Local wind swells in the 4-5’ range @ 8 second intervals. Strong offshore winds of 20-25 MPH made it a workout to catch the waves. Have to keep sprinting until I felt the waveski go up to speed. Anytime I let up, I was blown back over the back of the wave.
Not the best quality of waves, but it was a quality day with sunshine and air temps in the 50s. Lots of walkers and more surfers. Lots of positive questions about my ride… “Yeah, It is called a waveski… It is a sit-on-top surf board that requires kayaking skills, blah, blah…”
Ah yes, Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass…I knew right off the bat there was no way that initial video with the curler was real. But the vid maker could’ve gotten some slightly better rides, only a few more blocks south toward the Battery, catching the dual cross current wakes from the comings and goings of the Staten Island ferries (and you can bet the NYPD Harbor Patrol would’ve been all over his ass for it.)
I saw that vid of the blokes out in Lawn Guy Land sometime back and thought, "Hey, I should head out east to visit some family there, then use the excuse that I’m attending an “Extreme Geezer Surf Rendezvous” as the cue to get away from my kinfolk early.
I’m scheduled to go down to “Da City” end of June for a paddle with friends launching from W.79th Street Boat Basin, heading down the Hudson to South Street Seaport/Brooklyn Bridge and back(16 miles riding ebb and flood). Almost tempted to bring ISUP to avoid any a-holes messing with me boat whilst on the car rack–However that’s more work than I wanna do with my friends in tourers. But after the calorie burn, one thing’s for certain: I’ll be tagging Katz’s Deli to get a decent corned beef on rye.
