Lee F. checking in.I work as a Computer Consultant/Support Specialist at Yale University with the Administrative Systems Group. I specialize in supporting client/server applications. We're currently in the process of moving our accounting system from an IBM mainframe over to Oracle (Oracle Financials) running on IBM RS/6000 systems and a Windows NT network. I also support our Data Warehouse and several other Oracle based applications developed in-house that run on the RS/6000s, Windows NT, and Macintosh network.
My surfing career started in the mid sixties at Greenhill Beach in RI. I bought a 9'8" Dextra from the Gob Shop in Wakefield. When you trimmed it in a fast moving wall it hummed, literally! Hmmmmmm. A few years later I bought a 9'10" Greg Noll Cat pintail from Spicer's in Matunuck. (How many of you remember where the surf shop was in Matunuck?) That got traded in on a 7'4" Hobie Positive Force pintail. What a sweet board that was. But in the years that I surfed it, I completely pulverized the deck. The Positive Force was replaced by a 6'8" Hobie Eastern Star I bought from the Hobie Shop in 'Gansett. What a piece of dog stool that was! (How many of you remember Narragansett before they turned it into a condo? The Beachcomber Bar? The Hobie Shop? ...) There were also a few un-memorable boards in between. I currently alternate between a 7'6" Becker Series 4.0 and a 7'10 Warm Winds pintail fun board in smaller surf. I'm happy with both!
All of my surfing has been on the east coast. I lived in Florida from '67 to '76 and spent time surfing on the space coast. I once saw a rocket launch while sitting in the line-up at the Cocoa Beach Pier. Sounded like a bunch of fire crackers going off!
Most of my experience has been at or near my home break at Greenhill Beach, just a couple of minutes from Matunuck. And when you can surf at Matunuck, why surf anywhere else! I spent my summers during college lifeguarding at Greenhill and I've often dreamed about making yet another career change and return to my first office on the sand dune. Unfortunately, 47 year old lifeguards are not much in demand these days.
When I'm not working or surfing, I try to keep in shape by swimming three or four miles a week in the pool. I also jump on my bicycle once in a while and spin off into the hills. Sorry I can't make "The Bender" but Lauren, my daughter, and I plan to be at Matunuck on Sunday. Hopefully there'll be waves. If not, we'll at least go for a paddle. (Gotta get that salt water fix!) If anybody's not already surfed out I hope to see you there. The white Mazda pick-up with the Yale parking sticker in the windshield and a URI sticker in the back window is mine.
Cheers,
//Lee
EDITORS NOTE: Lee's daughter Lauren is co-founder of the University of Rhode Island Surf Club, and his brother is also a long time local at Matunuck. Lee is especially helpful in giving sage advice to beginning kOOks.
Fredericofyturral@opal.tufts.edu
Hello KOOKs, i think that i am a new member to this pseudo-elitist group, although i have been sliping and sliding for many years now and feel impelled to remain solo. anyway, i have moved to the greater boston area 1.5 years ago in search of that higher education thing that everyone preachrs about, but no one can afford. I came from a land that is far away, known to the kooks of the east as southern california. specifically san diego. my father and mother were not surfers, neither were my sisters nor grandparents. only i was the fortunate one that assumed the skills of the "surfer." for many years i took root at blacks. this place was actually where i learned. can you imagine it, thrown out into 5 foot fasties on a whale of a board with dudes walking on the shore with their danglies out. it was not an uplifting moment. other breaks i fancied were, cherry point in delmar, rock pile in solana beach and the jetti in carlsbad. one of my fabs was mangos in del mar. i learned a great many skills riding at this stealth spot. and of course i did the PB thing, from the point to hospitals. wind'n'sea was always a bit of a washup if you weren't born and raised on neptune ave. but, it was the best break in the san diego county.
and now, i am here chasing a dream, reading about the nesc'rs great 1 foot rides and reading about all the moral support for their fellow "surfers." ya, i am a bit cynical about the east, but can you blame me? don't get me wrong, i have seen some really neat surfing out here, but not so really neat waves. it is a bit DEPRESSING, but i guess it is better than nothing. question: where in the hell is everyone getting these overhead rideable waves and wave reports? i know that i am not blind, but i dont see the overhead reports. i think someone is being a bit optimistic on the forecasts, especially those other guys and gals on the net waves. i am outta here, i hope this gives ya' all a look into my "soul."
l8r, frederico.....
ps: peace and waves for everyone!!
I'm 27 now but I've been kOOky since the very beginning, as my friends would say, a freak. I make money as a graphic artist. After six years of running a freelance design business out of my apartment in Brooklyn, I took a fulltime position last fall as an art director for a web site content provider.
I grew up on the North Shore... of Long Island. Just a block from the beach on Eatons Neck, i ate a lot of sand as a kid. My best friends were horseshoe crabs and minnows-- I was a nature child. As I got into those 'troubled teenage years' I used to take long freaky midnight beach runs, communing with the incandescent jellyfish/underwater ghosts.
