a quiet week so yesterday afternoon I took a chance and drove to the water despite the forecast and, sure enough, it was flat! Going to do the same again today as the wind is going to be picking up. There are waves off shore but they're too far south. Getting the dreaded surf deprivation symptoms again! I cut down a big tree too near the house and sectioned it up yesterday but it was a poor substitute for stealing "da Cat's" wave. Oink. Snort!

10/26/02
Saturday

Waited until 3:00 PM to get wet. Miscalculated the degree of difficulty getting through the shore break and got slammed a couple of times. Ted Pan was the only other one there contemplating the shore break. Finally walked a way up the beach and was successful getting out. Close out sets made the left unrideable so I worked the right. Wind stopped for a little while and then went NW. Caught a few waves but not the usual quota! Maybe a half dozen others out there doing the after work thing. Mainly surfed outside. All the usual locals gave up too early in the day!

10/17/02
Thursday
PM

Most excellent 6+ hour session today. Very few people out there this morning. Surfed 2 different breaks. Occasional 1 1/2 (set waves) but mostly head high early. Slacked off at tide change and then picked up again. Firing all day. Semi-glass at mid-day. Rights and lefts. Boom boom badda_bing. If you worked today you made an unwise choice! Some nice drops at times. Deep takeoffs were rewarded. Did I mention that it was a blast out there today? Totally stoked tonight. Woof, woof. There's been surf for a week straight.

10/16/02
Wednesday
PM

Checked out one break today and it was basically "close out stuff" combined with strong wind. The after work crowd showed up and was out there but I felt it was a waste of time so eventually left without getting wet and drove to get a couple of egg rolls at a favorite local restaurant. Egg rolls were delicious. You didn't miss anything today.

10/12/02
Saturday PM

Got in about 5+ hours today in windy conditions. Waves got bigger as time went on. Conditions were "zoolike" (itwasazoooutthere) with a lotta bodies in the water. It was a local's hall of fame meeting (they were the ones riding the waves). There were often multiple people sharing single waves. Once you got used to it . . . it wasn't that bad! My eyes are tired from the water spray in the eyes for so many hours. Saw Josh who was there just shaking his head. I think he's waiting for February when order is restored to the line up.
Good waves - crowded - excellent session. Been wondering: why do short boarders drop in on people (and, each other) so often?

10/11/02
Friday 4:30PM

Surf is forecast for the indefinite future with the storm on our doorstop. Been a while since I've seen a marine forecast like the current one. High winds are the wild card. Keep safe out there.

10/05/02
Saturday

5 1/2 hours in the water on a very nice, sunny, warm water day. Varied from knee to head high with clean fun waves. Water is still warm and several surfers were out there in bathing suits. Considering that it was a weekend there were very few people at the break I was at. Saw Wolfman J. for the first time in a while so I guess that appearance marks the start of the fall surf season. Heard it was breaking everywhere but I didn't travel around to check. Went straight to the break and didn't do any second guessing! A few tourists hanging on with the warm weather but that will soon change.

09/28/02 Saturday
PM
Supersession

"Are you all right?" Bobby asked. "Sheesh gaspa glunk wheeze"
"Are you OK man?" I realized he was serious and so I managed something like "yeah". It was late this afternoon and I just completed about 14 hours in the water the last 2 days. Today was the day the swell finally arrived and I hit 3 breaks - one in the morning and the same one in the PM - twice. Surfed both the incoming and outgoing tides. No lunch either day. Yesterday was pretty small but not today. Windy early then occasionally semi-glassy. It was booming at times with some big close-outs. Saw Jay, Bobby, Victor, Sven, Ken, Jerome and just about everyone on the planet was out there at some time or another (except Fred - MIA?). Sunburned face - mind turned to toast - red eyes from looking into the sun - stomach muscles like an overstretched rubber band - heart still near my throat from some of the drops. There are a whole lotta tired people tonight with big grins!

09/27/02
Friday 7:30AM

So far, this storm is the most overrated non-surf event that I've seen in many years. The deal is that it went much further inland than originally predicted and surf needs an ocean storm. Will we get surf? I think so but the question is when. Stay tuned.

