November 27th, 2011-New RUN is 40 out of 40 Weeks.
Waist high or better, at least once a week.
The Surf on the Day before
Thanksgiving
and on Thanksgiving was easily Head high. |
"That's not true!" I said to my son Max who was clearly agitated at my statement. But it was true. He just hates hearing me be right (most of the time). We were arguing about Thanksgiving. Huh? Oh yea. He was claiming that there's always Surf on
Thanksgiving. And I said, that is simply not true. And I was right.
Case in point. Last Year. Hello? I kept a daily journal. A daily blog.
It's right there in the right hand column. The Catch A Wave For Molly daily blog. Well, according to my own writing, the surf on last Thanksgiving was only 2 feet. TWO FEET! OK that maybe ridable, but I think he was alluding to the fact that
Thanksgiving has always had Good Surf. And that is not the case.
Has there been good surf on Thanksgiving? Sure. Of course. But EVERY Thanksgiving? No. I don't think so. I had this same argument with someone a few years back about Labor Day. He was claiming that we always have surf on Labor Day. And well, while we might have had more days of surf on Labor Day, we do not always have surf on that day. I mean to think otherwise is crazy.
But my son loves to argue with me. I waited until he left before I went and checked. And sure enough, I was right.
But I won't say anything to him. I'll let him think he's right until the next absurd subject pops up. Because, it will undoubtedly be coming sooner, rather than later. So I'll bide my time and play it cool until the next time. In which case,
I will gladly let him know, how wrong he is (again).
Now why does daddy have to be so hurtful? Hey, I see wrong and try to right it.
And speaking of wrong. I was shooting on Wednesday afternoon at an undisclosed point break here in NH, when I was eye witness to an individual who not one, and not twice, but three separate times bailed his board on take-off. It was like..."Dude, you have got to be kidding me???" He was a longboarder, who purposely sat deeper
than anyone else out in the line-up. And continued to try and catch all the set waves, and at the most critical section he would just bail . He would jump off his board and shove his board away.
Oh yea. He went over the falls a few times. He let his board go in front of paddlers.
In fact, he'd bail in front of guys who could actually surf. They would back off from the wave thinking this guy who was sitting so deep on the boil must know what he's
doing, and they would back off. Only to sit and watch in sheer horror as he bailed
time after time.
I did manage to get him on a nice sequence going over the falls. He was impacted like a nasty wisdom tooth. There's one shot where you can see his head and his foot pop through the lip on the way to what looked like a severe thrashing. And by all accounts it was indeed a thrashing. A long hold down followed by a severe dragging across the reef.
I heard yelling. Mostly from the locals who were fed up with his "Leash Don't Fail Me Now" attitude. And really, that's what it all boils down to. So many novice surfers rely
to heavily on their damn leashes. I mean Good Lord. What would you all do without that safety harness? I know so many people who just figure "What the hell", my leash will save me from a long swim. And that's just wrong.
It's stupid and it speaks
volumes of what you know, and where you are coming from.
That's beginner mentality. Let the leash save me. I don't care. My leash will prevent
me from having to swim, and or make a move that would actually require me to use one of my freaking muscles. That's bullshit. In fact, I believe Crackie this week deals with a leash issue. And you can only imagine what kind of advice Crackie has.
Suffice it to say, he's not happy about it
I'm thankful
that I was schooled in the early years of surfing, when we did not have a leash. You actually had to (God forbid) hold onto your board. Can you imagine? Holding onto your board? Whoa. I mean damn, that might cause you to think twice about bailing. But after watching this guy bail three times, it did not take the locals long before they just went on the dude. He'd paddle for a wave 10 feet further back than anyone else, and they would just stuff him and go. Hey, that's what you get for bailing your board.
Let me tell you, the last thing anyone wants to see paddling out is some guy bailing
his board. You wouldn't want to face a longboard coming at you, and hoping and praying that the damn leash holds. HOLD ONTO YOUR BOARDS!
Speaking of Thankful, I trust you all had a nice Thanksgiving. I know we did.
We did something different this year. We went to a friend's house who lived down
the street and had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. I mean, it was really nice. We all brought a dish to the feast. I cooked up some of my own Grouse Fingers. A Grouse
is a native New England bird known as the Ruffed Grouse (Partridge). I have my own sauce. It's a combination of Blueberry preserves, honey, and maple syrup. That
lasted all of about 10 minutes. The fingers were just appetizers. So it was a nice prelude to the main course. Which was the traditional Turkey with all the traditional side dishes. Including a family favorite of ours.
Virginia Sweet Potatoes. And they are to die for.
My wife cooked them and they were great. It's one of the only dishes that my whole family can enjoy. My youngest Noelle is a vegetarian, and claims she's one for life.