Despite my instinctive obsessions with tidal pools and mother ocean, I didn't discover surfing until (cringe!) I dated a surfer, nine years ago. Pete was the independent brand of boyfriend: he didn't give a rats ass whether his woman preened on the beach and watched his rippling muscles-- or got on a board and flailed around until my bikini fell off. Really, he
had no preference... I naturally chose the active lifestyle of the Surfin' Betty.
In those days we had cars, mmmmm, carefree suburban affluent effluence, and I could borrow from Pete's comprehensive quiver of (2) boards. My stick of (no) choice was a dinged up and completely waterlogged Natural Art, probably 6' whatever. We would mostly go early mornings to Long Beach and Robert Moses. I got the hang of duckdiving but could barely balance enough to sit on the board, let alone stand up for more than a nanosecond.
At a whopping 108 lbs sopping wet I don't sink many surfboards (even ones that are already sinking). That summer I had a job as a professional clown- I'd drive in my rusty little VWRabbit from kids' birthday parties to the beach wearing clown makeup and blasting Scofflaws on the tape deck. If there wasn't any surf, and there usually wasn't, I paddled out anyway and sang songs to the fishies.
I bought a 6'2" skinny G&S and a couple of ugly 80s wetsuits on sale. Pete and I took a road trip and got wet in the Outer Banks, Florida, southern and northern CA, Mt. Hood, and Cape Cod. I continued to flail, but with more and more finesse.
That winter, I learned to snowboard. I spent part of a winter season bumming as a restaurant hostess in Steamboat, CO and rode all day every day- got my powder riding skills dialed. I was stoked to transfer my new snowledge to the water BUT SUDDENLY was working my way thru college as a freelance designer. Except for a couple of Hatteras trips, my professional life, fulltime in the summers, started to seriously cut into my beach life. My VW rusted away, and so did my boyfriend. I was CAR-LESS!
I started designing some newsletters and stuff for Kevin DuBois and the Surfrider NY chapter, hoping it would lead me back to the water...
Years passed, I would eat surf wax longingly...and snowboard every winter.
Then winter '96 I busted my left ACL in a traumatic basketball incident. (I have some great links for people who need ACL info.) I had surgery to replace the busted ligament and launched into nine months of PT rehab. I got a mountain bike to rebuild my quads and spent some time hanging out at a friend's place in St. Croix, mostly underwater doing lots of reef snorkeling and debating with lobsters.
This winter, my first season riding on the new bionic knee, I got much more aggro and foolhardy, riding parks and bigger hits. I also started rock climbing at an indoor wall. My goal: to get back in the water!!!! meet more kOOks, get some rides to the beach and boost my sorry surfing skills, maybe pick up a tweener. Ultimately I'd like to find another NYC dwelling kOOk or two with flexible work hours who wants to $plit a car and get into a pre-work-day dawn patrol habit. If this is you, get in touch!
Christina Frederick
Subject: Personal Bio- Christina Frederick
Big Kahuna Wahine
Big Swell Design
hello kooks anonymous!
I met Mary and Holger last week at a show i was doing and we got on the subject of surf and well......i just spent 1 1/2 months in hawaii and 2 months in cali learning the deed...once i got the longboard it was smooth sailing, that is after some amazing wipeouts on my little gun....
of course the first time out in hawaii on the boogie board near sandy beach south shore 7 foot face and me draggin over the rocks caught in the middle of a rather harsh set bleeding embarassed and DETERMINED to ride!
so they said to give you an e-m and introduce myself i'm gecko fellow surfer, performance/ installation/multimedia artist, writer and general problem to society.. and so tell me about you KOOKS!!!!
Mahalo, Gecko
THE DUKE OF KOOK
Subject: Intro/ GoodbyeA year or so ago I wrote a autobiographical self intro. Unfortunately I did not save it and I am too lazy to re-write it. If anyone saved it please post it for me. In short: I grew up in Wantagh LI and got the hell away fronm NY asap. I went to URI, spent 15 years as a commercial fisherman; Hold a 1600 ton Master upon Oceans License from the Coast Guard; Worked Tug boats for five years including towing Sludge to the 106 mile dumpsite; Worked dredge projects all over the East Coast; Gulf of Mexico and PR.; I am also certified as a dredge inspector by the Army Corps of Engineers; I also towed Grain to PR. and asphalt to ports up and down the East Coast.
IMHO your idea to play ring around the rosie in NY harbor on surfboards is STUPID. If you want to surf clean water don't surf around NY harbor it is a foul place. Move to a place with clean water or surf in dirty water but Don't bitch cause the world can't clean up the water at Sandy Hook overnight. When I was a kid I often surfed Longbeach when it had brown instead of white water after the wave broke. I didn't like it and surfed out east as much as possible but I didn't think the world would stop and clean up the water around NY overnight cause I was surfing there. I hear the water Quality has improved greatly there in the past 25 years and that is great by me but I still would rather not surf that close to the Damned City. ALL OF NYC AND THE SURROUNDING AREA STINKS WHY SHOULD THE WATER BE DIFFERENT?????????????????
I despise the news media and the way they distort things to make issues out of anything that will sell advertising even if they are most peoples' only source of info. IMHO the media has you guys brainwashed into playing into their agenda. Make a big scene for them to cover and make the situation worse while everybody who watches feels so much better because they know whats going on (NOT) and are assured that the environment is being saved because they care. Meanwhile a practical solution is impeeded cause of all the bullshit. Just like the garbage barge ridiculousness you mentioned.
