Days 8, 9, 10: 1)board...check 2)wetsuit...check 3)massive surf...CHECK!!



The little beach near Courtney's place

 Day 8 was a slow and lazy day as I mulled around Courtney's house and checked out the beach just a couple blocks from her place.  Its in the Long Island sound so its calm there all the time and the beach looks like a nice place to bring a picnic or do some star gazing. 

I left Connecticut with one clear goal in mind: to buy a new board somewhere on the Jersey shore.  With the hope of being able to sneak in a dusk session, I stopped by Kevin and Robin's place to pick up my new wetsuit that had come in the mail the day before.  The 4/3mm F-Bomb Rip Curl wetsuit fit perfectly and should keep me warm all the way up through most of the west coast. 



My new (to me) board in
front of Tim's place



I drove a good hour and a half to Toms River, NJ where I had located a couple of surf shops on the Internet.  The first one I went to, with much anticipation, didn't really have anything that jumped out at me and all the new boards were at least $400.  I went to another closer to the coast that had only one board I was interested in.  Finally I checked the last shop called Right Coast Surf Shop and they were closed.  I gave them a call to see if they had just stepped out for dinner and just when I hung up the phone the boss pulled up.  He told me they were closed on Wednesdays, but I explained my situation and he let me in for a look.  Mike the boss was a really cool dude and he pulled up a used board that he said was a pretty good deal.  Sure enough it was and so for $300 (no tax) I picked it up.  It's a JC Hawaii 6'4", 19.25", 2.5" squash tail and has a nice set of fins and a traction pad already on it.  I was super stoked as I drove back to Kevin's place where Marylin, Bill, Kevin, Robin, and the kids were waiting with another excellent pasta dish of Robins creation. 



The boardwalk had an amusement
park at the end and was a great place
to ride, at least when the wind was
at my back!



Day 9 was dreary and windy but with all my surf gear lined up I decided to explore the Jersey shore so that at the very least I'd have a good idea of what the breaks are like for the next day.  I went back to Toms River first and took my bike along the boardwalk.  The winds were strong on shore and there didn't look like any surfable waves along the long stretch of beach.  I grabbed a sub at a local shop and when I asked to use the bathroom, the lady said she didn't have one but would let me use the one in her home.  That sort of open, friendly and helpful attitude reminded me a lot of how most people act in Taiwan. 

Continuing south, my next stop was Atlantic City, NJ.  I hadn't remembered that it was a casino town until I started seeing signs just outside the city.  I'm not a gambling man so after checking out blown out waves, I continued south to Ocean City, NJ.  I was just about to cross a toll bridge when I decided to stop and check a map more carefully.  It was lucky I did, because I met a surfer who told me about some good spots to check the next day when the forecast looked very good.  With that info and the suspicion that the waves everywhere that day would be a disappointment I left Ocean City and headed toward Washington D.C. to meet my old university roommate Tim. 



Steal this campsite!



I only drove about 30 minutes when the itch to surf the next day's waves overcame me and I gave Tim a call and told him I'd be there Friday evening instead.  At that time I had about an hour of light left and needed to find somewhere to camp fast.  I located a NJ State forest in Wharton and went to find a place to pitch my tent.  I found a great spot down a small sandy park driveway, but a sign out front stated that the park closed from dusk til dawn.  'Perfect' I thought, I'll have this whole place to myself and best of all, for free.  And so went my first installment of a segment I call,"steal this campsite", where I'll be practicing low impact camping at places where camping is prohibited.  The experience went well and I wasn't interrupted by anyone except Mother Nature's tropical depression rain storm. Around 3 am I packed up my wet tent and spent the rest of the night in the driver's seat. 

Unknown setting up for some possible
tube time

Local guy about to get shacked

Day 10 came with much anticipation as the winds were shifting off shore and the swell was predicted to be pumping waves with 8 to 10 foot faces.  The spot that the surfers the day before had told me about wasn't really working, but I met some other guys there who said to head south and keep looking every few blocks.  As it turned out just about 400 meters down the beach the waves were hollow, well groomed and absolutely going off.  I took some pictures and watched in awe and trepidation as local guys got shacked and ripped the waves apart.  All the locals I talked to said the same thing "this is Jersey at its best".  After building up the confidence and telling myself how regretful I'd be if I didn't paddle out here, I went for it.  The paddle out wasn't as hard as I had feared and my new board and wetsuit felt great.  In the water I met another local guy named Shawn and we traded a few waves while chatting in the water.  We stayed in the water for about 2.5 hours and then he offered his shower to me back at his place.  Thanks Shawn, that was a big help and made my drive to D.C. a whole lot more comfortable. 

Getting barrelled on a frothy one

I made the drive to D.C. in about 3.5 hours and Tim, his partner Beth and son William and I went out to a cool Irish pub for a late dinner.  It was really cool to see Tim and his place was really nice.