Surfs Up

[JTG]

If it doesn’t quite fit in Today’s Paddle or Today’s Ride....well, start another thread!

COVID-19 and work from home has allowed us to spend more time on the Cape this summer (about every other week since the last week of June). Each day on the Cape for us this summer has involved a few hours of shootin’ the curls. Marconi is the break of choice this summer. Not only does it have to best sand bar and surf, but two hours either side of low tide you don’t need to be in past your waist to catch the waves. That makes us feel a little better about being shark smart.

Anyone else out there catching waves...do share!

This is the new ride I picked up a few weeks ago....

 

[Brownski]

Nice. I’ve tried it a few times over the years. I can get up every third or fourth attempt but pretty much just ride it straight in when I do. I have a surf kayak that is loads of fun but don’t get it on real waves often enough.

 

[JTG]

So, while I still suck something awful, it’s been a good summer of surfing. My son makes a lot less fun of me now than he did in the beginner of the summer....I’ll take that as confirmation of some improvement.

As bad with boards as I am with skis. Picked up a 9-4 EPS to get us up to 5 boards. The 8’ foams are great to learn on but you move off relatively quick.

Maybe losing the best two months of last ski season has something to do with it....but I think I’m coming to enjoy being out on the water as much as on the snow. Each day last week involved 2-3 hours in the water. Throw in some great quiet walks through beach pine forests and the beach is a good rival to the mountains.

Last week we had some good days early with probably chest high (3-4 foot) waves. I should focus on smaller, but be it skiing or surfing I look for the challenge. Catching a face on a bigger wave (mind you, 3 foot ain’t big)....it can be hard for me to hold it together. Part of it is keeping the balance together on a steeper slope, after getting all the other aspects (wave selection, reading direction, timing, paddling, pop up) right.

Got me to thinking about the “steepness” of waves. A little research and it seems that waves crash when the slope either side of the crest reaches a 50 to 60 percent slope. What that means, essentially, is that you are surfing a 31 degree slope, give or take.

in skiing terms that’s like Pali at A Basin or the Slides at WF, or a little steeper than something like Mountain Run.

30+ degrees can be a pretty steep trail. Nothing extreme, but steep enough. A short 30+ degree pitch is nothing. A couple thousand vertical feet of 30+ degrees is pretty legit.

In that way surfing is like skiing. Smaller waves have a very short 30+ degree face (so short you won’t even get on it) and are easier than bigger waves, which have a longer 30+ degree face. While you may only be on that face for a few feet/seconds in a bigger wave, the gravitational forces probably work similarly to skiing....and when surfing you have no attachment to the board, it’s all balance and body position.

Thus ends my remedial analysis of similarities between surfing and skiing...and making myself feel better about falling down a lot on bigger waves!

 

[jasonwx]

So, while I still suck something awful, it’s been a good summer of surfing. My son makes a lot less fun of me now than he did in the beginner of the summer....I’ll take that as confirmation of some improvement.

As bad with boards as I am with skis. Picked up a 9-4 EPS to get us up to 5 boards. The 8’ foams are great to learn on but you move off relatively quick.

Maybe losing the best two months of last ski season has something to do with it....but I think I’m coming to enjoy being out on the water as much as on the snow. Each day last week involved 2-3 hours in the water. Throw in some great quiet walks through beach pine forests and the beach is a good rival to the mountains.

Last week we had some good days early with probably chest high (3-4 foot) waves. I should focus on smaller, but be it skiing or surfing I look for the challenge. Catching a face on a bigger wave (mind you, 3 foot ain’t big)....it can be hard for me to hold it together. Part of it is keeping the balance together on a steeper slope, after getting all the other aspects (wave selection, reading direction, timing, paddling, pop up) right.

Got me to thinking about the “steepness” of waves. A little research and it seems that waves crash when the slope either side of the crest reaches a 50 to 60 percent slope. What that means, essentially, is that you are surfing a 31 degree slope, give or take.

in skiing terms that’s like Pali at A Basin or the Slides at WF, or a little steeper than something like Mountain Run.

30+ degrees can be a pretty steep trail. Nothing extreme, but steep enough. A short 30+ degree pitch is nothing. A couple thousand vertical feet of 30+ degrees is pretty legit.

In that way surfing is like skiing. Smaller waves have a very short 30+ degree face (so short you won’t even get on it) and are easier than bigger waves, which have a longer 30+ degree face. While you may only be on that face for a few feet/seconds in a bigger wave, the gravitational forces probably work similarly to skiing....and when surfing you have no attachment to the board, it’s all balance and body position.

Thus ends my remedial analysis of similarities between surfing and skiing...and making myself feel better about falling down a lot on bigger waves!

heading to the cape tomorrow..
i'm a pretty good windsurfer.. i have ridden some small waves on a windsurfer, and boy it feels good..

 

[JTG]

heading to the cape tomorrow..
i'm a pretty good windsurfer.. i have ridden some small waves on a windsurfer, and boy it feels good..

Yeah, when you get it right and have a long ride it’s really good. Have fun. The 7 day surf forecast (as much as you can trust that, which is not much) looks good the end of next week.

We spent most of the summer surfing Marconi. Despite having to deal with surf school crowds and non-surfers in the way....the lot hardly ever fills, the bathrooms are ok, and the sandbar at low tide lets you not be in the water past your waist to catch waves. Now is the time to be shark smart as Sept/Oct are peak months. Beaches up in Wellfleet the last couple weeks have had some closures due to pings. Our last day at Nauset Beach in Orleans they cleared the water for an hour because of a ping.

The last few days we had surfing we hit up Nauset Light. It’s a better surf spot than Marconi. Great sandbar (don’t have to be in past your waist), consistent waves, and room to spread out....even though you don’t need it because the surf schools don’t go there. The parking sucks, however, as do the bathrooms. Hence my wife never wants to go there.

The plan moving forward will be to hit Marconi when low tide is earlier in the day (and we can get parking) and go to Nauset Light on days when low tide is late afternoon (when the parking situation usually improves).

 

[Brownski]

A couple years ago I spent an afternoon kayak surfing Nausett. It was really good there. Too bad Liam’s couldn’t be rebuilt. That place was very cool.

 

[JTG]

Yeah, we loved Liam’s. Nauset isn’t the same without it, the food trucks pretty much suck.

 

[JTG]

So.....given that we now have a couple extra surfboards up on the Cape (headed there this weekend), I’m thinking about bringing a couple boards (and wetsuits) back to NY to open up the possibility of making the drive out to Long Island to do some surfing from home. Anyone ever been to Long Island to catch waves?

 

[Brownski]

I’ve done the Jersey shore but not LI. I’m not sure if The Hoff signed up for the new forum yet but I remember talking to him at the Plattekill glade day about kayak surfing out there. I never made it out there though.

 

[XTski]

i hear Gilgo Beach is a good place to go on Long Island.
in NJ Brigantine is a sweet place for some long runs when the surf is right