09/25/02
Wednesday

minor_Rant included
...sorry

Old people: just_don't read....it

   All the intel I see plus some newly discovered sources indicate surf for a while although not all of it will be big. The summer drought is over for the near term.
   Rant: Hey, this is not related to surfing but the new Google news beta site is cool. I checked it this morning for the first time. Goodbye forever to NBC, CBS and ABS and their spinning the news to fit their common political agendas! The net is cool isn't it? Commercial TV (not an oxymoron) has become totally moot and irrelevant. About time! Next, we need to see some new Internet portals in the USA that don't spin the news the way AOL and MSN.com constantly do - always talking down President Bush much the same way Radio Iraq would. Whose side are they on?
PM update: 2 hours today in solid knee high. Exceptionally high tide.
   PPS 9/26: Finally worked over the film from 9/11. Will post shots on the front page starting this week.

09/24/02
Tuesday

Dawn patrol this morning. At the water before dawn so drove around and checked everything out. Not much going on until I checked out 6/5/4, a winter break. Nice clean waist high pealing off and no one out. Surfed 4 1/2 hours in mostly small stuff with a rare wave now and then jacking up to head high on the take off. Good session. All the locals were hanging out nearby. Caught a certain nameless individual slumming at a break he never goes to! Cannot say more. Met Ken from NY in his 3rd year of surfing and John was out there with me also.

09/21/02
Saturday
AM

Sometimes it seems that the term "Rhode Island surf" is oxymoronic. Nothing going on at the moment and for the next couple of days. The only thing of interest is watching the long term prediction on the hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico turning around from Mexico and heading towards the coast near the Fla. panhandle. I sure am glad I don't live near the water down there!

09/17/02
PM

Well, I thought it was going to be flat this AM but it wasn't. Nice little clean thigh - waist high and 2 of us out there for a couple of hours. The Cranston Surf Patrol called this one right. Mostly lefts working today. As it began to get chopped out maybe a half dozen guys showed up but by then we wuz outta there.

09/16/02
Monday
3:00 PM

Well, I suppose this update is a bit overdue . . . The marine forecast for the weekend storm was initially 5-10' then was changed to 4-8' and currently remains at 3-6'. Horsefeathers. Bogus. It's flat to barely knee high out there. The NOAA forecast didn't react to the fact that the remnants of tropical storm Hannah went way inland instead of along the coast south of RI so we didn't get surf although we got wind and rain. Gonna be flat for a few more days too.

09/11/02
Tuesday

In the water at 7AM and out at 11:45. Conditions were occasionally solid head high and it was glassy for an extended time. Caught a couple of screamers during that time: nice drops and a solid wall ahead. This was the second day of surf from the off shore storm that turned into a hurricane. The greatest challenge was getting out at high tide with the waves pounding on the rocks. Dangerous depending upon where you were surfing. One surfer broke the fin box on his board trying to get out of the water! The wind picked up strongly from the NW to effectively end the session. Went to a crowded break and shot some film after the wind picked up - will have it here "soon" - probably next week after this is just a distant memory! Great 2 day swell. There may be some residual waves once the NW winds die out - time will tell.

09/10/02
Monday

Surfed from around 8 to noon in some occasionally solid waves. Definite swell under way. Too tired to write more at the moment!

09/09/02
PM

Saw a couple of locals this early afternoon in deep cover (1 mingling with tourists at the Town beach behind sun glasses; another ducking behind the Narragansett post office heading away from the water). I suspect they wus doin' the recon thang but it is flat on a 90 degree day in RI. Predicted 35 knot NW_erlies might spoil the party . . .stay tuned. Plus, There are certain systemic failures (a certain surf cam is down and the buoy servers are extremely slow) - looks like sumptins up.

09/02/02
PM

Great session today. Wet for at least 5 hours with the best waves around 2 PM. Some strong rain at times. Haven't surfed at that break for at least 6 months and had it all to myself for maybe an hour and a half. Excellent session and dog tired at the end. It is good to be back in the surf groove - been a long dry flat summer.

08/28/02
noon

Checked out all the breaks this AM but didn't go out. Not that clean. A few people out at the usual busy spots but conditions didn't "move" me to get wet.

08/27/02 AM

I've been studying the weather this last week and it is clear that there is a fundamental shift in the surf trend away from flat to having surf. Current wave periods are in the 14 second range and advance forecasts show E and NE winds with off shore storms. Looks like the surf may pick up soon. That's good news because I saw 6 locals yesterday who had come out of summer hibernation. Without being too specific (EM and MM) I saw guys on large boards going after tiny waves as if they were the set of the decade! Cheer up people: the drought is about ovah.

Surfed about 2 hours just before noon time in some "solid knee high" stuff.

