faqs

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Frequently Asked Questions
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13. Some of my friends always go to Block Island for a little vacation and asked me to go.............they don't know if there is surf or not there!! They are not really beach people. I have a 9'6" Channel Islands...........do you think I'll be able to ride anything out there? I couldn't find anything on surfing on block island on the internet. Let me know if you have any info. Wyatt
I have never surfed there so have no recommendation. I suspect there are places where you can ride. I would look at the advance surf forecast and if there is the possibility of waves during your vacation then have your board with you. The Island isn't that big so just do the drive around recon thing. Stay aware of the currents at an Island 7 miles out at sea . . . <2/28/02>

12. If you wouldn't mind sharing, when you're surfing in the winter, what make/model gloves do you use and how thick? I'm looking around now and thought lots of surfers seem to prefer the lobster-claw type. Thanks for the help! Erik
I currently use a 7 mil thickness 5 fingered glove in the winter. I don't pay attention to brand names as long as the thickness is right. I also find some brands of 7 mil 3 finger gloves ("claw type") to be slightly warmer. <2/28/02>

11. I have a 3/2 (or 5/3/2 or 11/16/4 or 26/19/12 or whatever) wet suit. Will it keep me warm?
Get this question a lot in the spring and fall. I have no idea. For example, right now we have people out there in full dry suits, wet suits, and in bathing suits. Me? I'm still using my 7 mil winter weight gloves (as of 4/27/00).
Try the gear out in the water right near the shore. If it's too little you'll know right away!

10. I'm looking for a used board, or, I have a board for sale. What do you suggest?
I get some variation of this type of request quite often and usually don't respond. It requires time to set up an equipment exchange on the web and I'm just not motivated to spend all the extra time at the keyboard maintaining it.
The best way to buy or sell equipment is to let other surfers know about your need or to visit the surf shops and look at the "notices board". I've sold some of my stuff just by letting other people know something is available. Also, see #6 below.

9. I was wondering where M******'s D*** surfing area is located. Please inform me. R**
Appreciate your request R** (and many others who ask for the location of the breaks shown in this site.) We don't give that information out. It's a personal thing - with all the darn web based live surf cams, telephone reports of current surf conditions, beeper notification of surf, ad naseum, enough. M******'s often has 35 guys out there screaming at each other as it is now. We aren't going to pile on more people with road maps to the place. Sorry.

8. I sent you an e-mail but you didn't respond. Don't you read your mail?
Good question. All the mail we receive we read. During the summer months (6 weeks from July through mid August) we don't respond in a timely manner because of other commitments which get larger when the surf gets smaller. This July 1999 was the hottest since 1905 so we often shut down the computer and hang out a lot with large beverages filled with mucho ice. Many good ideas came in as well as questions that we'll attempt to answer "real soon now", in many cases through this FAQ page.
Keep in mind that our primary commitment is to surfing first and this web site second. We will, however, let you know when we're on the road searching for that perfect barrel.

7. Where is the cam you have on your site? I see it is frozen in time, but where is 1st and will it be up and running again soon? ............thanks........todd.........
   1st, this cam exists only in the virtual space of this web site.
   2nd, from a design standpoint, it is up and running :-) To explain: Rhode Island, except for a short time in July, is a vast frozen waste land; frozen tundra - you get the idea. The cam is a year round summary composite of all conditions and is therefore representative of every current, future and past RI session you've ever had. The opposite is also true. For the most part.
    . . . OK?

6. I'm new to the area. Can you recommend a place that either gives surfing lessons or puts on a surf camp in Rhode Island?
Recommend going to the surf links page at this site and selecting a surf shop closest to where you live. Call them and see what they offer. The surf shops I am familiar with are either in the Narragansett or Newport general areas.

5. How do I get in touch with "Chicks on Sticks"?
This women's surfing group is in Narragansett, RI. Best way to get in touch with them is to go directly to their web site: www.chicksonsticks.org <updated link 07.14.2004 - thanks Sandra!>

4. You have a lot of pictures of men . . . where are the women?
When I shoot film or video, I focus on the incoming set or wave and not any one surfer. The person who catches it is the one who is eventually featured in this site. When a lady catches the set wave she'll be featured here.
Also, we occasionally receive photos from surfers (by e-mail) so if you lady surfers want your picture here then send it along. Let me know who the photographer and surfer are so I can give appropriate credit.

3. Tell me why you sometimes leave a catchable wave for someone else behind you in the line up?
There are times (occasionally) when I'm a little too far out front in the line up for the lead wave or two of an approaching set. If I see that there is someone behind me who will have to eat the wave if I take off, I'll just point at him and nod yes and give the wave away. Look at it another way: what if you're a little bit inside and looking at eating a wave as a result and someone gives their wave away so that you won't get pounded? Most people on the receiving end of a favor tend to return it at some point in a session and it is really cool when that happens.
If you occasionally intentionally give a good wave away there's often a bigger one behind it that will have your name written on it. This is, in Rhode Island, known as a win - win situation.

2. I'm at the front of the line up and there are surfers behind me (towards shore). How do I know if the approaching wave is my wave?

Generally, if you need to take more than 2 strokes (paddle or hand) to catch the wave then it is probably not your wave but instead belongs to someone closer to shore (further back in the line up). Let it go and focus on the next wave. I have surfed with novice paddlers and they typically do 2 things (only real novices do the third):
1. They sit way outside or way off to the side waiting for the next wave or set.
2. When a wave comes they start paddling madly to catch the wave. They will take ten or fifteen strokes and even occasionally will paddle around you like the big letter "S" (snaking) in an often futile attempt to be a real wave hog.
3. Real novices surf straight in to shore, not diagonally, until they are in the soup instead of staying in the clean unbroken portion of the wave.
If it is your wave, the wave will begin to rise up in front of you and just after you catch it the wave will begin breaking on the side opposite your diagonal direction. There will be no one between you and the broken portion of the wave. If there is you have dropped in on the other surfer. on the other surfer.
Look kids - hear me - one of the most basic thrills in surfing is the take off. If you are in the steep part of the wave doing the big drop and bottom turn with that wave coming down and you make it cleanly or catch that barrel or tube that's the gas that fuels both the love of surfing and the sound of hoots in the line up. If you're beyond a few strokes from catching the wave leave it for the guy behind you. He might just return the favor !!!

1. What is the menu in the links section <of RIRiders "links" page> for? I selected a subject and nothing happened so what's up. What is this stuff for? Are these lists real?

The list is real but the menu intentionally does not work as we do not ever publicize the "best surf breaks in Rhode Island" or the other selections on that list.
The last selection in the menu usually tips people off that the menu is intentionally not "wired". Same thing for the surf cam.

1a. Why doesn't this web page display properly with my browser?

Netscape users will not see drop down menus but will instead see a text paragraph. The Microsoft Browser animated gif on the RIRiders home page displays in the proper place on the page when viewed with MSIE and the AOL browser but appears randomly on the page when viewed with Netscape. Since Netscape recognizes tables and this gif is placed in a table this is a mystery to me. All the other animated gifs show up where placed. We don't have enough time (or server space: our ISP has a 10 meg limit) to create multiple copies of this web site so that each type browser will see the page as it has been designed (using FrontPage '98 from Microsoft). When there is a swell going off we're surfing and there is no web site time available even for MSIE!

More FAQ's will be posted as situations or e-mail provoke! There are lots of sites which address this sort of thing so I'll just address issues which come up locally. However, feel free to write if there is something on your mind. RIRiders@QuietWaters.org

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