Water:
Winds:
Surf: 
 

Tides: 
Who:

Arriving a few minutes after our designated departure time at the usual Annapolis meeting spot, and somehow withstanding the cold stares or Neal and Ken, I quickly loaded 3 paipos, the rubber gear and some essential supplies that warmed our souls later while providing that extra kick to my already expresso blended cafe.  Pulling into the Minefields parking lot was a quick adrenaline rush with the wind having turned offshore and boomers in the distance (Hens and Chickens).  We suited up quickly, Neal first on the path down to the breakers that were washing up along the dune cliffs, and Ken and I about ten minutes behind.  Neal was smiling when we finally made it down to the paddle out zone telling us, "I was rejected way the hell down there!"  No problemo amigo... we paddle out right over there and be ok.  Worked like a charm as the early morning current swept us north from the main groin but punched us between the first peaks and a section in the cove that was working like a charm as it punched out frequent overhead plus thumping waves with great shape (the waves in the pics on this page were shot about 3 hours later and the swell had dropped about 3 feet).

My first couple of attempts were unsuccessful as I figured out a good take-off zone, but my first wave was a beauty with a drop just off the peak, bottom turn under the curl, driving down the line, hard round house cutback off the top back into the wall of whitewater and shooting off the bottom and down the line again. Yahoo! is right!  My second wave was a classic endo that had Neal laughing and smiling. But for the next hour or so it was super fun city!

After about an hour or so another two guys paddled out, setting up near the groin.  The cove was beginning to back off and the groin was beginning to set up in classic Minefields fashion (it wasn't going off when we first arrived). We paddled over and joined the crowd (LOL! four of us sharing plenty of waves compared to thirty on a peak last Saturday in San Diego). It was fun sharing the stoke with these guys as they scoring some great rides, the regular footer making several nice power moves and the goofy pulling into several backside barrels. Neal also caught some nice head high juice, especially one drop that sucked-out and pitted nicely as be made a smooth bottom turn and cranked down the line.

After nearly 3 hours in the water both of my legs were beginning to cramp (hmm, not used to this happening... too much eggnog yesterday?), but not before a spitting finale that I worked through a couple of bowling sections, from the groin well into the cove. Time to warm up and take a few pics of the diminishing surf and increasing crowd. By the time I'd walked up to the car and changed into dry clothes the crowd had swelled to about 9 waveriders, a mix of short and longboarders, all catching some fun waves (see pics below).

Whoa!  Here we are just having changed into something dry and warm, me mixing up my coffee treats and the extroverted Ken engaging the guy parked right next to us that had been out in the water the last two hours.  "Where you from?" says Ken. "I live in Annapolis" replies the stranger.  "Oh, some of us here today belong to the Annapolis Surf Club including two of the founding members -- check it out," Ken says.  The stranger smiles, "I'm a member -- my name is Ilia Voronchihin."  We talk story for awhile, Ilia is excited and starts talking about hooking up with club members for a Sunday trip down to the beach.  He owns a 7mm wetsuit so is prepared for the winter.

We load up, hit the road, hit the Taco Bell for some bean burritos and services, and head south to Chauncey's so Ken can pick up a promised hood for his new wetsuit. I make an animated phone call to Kirk and Paul and then ask how their morning session went, but Kirk replies, "We haven't gotten wet."  Huh?  "It's VAS... hopefully the wind will turn offshore soon."  Hopefully it did or the bummed brothers won't be wanting to talk to us for awhile.

P.S.  I neglected to mention this in my original report or my short posting, but with the huge swell there was all sorts of things floating in the line-up, including bad ass stumps (is that a surfer or a stump?), wood and siding scraps, general tree branches, lobster or crab traps, etc. Added a little excitement after the big drop with offshore spray blinding you making you wonder what is ahead???  Have your wife by some ceramic or kevlar armor as well!

- Rockman Rodgers

We met up at our 50 spot.  Ken showed and I hopped in Ken's car. He offered to drive and we took him up on the offer considering it was raining buckets and Rod was running late.  (Ken I owe you one... that's how I play.)  It was fun to ride with Ken and actually talk with him. He even got his club nickname "Babaji."  Its some sort of hindu, indian, mid-east term.  Its appropriate considering his self proclaimed "Ramadan Diet."  Our face-to-face meeting last time didn't give us a chance to really get to know each other.  Rod supplied some coffee enhancement, which warmed the belly. Off we headed for Minefields.