08/26/02
Monday

There was a little wave action today so finally got wet this afternoon. Surfed about 2 hours in waves knee high going flat and then again to occasional waist high. Some localistas out there today. Surfed with the EdenMeister as well as Mons_tahMon. Fun time in small waves. Some surfed Sunday also as there were small waves then also.

08/19/02 PPM

"Seas gradually increasing in a southeasterly swell becoming 4' to 10' with a light offshore breeze." Wow! That sounds more like it doesn't it? Day dreaming here this evening in RI on a hot, dry and very flat night. Back to sleep. Zzzzzzz. If you got caught off guard by this made up forecast drop me a line here.

08/16/02
Friday_AM

Last Monday there was a little unadvertised special and all the locals took advantage of it. Wednesday I spent maybe 4 hours out there attempting to surf boat wakes. I know one local with his house up for sale. No outside watering in many communities due to the drought. It's dry, hot, flat, no storms heading this way.

08/14/02
Wednesday 6:20_AM

No surf in sight. It's becoming exceptionally dry with the lack of rain. I know 1 municipal water system with "drought warning" signs posted; urging customers to really conserve water.
As far as surf is concerned, there isn't any. Only possibility is wind in the next week stirring up a little wind swell in the late afternoon. We need rain and surf here in the best little state in the union.

08/10/02
Sat._PM

Little solid knee highs at the haus this afternoon but definitely rideable at times. Out there about 2 hours and caught 1 chest high in that time. It seemed like a really big wave after what has been happening this summer! Saw Mike, John and Nathan on the water. It was really good to get wet.

08/07/02
5:25_PM

Fri: NW Wind around 10 kts early, becoming SW 10 to 15 kts late. seas 1 to 2 Ft.
Fri Night: SW Wind 10 to 15 kts becoming W late. Seas 1 to 2 Ft.
Sat: W Wind 10 to 15 kts becoming SW late. Seas 1 to 3 Ft.
Sat Night: SW Wind 10 to 15 kts. Seas 1 to 3 Ft.
Sun: SW Wind around 15 kts. Seas 1 to 3 Ft.
Above is the current "public" surf forecast as of 2:47 PM: Don't believe it. You read it first right here.

08/06/02

Big canadian high pressure system driving the coastal storm out to sea. Back to sleep . . .

08/05/02
Monday AM

Wow. This has been a flat summer. I'm getting a lot of email from all over asking where to find surf locally but the answer is there is no surf going on. It has been flat, flat, flat. At the moment the forecast is 3-6' today but I don't believe it because the ocean is calm. There is a small storm forming off Hatteras but the waves in the area have a very short wave period right now so it is too soon to get worked up over it. The Atlantic is calm all the way to Africa. So, basically, BLAH. No tension in the gut (due to approaching "1 and a half" when I haven't been out in big surf in months); just resignation to another day of no surf. This will change some time soon and updates here will be more frequent, Lord willing.
PM update - hung out watching occasional thigh hi unrideable closeout at the haus. Couple of locals showed up stickless so the confidence factor was at an all time low. I think there will be some surf 3-4 days from now. Might even last for more than 1 day. We shall see.

07/27/02
Saturday PM

Surfed about an hour and a half in some small stuff. It was best about 6:30 PM and about thigh hi. Heard it was better earlier in the day but saw big John at a traffic light on the way home and he said it had been small all day. Soooo . . . it looks like Dr. Surf scores again . . . A-men!
About this time of year if I saw head high it would look intimidating after all the solid knee hi I see on a once a week (or so) basis. The skills definitely diminish in the summer due to lack of serious soif.

07/23/02
Tuesday PM

Been away for almost 2 weeks on a trip so updates here have been non-existent. Fred says there was surf a week ago on Tuesday and there was a small wind swell today. Surfed the AM and PM shifts and got maybe 5-6 hours total in the water plus a modest sun burn today. It was mainly good to get wet and hang out with the guys for most of the day.

07/10/02
Wednesday

Been out twice in the last 2 weeks; most recently was early this morning doing the dawn patrol. Caught several long chest high rights and the rest mostly waist hi at my favorite deserted summertime break. At the moment it is a challenge to find surf except when the right combinations of tide and wind exist. That will change in a few weeks. Updates here for the next 2 weeks will be sporadic, if that. Will check back in when there is something to write about. Lots of speed traps out there now that it's tourist season . . . well . . . it does keep the locals taxes lower . . . :-)

06/30/02
Sunday AAM

Nice little swell the last 2 days. Friday was the best and Saturday wasn't that shabby either. In a rare Saturday decision we headed for crowded Tunces at 10:30 AM. Seems like some jet skiers had been doing aerials in a surf zone so the police were called and they, in turn, called for the DEM boat. I got out to the area they had been in just as they left and, for over 2 hours, had a break all to myself on an exceptionally busy Saturday! Incredible. Head high (set waves) jacking up on the take off and maybe chest high+ down the line. Mostly rights but some lefts too.
Went over to the S. Side after a few Jimmy Dawgs for lunch and had another break to myself. It was Unreal to score like that in the middle of summer. Finally got out around 5:00 PM and sat down with Dave, Michelle and John and watched the swell die out.

