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October
4th, 2009
32 out of 33 weeks of surfable waves.
The thing that really struck me as being odd on Monday, September
28th, 2009, as I drove down my street, and then along the
2.5 miles of Cement, was the lack of vehicles. "Where
the hell was everyone?" I thought to myself. The skies were
bright blue, and the wind was blowing straight out of the west.
There had to be waves. The day before was as nasty as it gets.
Full on Northeast winds howling all day and night. Clearly
there were waves. But the lack of vehicles that should of been
parked along that infamous stretch of manmade cement, was almost
void of those who surf. Huh?
If not for the occasional glimpse between the openings, I would
of thought that the swell was gone. But I saw the telltale signs.
The big, gusty plumes of spay and mist, blowing off the tops of
these big beasts, left me with no doubt that the swell was here,
but so were the lack of crowds. When I stepped out of my vehicle
and took those first two steps to look, I raised my NIKON D-90
and fired off two quick shots.
Oh it was here all right. But there were only a handful of black
dots out there.
OK, so it was early. 7:00AM. And I get that the tourists
have gone back to wherever it is they came from. And I get that
the kids are back in school. I even get the fact that most surfers
have real jobs. But this swell, and the conditions that followed
it, warranted a little more attention than what I was seeing.
I tell ya it was weird. The lack of participants.
A few miles away in the opposite direction, Brian Nevins
was experiencing the same thing. Only where he was, it was completely
devoid of rubber suited piranhas. I later ran into him at another
Northern New England spot and we both couldn't understand
the lack of crowds. It's not that either one of us were complaining.
But honestly? I've seen it twice as crowded in shittier waves,
in the dead of winter. The other thing that really surprised me
was the all "natural forecast" of heavy Northeast
winds the day before. I mean hello???
I've been around long enough to remember the days before the Internet
and wave cams. And I know a lot of you have as well. Back in those
days, we went on local ocean and wind knowledge. If it blew 20-40
knots out of the Northeast for a lengthy period of
time, we would get decent surf. That has not changed. So to be
perfectly honest. I never looked at a wave cam Monday morning.
I knew there was surf. So did Nevins and a few others.
But for the most part. This swell caught many off guard.
I was calling it the BIG MO Swell for Big Monday.
It was that good. It was overhead. It was as clean and green as
it gets. Big wide open barrels. Lots of entertaining wipeouts.
And to be fair, there were lots of good surfing. Albeit, there
were some notable faces missing in action. But for the most part,
it was an action packed morning from daybreak to midday.
And not to rub it in, but this swell lasted 3 days. The
day after (Tuesday) was kind of funky, but the third day
was actually fun. But it got cold. I was still wearing my 3/2
with no boots and gloves and well...it's time for the 4/3.
Tis the season. Something happened to me on Tuesday that
I wanted to share with you. The reason I want to share it is,
this was a first for me. I wanted to get some empty wave shots.
And not just empty waves. But the ultimate classic in the barrel
looking out shots. Nevins was showing me some of the shots
he had taken in the morning, and I was stoked to swim out and
get a few myself. But I got burned on Monday. Because,
by the time I got ready to swim out the wind got on it. The size
was still there, but the clean, hollowness was gone. So I waited
all day and nothing. The next day was glassy but small. I had
my gear and thought I'd give it a shot (pun intended).
So I swam out at around 8th street. I found a good spot
where the rights were hitting one of the sandbars, and throwing
out pretty good. I had fins on, so I was comfortable in staying
in the right line-up. That's when I noticed the rip.
Don't get me wrong, I've been in plenty of rips. Plenty. Some
pretty forceful. But most times I'm in the rips, I'm on one of
my boards. Swimming in a rip is a different experience all together.
Now before I go any further, you all need to know, that in no
time, did I ever think I was in any kind of trouble. I was not.
But, I was caught in a rip that pulled me all the way down past
18th Street. I was thinking to myself, as I watched all
the homes go by...this is how swimmers drown. They panic and fight
their way back. They eat up all their energy, and eventually drown.
