When:
Where:
Weather:
Surf:
Tides:
Who: |
Friday,
May 31, 2002 - morning
Naval Jetties, Delaware,
East Coast USA
Sunny, air 65F early
to 80F later, water 69F, spring suit for me, full suits for the others
3-4', ESE 8 sec, SW wind
8-10 mph
Low ----> High
Alex Rodgers, Neal Carver
and Rod Rodgers. |
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(Click
on pics for larger view -
pics by Rod)
Exploding Whitewater:
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Rolling wave
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Unidentified
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Another roller
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Local sliding
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Fun day at the beach
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Setting up for a trim
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Neal Carver Take One
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Neal Carver Take Two |
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The
Rod Rodgers Report
Reporting: June 1,
2002 - The Day After
I am soooo sore today!
The current ran hard and continuously yesterday. On days like these
the common practice is to ride the wave all the way to shore, or paddle
that short distance in, walk around to the south side of the jetty and
paddle back into the line-up (with the current quickly pulling you over
the jetty point or beyond). But no, I was the core stubborn one...
during the first 2-1/2 hours I would paddle right back out; it wasn't until
the last 1/2 hour I submitted to the duck walk.
The surf did not disappoint
today (yeah, it *could* have been another couple of feet...) as plenty
of point-like rides were working, beginning with an occasional wedging
take-off and a midway bowl section to pull into or float around.
Alex and I chose to surf the jetty point area and Neal mostly rode what
might be called the third peak area, but alternated back and forth while
riding both the short board and the long board at both places. Alex
cut his session short about midway through our session because of three
jerks... he didn't feel like getting into a provocation so bit his tongue
and went in. It's too bad he cut his session short because the last
hour was lot's of fun with about seven of us sharing lots of waves and
laughs.
Today's waves served up a
balance of regular breaking lines and some wedging takeoffs and a nice
bowl to beat or pull-under. I caught my share of take-off cover-ups
that went no-where except for that momentary green room, but also caught
several others that were bona fide tubes and verandahs. Plenty of
wall to usually sustain some cutbacks but more planing surface was needed
to make it past the 2nd peak/bowl section. Neal looked real good
today, what I could see of him, as he ripped down at the distant third
peak. The short board is matching up with him very well. I
suggested he ditch the fun board fantasy and stick with his Costa stick
and the longboard for those mushy, small days.
Wannabes
The hassling started early
after I had picked off three quick waves on the jetty point and
pulling into two of them. One guy with an attitude didn't care too
much for that. This one dude got real excited after I'd mistakenly taken
off in front of his friend (I didn't know he had successfully caught the
wave -- he'd only catch one of every two or three and would eat it on half
of those)... I kicked out once I saw him. Tried to tell his friend
but he was all attitude. I also suggested that he should let his
friend and I work it out but no, he just didn't like it. These three
buddies were all about attitude! They were very full of themselves,
mucho. It was sickening. You should have listened to them talking
their anglo Spanish rap -- their two most common words were "puta" and
"cerveza." Figures. They also talked big about their 8-10' waves
in Panama, but quite frankly, they had trouble handling 3-4' drops near
the jetty. These jokers also referred to the waves like Gas Chambers.
ROFL. Alex and I just rolled our eyes at each other. I'd love
to *host* that trio at any of my Puerto Rico NW breaks... we'd do some
real chatting it up with the locals :) After about 2 hours the three
bad boys started to leave one-by-one. The fat one's b***h bugged
out. The fat one, the one that had so much trouble catching waves, did
a real head plant during a takeoff, so he was pretty much done for the
day. The other dork I proceeded to take off deep behind and told him to
get out of the way for having callously dropped in on my earlier and frequently
- he stayed out on the shoulder all the way. He did not last much longer...
a nice hard cutback with my rail and skegs exposed can leave a lasting
impression. The last hour improved immensely as everybody shared ample
amounts of stoke (see pic of guy carrying long board - the other kid spent
some time on a bodyboard).
Post-session: Dropped
Alex off at his girlfriend's beach place. Neal and I then grabbed
some good chow and refreshments at Bull-on-the-Beach, an appropriate venue
since we proceeded to talk about our great "conquests" of the day and all
the BS that's clogging up the usenet newsgroup, alt.surfing. We
pondered why there has not been much fresh blood on AS this past year.
We walked away thinking that most don't want to become fresh meat. It has
been good to see several old-timers still lurking and making the occasional
posting.
We checked out a few more
breaks on the way south through Ocean City, but the wind was blowing strongly
out of the south making for a lot of crumbling, crashing chop at high tide.
Checked out some travel surf bags and epoxy longboards for Neal at K-Coast
and then stopped by Shoreline
Board Shop to shop for some cold water flippers (fins). My eyes
have been on the Redleys soft blades but those turned out to be rather
stiff, very little blade flex, and very heavy. Tried on a couple
of other brands purporting to have "great soft fits" or flexible blades
but still no banana. The owner than suggested I try the Hydro
Fins, (not the more popular Hydro Techs which are stiff, blunt and
oriented more towards drop-knee bodyboarding). The Extra Large "original"
hydros fit like a charm with my cold water booties on. These are
the "old line" that are now part of the "new line" meaning they're manufactured
in Australia once again. The foot pockets are not custom molded for
the left or right foot, but provide a nice blunted pocket but firm fit.