06/25/02
Tuesday

Update for yesterday afternoon. Found a break with almost no one out. Waves were thigh high on the ride but jacked way up on the take off! Exceptionally cool. No one out in the summertime? Oi veh! No one out except for perhaps the Cranston Surf Patrol, Dr. Edgar, Big John and the Doctor of surfology, er, me!

06/22/02
Saturday

Nice little thigh high at times this afternoon. About 5 PM everyone got out of the water, the waves cleaned up and it went to chest high (in sets). Of course, someone had to stay out there so I did. Got quite a few rides and finally got out of the water at 6:15 PM. Decent session!

06/17/02
Monday

Knee to shoulder high at one break only today. Got in a few hours in the PM but the best was in the late AM. Surf has been slow and small lately which is normal in the off season. Saw several locals out there today ignoring the local surf forecasts of flat water. 2'-4' can mean anything from flat to head high! Glad it came on a Monday.

06/06/02
Thursday

Nice little afternoon session in mostly chest high. At 2:15 PM a deep, dense, dark fog enveloped us that was kind of eerie! Immediately afterwards the wind went from calm to strong NE and the session was over. It was good to hang out this morning with a number of celebrities and assorted desperados while waiting for the expected surf to materialize.

06/05/02
Wednesday

Warming up the vehicular sticktransporter for a dash to the breakasizer hoping to avoid the kookarachas and kookarachinos. Eh? Muy Bien! Unfortunately, at 3:30 PM, it was unrideable.

06/01/02
Saturday

Swell continued, occasional head high but mostly waist / chest and a certain parking lot was full from sun up. It was full body armor contact surfing. Lots of beginners out there who have no concept of what the phrase "dropping in" means. saw Josh out there on a monster board. Can fall be that far off? In any event, caught a few waves and hung out enjoying the sun and warm offshore breeze. Jimmy is selling hot dawgs again so I had a couple. A little sunburn working tonight.

05/31/02
Friday

Surfed a total of 7 hours today in conditions ranging from knee hi to head high. Nice little swell coming in all day and just about everything was going off. In the water from about 8:30 to 1 PM and then 2 - 4:30 PM. Excellent sessions on the last day of May. All the locals and a few hundred others were out today. No one went hungry.

05/28/02
Tuesday

Updates less frequent now as the summer season is fully upon us. Surf (head high) the last 2 Fridays in a row. Will we have 3 in a row? Stay tuned.
"I wandered down to ******** early AM on 5/24, early, Nadda, by about 8:30-9:00, waist-chest, by 10:00, shoulder- head high. Very long 4 1/2 hr. session" - Cranston Surf Patrol

05/19/02
Sunday

I missed Friday's head high afternoon swell due to an out of town commitment but all the reports were excellent. Looking ahead at the moment it looks fairly flat for the week ahead. Getting ready for the traditional summer kick off with Memorial Day next weekend.

05/14/02
Tuesday

Arrived at the water at 7:15 AM to be greeted by a nice little head high swell. Surfed 4 hours straight with a fair sized summer type crowd out there. Some nice sets came through and at times they were a challenge to catch because there wasn't a consistency to them. Fred, Victor and Josh were spotted out there. Don't let Fred call your wave! Baddabing, baddaboom!!!

05/06/02
Monday
(Updated
Tuesday)

Been quiet. Next few days will have that summer SW breeze so possible afternoon wind waves. Not a whole lot going on. Time to get the lawn mower working . . .Looking ahead for the next 5 days looks very promising. Atlantic is stirred up and may increase.

04/29/02
Monday

Whoa. What a morning that was! Arrived at the water at 7:00 AM working on a hunch and the first place (secret break) I looked at was goin' off! Got dressed, went out and had one of the best breaks around all to myself for nearly 2 1/2 hours. Waves were occasional bigger than head high. Vic eventually showed up with his new 7' 2" Time Bomb and there were more waves than we could handle. Later the breeze switched behind the peaks and it got glassy. Leaden gray winter type waves head high with nice little drops.
Best wave of the day was early: the top feathered out for maybe a hundred feet out front of me and the wall held up all the way to the end! Cool wave. A classic winter session in late spring!

