Some members of our fledgling Annapolis Surf Club converged on our meeting place for a Toddesque-like dawn patrol (10:45 a.m.) down to the Delaware-Maryland shore in search of some waves. Neal "Electric Ham" Carver provided road services in his plush surf buggy, "Big Red Sled."  Also in the group today were new member Mike "sheriff" Law and Mike "Punchy" Phillips and myself. It was great to meet The Sheriff after having exchanged so many emails on our listserv over the last several weeks.  KC Filer was
unable to join us... something about a honey do list and the servicing of a newly acquired sailboat... but he did host some of the ASC the evening before for some grilling of burgers & dogs, popping some brews, and the viewing of some locally made surf videos on Costa Rica.  Much of the time riding down to the shore was spent quizzing the sheriff on his once local breaks around NSB, FL and his trip to Costa Rica some six years ago.

Even though the Club's Snake wasn't able to join us on this weekend day trip we nevertheless lucked out and found decent breaking waves at the site of our first surf check, the Naval Jetties.  And nobody else was out.  Nice little peelers were rolling in from the S/SE and spitting at the head of the jetty and peeling right into the cove making for the most point like break in these parts... make that the only point like break. Takeoffs at the nose of the jetty could be challenging, but fun as the wave sucked out into a foot of water, rocks and boulders. Everyone caught lots of rides at or near the jetty and connecting with the bowl and on to the shore... a good 50 yds or longer on the larger sets.  This is the kind of day that KC has been waiting for months to score -- dude, ya missed it!

We surfed alone for the first couple of hours before our spot was despoiled by four others.  No problem.  The wind was picking up and my body was beginning to quickly chill down as my 3/2 doesn't provide much depth of protection.  My 3-4mm booties, old 1 or 2mm SeaSuit gloves, and beanie hood did the job until the wind did its number.  The rest of the gang stayed out about 30-45 minutes longer, outfitted in 4/3's and 5mm gloves and booties. Overall, not a bad session at all... my first since the warm, reef waters of PR back in January.

This excellent day was topped off with some post session IPAs, porters and brownies accompanied by Neal's Key West tunes... and some nod time during the road trip back to Annapolis.  Also killed some time talking some more about next year's Costa Rica trip and a potential late summer trip up to Rhode Island to catch some tropical storm swell with the Muffin's surf boat in tow.

Kudos to KC for hosing us the night before.  KC, did I mention that you missed it???

Rod "Jaco Paco" Rodgers

P.S. To the Snake:  "Real" soul surfers hit a secluded point break yesterday... by themselves for a few hours... long rights, very slim on the lefts... a couple of cover-ups. "real" brownies and brews served up for post-session closure.  :)

Neal and Mike Law met Rod and I at Parole Plaza at 10:45 Sunday morning. We all finally had the pleasure of meeting Mike in person. Then we hopped into Neal's Big Red Sled and drove down in ultimate comfort - the ride is stylin. It was a very efficient trip - we checked one place, surfed it for 2+ hours, took off for home. That place was Naval Jetties. It looked bigger from the parking lot, but was actually about thigh-waist all afternoon. Winds were from the south, light at first, then kicked up quite a bit for a while before dropping again near the end of our session.

Small surf, but definitely my best trip to the DelMarVa. First, the weather was awesome - air temps in the 60's, bright sun, water temps probably 49/50. I don't think anyone of us was cold - even getting flushed felt refreshing to me. No hoods necessary. I think we could've even done fine without gloves for an hour or so.  Second, the ASC owned Naval Jetties. We had the place to ourselves for 90 minutes. We got in on the falling tide, and the latecomers didn't arrive until the tide started to pick up. We all got plenty of rides, lengthy rides. Yeah they were mushy and 
you couldn't do much except pump the juice from the wave, but still a treat.

We all started at the takeoff spot in front of the jetty at first. But once the 'crowd' showed up, we migrated toward the second peak, which was often just the shoulder of the jetty break. My one 
wish would've been to have a nice 9' to really connect the two sections - I never did get a ride from the jetty to the beach on my 7'6". We capped an excellent day with some post session brews and brownies and of course Neal's reggae tunes - perfect.

Thanks again for driving Neal, it was a great time. Great to finally meet you Mike, looking forward to surfing/hanging with you soon. Oh yeah, and thanks KC for hosting the Saturday Night Costa Planning Meeting at the yacht club. Anyone on the fence about the Costa trip should borrow Neal's videos...

Punchy out..

I have to say it was truly a great time.  Decent waves, great laughs and perfect weather - Mike nailed the description to a T.  Thanks for driving the surfbus Neal!!  It was a pleasure to meet all of you and I look forward to the next surf - The sooner the better.  Also, Thanks Kirk, for the gloves and boots - I was perfectly warm and they fit "like a glove" (ok,ok - pun intended).

Finally, I'm officially inaugurated into the Shirinkage club and I feel slightly honored - however I'm not so sure about the wife :)  I was nice and toasty (except for the multiple times I got flushed) and once I got used to the extra weight I got a couple of nice rides.  Now I'm able to surf 8-10 months out of the year instead of 4 - KILLER !

mL

Nice post Punchy.  Not much to add except that the day was exceptional for me. Waves could have been bigger but with the set up we had, I saw (and rode) several rides that were a good 60 + yds.  How often do you pull up to a surf spot like that and not see another surfer for over 2 hours? It was good to get the Law in the water, as well as, our warm water friend "Jaco Taco."  I am tired today, but definitely working with a smile (and a sunburnt face).

Neal

 by rodNDtube.com:

eMail me at: r2@rodndtube.com