Plus, they are not wearing wetsuits, and or fins. I was impressed
with the rip. Was this my worse Rip experience? Hardly. It would
be hard to beat the day, me and Kevin Grondin got caught
in a fierce rip at Laniakea on the Oahu's North Shore
in the early 80's. That day was insane. Huge, massive,
long walls, unloading on the reef. The rip was sucking us out,
and over to Himalyas . We were freaking out. And Himalayas?
Oh it was all of 30' plus wave faces. On the souls of my
parents. Those waves were HUGE! That was my worse Rip experience.
Hands down.
But this rip trip on Tuesday? Well that was an eye opener.
I finally came in when I saw some elderly beach walkers starting
to freak out, thinking I was in trouble. The more I waved to them
trying to let them know that I was OK, and that I was just trying
to get a photo, the more they panicked, looking for a cell phone
to call for help. I had to come in, and let them know that Uncle
Ralphie was OK. We all had a good laugh about it. But the
long walk back to my vehicle was sort of a wake up call. I mean
damn, that rip was real.
Oh...I only shot a few waves. And I never got close to the shot
I was trying for. And to make matters worse, the wind came on
it after I swam out. Oh well...
Hope you all got to see the new The Surfers Journal. Our
own Brian Nevins has a nice piece that he both wrote and
shot about some spots in Maine. He shares the photo duties
with Nick LaVecchia. It's really well done. And good luck
trying to find out where any of these spots are in Maine.
The Pine State is a big place, and with all the many potential
coves, points and reefs that are there, well good luck trying
to find one. Maine is the only state in New England
that has not been scoured from one border to the next. Forget
Rhode Island. Forget Massachusetts. Hell New
Hampshire only has 13.5 miles...nope, Maine is
the ONLY frontier left in New England. And
it is as fickle, as anywhere on the planet.
There are perfect waves out there my friends, and some of them
may be closer than you think. While others require a bit more
adventure and planning. But surfing has always been about the
adventure. I used to sign my letters, in the my early days of
surf travel...
"Life to me is a bold and daring adventure".
Now
for some of my weekly Global observances:
Our
world has gotten sadder this day. On Friday I watched the
events unfold on the Tsunami that hit Samoa. Knowing
that there are surfers there, I sat down and prayed that there
was no one that I personally knew. Not knowing, that a good friend
of our community Stan Chew lost a relative. Below is the
link to the email exchange from Stan to me, and the email
from his nephew who lost a young daughter. Please read this story.
And especially read the first hand account of this one little
girl who was saved by an angel.
This is a TRUE story.
This was a story that affected all the surfers down in Samoa
and Fiji. Imagine being on a surf trip and having a Tsunami
hit. Oh my God. Our thoughts and prayers go out to our brother
Stan Chew and his family.
Click this link to read the Tsunami
Story involving Stan
Chew's nephew.
In
today's Boston Globe there is an article about about IRAN's
Nuclear Facility. They said that IRAN could build an A-Bomb.
Feel safer yet? I hate to sound like a doom and gloom guy here
but, I am almost 100% convinced, that we will see a nuclear
device go off in our lifetime. And it makes no difference who's
sitting in the White House. Terrorists and radical regimes
like IRAN, are not impressed with America, or our
current president. As much as some people still think that President
Obama is the anointed one, there are others who feel the complete
opposite. Case in point. Obama and his wife Michelle,
along with Oprah Winfrey, had little or no pull, in getting
the Olympics to Chicago.
How
embarrassing was that? What a colossal waste of time and money
that was. He can't sell the Health Care bill and he couldn't
sell Chicago. And while this whole Olympic fiasco
was going down, our TOP Military Commander in Afghanistan
was waiting 70 days on an an answer, about sending more
troops to Afghanistan. Americans are dying every
week on the battlefield in Afghanistan, and Obama
is trying to sell his hometown of Chicago to the Olympic
Committee? Give me a break.
He finally sat down with General Stanley McChrystal after
his failed Olympic attempt. This is crucial stuff here.
If we lose Afghanistan we face more Terrorist attacks
by a newly emboldened Taliban who would offer a safe haven
to Al Qeada. Remember them? This is serious stuff here
kids. More serious than Chicago and the freaking Olympics!