So sweet potatoes is one dish we can all share. I keep telling Noelle that she's Italian. She has to eat meat. But she's also very stubborn. Even if she wanted to eat beef or poultry, she wouldn't now, because she made that statement.
Gee I wonder where she get's that attitude from? H-m-mmm.
Any way, we all have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Our friends and family. Our ocean and our waves. Our health and our dreams. Hopefully, you all have work and are getting by during these lean months. Winter is coming. It's time to hunker down in the bunker (for some). For others, it's time to get the skis, and boards out
and start heading North. We live in a rich wave field here on the coast, and an equally rich snow field in the mountains.
I missed snow boarding last year due to my yearlong commitment to surfing everyday. That will not happen this year. I am going North. I plan on boarding. I hope I didn't just jinx the season. Last year, I knew there would be snow, because I could not go. Look I don't think for a moment that will happen in reverse.
It better not. Nah, it won't. Besides it already snowed in October and last week they got almost a foot in Vermont. No it will be good for all.
Speaking of good...The ASK CRACKIE SERIES is now into our 8th week. Crackie
is still very uptight about all things in surfing. This week he deals with the controversial leash issue. Don't forget CRACKIE has his own Facebook page. If you have a question for Crackie no matter how absurd you might think it is, please email him directly.
Crackie's email: crackie@adlantic.
I know personally that he'd love to hear from you and I know he'd love to friend
you on Facebook.
Hope You ALL Had a wonderful and Happy Thanksgiving. And I hope you all have a Wonder Happy Holiday Season all the way through the next 30 plus days. Remember my friends...if things get tough, or you're feeling down. Head down to the ocean. Go for a surf...or just listen and watch the waves.
Because my mantra still holds true, especially during the holidays.
"Surfing Heals ALL Wounds..."
Now
for some of my Weekly Global Observances:
So people got shot during Black Friday? WTF??? Are you kidding me? Look, it's just a
damn sale. It ain't worth putting a cap in someone's ass and then getting hauled off to jail for? Unless of course it was the last item on the shelf, and then well, come out blasting I guess. No I'm kidding. Lighten up people. It's just the Holidays.
Be careful around the occupiers...they might be packing. I can just see that whole scene turning into the Gunfight at the OK Corral. Some crazed shopper gets hung up with some stupid ass occupier
...oh boy. I can see that all over the news. Crazed shopper goes on shooting spree at an Occupier Tent city.
Speaking of which. How can you tell the difference between those who are camping out for the stores to open, to those who are camping out because they are protesting? They are both whacked if you ask me.
So NATO forces mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani Military members near the Afghan border. Oh boy, that's not going to go over well with our already strained relationship with Pakistan. Hey guess what ? War sucks!
And when you harbor known terrorists in your country, shit like this happens. If we were all on the same page from the get go, half of this BS would not happen. May the souls of those killed rest in peace.
I was wrong again about the Patriots. I really thought that KC would give them a run for their money. I was wrong. But I don't mind being wrong when it comes to the PATS. We play the Eagles today. And we'll either face Michael Vick or Vince Young. Or Vince Vick. Either way, it should be exciting. We're in First Place and that's a good place to be. Especially with the schedule we have going out this next month.
Our Boston Bruins are in First Place as well. Hockey is a great winter game. Most of us all grew up skating around here. On the ponds, or the rinks. We are all Hockey fans.
It won't be long before the NBA get's their shit together. Hang in there you B-Ball fans.
Meanwhile dig the B's and the Pats! You can't lose with either team.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
HAPPY HOLIDAYS To Everyone!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kara Schaake November 27th, 2011!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Ben Ginsberg November 28th, 2011!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Nora Vasconcellos November 28th, 2011!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Alex Reola November 28th, 2011!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Alana Hickey November 28th, 2011!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY John Grady November 29th, 2011!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jay McKenna November 30th, 2011!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Max Moody December 2nd, 2011!
REST IN PEACE Ralph Gustafasen, husband and father of three. Ralph was a Surfer from Southern Maine. There's a video clip that Joe Carter from GITV shot down below in the video section. Meanwhile, here's a shot that Nick LaVecchia shot.
REST IN PEACE Richard Sullivan father of local surfer Chris Sullivan.
*There's a
tribute surf session that Chris surfed on Thanksgiving down in the readers section.
GET WELL SOON Joanna Rob...The Friends and family of Toby Parke ALL LOVE YOU!
GET WELL SOON MR CROPPER...WE ALLLOVE YOU!
CONGRATULATIONS To Allie and Michael (Zappy) on the birth of daughter Rory!!
November 13th, 2011. We LOVE YOU GUYS!
CONGRATULATIONS Again To My Good Friends The Rowlees...It's going to be a BOY!
