| When:
Where: Weather: Water:
Surf: Tides:
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Sat.,
Feb 28, 2004 - morning/afternoon
Rehobeth, DE thru Assateague, MD Warmed up to 50s and sunny from morning lows in 30s and windy Mid-30s, 5/4/3 or 4/3 with rubber tip to toe Hard sideshores early to light not quite offshores later Disorganized short period 2-4' waves with moderate chop Low around 8am Paul Martin & Mike McDowell; Jeff Marlow & Tim Contrucci; Weekday Mantay, Paul Moos and Rod Rodgers (Click on pics for larger image) |
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| Saturday
Report by Mike. The day started pretty rough with the winds still
coming out of the North steadily when Paul and I arrived. This created
a messy time in Ocean City and strong currents. I only got one ride and
quickly got tired of the conditions. There was one guy out on a short board
getting a few good rides.
We ended up traveling back to Rehobeth and checked the conditions at the circle. They turned out to be pretty good to our surprise and we went out again with jelly arms. The day ended with waist to chest waves and a number of rides all the way to the beach. It was much like last March when we had some real nice weather early in the year with good swells. By the end of the day the waves were real clean, but the tide was wrecking the waves. Here are a couple of poor picks from the boardwalk on the next street. Pics by Mike McDowell
Saturday Report by Kirk. Similar to our day. Rode with Paul Moos and Rod at a reasonable time (bay bridge at 620). Wind was N to NNE and the waves weren't organizing early in OC. Headed down to Assateague (Fed) and Paul and I paddled out into 3-4' shifty, drifty, disorganized surf. Super long paddle as always and a little unpleasant with the 37 degree water. Took out the longboard only to get stuffed on a bunch of takeoffs right in a row....couldn't keep the nose out of the water. Wind trying to cooperate but after about 2 hours (11am) it got stronger and definitely had a E component. Packed up and headed north. Conditions from the inlet north were good by summer standards, but only so-so by winter/fall/spring standards. Knee-waist-chest. Paddled out at the foonbunker on the funboard and had a lot more fun with Moose, Jeff M, and Tim, even though as I kept getting colder, I kept making dumber and dumber moves (pearl dives, sliding off of board on takeoff, foot slips, etc.). A couple of fast, steep coverups after takeoff -- made them both, couple OK but kinda lame lefts. Few more decent rights. Ate it on some steep takeoffs---gotta love OC on the outgoing tide. Actually had fun on some of the takeoffs in the 3-4' range but the bigger ones were generally pitchy closeouts....bahh humbug. Everybody out there showed some real stoke, made some great dropins and rides in less-than-ideal conditions, and took a few on the head without stopping.... Excellent show! I felt like I had a *glimpse* of my (hopefully) increasing ability to surf well in frigid conditions, which was a change! Attempted (and made... well, some) lots of drops that I wouldn't have tried even a year ago. Beautiful weather. Got to ride in the Tinky Winky van, which was actually really nice and really comfortable. Glad everybody could make
it out --- sorry I didn't catch up with you Mike and Paul! Everybody really
made the best out of OK conditions and it looked like everybody was having
a blast! Maybe spring is here? Dare I say, 90 days until boardshorts? (barring
upwelling....).
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Assateague in the Morning |  |
| Later at Laundry Lane Point | ||
Laundry Boy |
Go right! |
Drive down the line! |
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This
surf dog wanted no part
of longboarding on this day. |
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| Waiting out the... |  |
... cold, irregular sets. |
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| Foon's magic surf forecast.
Headed East with Tim C. in the ultimate surf vehicle. Structural board
racks, all wheel drive and an insatiable fuel appetite. Played GI Joe with
Kirk, Chet and Paul M. on the cell phones, trying to find clean swell.
Found powerful shoulder high at 133rd that had a drift faster than the
lefts. Headed to 48th and watched Paul Martin catching wave after wave.
All I was catching was a cold. The rest of
our group looked like they were using the drift to meet Rod and company in Assat. Decided to accept my beating and enjoyed a lovely lunch at Ledos. Tim suggested we stop at 133rd for one last look and found the waves that Rod photographed. Lots of paddling, but lots of fun. There was a cheerleading competition in OC this weekend that added to the visual delights. When we arrived at 133rd for the second outing, we were greated by 5 cheerleaders doing their moves with bare bellies and bulging wonderbras. Probably better that xxxx wasn't at the xxxxx. Might have been more than his ticker could have handled. Every man should know his limitations. Great surfing with you guys. Rod's dog was unimpressed. Jeff Marlow |
