That's a really nice shot, Mitchell.  I could see dude out in the big stuff.  He probably ain't gonna blow away in the wind.  😎

Where my brain was at when I posted that last one. 😎🤙

Surfed some 2-3+ at the park reef, pretty clean but not as much swell as we were hoping for. Rode the 7’0” crowd killer so was able to snag a few. Maybe tomorrow…

Some 3-5’ this morning, got out early on the 5’11” twinzer. Got a few nice ones before it got busy and the wind came up. Shot after I got out

We finally got a more fall-like swell this morning.  Cool, breezy, a bit more energy in the water, a bit fewer heads in the water, chilly trunking it on the 6'6" Chris Birch egg.  I had a blast.  Got one fast long left that made my morning.  This picture is my bud Mark on the right, with Skegleg paddling back to the peak.

Friday morning I rode the 6'6' twinny again, I hit up the Canaveral sandbar with some friends, pretty solid session with lots of waves, decent size hanging around, we had a good time, and crowd was limited, as is usually the case the minute there's a decent swell and a little onshore wind, although it wasn't really that bad when we were out there, better than days before.

Saturday morning at Spanish House for about 90 minutes on the 6'6" twinny, had it to myself, light onshore breeze, slightly bumpy and a little disorganized but not too bad, there were some that lined up nicely, but the size, speed and power was good, no issue there. Tide was outoing for most of the session, the dead low kinda killed it, still waves but wasn't as rippable. The wildlife was pretty active, lots of schools of mullet and other types of fish, getting chased by bigger fish, grey suits I'm sure, but I tried to not worry about it, but the fisherman casting in my direction was sketching me out as they chased the bait pods running down the beach. I am trying really hard to not get into any altercations, so I didn't say anything, but man did I want to. I was the ONLY surfer in the water, but they just HAD to fish RIGHT where I was sitting, and surfing, they don't the name fisherkooks for nothing.

Sunday morning there was some gnarly thuderstorm action, lots of lightning, but I found a window just after the storm passed. After checking a few spots, I ended up at a CCB sandbar with nobody on it. Me and a friend surfed for about an hour before we called it. I had to run to church and he was sketching about the lighting offshore lol

This morning (Monday), me a couple friends ended up at the Canaveral sandbar after checking a popular CCB sandbar that wasn't working. Ole faithful in the Cape always produces when nothing else is, love it! LB waves, but super fun.

I did catch some waves up at Isle of Palms on Thursday before hitting the road that afternoon. Last minute decision, wind was a bit lighter. Nobody out which is always a bit weird. Some stomach hi drops, brought the 7'6 Stewart which can tackle just about any size of wave. Had mostly lefts, a couple rights. A bit of waiting but it was worthy. Had a couple sessions before the wind kinda made it difficult. Northeast swell in the cards this week, chatter bout it's almost rashie time...sob

Yeah, I will be in a 2 mil vest in a few weeks, and then into a 3mil after Halloween. Is what it is. Water temp here is still 84, so we are still in soup bowl temps for another month or so. But it races through the 70s in a couple of weeks and then dips into the mid 60s in November. 

Got out this morning at the park reef, pretty clean but swell peaked yesterday and was on its way out. Call it 2-3’+ but inconsistent on the plus. Rode the 5’10” puddlefish quad and got 3-4 good runners before I went back to work…

Yesterday was interesting, a lot of thunderstorm activity, lighting in the vecinity, mostly offshore at first light since a storm just passed. Checked a few spots then just decided to jump in at a CCB sandbar that looked doable. Conditions were pretty glassy, there was some energy in the water and waves looked fun enough so I paddled the 6'6" twinny, dark skies and a weird vibe the minute I got in.

I caught a couple of waves, was kinda closing out a bit but some would run, after I got back to the lineup all of a sudden this giant bait pod, running mullet, was all around me, like a lot, and then the big ass tarpon boosting airs and just having a feast, then enters the grey suit, which looked sizeable and meant business, this thing was zooming around getting after it, and I was just feet from it, all hands on deck! Wait it out, don't move. It's between me and the beach now, looking over my shoulder I see my buddy entering the water, I say to him to "be careful I just saw a fin", he's kinda clueless / aloof most of the time, so he just paddles out, and sits on his board right in the middle of the bait pod, I told him again what I just tried to tell him, then he realizes this isn't a good situation, fear sets in, could see his eyes start to bug out lol, next thing you know a huge tarpon boost an air RIGHT in front of his face / board, and I hear him GASP like he was about to die 🤣 I'm trying not to laugh while still being concerned about the situation at hand, we were not in a good spot, but I have been here before, so I knew the deal, just be calm, wait, then when the bait pod moves away some, slooooowly / quietly start to paddle toward the beach, coordinating my minimal paddle strokes with a wave hitting me, reducing my hand / arm exposure to anything in the water, because it that dicey a situation. Birds diving around too, just hectic haha. But we made it to shore with all fingers, toes, arms, legs, and no chunks taken from our board. Phew! Session over.  🤣 