04/26/02
Thursday

Taking a few days off water. Busy with Mission work. Possible surf next Monday/Tuesday?

04/24/02
Wednesday

There was surf this AM if you were at the right place at the right time.
I wasn't! Missed this one . . .

04/23/02
Tuesday

Got up early, drove to the water and got there at 6:35AM. Small swell was mostly wrapping at the haus and closing so tried another spot and immediately saw a clean shoulder high set. No wind. Got dressed, went out and nailed a couple but it didn't last. Just got smaller and then the wind picked up and cross chopped it out. There were waves at dawn but even 6:30 was a little late for this one. It was good to get wet, however.

04/18/02

April 17, 2002. Mostly flat for the next few days

04/17/02
Wednesday
Winter season over

   The winter surf season officially came to an end yesterday as my trusty 3/2 came out of the closet at home and saw its own shadow. This was independently confirmed (for you purists) by unrepentant tourists parking in the reserved parking spaces of hard core locals and a half dozen repetitions of the same question "Isn't the water cold now?" "No, it's not. It's quite warm compared to January." There are even rumors of Jimmy opening up the hot dog stand "real soon now." I like the double up special (kraut dog // regular with relish and both drowned with that spicy mustard. Don't forget the ice cold soda!).
   If there are no updates here then check the Road Updates page as we do the summer thang on the road. The amount of time I spend at this keyboard is inversely proportional to the temperature so when it hits 90 degrees or above expect me to be focused on ice and cool drinks, not observations about flat water. Pleasant dreams until next October when we again get the serious mojo fired up again, Lord willing.
   Hurricane season starts June 1st. May the storms stay off shore, the swells be 1 1/2, the kookeritos and kookeritas all go to the Town Beach and may you have a peaceful summer.

04/16/02
Tuesday

Beautiful, warm, sunny, water in the mid 40's. Oh yes, waist high summer waves and plenty to go around. Got out of the water at 2:30 after 2 1/2 hours and it was still rideable. I was out alone then there were 2 of us ridin' them Cat waves then there were 3 of us then there was Bobby and Malibu and then and then . . . It worked out - plenty to go around!

04/13/02
Saturday AM

Surfed twice this week, including yesterday (Friday) in average waist high. Nothing special in terms of wave size; just nice to get wet. Yesterday was a bright sunny day and the water, although in the mid 40's, is starting to seem "warmer". Everyone I talk to is moving down one wet suit thickness. If you haven't surfed all winter (and aren't used to 45 degree water) then stick with the whale blubber for another week or so!

04/05/02
Friday

No surf for at least 3 days. The weather pattern is changing to summer mode. Almost time to hang up the stick until next winter.
OK, OK - speaking very optimistically there might be a little something in the Tuesday time frame. Water temp is at 43 (F) and warming up quickly. Won't be too long until we run the annual "I thought I saw someone in just a bathing suit out there!" contest. Details forthcoming.

04/03/02
Wednesday

Prediction of 4'-8' seas by the Boston Marine forecast was somewhat optimistic. Reality this afternoon was maybe 2' in infrequent "solid knee high." Saw a rare waist high but that was about it. Out maybe an hour and a half.

03/30/02
Saturday

4th straight day of surf. Got in at Aves in the early afternoon and surfed for 3 hours. Clean, jacking up on the take off but the basic wave was fairly slow. Could get away with some deep take offs. There were a few medium sized sets. Lots of guys out and a few new faces in the line up. Very relaxing session. Good to get so many consecutive days in the water. Gear hasn't dried out for a while!

03/28 & 03/29
Posted_3/30

Been surfing so much haven't had time to write it up here! Several hours at a solitary break Thursday. Not too big - maybe waist with some bigger sets. Good until the wind came up.
Friday surfed the nearly flat lite with 2 other unnamed veterans occasional waist high but mostly solid knee . . .

03/27/02
Wednesday
Supersession

At low tide the swell disappeared completely for about a half hour. I got in about 1:00 PM and things just started to build. Eventually it was goin' off with sets at 1 1/2. Supersession today. Clean walls, nice drops, exceptionally pure stoke. Still got it working 3 hours later! YAHOO. There, that's better. Whole lot of guys and girls out there today but no one went hungry. Just a Super Wednesday. Hope you had a blast wherever you were ridin' today!

