The Reading Room

A Collection of Charts, Graphs, Original and Reprinted Works on Surf and Surfing in New York and New Jersey

 
 
Prestoke Jitters

Prestoke Jitters - an original work by SeaCliff, as posted in the forums of NYNJSurf.com November, 2009

Prestoke Jitters.

I can feel it now, even as I type.

Prestoke Jitters.

There really is nothing like the feeling. I'm sure all surfers around the world feel it when there's an impending major swell, but maybe, just maybe it's magnified for us here on the east coast where the swell events are less frequent and so short-lived. Whatever it is, it's something magical, something unique, something special. It's a feeling that is born of pure passion and pure love of what we do, rolled into an emotional ball of intense anticipation.

Read more...
 
First Wave

An original work by SeaCliff -  as first published December 27, 2008 on NYNJSurf.com 

First Wave

Summer sun

Old beat up board, dirty with old wax

Looks so easy from the beach

Hard to paddle, harder to sit

Surfers all around stand so easy, glide so free

Paddle, paddle harder, try and stand

How could something so frustrating, so hard, feel so good?

Hours later, still at it, won’t give up, can’t give up!

Then it happened, that amazing feeling, standing, riding

Needing to do it again!! So incredible, so addictive

It all began with that

First Wave

                   

Christmas day, 12 years old

First new board glistening in the early morning light

Last summer at the shore, so much fun on that old beater

Friends all around laughing and smiling and joking

Swapping waves and crashing and learning

Sunburns and rashes, not stopping to eat

Next summer, still so far away, but so much promise

It will be so much better, so good

Cant wait for school to end

Cant wait for that first trip, that first chance, that

First Wave

 

Hurricane pulses on the horizon

They’ll be here by tomorrow’s dawn

Heart is pounding in anticipation

Night falls, but sleep comes with a struggle

Thru the evening, in the middle of the night

Thoughts of swells past come back to life

Each one burned in memory, but how will this one compare?

The new day breaks and the swell has arrived

Big and clean and beautiful to behold

Can’t wait to suit up, can’t wait to get ready, and feel the power of that

First Wave

 

Heat draws are in, schedule is posted

Surrounded by friends, all momentary foes

Forecast calls for onshores but for now its light side

Delivering textured smooth waves as the first round heats run

Jokes and smiles break the tension, but everyone is looking to advance

No one wants an early exit, especially not the sponsors

Watching the peak, planning some strategy and thinking

Thinking about positioning, about the competition, and scores

Colors pulled on and hearts beating harder now, paddling out

Each surfer knowing it all starts with that

First Wave

 

Life is busy, kids in school, work is relentless

Hurry here and hurry there, but memories run deep

At the beach, down the shore, watching kids on boards

Trying to ignore the echoes, but they grow louder instead of fading

“There’s guys my age, I could still do this” I must be crazy

Credit card swipe – and my fate is sealed, no turning back

New board, new leash, fresh wax, older me

Nervous energy fills the brain, just a few more miles to the beach

Board tucked under the arm, trying to be casual

But the new board and nervous look give it all away

In the water, paddling out and it all comes rushing back

A new echo floods my head “How could I have ever stayed away??”

It’s stronger than ever, deep in my soul – I’m paddling now

Never going to stop again

Going to ride every one like it’s my

First Wave

 

 

55 years since that day as a young man

So many swells, so many waves have come and gone

Yet the memory of that day, the friends, of the board still deeply alive

All part of that enduring, everlasting connection

Born from rides on early morning glass on summer days

And hurricane swells and winter nor’easters

Cut deep in the soul forever

It was early in August when fate lent a hand

A chance visit, a week’s stay that changed everything

Every day thereafter the love affair continued

Yet one thing remained constant through seasons, through the years,

Through arrivals and passings and landmark events

The smell of the ocean, the salt in the air, the anticipation kept calling

The swell is up today, and once again it’s time to pull on the suit

Take the board off the rack

It’s time once again to be born again and ride that

First Wave

 

Copyright 2008, all rights reserved. May be republished by permission.
 

 
Nor'easter

An original work by SeaCliff -  as first published in 2008 on NYNJSurf.com


Twilight glistens early

Clouds and colors all redrawn

Swell window opens for a moment

Come morning she’ll be gone

 

9ft at 12 approaching

175 - Her angle’s near due South

My chest? It’s loud and thumping

Deep breaths escape my mouth

 

Suiting up and getting ready

Wind's just gone NW

“Game on!”, my friends are saying

“Game on.” No time to rest

 

Cold hard bite of winter

Cuts knife-like through my brain

Hard south swell is drilling

Dive deep. And bear the pain.