If that wasn't good enough, I decided to go back out in the afternoon, and paddled out at a CCB sandbar, only to paddle right back in after realizing the tide just wasn't right and wanted to check around. Drove around only to end up right up the road at the popular CCB sandbar, which had tons of people on the beach and swimmers and surfers of all crafts in the lifeguarded area out front and to the South, but it looked pretty empty on the Northside, so I walked out of the lifeguarded area and found an empty peak and grabbed a bunch of little runners on the 6'6" twinny. I prob should have ridden a LB but I didn't bring it. Still did pretty good considering. Not great waves, lots of effort for little reward, but I was at the beach and in the ocean, twice in one day, so I am blessed to be able to do it!

Barely rideable / flat at most spots today, going to let the sharks and tarpon dominate the lineup, it's their time.

Good shit DP. Glad you buoys are okay. I have encountered sharks many times up here, but I have only been "vibed" or "run out" of the ocean 3 times. All 3 times happened in central Florida. Imagine that. Water is murkier up here typically, so we suffer from the "If ya can't see them, they must not be there"..... 

I make that joke all the time when people ask me about the water here. Sometimes, it's crystal clear and clean, but typically, our ocean water is murkier, due to the high level of nutrients in the water from the inland creeks and marshes, and with 10+ foot tide swings each day, there is all kinds of healthy shit in the water.... "They" say that the water around Hilton Head Island is the cleanest, most nutrient rich water in the US. I have heard in the past, especially in the tropics "clean water is dead water" kinda thing....

But at any rate, any tourist or local that makes a comment about the lack of visibility for diving etc around here, I simply say "As a surfer, I can tell you, you DON'T want to be able to see what is down there, or you would stay on the beach. For sure. 

Waves started making some sense this morning. Not as sideshore as i was expecting. Waist to chest hi offerings. Parked south washout, buddy picked me up and drove north washout. Took bout 45 min drifting down. Water was pretty low even for hi tide. Had mostly lefts that steamed out and a few rights that were runners. Brought the 6'5 In The Eye boart of the quiver. Had about a dozen, the rights were pretty cool. BOards in tow here at work, something to look forward to when clocking out. Hope you guys score

Surf is on the rise! Me and a couple friends hit a popular CCB sandbar, to get in the sweet spot for the conditions on tap. I had a feeling that we could get some cleanish forerunners from this storm before the wind rolls in and blows it out, and that prediction came true thankfully!

I got there when it was still dark, the park dude was just opening the gate, he was trying to keep it closed to prevent construction workers from using their lot, since they are building a massive hotel right next to it (YUCK). They let me in, then closed it again, my friends got stuck outside trying to get in, so they checked the Pier and came back.

I wasn't going anywhere though, I was already parked in the lot and had my board HAHA. I got a VIP session by myself for about 20 minutes 😎 then they finally got in and joined me.

I KNEW this spot was probably one of the only option to get it good, if there was even a wave, given the high tide and other variables. Tide was outgoing, but it just switched, so that leaves only a few breaks that will break correctly, then you add in the NNE / NE swell angle, that means you can't go too far North due to the Cape shadow, so Jetty is out, Canaveral sandbar out, Pier was an option but hasn't been good lately, but if you go just a little further South it would be bigger and the sand has been good, but you can't go too far South with the NNW wind angle, you need an ESE facing beach, leaving about 2 options, these spots are still shadowed some, but not as bad as the others, by the Cape. 

Waves ended up being a solid and consistent waist high with some sets up to chest high, with lefts and rights, with power and speed. Conditions were fairly clean, but not perfect, a little textured from the NNW breeze. I paddled on the LB first, and after 1 wave got out and grabbed my 6'6" twinny, and turned out to be the better option. The LB felt like too much board and I wanted to crank some turns. Mission accomplished. The best wave was a long left from outside that ran all the way to the beach, top to bottom turns, off the top, getting every bit of it with my buddy paddling back out with a good view of the situation. What a wave, that's all I ever wanted / needed.