We pulled in and found an empty lot…….. hmmmm?  As we looked from the bluff, there were huge lines rolling in on extremely high tide/storm surge.  Huge peaks breaking about 100 yards north of the jetty were groomed nicely by the hard off shores.  The park sign we were standing next to for the big Sunday report was getting washed hard in thigh deep wave surges.  I suited quickly and went down to paddle out.  I guess I didn't think about my strategy when I went to paddle out.  I got swiped up the coast by the backwash heading north between the jetty and the beach.  I quickly decided to go back in and rethink my plan before wasting energy.  By the time Rod and Ken came down I had a plan that worked well and got me out without to much duck diving.

I was out shortly followed by Rod.  I'm not sure what happened to Ken who paddled out next.  Can't say I saw him until an hour later.  I sat for a long time before taking a monster.  Unfortunately, I only made it half way down the face before face planting.  The waves were easily as big or bigger than my first day at GP.  Yeah, Isabel size but HOLLOW!  I have never seen waves at Minefields so hollow.  I paddled closer to the jetty as the tide began to drop.  There was flotsam all over the place.  Lumber, crab traps, huge floating stumps, a piece of boat and clumps of dune grass were floating in the shore break and line up.  I watched as Rod took his second wave.  It was a horizon eating behemoth.  Rod's board released right as he was at the top of this wave that was all of 8 feet high and twice as thick.  I watched as Rod was suspended on the face as the lip flew several feet over 
his head.  Unfortunately, Rod's descent was cut short as the folding lip cut him in two.  I paddled over and asked if he had seen Ken.  He said he thought he did but it turned out to be a stump. 

Two other guys paddled out and we shared the peak at the jetty that started to suck out in typical fashion.  The guy in Rod's photos with the blue green rails was absolutely tearing it up.  Said he had never surfed Minefields before.  That's the guy that got at least two (we witnessed) backside tube rides.  Next thing I know, Ken's in the line up and he's body surfing!  Rod took one off the jetty that had the two others hooting.  My surfing was not up to par.  I had a few decent rides and I think Rod may have gotten one or two of them on film.  Unfortunately, my feet felt like concrete blocks on most of my drops. I had a hard time finding a balance between the late drop and getting the right position on the board to make turns.  This resulted in some funny wipeouts.

Anyway after several hours, the rest of the locals began to show and the size had really decreased to about 5 to 6 feet.  The jetty peak had 9 guys roosting on it.  There was no one on the second peak, which was the larger of the peaks.  However, the strange and powerful eddy made it tough to sit on the second peak. It was the first time I ever tried to stay away from the jetty peak and couldn't. I called it a day and headed up to the parking lot. That's where I met Ilia Voronchihin.  He was glad to meet a couple of guys from the club.  I could tell that he never approached us due the "internet chat room" uncertainty.  I tried to tell him that everyone in the club was cool.  However, I not sure he bought it cause Ken was dressed like the Marlboro Man (some sort of felt rancho style hat and a trench coat) and Rod was looking like Sherlock Holmes (some Irish tweed hat with feathers on the side).  Regardless, Ilia is going to be charging this winter and will probably be looking for takers.

We scored great surf, Rod actually went surfing in December, Paipo love was shared, and we met a new member who will be with us this winter.  Awesome day and a great appetizer for Rod before heading off to PR! 

Surf on mates!

Neal.

Yesterday was my first trip with two of our founders, namely Rod and Neal.  I am very glad I went but personally had one of the worst days in a long time.  A couple of things went wrong.  First, I've let my conditioning slip.  Second, on my first go out, I attempted to use one of Rod's paipos to disastrous results.  By the time I was finished with the paipo I was too cold and exhausted to try a go out with my regular board. 

The experience in the parking lot with Ilia was very cool.  One of the reasons I started talking to him was because  I'd seen him at the Minefields on several occasions and just because I can be kind of a jabberwocky.  When I asked Ilia how come as a club member of one year's standing who was regularly reading the posts he never made any trips with members, he responded that, well, although he is a member, he didn't really know anyone in the club and was unsure how to connect with people.  I explained that what you gotta do if you don't know the members is make a post telling people that you are looking for car/van mates.  One thing I'll add now, Ilia, is that if you made some reports about your trips, people would know that you are surfing a lot and would be inclined to contact you.  If you just start posting, I think ASC will start working for you.