The blades also sported a nice flex. The real test will be in the
water. Hope they don't disappoint because my current pair of cold
water flippers have a limited remaining useful water life (I bought this
pair off the rental racks at Fox Watersports a few years ago... had to
beg and plead... the owner kept trying to sell me a new pair that were
stiffer than cane, but I offered to pay new prices for the old beat up
pair of Churchill's - he eventually parted with them at half price).
Drive home went smoothly,
if uninspiringly, all the way to Annapolis. From there on I encountered
major weekend traffic with multiple accidents. I could have turned
around and been in Salisbury for all the time it took to reach the homestead.
But this morning's session was well worth it... my final one until at least
late June, if not July, due to work and family obligations. That's ok as
June is traditionally a slow month for surf even by East Coast standards.
- rodNDtube |
The
Neal Carver Report
"I Love Wet Tubes"
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From:
Neal Carver
Subject: Surf Report - ASC
(long)
Everyone in the club scored
some this past weekend. Club members got together over the weekend
to score 3 great days in the water. Here is my weekend report-
This tropical low was supposed
to hit us on Tuesday and like a typical con man, it was buying some serious
time. We finally got word that we should start seeing the waves build
Thursday and Friday with a peak on Saturday morning. I had been set
to play hooky on Tuesday and was now worried that I would miss out all
together. But, like one con man to another, I weaseled a three-day
weekend. I was excited after hearing Kirk and Flip's report on Thursday
afternoon. They spoke of waist to chest high sets reeling off the jetty,
small crowd and a zero wind. So I went home and packed my 6'6" and my larger
fun shape and set the alarm clock for 4:30am.
I met up with Rod and son
at our usual meeting spot where I quickly lashed my sticks to the roof.
We made one pit stop for Rods morning deposit and I grabbed a cup of caramel
flavored coffee. It went down
smooth along with three
bananas on the peak of sweetness. We pulled up to the gates at 7:15
and found about six cars parked on the side. This is a crowd for this spot.
But we expected it since the Thursday crew warned us about the small crowd.
We were about to hike in when the Ranger opened the gates. We parked
at the top of the cliff and watched chest to shoulder high rollers peel
off the jetty. There was a small crowd and a small take off zone.
Although the air was warm and there was no wind, I decided to err on the
side of warmth and wore the full suit. I quickly realized that I
really didn't need it and should have skinned it.
I waxed up both boards but
decided to take the little thruster out for a spin. This is a serious
change since the last two years I had abandoned my short board for a 9'6".
But, I have decided that I would
like to get proficient at
both. So off I went. My first ride was about 60 yards, but
very unstable. On the paddle out I saw Rod "NDTUBE" for real.
He was about two feet back from the lip until....he was pureed. I
also found that the current and swell direction really narrowed the take
off point in front of the jetty. I wasn't sure I wanted to stay in the
pack since I was getting used that board again. So I drifted to the
inside and tried to score the second peak. I caught a few but just
like Kirk's post read, "The second peak wasn't breaking at all."
While I was there, I saw a couple of longboards work the second peak with
sped built from the first. They were able to score rides that were
at least 120 yards long.
I decided to drift north
a little further were I found the gem of the morning. There are two
peaks that break off the jetty, but on larger south swell there are some
bars farther north were the swell comes and breaks unhindered by the jetty.
Meaning, it breaks with the same size and power as the fist peak.
Only more like a fast beach break. Not a soul was on it but me.
The drops were fast and hollow. It was good to get back in the groove
and feel the board drop out from under me as I rose to my feet. Once
up, a quick slicing turn and a race down the line. The water walled
up quick and I found myself in a number of tubes. Unfortunately,
the spin cycle took over on most of them. But, it was good to get
back in the pocket for a change. I considered this good training
for the upcoming Costa trip. After numerous sand
sucking tubes, I decided
to get the fun shape and relax a little.
I walked back to the jetty
and heard a couple guys talking about some a-hole in the line up.
I immediately knew that Rod had to be in the middle of it. Not cause Rod
is aggressive, but that his equipment allows him the ability to take off
deeper and closer to the rocks that anyone else. He's always on it.
Sure enough, I paddled out to the jetty and Rod advised that sparks were
flying between him and some others. I had no problem, but then again, I
wasn't in the primo spot. I drifted down to my newfound spot and unfortunately
found that a surf fisherman had set up camp. I respected his position and
paddled back out at the jetty were I caught some of the smaller lines and
rode them to shore. After 3+ hours my arms were spent and I decided to
vacate he scene. I got eaten alive by the greenheads on
the walk back to the car.
But I quickly forgot about the bugs cause Rod handed a cold brewski to
me when I got the parking lot. Tasty!
Rod and I dropped his son
off at his girlfriends place and headed for a local establishment.
We were greeted by the newly acquired staff of college kids that made it
hard to concentrate on the menu. However, a couple of margaritas
on the rocks and chicken sand got me settled down. We poked around
a few surf shops and headed home.
The rest of the weekend was
equally as good with a spousal night out at the Rams Head Tavern and a
Schooner Fare concert after the meal. Sunday was a day to relax with my
kids at the pool. It was a great weekend, especially considering
I will be out of the water until July. I will savor it.
RC Neal |
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