03/21/02
Thursday

Today was a blast! The parking lot was crowded but there were so many waves it seemed like we spent all our time paddling out! Not a day to go to sleep out there. Decent sets just about the time the breeze came up from the SW. Occasional solid overhead and a lot of head high. Got a little smaller around 1:00 PM but still definitely rideable. Shot some film between 1:30 and 2:00 PM and, as always, we'll have it up on this site "real soon now!" A special thanks to "Malibu" Russ for the snap shot of yours truly grappling with a wave this last January.
All the regulars were out there today and I believe a certain Craaaanston native went back out a second time. There are some tired surfers in Rhode Island tonight.

03/20/02
Wednesday

Ted got out of the water just as I was deciding to get in. Very windy, cold, driving rain. Rate this session as a 1/2 on a scale of 5!

03/19/02
Tuesday

There were so many locals in the parking lot after this 2 hour session today that I almost started asking for autographs! Lots of waves, light offshores with chest high clean and some bigger sets. Caught one beautiful right that didn't close out or I'd still be picking sand (or boulders) out of my teeth. I hung left from the main pack and caught some sets.
Very hospitable out there today considering how many were in the water. None of the dropping in or other behavior that marks the tourist season. Very enjoyable. As I was leaving Bobby went out for the first time since the back injury; spotted Jay on a (for him) tiny 9' 6" short instead of the 11' 2" loggermaximo.

03/16/02
Saturday

Got wet at mid_morning in generally solid ankle to rare chest high. Lotta guys out there. On a scale of 10 this was a 2 but that's the way it goes some times. First wave I caught was the best of the session. Gotta catch the next 4 weeks because, on average, after that it we'll be into summer conditions and the updates here get infrequent.
Spring is next Wednesday!

03/15/02
Friday

Got to the water early. Flags hanging straight down. No wind - pure glass and waves! No one around for miles. Got dressed at home this morning and was ready to hit the water as soon as the motion of the van stopped. Classic conditions although a lot smaller than yesterday. Caught 2 head highs in an hour and a half and a lot of waist high cleanus pealus rightus. Sunny, mild (40's), in the shade on sets with the low early morning sun. After all, it's all OVERHEAD TO ME!
Got home and there were two pictures attached to an email from Bobby which I put up on the kayak picture page. Thanks Dr. Bob!

03/14/02
Thursday

Lighthouse today, easily chest - shoulder, with MANY head high set
waves. Lot's of bodies, but very manageable & a beautious day. I'll be down tomorrow picking up the scraps. Hope their will be some left. E. didn't think so, said the storm was a fast mover, but I'm hoping he's wrong. Aloha, da Cat

03/13/02
Wednesday

Surfed mid_day at a place so secret I can't say more. No one out and a long paddle from the car. Mostly "solid knee high" with occasional shoulder high every so often on a day where nothing else was even rideable. Rights were clean. Had it all to myself. No one for miles. Wave size picked up even more in late PM but I had to go.

03/11/02
Monday

Added 90 meg of storage for the QuietWaters.org domain today (03/11/02). The hope is that this upgrade will eventually translate to more pictures, stories and stoke.

03/10/02
Sunday PM

Got into the water around 3:30PM and out at dusk. Little lines coming in with a rare head high. Mostly waist though. Very windy at times with that west wind blowing. The last hour no one was out and it started going off. Lefts and rights. Fun stuff and it's always nice to have any wave you want.

03/09/02
Saturday
4:45AM

One 3 hour session this last week (Wednesday) at the Haus in some really nice clean stuff but did not get a chance to update it here. One other day of surf but not as big. This was the busiest week of the winter for me with off water activities. I haven't seen certain locals out there recently and got the scoop last night from Da Cat who has had 2 weeks of cat scratch fever. Bob has back problems at the moment and so does Josh. In their absence, last Wednesday, Victor and Jeff were out doing Haus duty and overseeing things. I admit to grabbing a few cat waves that rolled in every so often.

03/04/02
Monday
1:50PM

Inadvertently left my camera at home today. Darn. Set waves today were big. Surfed from before 8 AM until about 11:15. Got the biggest barrel I've ever had by accident. Went around a board in the water, ended up too deep on what looked like a sure close out but it didn't! I just got lucky but what a rush!!! Think I'll wait a while before trying to take off that deep again unless the wave is smaller.
Afterwards went over to the Haus where a surf contest was going on. First contest I've witnessed with surf . . . people without the contest shirts on were getting the best waves. Cameras, bullhorns and flags turn a nice surf break into a 3 ring circus. Guess I'm not a contest fan.