 

Silence rules the lineup

With a dark and serious tone

Heart is pumping, adrenaline rushing

Surrounded. But still alone.

 

Set looms on the horizon

Grey on grey, waves on sky

Black dots of my companions

They turn, I watch them fly

 

They’re gone - lost for seconds

Deep inside the veil

Reappearing moments later

I’m jealous of their trail

 

The count can’t tell the story

2 hours, 6 waves, no more

My mind beholds the glory

Of waves and winds offshore



Ice cold changeouts in distant parking lots

Talk with friends…more on the way?

Tired and stoked. Smiles and stories

Best swell ever? Best ride of the day?

 

We wait in anticipation

For these days so dark, so cold

To surf the winter Nor’easters

There’s surf, all else will hold.

 

Copyright 2008, all rights reserved. May be republished by permission.

 
Surf Hungry

An original work by SeaCliff -  as originally published on NYNJSurf.com

Surf Hungry

East Coast Summer
East Coast Fall
Too many days
I just hit the wall

Overhead and pumping
Then flat is the call
Waking up praying
for lows to come and then stall
Read more...
 
Last Man Out

Last Man Out 

an original work by Ray G, as first published on NYNJSurf.com in 2007.

crisp afternoon sunshine

lemon yellow sparkles

in a blue sky dream day

sun setting on golden waves

last man out...

Read more...
 
A Brush with Death and a God

A Brush with Death and a God

by Old_Rock_Guy_in_NH, as originally published on NYNJSurf.com, April 24, 2006

OK, here is the deal. It is actually so well etched in my mind I only needed to think about (and feel) the day and it all started filling in pretty well. So sit back brothers and sisters we are going surf tripping to SoCal…

 

Read more...
 
The Hold Down

The Hold Down 

an original work by SeaCliff as first published on NYNJSurf.com in 2006.

Time.

Time to contemplate.

A few moments, a handful of seconds. Time to think.

Read more...
 
Full Moon Fever

by jonathan, as originally published on NYNJSurf.com, September 7, 2006

Under cover of night I moved quickly out my front door and away from the street lights. I wait for the cars to clear, cross the road, up over the boardwalk and quickly down the steps into the welcoming sand. A perfect orb of silver shone down and reflected on the thigh high peelers that the oncoming low tide was revealing.

Read more...
 
Pre-Dawn Stoke

By blueberry, as originally published on NYNJSurf.com, May 19, 2006

As I was putting on my wetsuit in the dark this morning, I could hear the driving rain outside. I didn't even want to look at the ocean. I needed to go. I needed to get wet at any sleepless cost.

I walked out the door and noticed the flooded sidewalks. I still can't see the full ocean from the board walk because its so dark. It doesn't matter I'm gonna get wet, I'm gonna ride a few, I'm gonna paddle.

Read more...
 
Another Worst Wipeout Tale..

Worst Wipeout
by little_nasty, as
published on NYNJSurf.com August 10, 2006

It was around thanksgiving prolly about 7-8 yrs ago and I flew out to visit my old man in central cali. He was tied up at work this one day and i had brought a board. It was a 6'8" byrne supa narrow rounded pin, very fast, not a lotta float tho. anyways, the trip coincided with a real big NW winter type swell that was hitting real big further up the coast (ie. mavs, etal.), but i figured that down where i was it would be rideable. Packed up and headed to the regular spots, but they were totally closed out with nobody making it out. I don't know what possessed me, but i was on a mission and determined to surf this swell. I had an idea that i'd hatched many years ago, and this was the time to try it.

 

Read more...
 
Young Sea

Young Sea, by Carl Sandburg, 1916
The sea is never still.
It pounds on the shore
Restless as a young heart,
Hunting. 

The sea speaks
And only the stormy hearts
Know what it says:
It is the face of a rough mother speaking.

Read more...
 
Sunday Service

by ez_ed, as originally published on NYNJSurf.com, January 29, 2006

Pulled into a near empty lot at daybreak. The earliest glimmer of sunlight reflected off the glassy darkness of the bay. A lone figure with dog surveys the scene over a mug of coffee. I peel off my sweatshirt, grab the vipers and jog across the lawn past the Eddie Aikau memorial and across the cool deep sand to warm up my body.

 

Read more...
 
 
 
Joomla Templates by JoomlaShack Joomla Templates by Compass Design