Jet Lag.

Ponquogue, Oct 12, 2013

My Dad was a “Road Warrior”. I don’t know how he did it. 

I had to be in LA for a two day meeting last week. That meant I spent Tuesday flying, with theoretical sleep on the plane. I arrived, I had 1 hour to shower, then meetings till 10 PM, or 1:00 in the morning my time.  At least I spent that night [Tuesday] in a hotel bed. I was up at 6:00 on Wednesday, with more all day meetings. I caught the “Red Eye” Wednesday night, arrived home at 6AM thursday, showered, and went right back to work. Two 10 hour days in a row. Last night, I slept in my own bed with Lauralee, my ridiculously understanding wife. 

So what’s your point Frank?...”Don’t worry, I’ll get there.”

All week my phone [in between calls from panicked customers] was blowing up with reports of Mast high waves, and 30 knot side shore winds. 

Yesterday I was desperate for some wind and waves. Perhaps a little impatient as well.

I knew the surf was huge. Bunger was holding their contest, and the web cam’s were showing classic Nor-Easter conditions. Saturday morning the winds did not seem to be touching down on the west end of the island. However reports from the east end were quite the opposite. “ponquogue... sand blowing, truck shaking, wind cranking sideshore 4.7 maybe 4.2, shorebreak very manageable. I'm heading over.” I had been reading Jeff S’s reports since 5AM, I was wired. Jeff would be my sherpa guide for today.

I could not contain myself; I was out the door for the two hour ride. I thought “I would rather have too much wind and waves, then miss this altogether”. Once I arrived, Jon F. of Windsurfing Hamptons gave me the much appreciated lay of the land, [launch over here, stay away from there, etc.]. Thank god he did, because I was very much the novice ski bunny on this double black diamond yesterday. Pete was sailing well, as was Jon S. Jon F’s bottom turns looked so relaxed and effortless, of course Jeff S made it look easy. “Yea...I can do this”

What I did get, was a beat down. Eight attempts to breach the shorebreak...on the two times I did make it, I was rewarded with sweet DTL logo high waves. But of course I rode them too long and was treated to multiple hold-downs. One jump on the way out, I realized I was too high to land well. So I pushed the boom away from me to bail. I didn’t un-hook and launched into an unintentional forward. At work tomorrow, people will ask me about my black eye. [The first rule about forwards; is we don’t talk at work about forwards.] no one would believe me anyway.

That’s the thing about the ocean. She is strong and it is only natural for her to inflict damage. But she also gives you great pleasure, if you’ll let her. You can’t panic when you are going through the rinse, you have to accept that you're going to get banged up every once in a while  But that is why I love it. Because it is hard, difficult, beautiful. Because you never stop learning, it’s why I keep coming back. I would not trade those two DTL rides for anything. It’s always worth it.

Thanks to Jeff Schultz for inviting me, and for the two photo’s here.

Photo by Jeff Schultz

Photo by Jeff Schultz

It was truly one of those days I will play over and over again in my mind.

Well I just cleaned all the sand out of my wetsuit. Let's try again.

See more of jeff's photos here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/peconicwindsurfer/sets/72157636522775026/

Fall Beach Access.

http://libeach.blogspot.com/2013/10/fall-beach-access.html

Fall Beach Access. This is the latest information we have, courtesy of LIBAG.ORG 

Always see LIBAG.ORG for updates

The Fall Surf Parking Permit is available at the Robert Moses State Park office. This allows you to park in RM Fields 2,3,4,& 5, daytime, when they are closed.

The permit must be displayed on your dashboard. [not your visor]. I am personally going to attach it with some velcro, or a ziplock bag full of sand.

As always; Surfers to the West; Fishermen to the East, of each field.

The good news is that if you already have a State 4X4 Surfing Permit for Democrat Point, The State will honor that as a Fall parking permit. You do NOT need to buy an additional Fall Parking permit. [If you already did, I’m sorry, there are no refunds, ever with the state.]

This season; more than ever, you are going to need a Fall Surf Parking Permit for closed fields at Robert Moses State Park. Tim Byrne, The Park Director; has promised to try and keep Field 5 open all year. He will also try to keep field 2 open as long as funding allows. With everything going on in Government right now...we have no accurate timetable as to when they will close. {Remember, if the lot is open then you don’t need the Fall Parking Pass.} The Pass is for closed Lots. This way if your car is still in the lot at dusk, the State knows; who you are , what you were doing, and how to search for you. So yes, that’s why it is another $25 bucks.

The dredging of Fire Island Inlet has begun again. This time they are expected to increase the hight, length, and depth of both the dune and beach. The plan is to do this from Overlook, within Gilgo State Park, to Jones Beach Field 6. That means sometime soon your favorite town beach is about to be buried. There will be all kinds of heavy machinery to stay clear of; both in and out of the water.

Robert Moses field 2,3,4,& 5 may be your only access at times this Fall.And RM 2 seems to be breaking the best, for now.  So stay safe and clear of the workers.

The State 4X4 Surfing Pass and the Fall Surf parking Pass allow you to Surf, SUP, or Windsurf from all RM parking fields. So remember, regular surfers have the right of way. Period. End of story.

In addition, While the Parks director has made it clear that Windsurfing and SUP’ing are allowed at Ocean beaches, not everyone remembers the memo. So we suggest you keep a copy of the State parks letter dated June 1, 2012 [below] with you, or on your dashboard.

Your other option is to go to the Robert Moses Office at the Boat Basin, [Bay side of Field three] and ask for a free Day Pass. The problem with this option in my opinion, is that you must park in the boat basin lot.

So to recap:

If you have the State 4X4 Fishing Pass you can only use that for fishing; not surfing.

It is only the State 4X4 Surfing Permit For Demo, that doubles as a Fall Parking permit. 

Don’t have one? Buy your Fall Pass or risk a ticket and a tow.