I LOVE YOU GUYS!
Don't forget to go back and read the whole DAILY BLOG on My CATCH A WAVE FOR MOLLY. (Click On the Banner on this page.) Started on July 26, 2010 ENDED July 26, 2011. A Wave a day for 365 consecutive days. Just click on the banner ads on this page.
CHECK
OUT THE NEW/Old YESTERDAY PAGE! ALL OLD New England and
beyond Surf Pics! *NEW PICS added each week!
*Check out the NEW updated DROPPING
IN ON RALPH blog Section.
It's coming soon (I promise).
Please
Support ALL The photographers who contribute to Ralph's Pic
Of The Week
every week for the last 8 years. **Think about BUYING a Photo
from any of the weeks
on RPOTW as a GREAT Gift Idea. A nice framed photo of your favorite
Surfer!
Remember
my friends...Surfing Heals All Wounds....
Pray for Surf. Pray for Peace. Surf For Fun.
Ralph |
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| (Above) This is the NEW Movie we're trying to get out for the Holidays. It's all original music (QWILL, Todo Bien and more), and footage. Joe Carter's GITV, my own, and a few others. Plus the many stills from Ed O'Connell, Brian Nevins, John Carden, Lenny Nichols, the Fatello family...and more. A portion of the proceeds will go directly to The MOLLY Fund. |
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Yesterday- Hawaii Winter of 1986- Mike "Zappy" Paugh- North Shore of Oahu
(Below) There's sort of a funny story behind this image. It's from a Super 8mm movie I shot of the local boys from NH on Oahu's North Shore. I made Kevin and Zappy paddle out into some big surf. I kept saying..."You have to surf these waves for the boys back home!" And they reluctantly paddled out. But they both got some memorable waves that day. And I shot it all on movie film. So it was worth it.
Video Frame Grab of super 8mm movie by RALPH/SFOD |
Click on the photo above to see the larger version. |
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Today- THANKSGIVING DAY. Thursday, November 24th, 2011
Photos By RALPH |
(Above) Thanksgiving morning was so pretty. Like this Green on Green scene.
November 24, 2011. Photo By RALPH * Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery. |
(Above) Or this Brown Gravy wave. Thanksgiving Morning. November 24, 2011.
Photo By RALPH * Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
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(Above) My son Max was home from college. That's my wetsuit and Kevin's board.
He left all his surf gear at school. Thanksgiving Morning. November 24, 2011.
Photo By RALPH * Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery. |
(Above) Ryan Jackson. Thanksgiving Morning. November 24, 2011.
Photo By RALPH * Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery. |
Today- Thanksgiving Morning, November 24th, 2011
Photos By Ed O'Connell
(Above) Happy Thanksgiving Ed. Beautiful photo. November 24, 2011.
Photo By Ed O'Connell * Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
(Above) Golden Thanksgiving Day slice. Unknown. November 24, 2011.
Photo By Ed O'Connell * Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
(Above) Thanksgiving Day Green Wall. Unidentified. November 24, 2011.
Photo By Ed O'Connell * Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
(Above) Tim O'Shea on Thanksgiving morning. November 24, 2011.
Photo By Ed O'Connell * Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
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Today- Thanksgiving Morning, November 24th, 2011
Photos By Michael Sander
(Above) Empty Thanksgiving morning. November 24, 2011.
Photo By Michael Sander * Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
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(Above) Mike Stanek stuffing himself into a butterball barrel on Thanksgiving morning. November 24, 2011. Photo By Michael Sander
* Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery. |
(Above) This might be my favorite bottom turn photo of Kai Nichols to date. It's
between this and last year's Carden pic. Thanksgiving morning. November 24, 2011.
Photo By Michael Sander * Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
(Above) Ryan Jackson jumping for Thanksgiving joy. November 24, 2011.
Photo By Michael Sander * Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
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Today- THE THANKSGIVING DAY SEQUENCES.
Thursday, November 24th, 2011 Photos By RALPH
(Above) Lenny backside at Chowda Heads. Thanksgiving. November 24th, 2011.
Photos By RALPH * Click on the photo above to see the Whole Sequence.
(Above) Ryan Jackson Barreled at Chowda Heads. Thanksgiving. November 24th, 2011.
Photos By RALPH * Click on the photo above to see the Whole Sequence.
(Above) Mike Stanek owns this spot. He's the Big Clam at Chowda Heads. And this
sequence backs that up. Thanksgiving. November 24th, 2011.
Photos By RALPH * Click on the photo above to see the Whole Sequence.
Today- THE DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING.
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 Photos By RALPH
(Above) The Day before Thanksgiving was BIGGER. And it was colder. Way colder.
November 23, 2011. Photo By RALPH * Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
(Above) Unidentified The Day before Thanksgiving November 23, 2011.