Spare me your views on issues like fisheries regulations and gun ownership and the like. I can't stand bleeding heart liberals with titles and academic degrees who Know everything cause they read it somewhere. I'd rather hear from someone with experience in the natural world (no your membership in the audobon society and your subscription to natural geographic don't count).
I am a surfer and not a tree hugger so take me off your K00KS Anon list B4 I puke!!!!!!!!
The Duke of KOOK
PS FORGET THE INVITATION TO COME UP TO RI AND SURF AS MY GUESTS SURF WHERE YOU LIVE. TOO BAD IT STINKS.EDITORS NOTE: The Duke of kOOk resigned from kOOks Anonymous during a time when some members were planning a demonstration for the end of offshore dumping of dredge spoils from New York Harbor.
Started surfing when I was 11 with a 9' homemade board that was purchased at a garage sale for $10. Being tall for my age and the only girl surfer for who knows how far, I was nicknamed (unbeknownst to me) "The Beast". At the time it was a terrible blow to me, but looking back, I was probably an awesome sight catching the biggest waves available on my 9', while the boys were all struggling on their short boards.
Only being able to surf before 10AM and after 5PM on occasion, I took up boogie boarding in order to be able to catch the tasty waves that broke between 10 & 5. Those were great times! The lifeguards knew and respected my ability and gave me a wide bearth to boogie where I felt. Well the head of the lifeguards changed and that ended my boogieing career quickly. The facist blond all male lifeGods started publicly kicking me off the beach for swimming outside their imaginary lines. That change and a trip to Tortola convinced me that surfing is much better than boogieing anytime.
Most thrilling surfing moments include taking off during huricane Felix in Cape May and breaking my 8'6" Hot Line in two. Also boogieing Puerto Escondido on a medium day. Just paddling out during Hurricane Andrew while vacationing in Cape Hatteras.
I still have the 9', and a 6'6" Heritage round-tail (DOG!), and an 8' modified long-board shaped by greg noll for east coast surfing.
My favorite surfing times are with Lex, KevinO and my friend Bruce. Favorite surf spot Grandmothers!
Work is what I do to afford new surf equipment and surf trips.
Laura aka Gidgetgidget217@yahoo.com
Subject: [kooks] aloha
hey fellow kooks,
well I'm new to this whole mailing list thing so I'd thought I'd write and introduce myself.. I'm 17, from Long Island and surf at Moses. I just read that write up about Demo on the website. I never knew it was off limits to surfing. Cops have passed when I've been out and never said anything, so maybe I'm just too darn cute to be yelled at. Yeah right. Well, I've been lucky enough to have been out there when conditions were right, only like 3 times, but damn when its good its good. In fact it was where I fist stood up, 3 years ago.
Ah, memories......
I like being called Gidget. She was one rad chick, full of
stoke......besides she got Moondoggy and he was pretty cute....too bad hes like 60 now! Ok anyway here's my URL if you want to visit my homepage
I want to start a page devoted to people who surf LI and surrounding areas...if you have a pic send it to me, JPG please!!
-Lora
Ed H.
ehewitt@njcc.com
kOOks-
I was going to hit you with a surfing resume in the next couple days, but i see you've added me to the list without seeing a single lipsmacking b**sh*t lie about my last session at Maverick's, so find a short list of surfing stats below. Well, *near* Maverick's. Alright, it was a beachbreak 4 miles north, montara, barely overhead.
a brief surfing resume: - grew up 3 blocks from Ventnor (NJ) Pier, surfed every spot on Absecon Island (states ave.. chickenbone, crystals, NY Ave., etc etc), many others in NJ. - half-dozen or so trips to Hatteras, including stealing parents' car at 1 am, catching it almost double overhead. - many other east coast spots (Newport RI, a couple spots in NH, Florida, etc.) - surfed in hawaii (big island, oahu), CA, WA, OR, spain (mundaka on a small day), barbados, guatemala, baja, argentina, um, venezuela.
i'll watch the list, get a feel for it...
thanks,
ed
EDITORS NOTE: Ed is one of our persistent posters of surf reports and is currently planning a Hawaii winter sojourn to the North Shore in Dec. '98. He is a rowing coach for Yale University, and has been know to paddle across semifrozen lakes on his surfboard for fitness training in winter.
Hello, i'm originally from aiea, hawaii. but i now live in brooklyn. i got inducted/abducted to this group by rob, aka barney. lesse, i met rob last summer when i posted on alt.surfing, looking for people in nyc to surf with. rob was nice enough to invite me out to dave's house out on montauk, and after making one of my friends promise to notify the police if he did not hear from me in 24 hours (i mean i met them on the friggin internet for chrissakes), i got on the train to majestic, magical long island.
Fortunately, rob and dave were not psychopaths. in fact, they leant me boards and wet suits, and fed meassorted barbequed vegetables. in other words, they were oozing aloha. i guess this is sort of an intro.
mahalo for your time, nikki