Spot Check: Fort Point

Published May 3, 2013 photography , san francisco , Surf Leave a Comment
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doug-goldengate

Can a photo make a surf spot look better then it really is?

Ever since my brother moved to San Francisco I’ve wanted to surf Fort Point. With the Golden Gate Bridge as a backdrop, every picture looks unreal to me. You’ve got a wave that breaks in the bay, essentially, and hoards of tourists gathering around along the parking lot and above you on the bridge looking down. It makes me wish that Fort Point would break during every trip I made out west…

Doug has surfed Fort Point and tells me it’s not really worth it. It can be a pain to get out, when it’s good it’s crowded (duh), and the crowd isn’t necessarily all that friendly. He also says it only really breaks when there’s a huge swell pounding the coast.

I’ve seen it break once, and it was waste high with what looked like one of the easiest paddle outs. The photos and the spot both seem good and worth it to me.

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Ocean Parkway Is Open

Published April 25, 2013 long island , ocean Leave a Comment
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I heard from a Babylon Town employee that Ocean Parkway is set to reopen today. The parkway has been under construction since early November following Superstorm Sandy, but all of that looks to be behind us now. We should be able to look forward to having two lanes of traffic moving in BOTH directions.

Rebuilding Ocean Parkway Post Sandy

Published April 19, 2013 long island , ocean Leave a Comment
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Pre-Sandy

Pre-Sandy

Post Sandy

Post Sandy

Ocean Parkway was damaged during Superstorm Sandy. To the point where most of south side has been closed. It’s been a slow go in the recovery process – homeowners waiting for insurance checks that just don’t seem to becoming and many of the beaches are simply “closed.”

But for the past few months they have been working 24 hours a day six days a week to repair and reopen Ocean Parkway and Robert Moses State Park. Large earth moving trucks are transporting sand from Cedar Beach all along the damaged areas of the beach.  The new dune is now an impressive 18′ wide wall of sand. Top soil, beach grass, and shrubs are being planted to help sure up the dunes.

It’s great to see this progress.

A New Board and Waste High Shorebreak

Published October 5, 2012 long island , Surf 1 Comment
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I’ve wanted a Mini Simmons style board for a longtime. In fact, I ordered a custom shape way back in January and in timely fashion….I got it on October 1st.

This past Wednesday (10/3) on Long Island was waste high with supper foggy conditions, but I figured I had waited long enough to get this little 5’3″ boogie board looking thing that I’d take it out for a try. Here are some shots from that session.

My review: the board worked great in less-than-epic surf. It’s fast and made small Long Island shorebreak worth the effort of going to the beach. Life’s too short to not mix up the boards in your quiver, and these funky shapes are starting to stick with me.

Fall Is In The AIR

Published September 26, 2012 long island , Surf Leave a Comment
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Fall has been real good to Long Island with solid fun surf on a weekly basis. Here are some shots taken of fellow Long Island surfer, Scott Warburton, killing it out at East Gilgo. Photos taken on 9/19/12.

Keep an eye on the wind tomorrow morning, if it goes north it could be fun.

Fall Skies

Published September 20, 2012 Art , long island , Surf Leave a Comment
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That’s it people. Summer is over. It’s not a bad thing. September may just be the nicest time to be a surfer on Long Island. The air and water are about the same temp. The crowds are starting to fade, and waves have seem to take their place.

This past Wednesday I took full advantage of the end of Summer. I surfed head high clean waves until dark. And who doesn’t enjoy a yellow Fall sky.

If Kelly Says It’s Good

Published September 4, 2012 long island , Surf Leave a Comment
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According to Kelly Slater’s Instagram, tropical storm Leslie is going to bring waves to the East Coast. We should start seeing swell from the storm by Thursday, and with any luck the winds will go offshore.

We’ll keep you posted as waves start coming through.

Ice Tubes Gets Landlocked

Published August 8, 2012 Man Skills , ocean 2 Comments
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I’m done with the ocean. I’m over the mountains. I’m ready for midwest living. Give me the wide open spaces, the corn fields and the college football.

Well, I’m not moving anywhere just yet, but I have always wondered if I could handle life in middle America. Could I flip my life completely around and switch from what I’ve become accustomed to? Could I give up living on an island…

This past weekend I was in Fremont, Nebraska, about 40 minutes from Omaha. I got a close look at what life would be like if I were landlocked. For one weekend it felt good. I’ve been to cities where the downtown area is empty. Where no one actually lives, but commutes there just for work. Omaha might be a small city, but it is far from being a lost city.

The Old Market neighborhood is small, but it was full of life and had a fun youthful feel, with shops, bars, and restaurants. They recently built a ballpark northwest of Old Market that is home to the college word series. I’m told it’s were they hold most of the summer concerts as well. My point is, Omaha is small but not dead.

The real question is, can a University of Nebraska football season replace the Atlantic ocean? Would it be a well-rounded life? A life with new challenges, finding new ways to spend time, or are some things simply not worth trying to live without?

If you want, you can stand in two states at one time.

Lonely Clam, A Custom Red Cedar Handplane

Published July 13, 2012 Art , long island , ocean , Surf Leave a Comment
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Handplanes are all over my favorite surf blogs right now, including the Tubes. I’ve been seeing them so often I just couldn’t resist trying to shape one myself. Being a man of many on-going art projects, I had an extra piece of rough cut western red cedar in my bedroom waiting to become a handplane.

A handplane is just like a mini surfboard. Just no fins, right? That’s how I looked at this project. Draw a template like you were making a surfboard for your hand.

I channeled out the bottom to make up for the lack of fins, and finished the handplane by applying wood stain and tung oil. We’re calling this model the “Lonely Clam.”

Now I can’t say exactly what a “good” handplane feels like or how it should handle in the water, but I got in a sunset body surf session with the Lonely Clam yesterday and had a blast. Without question, you’re gonna enjoy body surfing a lot more with a hand plane.

Skateboard Deck Handplane

Published June 27, 2012 Art , long island , Surf Leave a Comment
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My fellow Long Island surfer, Cari Beckerman, turned an old skateboard deck she had into a brand new handplane. Since we’re huge fans of repurposing old things — see the Tombstone — I was pumped to find out that Cari had come up with a way to breath new life into her dying skateboard. It’s made me think about the old things I’ve got laying around that coud be turned into handplanes…

I’ve been noticing how bodysurfing is making a comeback, heck Keith Malloy recently made a movie about the sport called Come Hell or High Water. Check out the photos of Cari’s awesome skateboard deck handplane.

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