Look,
I support the office of the President of the United
States. I just wish he'd put more effort into the things that
really matter. The War, our economy, and the OUT OF CONTROL spending.
Oprah Winfrey? Puhleeeze...
OK
in the other BIG loser department. What the hell is up with the
FREAKING Loser celebs who are supporting Roman Polanksi?
Are you kidding me? That little sex midget raped a 13 year old
girl. He fed her Quaaludes and got her drunk, and then he raped
her. If Polanksi was a priest, the world would be crucifying
him right now. Guess what Roman? You are not immune to
the law. I don't give a rats ass how many good movies you made.
You raped a 13 year old girl. You are going to jail, and you,
my little Sex Dwarf, will be Raped by some of the locals. The
only thing is, you won't be fed Quaalude to lessen the pain. You'll
have to man-up and take it like a man. Loser. But to those celebrities
who are supporting him, the world should take note of who they
are, and chastise them, every time they appear in public.
Speaking of Sexual predators, How about David Letterman?
Are you kidding me? Look, the guy who tried to extort money from
him, is an equal loser. But for Letterman to make light
of the fact, that he's been sleeping with half of the female staff
during his monologue, just goes to show you, how out of touch
some celebrities are with the rest of us. Losers.
The Patriots host the RED HOT Ravens today. We looked
great last week. Let's hope we can continue the trend. Go Patriots!
The SOX are in the Play-Offs as the Wild Card contenders...who
knows...? The Bruins got spanked on their home opener but
saved face last night against the Hurricanes. Walloping
them 7-2! That's more like Bruin Hockey. Win one
for Fred Cusick!
Local Surfers Jesse Gould and Max Fatello played
Friday night and whooped the snot out of Concord High School.
42-14. There's a photo of Jesse running one back
for a TD in the PORTSMOUTH Herald. High School Football
is so much fun.
Congrats to NEW Grandparents (Oh Yea) Billy and Alex Ritchie as
their daughter Sarah gave birth to a new baby Boy (Nolan) Whoa
Grandparents! That's Great News!
Happy 22nd Wedding Anniversary to Cory and Ralph! October 10th!
Happy 50th Birthday to Johnny Meehan!
PLEASE HELP THE NH SURFRIDER FOUNDATION.
Please
Support ALL The photographers who contribute to
Ralph's Pic Of The Week
every week for the last 6 years.
Remember
my friends...Surfing Heals All Wounds....
Pray for Surf. Pray for Peace. Surf For Fun.
Ralph
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(Above) Mike Stanek embedded in a back
lit grinder at Whale Rock in Maine.
Monday, September 28th, 2009. Photo By RALPH
Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery and more.
(Above) Scott Campbell drops into a clean
and green yet beefy lefthander on
Monday, September 28th, 2009. Photo By RALPH
Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery and more.
(Above) Empty Wave the very first photo
I shot on Monday morning.
Monday, September 28th, 2009. Photo By RALPH
Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery and more.
(Above) Dig deep dive deep. Beautiful
surf all morning long. Monday, September 28th, 2009. Photo By RALPH
Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery and more.
(Above) Only a handful were on hand to sample
these. Monday, September 28th, 2009. Photo By RALPH
Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery and more.
(Above) Look at this wave. Look at this photo.
You need to see the rest of these amazing water shots and more.
Click on this image. September 28th, 2009 Photo By Brian Nevins
Click on the photo above to see the whole Nevins gallery.
(Above) Brian was all alone out there. Click
on this image too see the rest. September 28th, 2009 Photo By Brian Nevins
Click on the photo above to see the whole Nevins gallery.
(Above) This is young Kai Nichols. I'm
calling this the best photo I've ever seen of Kai. You guys should
call Ed and order a high res version of this. CLICK ON IMAGE TO
SEE MORE. September 28th, 2009 Photo By Ed O'Connell
Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery and more.
(Above) Phil Carey slipping into a nice
lime green faced left. CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE MORE. September 28th, 2009 Photo By Ed O'Connell
Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery and more.
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