season | Water, Water Everywhere And Not A Drop To Drink

Nov 07 2012

East Coastin', Gargantuan, Local- New York/Dirty Jersey, Loss, Radical

Dispatches From The Eye Of The Storm. AKA Oh Sandy. Two.

On the morning of Saturday, November 3^rd, I wake up at 7:30 a.m. to a dark room. The nightlight I plugged into the wall, a subtle alert to the presence of electricity, is still dim. I grudgingly push two down comforters aside and climb out of bed, wearing the latest in pajama couture: Long socks, shorts, sweats, and a hoodie layered beneath a ski sweater. It’s our sixth day without electricity and it’s 4 degrees in my house. But at least I have a house. I keep reminding myself. So many of my friends lost everything. But at least they are safe.

This headspace is surreal. I remember watching Katrina and her aftermath on the television, and being unable to process what I was seeing. Too much destruction and sorrow. Human kindness–as well as malevolence.

The night before, I sat in my friend’s living room, absorbing borrowed warmth, and watching the nationally televised Sandy benefit concert, broadcast from Rockefeller Center in New York City, where half of Manhattan still didn’t have power. Another friend who made the journey back through the Lincoln Tunnel said returning to the City was the strangest thing she’s ever experienced. It’s hard to fathom New York standing still.

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Tagged blackout, casino pier, chris kelly, cyclone, destruction, east coast, flood, frankenstorm, hurricane, lavallette, long beach, manhattan, martial law, mike losness, new jersey, new york, ocean city, photo, rob kelly, rockaway, ryan struck, sandy, seaside heights, seaside park, season, storm, superstorm, surf, surfing, swell, tide, tropical, tyler breuer, wave, wind

Oct 28 2012

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East Coastin', Gargantuan, Local- New York/Dirty Jersey, Radical

Oh Sandy. One.

Sunday.

My parents have a bitey dog and a flair for dramatics. Even if this storm proves to be over-hyped, it’s possible that riding it out with those three will result in bodily harm. Psychological injury is pretty much a given. This is why I have procured a personal wine reserve.

And anyway, Sandy looks unlikely to be a bust, as the projected point of landfall is, give or take three miles, my house. Continue reading →

Tagged 2012, bite, cyclone, depression, dog, fall, halloween, hurricane, october, rain, sandy, season, storm, swell, system, tropical, waves, weather, wind, wine

Sep 16 2012

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East Coastin', Local- New York/Dirty Jersey, Photos

Central Jersey 09.16.12 . #iPhoneography

Tagged east coast, forecast, hurricane, iphoneography, jerz, magic seaweed, manasquan inlet, new jersey, nj, photo, right coast, season, surf, surfing, swell, waves

Sep 11 2012

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East Coastin', Local- New York/Dirty Jersey

The September sessions. So far.

I stumbled out of bed at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, washed my face. Changed into a ‘kini. Pulled on cutoff jean shorts. Listened to early morning political discussions while I drove to the island. I grabbed three coffees from Wawa and grabbed two friends from up the street. We checked a spot just to the north and headed for the inlet. Somehow, we found parking. The lineup was a madhouse. Mad people, mad waves. Pulsing, beautiful, large. The skilled, the swell-deprived junkies blocked and dropped in on each other as the unskilled allowed their boards to drag them over the falls on top of their fellow watermen. And women. There were two of us out there. A minuscule percentage.

I managed the paddle out easily, navigated the clean-up sets without incidence, stayed sufficiently out of the way. I sacrificed noteworthy rides for peace of mind. Dot suffered sets on the head and aggro challengers, a board to the mouth. She situated herself amidst the action. Not interested in staying out of your way, sir.

After an hour and a half, I aimed for the beach, only to be tossed around and crushed to the bottom by menacing shorebreak. I clawed my way onto the sand and sat down with a not-so-small effort to refrain from embarrassing collapse. I told myself I’d wait for Leslie to pass before paddling out again.

I stumbled out of bed at 5:32 a.m. on Thursday. Continue reading →

Tagged bay head, belmar, dawn patrol, dirty jerz, dot bugbee, hurricane, lavallette, leslie, manasquan inlet, new jersey, nj, offshore, overhead, seaside heights, seaside park, season, september, spring lake, surf, surfing, swell, waves

Sep 15 2011

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Gargantuan, Local- New York/Dirty Jersey

Belated Thoughts on Irene.

Thursday, August 25^th, 2011. 19:39

The Rain Before THE Rain

The air might smell like the copious raindrops that fill it, or like salt marsh, but my nose is stuffy. I guess that’s what I get for surfing in hypothermia-inducing, upwelled waters this afternoon. I paddled out amid the hordes at Manasquan, even though the cloud formations indicated impending doom and the water was painfully cold, because the waves actually had faces. Faces on which I could make use of the very minor trickage I have in my arsenal. The wind was blowing hard out of the south, but the jetty blocked it and surprisingly smooth peaks remained. Anyway, after about 30 seconds, my core ceased circulation to my extremities and now I can’t smell anything.

Thunder rumbles continuously, and the dense clouds are occasionally illuminated by dull, bluish flashes.

“Chance of rain: 90%,” The Weather Channel tells me. Every ten minutes. The local forecast breaks up the round-the-clock coverage of Hurricane Irene, which they’re saying could be a 100-year event–especially in terms of flooding. In terms of other things, well, the mayor just called and said a voluntary evacuation is in effect for the barrier island. I received a Facebook message from the Garden State Grudge Match Trials: “No comp due to evacs! Go surf, have fun, & be safe!”

We’re supposed to prepare for a direct hit: flash flooding and storm surge and high, high winds.

“A hurricane watch and a flood watch have been issued for our area.”

Irene is on-track to clobber New York City. The last time the city saw a hurricane was more than a hundred years ago. If I were still living in the city, I’d evac for sure. Fuck those sheets of glass falling from the sky.

Magic Seaweed is saying we’ll get a 15.5-foot swell on Sunday. Will anyone be there to see it?

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