Birthday Surf on a Sunday Night

Sometimes, no matter what the report says and no matter what your friends say, you just have to go surfing. I celebrated my birthday this weekend, and I decided that I had to get in some surf time. The only problem is that the waves this summer have been dreadful. Either they have been nonexistent or rough and unsurfable. Friday was flat, Saturday a little less so and, by Sunday, the strong west winds had churned up sloppy surf. Surf dude called and said that he thought it was too messy for surf. However, I was determined. I kept watching the 43rd Street jetty webcam and by late afternoon, I thought the waves seemed a little less choppy. Not sure if they really were or if I was just so determined that they needed to be a little less choppy so I could surf, but it sure seemed like the waters had calmed a tad. I saw a few surfers out, but it didn't look too crowded. I had already planned to go visit my mom and dad, but I decided to load a board just in case a late afternoon surf session was possible. (I loaded my softtop for the first time in a very long time.) At close to 5:30 p.m., I headed down.

Although the waves weren't beautiful, the seaweed was outrageous and the winds were a little strong, I

Sometimes you've
just got to surf!

unloaded and paddled out. I took the rip right behind a young boy on a shorter board than I was surfing. He paddled out and we both went for the same wave. However, I realized that the wave was probably his, so I pulled out. I rolled off my board, but that was the only time during that Sunday evening session that I was in the water. For the rest of the short time I was out, I caught every wave I attempted to surf. They were mostly white water waves, but they were strong and fast. Several of the others out were also catching white water, simply because those were the only ones holding together long enough to surf. I had a great time. I stayed out until the sun was almost setting…about 45 minutes. I'm so glad I ignored the reports and went down. About three or four other surfers were still out, and we all seemed to be catching our own waves. What a great end to my birthday weekend!