Photo By RALPH * Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
Today- The Phantom Shoots From land!
November 18, 2011 Photos By The Phantom
(Above) Nice little set up. But wait? This is from the Phantom? Say what? So you thought
the Phantom only travels by boat. See, if you thought that you would be stupid. The Phantom does what he wants. Land or sea my friends. He gets you there. One thing's
for certain. It will be special and unique. November 18, 2011.
Photo By The Phantom* Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
(Above) Brad Hair on the wave of the Day. November 18, 2011.
Photo By The Phantom* Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
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(Above) Sweet Potato pie, that's a nice wave. Brad Hair . November 18, 2011.
Photo By The Phantom* Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
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(Above) Unknown backsider on a Green Central Cal wave. November 18, 2011.
Photo By The Phantom* Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
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(Above) Chris Sullivan lost his father last week. Surfing these waves on Thanksgiving morning was in part a tribute to his late father. May your dad Richard Rest In Peace Chris. November 24, 2011. Photo By Chris McGuire
* Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
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(Above) Chris Sullivan Thanksgiving morning. November 24, 2011.
Photo By Chris McGuire * Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
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(Above) Jamie Chabot Thanksgiving morning. November 24, 2011.
Photo By Chris McGuire * Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
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(Above) Surf Family friends on Thanksgiving. The Fatellos and the Grondin kids. Thanksgiving . November 24, 2011. Photo By RGF
* Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
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(Above) Sean O'Connor took a photo of TS Sean...of course you did Seany...
November 11, 2011. Photo By Sean O'Connor
* Click on the photo above to see the Whole gallery.
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CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON BELOW FOR ALL VIDEOS
This is the NEW 5 minute trailer to the NEW Surf Free Or Die -Memory Lane Movies documentary called
"SURFING HEALS ALL WOUNDS"
It's the true story of the 60 year old man who surfed 365 consecutive Days in memory of a 5 year old girl who lost her battle to cancer in 2009. He called it "Catch a Wave For Molly".
Music is by QWILL
RELEASE DATE 12-15-11
The 8th installment of ASK CRACKIE. This week's question is from a Shorboarder from Massachusetts. He asks Crackie when should he put on his leash. In the parking lot, or near the water's edge? Crackie was NOT very nice in answering this lame question.
But then again, Crackie is not very nice in answering any questions. I guess that's why we all enjoy his answers.
crackie@adlantic.com
Crackie now has his own Facebook Page. You should Friend Him...though there are
no guarantees that he'll be nice to you.
Hope you all learn something from this informative Q&A.
Paddle for Ralph from Joe Carter on Vimeo.
Ralph Gustafasen passed a way last week. He left behind a wife and three children. Rest in Peace Ralph.
A few shots from Ralph's paddle captured on a gopro. 11/19/11
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(Above) All
Rise: 10th
Street District Court of Surf Justice
is now in session, the
Honorable Judge
RALPH presiding. CASE
#137 BLATANT DROP IN OF THE WEEK-
Shot this on 11-23-11. CLICK and SEE this Surf crime and the verdict.
Photo by RALPH
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Click above graphic for The Daily BLOG I wrote from July 26-2010 to July 26-2011
Yes you can STILL DONATE to the Fundraiser.
THE "CATCH A WAVE FOR MOLLY" video by JOE CARTER and
GET IN THE VAN is NOW on the SURFER'S JOURNAL Website and
now
the ESPN website too! Wow!
To see it on this site go to the Molly Page.
http://www.surfersjournal.com/journal_entry/molly-motivation
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(Above) Locals surfing in Hawaii. Above Lenny Nichols. Oahu last week.
Photo courtesy of Nichols Family COMING NEXT WEEK! |
(Above) Locals in Hawaii. Above Julia and Kai Nichols. Oahu last week.
Photo courtesy of Nichols Family COMING NEXT WEEK!
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(Above) Locals in Hawaii. Oahu last week.
Photo courtesy of Nichols Family COMING NEXT WEEK!
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(Above) Locals surfing in Hawaii. Above Lenny Nichols. Oahu last week.
Photo courtesy of Nichols Family COMING NEXT WEEK!
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*Click masthead above to read the original
ISM story.
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(Above) Put the cursor over the images above to
see happens when you DROP in on someone. You
become Invisible. Simply put the mouse over the photo to see the
original photo and then marvel at
the results of what happens when the criminal
becomes invisible.*Put the cursor over the photo to see the Real
image.
Photo by RALPH |
Today 2011 "Mike working on a new move..." |
(Above) For every move you make, you fall on 10. Mike Stanek is only human after all.
Thanksgiving day mishap. Photo by Michael Sander |
Click
on Wave to return to top of page
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