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Surfing

deadheadskier

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Any surfers on the board? I'm not one 'yet', but when I moved to Maine last year, I took up body boarding and have found it to be the most enjoyable thing I've ever done to pass the time in summer and keep my jonesing for skiing at bay slightly.

Next year I think I'll step up to the real thing and give it a shot. I've become quite addicted to it and watch the surf cams and surf reports like a hawk so that I can be at the beach when a good swell comes through. And with the water being so damn cold here in Maine, it preps me for the winter.

Unfortunately, the best surf is usually late fall and into the winter up here. There's a suprising number of crazies who wear wet or dry suits and surf in the winter. If it wasn't for skiing, I'd probably end up like them.
 

BeanoNYC

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Any surfers on the board? I'm not one 'yet', but when I moved to Maine last year, I took up body boarding and have found it to be the most enjoyable thing I've ever done to pass the time in summer and keep my jonesing for skiing at bay slightly.

Next year I think I'll step up to the real thing and give it a shot. I've become quite addicted to it and watch the surf cams and surf reports like a hawk so that I can be at the beach when a good swell comes through. And with the water being so damn cold here in Maine, it preps me for the winter.

Unfortunately, the best surf is usually late fall and into the winter up here. There's a suprising number of crazies who wear wet or dry suits and surf in the winter. If it wasn't for skiing, I'd probably end up like them.

I live near the beach and like to surf...although it's been a while as it's tough to paddle out with my shoulder injury. I've took up surf kayaking last year. It's a lot easier to paddle out to the action zone and catch a wave.

Bob Weir said:
"Playing, like a wave upon the sand"
 

ckofer

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I own a couple old windsurfers and am getting better. I can see how this can become as addicting as skiing. I have had modest success with real surfing.

None of the following vids feature me:




I'd like to try this

 

twinplanx

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<--- Surfer... Alot of people think I must snowboard because I surf but I'm a skier. And like Maine LI's best surf comes in the fall. Matter of fact I'm keeping an eye on this storm near Hatteras hopefully we'll have some swell soon. Dry suits are generally considered to bulky so a good thick(5mm) wetsuit w/ a hood + gloves and booties gets me thru the winter when I can not get up to the hills.
 

deadheadskier

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Actually the one thing I REALLY want to get into is Kite Surfing. That looks intense, but I hear the gear is very expensive and I wonder where I might get instruction around here.
 

Marc

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A decent traction kite, bridles and harness will run about $800 from what I've seen. What's cool about that is that you can then do it on the snow.

The only surfing I do is surfing down waves in sailboats. Kinda like these guys, except not nearly as good:

 

deadheadskier

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only $800??? really? wow, I need to look further into this. I was under the impression that it was 3 grand plus to get just basic kite surfing equipment.
 

Marc

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only $800??? really? wow, I need to look further into this. I was under the impression that it was 3 grand plus to get just basic kite surfing equipment.

No, it's not nearly that expensive. I'd say 1k tops. Basic kite surfing equipment is not far off from advanced equipment. You have the kite, bridles, and control bar (sometimes a sheeting bar on newer kites) and the harness. $400 for a kite, $200 for the control equipment and $200 for a pretty nice harness would be what you need. Of course then you need a board, PFD, and wetsuit if you don't have those already. Sailing gloves would probably be a wise idea as well.
 

snowmonster

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Bumping up an old thread.

Any surfers out there? My conversation with Cannonball in another thread made me wonder if there are other AZers out there riding the waves.

I'll be surfing on the Lower Cape during weekends until Labor Day. If you see a kook in the line-up, that will be me.;)
 

Cannonball

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Bumping up an old thread.

Any surfers out there? My conversation with Cannonball in another thread made me wonder if there are other AZers out there riding the waves.

I'll be surfing on the Lower Cape during weekends until Labor Day. If you see a kook in the line-up, that will be me.;)

Hey. Yeah, sorry for no response in that other thread. Weekend work plans had me tied close to home (pretty much the case all summer & fall). Not much swell kicked up here. Although I did get some beach time, and there was enough for some body surfing. Short-lived though....westerlies dropped the water temps into the 50s.
 

snowmonster

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Hey. Yeah, sorry for no response in that other thread. Weekend work plans had me tied close to home (pretty much the case all summer & fall). Not much swell kicked up here. Although I did get some beach time, and there was enough for some body surfing. Short-lived though....westerlies dropped the water temps into the 50s.

Hey, Cannonball. Last Friday and Saturday at Marconi were surprisingly good. I had an early Sunday morning session at Nauset Light and that was even better. This weekend looks pretty flat with no swells predicted for Saturday morning. We'll see. Hope you get some waves!

Next week I will be spending time down at the shore in VA, and will be surfing in my kayak lots.

Enjoy, Hawkshot! I've never tried surf kayaking but it looks like fun.
 

bigbog

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Oh yeah...I really, really like windsurfing...getting into it is like getting into kayaking or canoeing = you don't HAVE to go New for the first purchase. There is/used to be a rental shop north of Boston..somewhere? One would think there should be something close to Cape Elizabeth...or around Wells/Ogunquit area... Certainly near/at the tip of Cape Cod is a hotspot...
Used to bodyboard decades ago when family used to spend summers in Portland, ME....then the beaches weren't eroded away as much and extended out further towards the dropoff = bigger surf. Higgins Beach surf could really, I mean really...slap you if you didn't dive down or float up over..
Quite a few people nowadays are also into the Stand On Tops = surfboards with a paddle;-), both fresh/salt zones....

$.01
 
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snowmonster

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^ Hey, bigbog! I was having a conversation with a surf shop owner. We were both wondering where all the windsurfers went. Seems like in the 80s, everybody on the water had a windsurf. Not much today. Looks like kitesurfing has replaced windsurfs for now. Then, there's the stand-up paddleboards. Looks like a good workout but I don't think it's for me. Lots of newbies on SUPs now. Even the Boston Globe did a story on them recently. Let's see where that goes. Any activity that gets people more active and appreciating the outdoors/environment/ocean is great by me!

Enoy the water!
 

bigbog

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Yeah SM....in ~2001 a number of daily regulars (KiteSurfing) off the beach spanning Lynn to Nahant, MA. Some boards + carbon paddles have shown up within the last 2 summers at local Bangor shop(SkiRack Sports). I've seen multiple people paddle out & around the Big Eddy(W.Br.Penob) ...standing on the boards, around the 4th of July.
Bet they were out in numbers the last couple weeks with the hot temps...
 

Nick

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My dad had windsurfers, when he died I took them. The first time I went to take them out my car went up in flames and burned to the ground, taking the windsurfers with them.

I still have one board but no sail, so I haven't done anything with it yet. I'd love to get back into it. The last time I tried I was like 15 years old and I remember barely being able to pull the sail out of the water.

I've always though kiteboarding looked pretty awesome. But proably beyond my funds at this point. Why are all my hobbies so equipment and gear heavy???

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snowmonster

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And just like that, suddenly, there were windsurfers on the beach.

Friday and Saturday at Nauset Light, saw some windsurfers take out their boards and head south. Looks like they made it all the way to Coast Guard. Conditions were flat both days but improved in the afternoon after three. Water was warm on Friday but freezing Saturday. Had very good late afternoon sessions both days on smallish waves. You take what you can get!

By the way, lady surfers in bikinis make me love surfing even more!;)
 
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Nick

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We used to always go to east beach near misquamicut.. There was the saltwater pond (ninigret) opposite the beach. A great place for windsurfing.

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