At this point I'm wondering if there are other people among the 73 members of this club who are in a similar boat.  Are there other ASC members  out there surfing and making the trip regularly who are not connecting with club members?  If so please, kindly start posting so we can know who you are.

We are two weeks from Xmas.  Family obligations are going to keep me out of the water until new years.  After that I'm intending on make about two trips a month until April-May when I'll pick up my pace again. 

Yesterday was very humbling for me - especially when I realized how much my conditioning had slipped in the last month.  I want to try to psyche myself for some hard training so next time I'll be ready for days like yesterday. 

There is one guy in my office who grew up Australia surfing Biondi Beach and later did a lot of professional work in Hawaii where he also surfed a lot.  He and his wife (also a surfer) now live in Takoma Park but haven't yet tried out DelMarVa.  Because Rod's pictures were so good, instead of writing a report to the group, I wrote one to this Guy instead.  Here is what I wrote to Tim:
 

Hey all,

Babaji here.  I too am still reflecting on the Minefields experience from last Thursday.

Lesson 1:  Don't let your conditioning slip especially when you're 50+. 

Normally I exercise quite a bit but in the last month I'd been in a bit of a funk plus that I'd been smoking quite a bit.  Aerobic 
conditioning is lost much faster than muscle mass is. Both however can be maintained without recourse to a gym.  Bodyweight conditioning (for mass) and various aerobic stuff can all be done in the home.  Two years ago, my hypomanic self turned it's attention big time to the subjects of "core conditioning" and "functional training."  Consequently, I know all about them.  Knowledge, however, is one thing; doing is another. In response to last thursday I've (1) completely cut out the cigs by restricting my nicotine addicted neurotranmitters to whatever juice they garner from a little nip between the cheek and jowl and (2) reinstituted a morning program of light exercise that I'll be progressively upping in intensity.  Afterall, plowing through multiple big waves takes strength, stamina, and explosive power, and if you don't use it you definitely lose it.

Lesson 2:  In challenging conditions, stick with what you know. 

When I saw the big waves, my heart kind of quaked and I decided to go out using one of Rod's paipos thinking that it'd be no problem getting through the breakers.  I'd just dive deep, I thought.  Easier said than done. I was kicking so slowly that for each wave I went through (and I went through a lot of them) the sweepback approximately equalled the forward progression.   I did ultimately get out - but not before I'd been swept, I believe, close to one mile north.  No one was there to verify this but as one committed to the truth in this forum at least I swear I did ultimately get out.  I just kept plugging on the inside figuring that laksmidevi (the goddess of fortune) would eventually come through for me.  Once out there, I picked carefully and settled on a big right that I caught up at the peak.  As I slid in and cranked right, I felt a tremendous surge of speed compared to my body board.  I only made the face though for about three seconds before I got covered up.  I straightened out and rode the 3 1/2 ft high soup all the way to the sand.  As I walked back to the line-up, there was basically no beach to walk on and flottsam was everywhere. Back at the groin I tried to reenter the line up twice with the paipo.  When I was unsuccessful, that's when I went out a tried the bodysurfing thing.  In retrospect, I think that, even with a somewhat lowered level of conditioning, I would have been able to get out this my 9' Velzy.  The sweepback might have been more but the increased forward progression would have 
made up for it. 

To summarize:  I need to stay fit and go for speed.

Best to all
Ken "Babaji" Walsh

Our boards (mine 6 months old and Paul's 5 day old) plus my entire damn roof rack blew off the car on I-95 on the way to Jersey (minor damage, huge pain in the butt), and the F#(*&#(* crazy 40kt wind never switched off. It stayed SW, and we were at a south facing beach, so there ya go. 

There was no "outside", only disorganized 6-10'+ victory at sea in all directions, all the way to the horizon. No lines. No real barrels. Horrible current on the inside. We paddled out to where the bulk of the 6-8' stuff seemed to be breaking, only to get worked by 10' waves @ about 5 sec period coming at us from east, north, and south at the same time, plus a huge backwash. We caught some reform in a protected cove and got some "rides" in the 25 yard category maybe, but it was totally lame. So much for sure things, and so much for venturing away from my usual haunts!!!!

Colin MacNamera at Belmar, NJ
Photo by Sean Brady.
Compliments of Local Swell.