Surfing Hurricane Irene!! Part II

Surf trip to New York, Long Beach Part II

Antonio A. (me) @Quiksilver Pro New York by Brian Lourenco.

That very same night we made it back to my aunt’s house late at night. They had been waiting for us with food and tons of curiosity. We all served ourselves something to eat and shared some stories about our day. Neither my mum, aunt, uncle or cousins could really understand why we had driven from Toronto to New York looking for Hurricane Irene.

The dinner was short as we were all tired and couldn’t wait for the next morning’s surf session. Larry, Brian and Justin, all went to sleep. I stayed awake talking some more to my family. They were really happy for us to be there and wanted to make sure we were comfortable in the house. I assured them it was all just fine and that we were very grateful for their welcoming. I decided to hit the pillow right after that.

My family in Long Island, New York. Thank You!

Next morning, my uncle Ruben woke me up. They guys were already waiting for me in the car. They had been whistling and calling my name to wake me up with no success. I jumped on my shorts grabbed my bag and flew out the door. They were all mad at me because I had taken so long to get ready. I told them I had not taken long; I had been sleeping all the time until I got woken up by my uncle…..! They joked about leaving me behind if in the next five minutes if I didn’t come out… I think they were joking...

We drove straight towards Long Beach. The place we had been surfing the day before was empty. No surfers at the beach and big waves rolling in was all there was. We looked at the Quiksilver event, it was not on yet. They would start around 8 or 9 am. We still had a few hours before the event started. We jumped in the water and surfed some solid waves. The water conditions were similar to what we had experienced the day before. Water was warm enough to wear only a 3/2 wetsuit without gloves or boots. The current was pulling hard from left to right towards the Quiksilver event.

When I say the current was strong, I mean it. You would jump in the water at one beach and paddle hard for 10-15 minutes against the current trying to remain on the same spot with no success. If you managed to stay on the same point you were exhausted by the time you caught a wave. If you stopped paddling, it took only a few seconds to find yourself on the opposite extreme of the beach. The bright side of being pushed from one beach to another is that you would get to surf several waves in different beaches of Long Island. I also had the idea that with so much current there would hardly ever be a crowd at one spot…what a foolish thought.

After trying to surf at the same beach for a couple of hours we started noticing more and more people joining us. Some would come in paddling next to the rocks trying to protect themselves from the current until they got to the right spot. Some others would join us because they had decided to drift down along the shore with the current hoping to catch waves randomly at different spots. We all noticed this was the best thing to do because our arms were getting tired rather fast. We would see this guys who surf all year long at this spot going along with the current and us trying to battle the current. Of course they knew better! The only tricky part of doing this was to try not to get caught in front of the rocks which had once been peers.

I remember catching some nice waves that day. There was this particular one. I surfed it decently and had a blast speeding down the wall of the wave and making a few turns. Then, once I came out of the wave, I realized I was in great danger. I was right in front of the rocks. At that point the current is even stronger and pushes just straight into the rocks with no mercy at all. I decided to paddle towards the rocks and the shore at the same time and try my luck. I was able to reach the sand bottom on time and walked my way out. That was my first close encounter with the peers at Long Beach. Despite the risk, the silver waves were too tempting for me to stay away from the water. These were the biggest and nicest waves I had surfed in 5 years since I had left my home break in Lima, Peru. No way would I miss out!

The waves had definitely doubled up in size from the day before. They were breaking further inside and the speed you had on that drop was fast enough to ensure that if you made a minor mistake you would pay for it with a good wipe-out! After you had succeeded at dropping down the wave you had to get some speed to cross the closing section ahead of you and most of the times it would barrel up … I have never surfed fast and hollow waves as these ones.  After getting shacked on the wave you had to make a tough decision. You could either get out of the wave and fight the current to try and get back to the take-off spot or you could just speed down the face of the wave and pray to make it across the peers on the wave and get into another section of that wave... Both of options were very tempting as all the waves were really good. At the same time both options were dangerous. A miscalculation when taking any of these options could land you a quick stop on top of those rocks and with waves breaking on top of them…that wouldn’t be a nice experience.

The day went by and we surfed all morning long, solid and perfect waves. Of course the crowd started growing half way through the morning until it became really hard to take off on a wave. There were several locals dropping deep inside the wave and making it hard for anyone else to give it a try. We all somehow managed to take a few waves here and there while battling the current as well. Once my shoulders got tired and I didn’t feel like fighting the current anymore I started floating down the shore much faster than ever before. So did everyone else. Around noon we decided to give our arms a rest and check out the Quiksilver Pro New York.

Brian L. @ Quiksilver Pro New York by Antonio Acuna.

Antonio @ hangout house for Pro's by Brian L.

We took a walk around the Quiksilver store set under a huge tent right in front of the surf spot where all Pro’s were surfing. You were shopping board shorts, leashes and everything else you wanted while those guys were pulling air 360’s and getting barreled just in front of you! What an epic experience! We went down to the beach and checked out some surfers and everything else that was set up on the beach. We saw interesting things such as the Roxy store and the surfer’s headquarters where all Pro’s hang out until their heat is on. We didn’t stay long as we were already starving. Next stop was Burger King and right after that we all got some large bottles of Gatorade to quench the thirst!

Heitor Alvez by Brian Lourenco

Antonio A. (me) & Brian L.

 After taking a good break and gathering energy again, we suited up and jumped back into the water. Waves were still big and powerful but not as strong as they had been early that day. The amount of surfers in the water was unbelievable large. I have grown unaccustomed to large crowds while surfing in the Great Lakes, so I was definitely surprised when I saw the big crowd in the water. We all surfed good waves and everyone got that day at least a couple of waves that paid off the whole trip.

Same crowd in the water... by Brian L.

Towards the end of the afternoon I surfed one of my last waves of the day. My body was exhausted and I could already feel the pain in my muscles wanting to contract every time I would paddle and stand up. That pain did not matter when I was the one in the inside of the upcoming wave. How could I stop when I could see that silver wave ready to break around me and tuck me inside the barrel only to spit me out of it with great power, than only to feel more adrenaline rushing through my veins and throw a few rollers and cutbacks on that semi-glassy wall ahead of me...  surfing is all about the excitement of dropping on a wave, getting barreled and make it through only to finish up the wave with a good cut back or roller at the top of the wave…. And that my friends, that’s what we had that day on those waves! That adrenaline rush I still cannot forget. That speed I cannot forget. That feeling I will never forget! That is what we surfers live for!

After having such a great day surfing, every single one of us was exhausted but 200% stoked. That’s what we run on during the afternoon, zero energy but so much stoke! We decided to finish up the day with a late session and a few beers at a local bar! Another great day! At this point we thought things could not get any better, could they? I mean we had great, solid waves all day long. We got barreled several times and we got to see some of the best surfers in the world surfing live at the beach! Let me tell you that the experiences on our last day at Long Beach, New York were definitely the cherry on top of the ice cream, the Pipeline wave on top of a sandbank, the 1^st Al Merrick board part of your quiver, your first wave surfing the great lakes.it was the best day! So you stay tuned for the 3^rd part of this great surf trip! 

Cheers!

Enjoying life! Justin W., Brian L., Larry C. and Antonio A.