Thacher Island Kayak Adventure

It’s been a true blessing to have grown up with a commanding view of Thacher Island. The twin lights. (due to circumstances somewhat beyond my control, I’ve had to return) Anyway, as a kid I drew endless pictures of it, the 2 lighthouses, each building & shed, the rocks, etc.

In college in VT, daydreaming in Logic class, I could draw a near perfect rendition of the island as seen from my house by memory. What better way to kill 50 minutes?

It fascinated me that the towers are on an exact north-south axis. The north tower was extinguished during WWII, it was such a land mark and Uncle Sam didn't want to make things any easier for the U-boats. Also, any U-boat kapitän worthy of his iron cross could (and did) true the boats compasses at night. After the war they never re lit it. Wild stuff for a 8 year old back then.

But before I bore you with yet another history lesson...

I went there once, in 1982, the last year of it being a Coast Guard Station. My friend Tim & I went there on his dad’s 14’ Boston Whaler, we pulled it up the ramp, walked through the garage/gatehouse, and were summarily asked to leave after a quick stay. The Coasties ware nice enough, just doing their job.



Since then the island has become a National Wildlife Refuge open to the public. Acres of bull brier and poison ivy have been cleared for footpaths. You can he North Tower. The boom in kayaking locally has made it a favorite destination for paddlers.

My brother who lives even closer to the island that me has a kayak, it was an impossibly hot day, so it hit me, I’ll take the Kayak out. As an extra Bonus, his (often) darling daughter miss K. joined me.





The paddle out went quickly, I can’t describe the excitement as the twin towers loomed closer and closer. The image of the island was stamped in my mind, from 40 years of seeing it from one distance; it seemed oddly different, as it got closer. Keep paddling!

We got there, having been there a few time before, miss K. knew what to do, which was good, since I sure didn’t. Kayaks go on the flat concrete slab, silly. We pulled it up the ramp, walked through the garage/gatehouse, and were summarily welcomed for an enjoyable stay. The keepers were nice enough, just doing their job.



Walking around the island, I learned a few things:

• Thacher Island More wooded than I thought, lots of my favorite tree, Wild Black Cherries - Prunus serotina, Sumac, and even an Apple Tree!
• Gulls are very aggressive – this is their house, don't go near the nest, difficult since they are everywhere.
• left point break on south tip – I’m, gonna surf that long, peeling low-tide break.
• The tower! Wow – a sacred experience.
• When I have my house I’m doing my kitchen floor like this, in honor of this special place, it should be simple:



• My Niece is growing up, she has poise beyond her years, she’s going places,
• I see the place differently now




See all my photos from that day:

Read more:
thacherisland.org/

Bertha’s Bounty

Cape Ann is an island, both geographically and psychologically. The latter fact is reason to get “off the rock” whenever the occasion rises. Tropical Storm Bertha was such an occasion. It’s old news now, but this storm had been hyped on the surf reports for a week, and it was slow getting here, but on Monday it Arrived, and the entire New England coast was lit up.

Monday

Go North (MH, Maine) or South, (RI) that was the question. Well a glowing NH report plus $4.17 a gallon gas gave me the answer: New Hampshire. An hour up 95 and I was there.

Pulling up to the wall, Jackpot! A weekday off and finally I was at the right place at the right time. Chest to shoulder high with light offshore, I took a few perfunctory pictures and suited up (yeah the water was freezing for July, mid 50’s, so glad I had the full wetsuit). The Tyler 777 model was in its element. Right after right after right. Satisfying bottom turns, climbing to the top of the waves face, a cross step (just one, I’m stout these days), and a fun turns. Repeat many times.

After a couple of hours of this, I went back to the car, checked voice mails (none – yes!) hydrated, and went back out, this time a few blocks to the south. Part two was just as fun, but with the incoming tide, it was all lefts.



By 4:00 I was wiped, I was busted out, surf wise. And so satisfied with my turning, my drop knee has come of age. The trick? Use the ball of the foot, silly! I shot a few more pics and drove back to Gloucester, wondering what I might have missed on the Cape Ann breaks. I did take a side trip to Seabrook, stopping by Zapstix (a super surf shop), and checking a low key spot - I'll be back there soon.



