Eastside Surfblog past entries

12/24/08

Well, we had a little taste of the nice swell left over for the week-end. Saturday was small, but I went out anyway because, well actually, there’s no logical reason. I just went out. I guess it’s because I got new boards a couple a months ago and there’s nothing like new foam to make you stoked. Sunday was better. Steve and the kite crew reported a good session on Sunday morning and when the wind switched and those guys were packing it in I hit it and caught a few shoulder high sets before the tide made it weird. All in all, a fun week-end. The annual Christmas party at the Wiggatorium went off and it is always a gas to gather the tribe. Plus, I left my wetsuit all balled up in the sink and Mrs. Blog hung it up for me so it would be all nice and dry. I think I’m in love.

Since it’s winter, I seem to be writing about equipment a lot. So I’ll keep the string going by telling you about a great little way I stay warmer out there. It’s called Doc’s Pro Plugs. They are these ear plugs made especially for water sports like surfing and keep the cold water from going down in your ear canals and giving you what most people refer to as “ice cream headaches.” They are not very expensive at all and work great. I don’t know if any of the local shops sell them, Mrs. Blog gets them for me online. Of course, Mrs. Blog can find anything online. She is the queen of online search. If I casually mention that the ice cubes in the Tiki Bar have become exceptionally hard to grind into margaritas and I wish there was a fission blender to be had, I’m convinced that a few days later a nicely wrapped package of fresh yellow cake uranium would arrive by UPS complete with centrifuges. And a freelance squad of North Korean lab technicians dressed in white lab coats with SPECTRE hard-hats would be scurrying around the Tiki Bar installing nuclear powered blenders. Anyway, when you get the Pro Plugs, take some scissors and cut off the fishing line they use to tether them both together. I’ve never lost one while surfing and you don’t want that little line dangling around your neck when you paddle.

I’m writing this post on Monday due to the holiday schedule so looking at the forecasting models today, it looks like we will have some surf starting Christmas day and going all the way through the week-end. Florida looks especially promising and this is the time of year when those big storms go off of New England and push all that pretty swell down to points south of Melbourne. So if grandma’s house is down in South Florida, load up your sleigh and surprise the ol’ gal with a visit. Hope she doesn’t mind lycras and stuff hanging in the showers. Since I’m writing this so early, local conditions can always change, so don’t take my word on it. I’ve seen many a swell like this pass us right by and head towards those heathens in Florida. You can always check the IOP pier for yourself by looking at http://www.carolinacoastsurfclub.org/surfcam.shtml

The Carolina Coast Surf Club hosts a very nice cam and I have to give them some props for providing the platform and Andy double props for actually going out there and checking it every morning. I studiously avoided doing a surf report when I had my shop because it’s awfully hard to get motivated to go check it at the crack of dawn every day. Especially when you know there won’t be any surf. So hopefully we’ll get some swell and Andy won’t be up early in vain. Plus Blogson1 and Blogson2 are both home from school and it’s always fun to have a session with my evil spawn. Instant crowd, just add water.