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| 05/21/09 Man. I was a little conservative when I said the surf might be rideable. Plus, I take back what I said about how nothing could make for bad surf like holding an ESA contest. If you have been to the beach in the past week, you’ve had waves. I broke the mold and surfed the Washout on Saturday and Sunday, went to the ESA contest, judged a bunch of heats and basically just soaked up all the good vibe. It was really neat to have some chest- to head-high waves for the contest. It made all the talent stand out, especially on Sunday for the open division. Everyone who surfed put on quite a show. It’s pretty gratifying to see the level of talent we have here and, by the time the contest got to the finals, anyone in that men’s open heat looked to me like he could surf anywhere at anytime and be a standout. Plus, the women’s divisions are looking deeper every time I see them, and the level of surfing keeps going up. The first heat of the contest at 8 a.m. Saturday was 1A Menehunes, which is where everybody 11 and younger is grouped. The first contestant to show up looked to be about 7, maybe 8 years old. We were standing there talking with him and his dad, and out back, low-tide Washout was cracking at what must have been double overhead for the little guy. I remember being older than him, maybe 12 or so, shivering on the beach between heats and thinking how giant the waves were. No telling how big it seemed to him and the rest of the guys in his heat. I think they should change the division name from Menehunes to Cojones. One thing’s for sure: You can bet they went back to school on Monday with a little more swagger and bragging rights for having ridden it. The other thing to talk about is — what is up with this weather? We were pretty much lined up for a good roasting until that weird NE blew in. It got downright chilly and Mrs. Blog had me breaking out all the blankets that we had folded and put away. Plus, at my house, you can’t just put a blanket on a bed. It has to go in something called a duvet cover. I’m not sure why. But I’ve learned long ago to never argue with a German woman about anything to do with bedding. As I write this Wednesday afternoon, the sun is starting to peek out and it is beginning to feel warmer, but the NE wind is still blowing pretty good and the surf looks like scenes from the famous World War II movie Victory at Sea. One thing I know for sure is that we’ve had a full week to get a major NE rip going and that I’d really hate to be one of the Fire and Rescue guys at the beaches. Put the added danger of inexperienced tourists in the rip — on top of all the traffic and general idiocy that comes with the Memorial Day weekend — and those guys are going to be busy. So lend a hand by staying out of their way on shore and keep an eye on swimmers when you’re in the lineup. I’ve said in past blog entries that I dread the day when the crowded conditions are going to prompt the various town councils to restrict or ban surfing. But in conditions like this, surfers have played a rather unsung role in saving lives that I doubt anyone in an official role would ever consider. Over the course of the years that I’ve been surfing, I’ve saved four swimmers, and just about everyone I know has similar stories. Almost without exception, the people who get into trouble are visiting and simply underestimate the power of the ocean. The ones who are lucky get seen by surfers and pulled to safety before it’s too late. Funny thing is — none of the four people I saved ever said thanks, and most of the stories my bros have shared end the same way, too. Maybe it’s because the whole time we were paddling them in we were lecturing them on how the Atlantic isn’t their neighborhood swimming pool. So what I do now for swimmers who are out too deep is give them the lecture before they get into trouble. They’re gonna be pissed at me anyway, so might as well save them the embarrassment of being paddled to the beach by some skinny old guy. My forecast for the weekend is pretty difficult to nail down. One thing is for sure, and that is if you are reading this when it was posted on Thursday morning, the swell is peaking at head-high-plus. Based on the swell model, we’ll have waves all the way through the Memorial Day holiday. And I’ll bet you they’ll be at least chest-high. The real wild card will be the wind. The wind models show some hairy conditions offshore. I’d really hate to be in a ship out there. Makes me want to hurl thinking about it. What makes the wind hard for me to forecast is that the models show Force 3 winds near shore. That is somewhat less than 20 mph, and it could be anywhere from semi-glassy to choppy. It’ll be blowing in from the water ENE so that could also affect the conditions and make it close out, too. So, having said all that, I’m calling it waist- to chest-high, semi-choppy closeouts. That ought to cover all the applicable adjectives and be conservatively optimistic. So wax up. |
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