Oh, and no NatGeo holy crap moments with the wildlife, was all about the waves. Hopefully that's the last of them for a while.

Yeah man. That is always a plus. I need to go back and read it, but just this morning, I saw an article and in the title is was "Forgotten sharks, sea snakes and much more are coming into the shorelines of South Carolina due to this historic El Nino event"....

So, the alarming thing in that topic is: Sea Snake? Now, I have heard Kelly Slater and many other talks about these dangers in foreign lands and in the tropics. But in South Carolina, we already have to look out for kooks, sharks, rays, jellies and gators. 

I really don't want to have to add "Sea Snake" to the list. Sharks are bad enough. Shit. 

i decided to skip this morning, kinda blaming it on the cold/wind, soreness. Headed straight back after work yesterday. Same conditions just a bit chillier as temps dropped. Took out Ms Clementine, 6'4 perfection boart that i've had forever it seems. Luckily, didn't get stuck in the blobs of surfers. Had a handful of nice runners to my right and a few lefts. Saw a guy in a 3/2 and thought about it this morning, but ultimately just didn't have the juice to get after it. Buddy texted me said he just got battered and bloodied up in the jettys on a long left. Yikes. I'll be back out there this evening

It's PUMPING this morning! Tide was high and tricky but me and a friend got some bombs on an empty peak at the Canaveral sandbar, stayed a little over an hour, rode the 6'2" Quiver Killer, it was the right board for sure, waves were shoulder / head high with a plus set here and there, a little wonky and a tad bumpy and mixed up with a little drift, but overall it wasn't too bad, wind was supposed to be really bad from the North, but it was more like NW and lighter than expected, so offshore and cleaning things up by the minute, it did get better as the morning went on, I dropped into some meaty ones, nice sections to really lean into some turns, but would end up sectioning off, and there was a few close outs. After my buddy had to run to work, I got in my car and went to the jetty to see how it was, and it was a little cleaner and more lined up and running, about the same size, but completely zoo'd out. I almost didn't paddle again, but I went back out for an hour, had walked way down to find an empty peak, got a few, then was surrounded by kooks. 🤣 Nobody has any regard for the other, it's so nauseating to be in a lineup these days. I had more fun with my friend and a couple randos off to the side down the road, but I still managed a few gems, so I won't complain too much. The 20 mile buoy at one point this morning was 9.5ft @ 14 seconds NE, the nearshore buoy was more like 4.6 @ 14 sec East, so we'll call it 4-6ft and Poor - Fair. 

Surf was big and thumping this morning, I had to hit it early and only had an hour so I had to find a spot that was working with the high tide, so I ended up at a CCB sandbar, and it was pretty good but had to be in the right spot / right time to get a good one, there was a fine line between a close out and a runner. I found some bombs in the mix and didn't get beat up any, had it to myself, my buddy who attempted to make the paddle with me got denied, it happens. I heard of others not getting out either, tough day for some. It was gorgeous out there, I kinda felt bad because I got out no problem, and some of those waves were legit, holy moly.

More short period hurricane surf this morning, about 3-5’ with occasional plus sets. Sloshy, bumpy kind of all over the place but I gave it a shot. Fell on my first few but then got settled in and caught a couple. Mostly drops then maybe a bumpy wall or section. Not many others out. Lasted about an hour and a half before I was over it

Ran out of work on Friday with boards in tow. Glad i did, stomach hi rides, playful sections, no drift, plenty of sun. Buddy got to Washout right at same time. I took out the 6'8 Allison and right off the rip, had a handful of great rides that seemed to all deliver. I was draggin my hand, carving face all the way, and even trying to land lil airs at the end - one that gave me a significant raspberry on my knee. Then about 25 more kids wanted to pop in at that spot, making it a kook fest. I paddled a block down to where there were about 8 heads tops, but waves weren't serving me there. Got ghosted on a few before i was able to snag a couple. Sun was going down and temps dropped to the point it was uncomfortable skinning it. That was the most fun sess last week tho, that first 30 minutes were golden. Buddy started getting into the groove late, he's been dealing with a wrist injury that limits his surfing appetite. But he was happy after getting a few. Both of us had our gripes with the newbies in the water, not really giving any indication of surf ettiquette, but that evening was too good to pass on for even the kooks