Surfing in November at The Wall and Jenness Beach, NH from Dan Jackson on Vimeo.
(if you can’t see the video click here to view it)
Just returned from the annual family vacation to Wells, Maine. It’s such a great way to get the whole family together. This year’s trip to Maine only included 2 events from last year’s Top 5 List however we definitely had just as much fun! Especially the late night surf session w/ my brothers (can you say “Shark Bait!”)
Below are a few shots:
About two weeks ago Peter Mel, Flea, Dan Malloy, Garrett MacNamara, the Wormhoudt brothers, and Twiggy rode some of the largest waves ever surfed at Maverick’s in northern California. There was a thick mist and heavy westerly swell pushing directly towards the rocks…
Here is a digital print of my first (and possibly last) attempt at an acrylic painting on canvas. An older digital photo titled: “Apocalypse in Navini” contributed some of the inspiration for this piece.
This is one of the few parts of the year when we can actually see some sizable swell in the north east. So… in the beginning of August I started my annual search. Watching for that hurricane who’s track would bring all it’s rain, wind, and swell up to New England’s coast.
After 63 days of fruitless daily forecasts… it looks like there’s finally some ~9ft. waves coming through. Of course, this storm has scheduled it’s visit on a day when I already have a prior commitment. So the question is… how long will the leftovers hang around?
After checking out a schedule of the latest Surfrider events around New England it made me wonder if we’d ever be able to get a chapter established up here in the land-locked state of Vermont?
After all… if you get behind a boat… Lake Champlain does offer some surf…
Related:
http://www.surfrider.org
http://www.nesurfari.com/blog/2007/08/04/new-england-surfrider-chapter-meetings-for-august/
In New England you pretty much have to rely on the hurricane season to see any decent sized swell… so everything was looking great in May when this forecast came out:
On May 22, 2007, NOAA released their pre-season forecast for the 2007 season. They predicted 13 to 17 named storms, with 7 to 10 becoming hurricanes, and 3 to 5 becoming major hurricanes.[5]
However… it’s August 8th and we haven’t seen one hurricane yet (all the current storms are tracked over at wikipedia on the “2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season” page). And… now we have an updated forecast that was released a few days ago:
On August 3, 2007, Klotzbach’s team lowered their season estimate to 15 named storms, with 8 becoming hurricanes and 4 becoming major hurricanes. They noted that conditions had become slightly less favorable for storms than they were earlier in the year. Sea surface temperature anomalies were cooler, and there were several incidences of Saharan Air Layer outbreaks. ENSO conditions were also noted to have been slightly cooler.[8]
Which explains why the surf report has been consistently flat:
Source: www.nesurf.com
Last year I was fortunate enough to catch both Ernesto and Florence… hopefully we get a few storms rolling through. Here’s a video of a few people that were out at Higgins Beach in Maine during Florence last year (if you want to check out the swell):
1 Former President George Bush Sr.
While spending some time at the local dock we ran into Bush Sr., Barbara Bush, and their personal entourage of ex-navy seal secret service workers. Bush pulled his boat (named “Fidelity III”) into the Wells dock to grab lunch at “The Fisherman’s Catch” restaurant. They were closely followed by a secret service boat who made sure the family ate their lunch in safety.
2 Supercharged Sea-Doo RXT 215 jet skis (my cousins new toys)
Reached 58 MPH out on the open ocean while launching off 6-8 foot rollers. After running into the Bush Family earlier we also decided to shoot over on the Sea-doos to check out a view of the “Bush Compound” from only a few hundred yards out at sea. Good fun…
3 Big Sets of Fireworks Straight out of New Hampshire
Not only did our fireworks show generate applause from all the beach front houses at its conclusion but there was some additional entertainment to be had once my younger cousin started running in circles yelling “FIREWORKS! FIREWORKS!” while my uncle was trying to get us out of trouble when the police arrived (due to the magnitude of the display)
4 Charges for my new $20 Remote Control Airplane
This is how many charges it takes for this power guzzling plane to fully empty 6 double A batteries. A couple tough crashes on the beach left us with a broken wing and crushed fuselage. Bummer…
5 o’clock in the morning surf session
Headed out early to Higgins beach on Monday with my brother, cousin, and mom (to photograph). The surf was pretty small but fairly clean so we had a really good time.