03/02/02
Saturday

The storm on the way will probably yield the biggest surf of the winter but storm force winds are tied to it. The deal is this - forecasts and other surf sites hyping this storm are just guessing right now. Watch the wind as it swings from SW to W. If it drops off rapidly then further updates of this surf report will be delayed for a while . . .
About 6 weeks are left in the surf season. Be careful out there.

02/27/02
Wednesday
(Posted 2/28/02 AM)

Surfed yesterday for almost 5 hours in conditions that ran the whole range from waist to overhead, crowded to all alone, flat to "momma!"
Mike clued me into looking up into the snow squall to watch the beautiful large snow flakes as they came down. What a show that was! Caught some nice rides at 3 different breaks. Surprisingly, some of the best stuff started coming in just as it was getting dark. Tall, wide, good solid 1 1/2 drops, clean. SuperSession conditions at the end (when I was the most tired!). High tide, boulders on the beach, waves at the shore, steep shore line and tiredness contributed to getting wacked on the nose by my stick at the shore. It was a straight on shot or I might have broken it! The blood looked good for the casual bystander and had me concerned until I realized that it was just a scratch. On the drive home I remembered how intense it can be as external parts begin to unfreeze (as the van heater warms up) and the nicks and dents from a surfing session begin to "talk" to you. Short term "ouch"!

02/25/02
MondayPM

Possible surf Tuesday and probable on Wednesday. South wind is unfavorable but with the predicted wind shift Wed. it may clean up.

02/22/02
Friday

Surfed the haus for about 3+ hours. Solid head high plus between 10 and 1 PM and definitely rideable. Got smaller in the mid-afternoon. An occasional sneaker wave so it was a case of staying awake out there. Lots of people out but the break changed characteristics about every half hour so everyone got waves. Caught a few nice ones! It was great watching down the line as others caught these nice long faces. Silver topped black 38 degree (F) waves and tight walls. Definitely a cool session.

02/20/02
(posted 2/22/02)

Many hours in the water at 4 different breaks. Saw Sven out there doing a little carving on some wave faces. Secret breaks were the same size as some of the more well known ones. Heavy fog and occasional glass conditions.

02/19/02
Tuesday

Surfed for 4 hours. Had South Side all to myself for a long time. Sunny and glassy. About waist to chest. Clean. Several long rides well past the rock room. Wave height and depth were aligned just right so made it through the normal close out section. Went around the front side where it was bigger and a few guys out. Fred showed up also. Around 11 a couple of guys out there taking off on every wave, dropping in and looking out only for themselves and no one else so I went in and shot some film rather than lose the stoke. Great session and a small reminder of what summer will be like! Got a nice nose ride digitized. Will post it here on the site once time permits.

02/18/02
8:30_PM

Diminishing wind, ea _ _ swe _ _. What more can I say early birds?

02/16/02

The prediction of "mostly flat" this morning got me thinking: it was sunny, the wind was light, it would get up to about 50 today. So, why not drive to the water and just check it out? Got to a certain break and Josh was there with a friend "evaluating" getting wet in the infrequent waves. I saw one wave that was probably rideable and ran for the gear. On the water it was definitely rideable and I had it all to myself! Jeff joined me shortly afterwards and then Josh and others. As time went on it started going off, eventually reaching waist to shoulder high, for about 2 hours (despite marine predictions of 1-3' in the afternoon). At one point there were 18 people out there but it was firing from 3 different places so no problem. Nice little unadvertised special today!

02/13/02

Wednesday 2/13: Basic swell continues but so does the wind. Wind is predicted to drop about noon time.
Tuesday 2/12: Surfed 2 hours at Pa's but the wind was intense at times and the water is full winter cold now. Once the face froze up and the pain stopped it was actually not that bad out there! Had one longer ride that made it worthwhile. No one else out.
Monday 2/11: Surfed about 1 1/2 hrs at Connies. Lots of waves but when the wind switched intensely to the NW the session was abruptly over. The spray felt like a 1 1/2 wave winter hold down! Speaking of which, some of the guys were at 40's and a certain local went over the falls and was held down for a bit. Intense situation. He's OK. Water temp was the main danger since it's in the 30's.

02/11/02

Been hugging palm trees for a while down in South Miami so no updates recently. Water looks big this am.