I pulled up to Long and….bwaah bwaaaaaaah. Nada. Knee to waist and closed out. Complete satisfaction, I went with my gut and it paid off.

Tuesday

It was a workday, so I couldn’t leave until after 4:00. So I did, this time with a special co-pilot, Janet! I needed more of that New Hampshire ambrosia, and Janet needed to get off the rock as well. Hampton Curtain Call, and we were going to rendezvous with another surf bud, Special J. (See last summer’s post about Janet). Taking a mini surf trip with a friend is so much better than going solo.

Not quite as good as the day before, mostly lefts, and very sectiony. Unlike the day before which gave up clean long lines. It did get fun just around sundown, and since I was with Janet & Johna, the trip was a total blast. The topping on the cake was inhaling the moonrise, shooting more pics, post surf beer & lobster mac & cheese, and again, as the French say, bonne compagnie.

Bertha’s been good, so far.



I was going to give you a blow by blow of the rest of the week, where the rest of the swell was squandered chasing closeouts on Cape Ann; it really sucked, really. We’ve all had more than our fair share of depression sessions, dear readers, so I’ll spare you this time. The lesson, it pays to travel and break the routine, as much as I love dear Cape Ann. But see how poor it was?:



Next time: Thacher Island adventure!

Easy Glide

Summer is here. Yup, all the clichés too. Crowds, kooks, flatness, dog days (no complaints here – remember – the ground actually freezes in Jan.) no surf zones & hours, waaa.

OK, friends, I’m going to he the contrarian.

Riding the smaller waves we have this time of year forces us to be resourceful, not only where to surf, but how to approach the wave. Do you do the late take off? Chase it down from way outside? Or will the wave behave the same way, only smaller? I find myself thinking about it, yes – a cerebral approach!

Learning from choices, and experimenting – that’s the opportunity now. Practice cross stepping, head dips, whatever you want, run off the front of the damn board, who cares!? There’s no penalty!

Hell, anyone can surf a perfect waist to chest peeler. But when it’s only knee to thigh high, squeezing an actual real ride out of the wave is hugely satisfying. This ability divides the kooks from the passable donkeys like yours truly. Easy glide.

Paddle, paddle, hook into the face, and aww yeah, you’re weightless, or so it seems. It’s like I just got away with something. You still get that graceful glide. An aquatic free lunch – ha-ha. And if I may…if you don’t have a longboard, you’re SOL. Rock on with your bad selves, bro’s.



Riding these small and often imperfect waves, wherever, with your friends it where’s it’s at. Period. Yes, given the choice, who wouldn’t take perfection? No, it isn’t all time, not epic; you won’t be talking about it in the parking lot next winter. But I promise you this, ten years down the road, friends, you’ll remember dorking around in the warm water with your buds almost as much as anything else.

Next time – an all Big Bertha issue!

Summer Thunder

We have been having intense thunderstorms the past few nights. Right now It's Sunday at 11:30 and we are standing by to be slammed again here at the Overlook.


Here's a shot from the porch on Friday night. I'm pretty stoked on how it came out. On a tripod with the shutter open for 30 seconds. The one's that I missed were truly awesome.

The funny thing: about an hour later it was calm, moonlit night, straight up warm breezes, crickets chirping, the whole nine:

the Maine thing is the main thing

IMG_0310.JPG
Originally uploaded by jmaxh

Surf Trip to Maine

On January 12th, 2008 I surfed at Higgins Beach in Scarborough Maine. Why don’t I go there more often? The choice to go there was driven by the facts that:
1. the wind (light) was building out of the northeast –offshore for that spot
2. the swell was out of the south –Higgins faces south
3. I overslept yet again, and I blew my chance to drive to Rhode Island
4. It’s a super place to come surf, and for some silly reason I love the fact that I’ve ridden my old yellow board in waves from San Diego to Maine.


So I made the 2 hour drive up – passing my typical New Hampshire exits, and plowing through to Maine with my Tyler 305 on the roof. Pulling up to Higgins, I could hardly contain myself – waist to chest high glass. Wave after luscious wave, with maybe 4 other surfers out. I cannot emphasize enough the beauty of this spot.