Driving out to Maine’s coast for the next few days. Heading down to Wells to see the family and hoping to spend a day at Higgins Beach although the forecast doesn’t look all that spectacular.
Finally got back into the ocean for a 5 hour surf session this past weekend. It’s been roughly 7 months since the last visit to New Hampshire’s coast so it took a few hours to get back in the groove. Met up w/ Jesse, Nate, and Tyler (all from VT) and spent 3 hours at the Wall, then drove to a more secluded spot just north of Jenness State Beach where we put in another 2 hours. It’s going to be a few days to recover from such a long day but we definitely had some great waves…
It has been 7 days without an internet connection so there has been plenty of time to complete the surf board restoration project started back in October of 2006. The 7′6″ mini-mal was completely sanded down, the crack in it’s side (from Hurricane Florence) repaired, and fully repainted:
A great commercial for the Surfrider Foundation…
The recent storm that ripped through new england is pumping some huge surf! (unfortunately, i’m not going to make it down to NH for this one…)
Summary: It’s Victory at Sea today and its BIG. Winds are howling out of the E to ENE and are expected to turn SE (S winds are possible briefly sometime in the afternoon). Beginners and intermediate surfers should steer clear of the water even at sheltered spots. On Tuesday double overhead continues with winds remaining NNE. Large sloppy waves, well overhead, are expected on Wednesday as NNE winds continue. Thursday looks only somewhat smaller, with somewhat lighter N winds. Leftovers are expected on Friday and, possibly, on Saturday. Note: An abbreviated spring break update schedule in effect.
Monday: A big, double overhead plus, E to ENE mixing bowl. Strong, 35 knot plus, E to ENE winds turning strong ESE to SE around noon and somewhat lighter SE to S in the afternoon.
N of the Cape – Double overhead plus and growing E Victory at Sea.
Cape - Double to triple overhead E Victory at Sea.
S of the Cape - Double to triple overhead ESE to to SE Victory at Sea.
Tuesday: Still big and dangerous (double overhead or slightly smaller), still sloppy. Strong N to NNE winds.
N of the Cape – See above.
Cape - See above.
S of the Cape - See above.
Wednesday: More NNE wind slop (overhead to overhead and a half), ENE swell to SE components all but gone. Brisk NNE winds.
N of the Cape – See above.
Cape - See above.
S of the Cape - See above.
Thursday: Overhead NE wind wave/swell leftovers early. Lighter N winds.
N of the Cape – See above.
Cape - See above.
S of the Cape - See above.
Friday: Waist to chest/shoulder NE wind wave/swell leftovers early. N winds finally turning NNW.
N of the Cape – See above.
Cape - See above.
S of the Cape - See above.
Saturday: Leftovers possible. N winds finally turning NNW to NW.
N of the Cape – See above.
Cape - See above.
S of the Cape - See above.
Another “one day only” surf trip to catch some Hurricane Florence swell before starting the work week.
Our destination was originally “The Wall” however as we pulled up the swell was crashing against the rock already and closing out badly… so we decided to go searching for a different break. On the way Drew and Jared picked up 2 new surf boards at a surf shop called “Cinnamon Rainbow”.
We drove past a point break that was pleasing 6-7 locals and eventually ended up at the Jenness State Beach. Early in the afternoon the swell was small but after our lunch break the waves started to pick up (sorry no photos of this… we were out riding!)
It was an incredible day at a new surf spot with some very large and consistent waves… the whole lineup was hootin’ and hollerin’ as the bigger sets came through!
Drew, Jared, Dan (from LSC) and I headed down to the New Hampshire coast to get some surfing in before the end of Labor Day weekend. We enjoyed some chest high swell from the trailing end of tropical storm “Ernesto”. This was our first experience at “The Wall” and we had some great rides!
Let's Get in Touch