First, let me introduce myself since it’s my first post. I’m John Streit, S&A’s summer surf instructor extraordinaire, full-time bro discount vulture and Crucial Surf Brigade repper. I’ve been known to do a little writing for a few local publications, but never had the appropriate outlet to let loose and write about my first and best love – surfing… until now! So check back for updates as I muse about surfing in this lovely Mid-Atlantic region most folks who will be reading this call home.
Figured a good place to start would be to review the SICK fall/early winter we’ve been enjoying in these parts.
Things really got started with hurricanes Bill and Danny producing a couple of consecutive weeks of awesome swell in the late summer. Though those were the only true tropical pulses we saw all year, fall’s parade of cold-core lows picked up what the tropics left off.
Didn’t it seem like it was a swell-a-week there for awhile, even pre-Nor’Ida? One crisp afternoon in Croatan sometime during October stands out the most to me from this period, with gaping, hallow barrels opening up left and right.
No name for the swell, no date to attach it to, no Federal disaster areas: Just another awesome fall surge.
We all know that Nor’Ida did her thing, especially in the Bridge, where the Sanctuary’s ocean view got swapped for the side of a massive cargo barge (that crap was wild for real). Again, lots of solid swell, as demonstrated by our very own Tyler Balak [check out Tyler's pics HERE -tfs]. Some serious drainers goin’ off there!
Those who traveled for better swell/wind matchups definitely scored. Here’s a shot of my favorite mysto Delmarva spot (somewhere between Delaware and Fisherman’s Island), going all the way off. Just a random, windy Sunday (A week before, when VB was waist high, sideshore chop, this same spot was reeling clean stomach high peelers. Get out there and find something sweet!)
A few more sizable swells swept through between Nor’Ida and the Christmas nor’easter, but that latest push delivered some of the best VB I’ve seen in a long time. Just ask S&A staffer Josh Alley about the ledges we were pullin in to at Little Island Pier. Straight eight-foot walls, wide open barrels and a right that cruised straight into the pier. Looking back, probably not the best idea, but the reward far outweighed the risk, at least with a belly full o’ adrenaline.
Seems we’ve it a little lull at the moment with nothing terribly serious looming on the horizon. Let’s hope the dead of winter gives us something to warm up our spirits.
- John CSB.
Figured a good place to start would be to review the SICK fall/early winter we’ve been enjoying in these parts.
Things really got started with hurricanes Bill and Danny producing a couple of consecutive weeks of awesome swell in the late summer. Though those were the only true tropical pulses we saw all year, fall’s parade of cold-core lows picked up what the tropics left off.
Didn’t it seem like it was a swell-a-week there for awhile, even pre-Nor’Ida? One crisp afternoon in Croatan sometime during October stands out the most to me from this period, with gaping, hallow barrels opening up left and right.
No name for the swell, no date to attach it to, no Federal disaster areas: Just another awesome fall surge.
We all know that Nor’Ida did her thing, especially in the Bridge, where the Sanctuary’s ocean view got swapped for the side of a massive cargo barge (that crap was wild for real). Again, lots of solid swell, as demonstrated by our very own Tyler Balak [check out Tyler's pics HERE -tfs]. Some serious drainers goin’ off there!
Those who traveled for better swell/wind matchups definitely scored. Here’s a shot of my favorite mysto Delmarva spot (somewhere between Delaware and Fisherman’s Island), going all the way off. Just a random, windy Sunday (A week before, when VB was waist high, sideshore chop, this same spot was reeling clean stomach high peelers. Get out there and find something sweet!)
A few more sizable swells swept through between Nor’Ida and the Christmas nor’easter, but that latest push delivered some of the best VB I’ve seen in a long time. Just ask S&A staffer Josh Alley about the ledges we were pullin in to at Little Island Pier. Straight eight-foot walls, wide open barrels and a right that cruised straight into the pier. Looking back, probably not the best idea, but the reward far outweighed the risk, at least with a belly full o’ adrenaline.
Seems we’ve it a little lull at the moment with nothing terribly serious looming on the horizon. Let’s hope the dead of winter gives us something to warm up our spirits.
- John CSB.
