Turning the corner

Last week, I paddled out in Sandbridge for the kind of session that most surfers would probably turn down during the dead of winter: An optimistic swell forecast was reduced to choppy, sideshore, waist-high slop. The air temperatures were in the 40s and winds howled from the north-northwest.

With water temperatures in the upper 30s, things didn’t exactly look appealing. If it were summertime, people would be stoked on the “little wave” they got that afternoon. It wasn’t Summer, though- it was March 4, just days removed from the coldest month of the coldest winter in more than a decade...(continued below)

(enjoy some pictures from a different session: Jon CSB's latest expedition up the Delmarva Peninsula........)

But something was different when I hit the water this time (I made the drive all the way into Sandbridge, so I said, ‘Why not?’ and just paddled out). As I took my first duck dive, the cold didn’t radiate through my back-zip the way it has been. No ice headache.
My hands and feet were hot, my core was warm, and for the first time in a couple of months, I felt… comfortable.
While the word “March” certainly looks a lot warmer than “February,” this year, the turning of the caldendar page has translated in to the turning of the corner of the spring warm-up. I don’t know by how much the water temperature has come up, but it is noticably warmer – I’m guessing four-to-five degress or so.

 

There’s still a ways to go before things won’t feel “cold.” It’s still definitely cold out there, just less cold enough to notice a real difference.
And while I dread the annual warm water crowds which will descend on our everyday surf breaks, I’m equally ready to be freed from the seal suit.
Here’s my predicted order of wetsuit neccesity as things get warmer: No hood by the first week of April, gloves off late April, 4/3 off mid May, booties off late May, fullsuit off mid June.
No, we’re not out of the woods yet, but the day is coming soon.
Look s like waves this weekend… Happy hunting!

 -Jon CSB