Swell Memories by Dermot
My Own Back Yard
Dermot wrote this article a few years back. Dermot has promised us new stories, but We Are Water plans on publishing the older articles first. These stories are just Swell Memories and thus timeless. They are just as relevant today, than they were yesterday!
Main Index to Swell Memories articles
The most recent edition of Surfer magazine arrived.
This particular edition is the huge photo/travel one; the one that lures you to pack up and head out in search of perfect surf. The magazine is full of enticing barrels, warm water, unspoiled beaches and non-existent crowds. As I sat and went through the magazine I began to recall my own travels, my own surf adventures, and my own search for the perfect wave at the perfect spot.
I remembered the adventures my friends and I had. The travels, laughter, fun and excitement of a surf trip are unmatched. However, what I remembered was just that – the trip - and not so much the waves. For that matter, I could not recall one particular exceptionally spectacular wave or waves that I rode on these trips. Sure the surf was good, sometimes very good, but not the absolute best most unforgettable surf I ever rode. It was easy to recall the trips themselves and all the fun associated with surf trips, but no great memories of perfect surf in perfect conditions.
Well, if I can’t recall absolutely spectacular waves in those distant locations where then did I ride my best waves? The answer is easy – right at home - wherever home happened to be. East or West coast it didn’t matter. I recalled the long left-handers found in Florida’s winter surf. Lefts that seemed to just go on forever. I remember the northwesterly wind holding the waves up and watching them feather down the line. I recall spectacular summer swells generated by hurricanes out in the Atlantic. I can still feel those beautiful summer swells rumbling under the old Patrick’s pier and watching the pelicans play with the swell. Memories of running full speed from car to water’s edge at Spanish House, so… as to not burn my feet on the sand, while trying to get into those warm green lines as fast as I could are still fresh in my mind.
Another home-grown occasion was when I was living in North Carolina and had one of those all time memorable sessions. A hurricane had stalled out in the Atlantic and had generated some magnificent swells. I surfed next to the Emerald Isle fishing pier in 8’, sheet glass surf with no one out but me! It could not have gotten any better.
At one time in my life California was home. As such, living in California afforded me more memorable surf sessions. A-frame peaks at Blacks. Long right-handers at Church’s (San Onofre), or the clean cold swells found on countless spots along the Californian coast.
By all means travel, see the world, let the surfing media lure you to those outer reefs and azure waters of the South Pacific. Go, its fun.... When you get there you may get spectacular surf or you may get skunked.....but it will be the journey you remember the most.
For me, those enticing barrels, warm water, non-existent crowds and unspoiled beaches have been found right in my own back yard, right at home.
