My Surfing Year 2006 Retrospective

The Surfing Year 2006 Retrospective
"My 5 Best Surfs of 2006"

For me this was a rather slow year with only 30+ days of surfing. But, I can still count my lucky beans during this "off-year!" Nearly 100 percent of my memorable sessions/best surf was not local coastal, in the DelMarVa.

Feb - Puerto Rico. A family death prevented our usual Christmas trip in 2005, so we rescheduled for February. Crowds are peak this time of year with the temporary ex-pats and traveling hordes from NY/NJ in full-throttle. Caught several memorable days plus some funky swells that never really set-up at some of my favorite spots - still found a way to beat many of the crowds. Most memorable session was alone at Tabla de la Rocas. (Family trip)

March - Guanacaste, Costa Rica. We split our villas in two 4-day chunks, the first four at SR's and the other four in Tamarindo. We ended riding six days at SRs and plan to stay there the entire 8 days in 2007. Waves were mostly in the head-high range and consistently uncrowded. Very relaxing atmosphere and close to nirvana. We mostly rode four breaks in our cove: The Rock, The Wash, Inside Wash, and RocaRigo. (Trip with Paul Martin, Mike and Brett McDowell, my wife and family friend, Sue.)

Sept - Cape Hatteras (Florence) - GuidoPalooza. Something tells me we had Florence-generated swell nearly all week. :) Bummer was that I busted my right foot early in the week long trip... could hardly walk but the foot was ok inside the flipper (just get me close to the paddleout zone!). We found strong offshore conditions at, and south of, the hook, but the swell was so head-on that it frequently closed-out - you had to pick your waves carefully. The best session was shared with DaGriz on Friday in Avon, overhead and bumpy. Nonetheless, Hatteras is always a great place to visit and this year's GP included a great bunch of folks and some excellent cookin' plus A+ coffee (fresh beans were roasted and espresso'd on the spot). (Cast of characters from GuidoPalooza.)

November - N. Oregon. Surf and weather was out of control during the week (and most of November). Not to mention I bagged a nasty cold the second day out and left for home two days early before the 80mph winds hit the coast. Did I mention the twelve inches of rain over a 24-hour stretch? I did catch one fun session at a well known cove while the experts shredded the point in 8' to 12' conditions. (Nice cottage in the Little Apple with former schoolmate Leon, Paipo Jim, Andy and the kids.)

December - NW Puerto Rico. Warm, clear-water coral reef sessions in December are always fun! Caught several nice 2-4'+ days at a shallow left reef in very good conditions with only a few others out (shortboarders, bodyboarders) before what I will call an epic day in the 4-8' range with only 5 of us maximum.

CR is booked for Spring 2007; GuidoPalooza in the OBX in Sept; and PR again for the annual year-end or January. Let's surf more this year and work less!!!

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Last updated on 01/14/07