Florida And The Whirly Girl Season

What's it like to be a Florida surfer? On a day like this, you are just hoping that the leftovers from the latest hurricane will send us swell for one more day so we can benefit. If, like me, you live far from the surf spots, you count on the webcams and weather reports. With hurricane weather, it's more difficult to predict, so a day like today that was supposed to be washing machine conditions turns out to be nice and semi-glassy with hundreds of surfers out...but not us landlocked folks, we find out too late. Then there are the other times, when you drive for an hour and a half only to find the prediction to be wrong and it's unsurfable. We shall find out soon, and what it does mean is that in spite of all of the technology produced in the last 40 years, you still get excited about what it might be like once you climb out of the car and mount the steps of the walkway to the beach. It could be anything, but it's never boring....

The Days We Wait For

In Florida, the thing you want for the outdoors are those summer days when the water feels great and the sun shines bright. Not much fun for going to work with a coat and tie, but just what you need for the beach. We are in the middle of it now, every weekend calling out to me from Tuesday, promising that it will be as much fun as the last. Someday in the future, it will be cold and windy, but for right now, I shake off the sweat and think about the next trip to my favorite place...

Just Another Beautiful Summer Day On The Water

We hit the water at 7:30 am yesterday and made a leisurely trip to Dog Island on Lake Maitland. It's a great way to enjoy a summer day before it gets too hot and too many ski boats on the lake. It seems like no matter how many times I do this, it just feels like the right place to be. You don't have to be a millionaire to be happy, you just needs moments like this...

When Tuesday Turns Into The Best Day Of The Week

Unexpectedly, I got a call from one of my surf buddies and was invited to go with them on dawn patrol for some tropical storm Bertha waves. The hype was that Tuesday morning was the day the wind would swing around. It was difficult and exciting..and that was just getting there before sunup! The waves didn't look small, but they didn't like it was going to be difficult until we got in the mix. The water temp was perfect, like bathwater, but the sun was stuck behind some early morning thunderheads, which gave bit of a creepy look to the morning. We headed out into the water, doing our best not to think about sharks feeding in the early morning hours and proceed to wind our way through the sets. I thought I had it timed just right and got outside without anything to complain about when a cleanup wave came and carried me all the way back to the beach. That is part of the problem with my 10' 6" Mickey Munoz board. It paddles very fast and loves to catch waves, but a cresting wave is likely to take me a long way back in. I finally got the nerve to take off on what looked like a closeout and got a good ride. I was stoked because I have spent so much time on paddleboards lately, that I was getting concerned on being able to get to my feet on a wave.
I was starting to feel more at home as the sun came up and boldly stayed a little too long in one wave. I got munched, and then realized that I could not even reach my board and hang on to it. I was smack right in the middle of the closeout zone and took 4 waves in a row before I could get my board back and right then, I decided it was a good time to take some photos!
Great friends, a beautiful morning, and pix to prove it all happened...going to work after? no problema....