Surfing In The Freezing Waters Of The East Coast

Being outdoors is essential to my lifestyle. I feel much more at peace when I'm outdoors than when I'm cooped up inside. When I started surfing here, I didn't know there were waves here at all. So to find out that it's world class on the East Coast, you just have to know where to go. I never took any lessons. I kind of just paddled out and figured it out. Now everything is dictated by the ocean, so I can't live inland anymore. Last year I surfed 160 days out of the year. And so that's almost half the year in the water on a board. New England's surf scene is pretty underground. A lot of people come to the beach when it's sunny and warm out. And a lot of the times we're surfing when it's gross and cold out. So a lot of people don't realize there's surf here. But there's definitely a tight group of people. Everyone seems to have their little groups of friends. Depending where you're surfing, you'll see the same people in the water. And for the most part, everyone's pretty friendly. It's really nice to have at least somebody else you know in the water. Because it takes your mind off how cold it is when you're hanging out and being silly in the water. Here in New England, the ocean ranges in temperature from 65, 70, down to 30-ish degrees in the winter. Big storms either bring rain or snow. A lot of times the best waves are during snow storms or immediately after. It's a completely different feeling to be surfing in the snow. As opposed to everyone's ideal of surfing, which is bright, sunny and warm. But it's pretty cold here most of the year. The way I feel in the ocean is mostly peaceful. It's a very calming thing to just be in the ocean. When I catch a really good wave, it's a pretty indescribable feeling. There's that element of just feeling like you're one with the wave when you get a really good ride. The more I surf, the more I realize that's okay. That we don't all have to follow the same pattern in society. It's not for everybody. Some people think we're absolutely nuts. Yeah, we may be. But a lot of it is challenging yourself and seeing what kind of conditions you can survive in and thrive in. When you score good surf, you're stoked. If you want to see more from Seeker Stories, click here to check out our video on mountain unicycling. I like to pursue it for sport. We started trail riding because once you get the hang of riding on the road, it gets monotonous. You get on the trail and it's just so much more satisfying. Thanks for watching and be sure to subscribe.