01/30/02
(posted
01/31/02)

Hard to believe that I've gotten behind updating this surf log . . . but true! Yesterday was knee/waist high with flat in between and got in a couple of hours. Initially drove to Tunces where there was a pod of boards out front but only 2 rubber suits were catching the waves. That's when I looked around the parking lot and saw reason: the cars of the "PJ Mafia" contingent: Go Go (1959 surfmobile) and Mr. Ding (driving a peepmobile). Go Go and I drove to SS to continue the session while Mr. Ding had to go to work (Darn) . . .
Feb. 1st and 2nd should be rideable. Jerry was the only one out at SS initially.

01/25/02
(posted 01/31/02)

I thought we may have something today. I left here early this morning. When I get to the H, solid chest-shoulder, with head high sets. Very strong wind, but the swell was big enough and had juice. Did my 3 hr thing. About 1:00 swell subsided, not much, but more importantly the wind subsided. Cleaned up very nicely, put back on my already wet, wet suit (ouch), did 2 more hours. Very un-like me in the winter. I do not like putting on a wet wet suit, but just couldn't leave. -Fred

01/24/02
Thursday

Small out there today, dense fog but I'm gonna checkitout anyway.
3:30 PM update: At times it was head high but conditions varied greatly depending upon where you were and whether you were in the wind or not. Surfed 3 different breaks in 4 hours +. Caught a shoulder high for the longest single ride of the winter today. Fun session!

01/21/02
Monday

Chest high sets - nice and fairly clean and glassy until just before noon time when the wind started up from the SW and chopped things out. It was a local_fest at the haus with Jay, Mike, Mike, Josh and Fred. Got in about 2 1/2 hours in the water today. Air temp. in the upper 30's (F) and raining. The summer like crowd of yesterday was gone today, fortunately . . . love that cold rain!

01/20/02
Sunday

Surf - waist to head high this afternoon. Walked the beach with friends but didn't have my gear with me. Light breeze was not a factor and the sun was shining. Overnight snow storm has turned RI into a winter wonderland!

01/14/02
(posted 01/15AM)

5 hours and 10 minutes of surf, surf, and surf! 3 different breaks - waist to shoulder with some bigger stuff. Just the winter crowd now. Wind dropped to a semi glass. Just Edgar and I out early before others arrived. Had some time where I was the only one out at 2 of the 3 breaks. Long rides at one break. Did the "one thousand one, one thousand two . . " count thing and got to "one thousand thirty" on one ride. When things got (relatively) crowded I'd head off in a new direction. Bone weary at the end and dehydrated. Went to bed last night a little after 8:00 PM so that's why the update here is 12 hours late!
Two "Quote(s) of the day" from Jay: "It oughta be illegal for someone as big as me to have a board this long (11' Phillips with very little rocker)" and "You can't claim to be a long boarder unless you've ridden monahans on a double overhead day on a long board." Since I've, er, sorta, maybe seen <not> Jay pulling a water skier behind the Phillips so there could be some truth to what he says!

01/10/02

Aves were firing average waist high today. About a dozen guys out. Modest West wind. Good waves. 2 hours on the water.

01/08/02

One report of fast juice today. I had an off water day!

01/07/02

Today's session was so good that a short summary just won't do the job. Write up is located here. Supersession article called "Waist High"

01/06/02

   Raining at 9:00 PM; storm is winding up. Forecast has gone back to NE winds so there should be surf through Wednesday once the swell develops.
   01/07 7AM: Forecast was for NE winds; AM changed it again to NW. I either need a new sport or we need to privatize the marine weather forecast industry and make it accountable. There is a difference between 12' surf and 2' surf (in my opinion).
   01/07 7:20AM Wait_just_a_durned_minute_thar_podner.   Wazzat? Looks like a chest high? Oi! All is forgiven!

01/05/02
Saturday

Little unadvertised special today with waist high at the haus. Some chest high sets and, for the most part, clean. Probably best in the morning. Got there at 1:00PM and surfed until about a half hour before sunset in a rapidly diminishing waves. About a dozen guys out at any one time - Mike, Josh, Mike, Jeff, Bobby and several other regulars. It was good.

01/04/2002
Friday
10:00AM

Exceptionally large surf is forecast locally for January 8 time frame. Check out your equipment now and make the needed adjustments ahead of time.
Jan 5th: Forecasters have backed down from the original prediction. Winds now predicted to be NW, not NE, which will make storm smaller and further out to sea. Stay tuned as reality overcomes optimism!

Archived Surf Reports: 2001 2000 1999-1998