Following the cue from my buddy John Hintlian, I thought it would be fun to do a month-by-month breakdown of the last year.
January
Oh yes. Looks like January sucked a little but I did have a couple of good sessions including this one in an all-time favorite place.
February
February had some slim pickins' as well. The picture from this day perfectly depicts the way the wind seemed to be for a couple of months there. This was the month that the name "bitchwind" was born. This is also the same month that I found a little room in a house near a favorite spot in RI and ended up taking it from March-September.
March
Winter slowly begins to loosen her grasp. I have my room in southern New England which (when I get to go there) is an utter sanctuary of surf and simple living. Surf, eat, sleep... repeat.
Sparse. The way i want to be all of the time. There is nothing in that closet...
April
Springtime is here in full-force and I have now been regularly going down after work, surfing til dark, then waking at first light for some incredible dawn patrol sessions before making the trip home and straight to my desk. This particular day Spongie showed up and I snapped this one of him as I was leaving. It was hard to get out of the water to drive to work when we had this to ourselves. I still kind of regret not calling in sick that day...
One more shot from April. This day was challenging with very strong offshores. I like this shot though.
May
While I still spent a good amount of time south of the border, northern points had their moments in May for sure. I like this image from a particularly dreamy dawn patrol session at cementland.
And a couple from the south. Here is a shot of Sabulis shredding:
And later that day... clean lines and the warm sunshine! All signs point to a second session.
June
While I spent a lot of June surfing down south, northern points continued to shine. June was a very good month! This image is from my first time at a spot way north. Part of the excitement for me is trying new places. I get such a stoke on scoring waves at a new place. I stopped in for a second session on the way home with Ralph and Lance. This was a stellar day.
and from that second session...
July
July had so many good days but I know which magical day I want to highlight. It was on my birthday, July 4th that I encountered some of the most freakishly clean, fun waves that I have ever seen here. I was the second one in the water and my buddy Paul came up to share the stoke. Hard to see the waves but the sunrise was so pretty. What a birthday. What a life I live. Thankful for every wave.
It was biggest at dawn but the waves stayed clean (freakishly) all day long.
August
Wow. Hurricane Bill kinda sums up this one.
The picture here was taken by one of my best surf buds, Sal Smarra. Sal is an all-around awesome guy, a great dad, surfer and shaper. He got this one of me enjoying one of Bill's glassy gifts. I treasure this image.
Later that same day I (and many others) literally got trapped at the lighthouse. The hype brought such a spectator crowd that it was impossible to get in or out. Thank god I was in and I had plenty of sunblock, water and some snacks to share. I went back out with Jen and we surfed our asses off until people started leaving. We still sat in traffic for no less than 15 minutes on our way out (to go a 1/4 mile). Had to include this one for the books.
Jacko brought new life to an old stick just for the occasion with a custom paint job and his signature style.
Just chilling out with a few of my favorite surfers after another spectacular session, compliments of Hurricane Bill.
September
September sessions were pretty dreamy. Yes there were some gems. One place was a stand-out though and so this fun-loving image is the one I choose to depict September.
And then, on another balmy September day, at another favorite place, my buddy Carlos got this shot of me. Love it.
October
In stark contrast to October of 2008, this year's October was warm and dreamy. It was a little bonus extension of summer. I was laid off from my full-time job the week before this was taken. I went to my brothers wedding in Montreal and when I got home went surfing the next day. It was warm and sunny with somewhat mellow waves and I got in at another new spot. Ran into a couple of guys that are southern locals. The only folks from down there that I have ever seen up north. This one is of Mike Buckingham, goofy footer-extraordinaire.
October was also the month that Sal unveiled his new stick... we all took it for a turn. Black beauty!
November
Winter continued to ease us in and provided many mild sessions. We had a long lasting swell by the name of tropical storm Ida. I think I got 5 straight days of surf out of her. Chased the storm from the south to the north and enjoyed every little bit of it.
And the mildness continued through the month. I had to include this one of Jacko on an absurdly warm day the weekend before Thanksgiving. On top of that, this place was giving up the goods.
One of Dino from that same magical day
And later that month, a couple hundred miles north, a newly discovered spot becomes a new favorite.
December
Though today is bitterly cold out there, I have to say this December was one to remember. It was difficult to choose an image for this month but I will have to go with the one that shows, yet another, new spot. Yep. Squeezed one more in from north of the border. This was from Christmas day and it was frigging magical!
For the finale, I will throw this last one in here from our first real winter storm just for a little bit of that "hard-core" factor...
May 2010 bring you great surf, health, happiness and love!
January: Blizzard bros
February: I spent most of the month in Puerto Rico. This was a totally new thing for me. When I got there and realized there was a sweet little community complete with a rockin surfrider chapter, and surf everyday, I fell a little in love. Before I knew it I was back in the winter rubber.
March: incoming!
April: Had the honor of making the banner for the MA Surfrider Chapter May Fundraiser at Flatbread. Put loads of love into it. Scored some, too.
May: The Rapture Sessions. The world didn't end but may as well surf as if it was.
June: Obligatory rainbow shot. This was at International Surfing Day and there were actually fun waves that morning. I helped at the beach cleanup later in the day and at the end, we were treated to this rainbow.
July: Creative sessioning. Caught a summer evening moon session followed by suprisingly good surf the next morning.
August: Got the old cow fitted up with a surfboard rack. Another day, another dream come true. Some spots are easier to access by bike!
September: Before Irene, Katia, Maria and Ophelia, there was this magical day in early September. Shot with the Holga 120 CFN.
October: Crazy pre-halloween nor'easter and beautiful dawn patrol halloween morning.
November: Thanksgiving swell.
December: We end where we started... or rather - where we were just a few mornings ago. Waiting for first light.