I took a few pics, pulled on my wetsuit, and paddled right out. My new canon 40D is awesome. I didn’t think a camera could kick so much ass. As an aside: I know it’s shallow, but I get the biggest satisfaction when folks compliment my boards. Tyler’s bards are total head turners. I’m proud of my toys.

I’ve only surfed here once before, and it always takes a few waves to get the place dialed in.



Higgins is a longboard wave, but once you catch the wave, you have to hustle & crank your turn. It also helps to be just a touch back on the board too – I pearled ‘ole yeller more than a few times.

As a beachbreak, the waves go both left and right. The rights were speedy & fast, but quicker. The lefts were longer rides, but softer and slower. Is this a New England thing? Seems like every beachbreak around works like this.

Higgins as a cool summer colony, developed between say 1890 and 1940. The houses are lovely, there’s even a clubhouse and a Victorian shingle hotel. Was it a spot for Portlanders with taste to pass the summer months? The place oozes with an unforced, natural, and uncontrived non-cliché charm. I love it.





The people there are so nice! So much for the stereotype of the icy, stand offish yank. While the skillset of the surfers is smaller than that one would see in Rhode Island or points south, the folks there are stoked and polite. So nice to see these days.


Again, to think I hesitated making this trip! It was a gorgeous sunny, mild day, the last day of the January thaw. The next day was a nor’easter which dumped a foot of snow and ushered in a more seasonal chill.

I’ll be back for sure.

Cuckoo on the Choo Choo

I have a tough commute - Rockport to Boston. Route 128 to rte 1 to 93 to the $11 lot on Sea Port Ave. Then at night I do it all over again in reverse.

To break up the dirge, and to preserve my nerves, I've been taking the commuter rail. It means getting up 30 min earlier, and getting home about an hour later (groan groan), but it's important to mix it up, chill and catch up on my reading. I'm finishing up "Catch a Wave", a splendid bio about Brian Wilson.

It's also good (up to a point) to be around other people. I see more of the city, and have a nice 20 min walk to & from North Station. It's about as expensive as driving & parking, but on Mondays & bad weather days, the drive is obnoxious, so those will be the days you'll find me on the choo choo, chillin' and giving my nerves a break.

Tropical Storm Noel

November 4th, the first real swell to hit New England shores since April did not disappoint. The storm actually was the day before, a tropical storm turned nor'easter, with 50-60 mph gusts & driving rain that kicked up a monster ground swell.

Sunday: 830 am:

With the 777 and winter wetsuit loaded in my Honda Civic, my 1st stop was cape Hedge beach. It's a favorite of some friends. No one there, it was big but sloppy. Next stop was the creek side of Long Beach (my fav). The tide was dropping, and it was chest high but totally closed out. More morning sickness.

But the hotel side of Long was HUGE, with double overhead waves and amazing shape. Way too big for me, friends, but take a look at the picture. There was a longboarder out there absolutley killing it, noseriding, doing roundhouse cutbacks, the whole nine. The hot shots on shortboards were amazing. For once, it seemed that Long Beach in Rockport was the place to be. There were some pretty ballsy dudes out there.

It was such a gorgeous morning too, with the waves backlit by the softer fall sunlight, a pretty green/gold. Talking to my bud Jon, I decided that a trip to New Hampshire would be good for me, the tide was dropping here, not the best setup for longboards.

The next stop was the private end of Good Harbor, a passable low tide spot, and a left. A total consolation prize, but it looked fun enough. Screw shlepping to NH. Get in touch with the local trip. I didn't care it was better elsewhere. Here is where I wanted to be. Such a satisfying feeling. Right in my own back yard for a change!

Long story short, I went out in my Winter suit, and caught a bunch of fast, quick lefts over a 3 hour period. Just me & Greg Sacca. The waves were waist plus (see pic), but being so over wieght and out of shape, this was probably the smartest choice for me. Am I ever sore as I type this.

Have I surfed better waves? Yes. Have I surfed better? Hell yes. Were there better waves to be had elsewhere, yes indeedy. So why am I still buzzed? Maybe it was being able to join in the big event in a tiny way. Also, that private corner of Good Harbor seldom gives up the goods, but yesterday, the 777 was the right key to unlock the waves.