Zoner Stoke

[supthecreek]

Not a post about surf, it's about Zoner stoke.

Lots of Zoners hitting Cape Cod lately. It's always a time to get together and share some paddle time.

Stoneaxe spent a night last week. Had a blast surfing and partying at Abe's "Land Ho" CCBC fundraiser.
 
This week it was Andy Gere  & Chaser.

Saturday good waves were forecast.
Chaser pinged me.. You going tomorrow?
I pinged back... yeah... Saturday... with waves expected.... I'll be there by 4:45am. If your coming... come EARLY!

Pitch dark.....thought I was the first to the beach.... crap... someone beat me.
Voice out of the darkness... "Rick?"
Chaser was waiting for me.

Cars were streaming into the lot... it was going to be good today.

I had never surfed with Mike Chase before... I only knew him through his involvement with the CCBC events. This year Mike has taken over the reins from StoneAxe, as Head of the Cape Cod Bay Challenge. CCBC hosts 4 fund raisers for "Christopher's Haven" each year. It is well documented on the Zone for folks who might be new here... worth searching for the posts... great New England Events.

Anyway... I figured "chaser" to be a flat-water guy. Boston and all.
Holy crap was I wrong... Mike is a ripper... flat out. He got a ton of great waves in a very competitive lineup. He surfs with confidence and style... really fun to watch. Guess they must have waves around Boston.
Sorry... no picture from the session... it was dark when we went out and after my 5 hours, I just wanted something to eat.
Note... I pinged Andy Gere that it would be good... he went boating.
Rats... still haven't surfed with him.

So Andy texts me late Saturday night... "Going in the am?"
It's probably gonna suck... but yeaah... I'll be there.

It did suck. All the local crew took one look... and went home.
"Hey Andy!"
Andy is already suited up and into the water before the Sun came up. Crap... do I have to go out?

The domino effect happened. A whole group was standing around, hoping the wind would suddenly shift offshore. It didn't.
I said to Zoner "ron.c"... guess I'm going out to surf with Andy.
"ron.c" says, "if your going out... I'll go out"...
pretty soon the whole group paddles out into the morning chop. ... the "Zoner Effect"

I had a good time with Andy. He was riding an Ulli. He made it look easy. I said...."Let's swap"
Coming off my 8'10 Allwave in the crap chop conditions, I figured the 10' Uli would be cake. Wrong. I had no idea how to deal with all that volume and soft feel under foot. Wow, was it different. Face plant. Face plant on Uli... "this should be ok... soft board".... wrong! They feel pretty solid when you fall on them.

I look up and see Andy rip a nice right on my Allwave. He had no problem adjusting.

I did manage to tame the Ulli beast and a few interesting rides on some decent set waves... hummm... fun.

Andy left, the wind was dropping... I stayed for a while. Shared some fun waves with "ron.c" who was grabbing a ton of cleaner inside lefts.

Anyway... I figure everyone out there, was having fun because one Zoner, from Santa Cruz showed up and Pied Piper-ed us right into the lineup. Thanks Andy... that was fun.

As I left my coveted parking spot people were fighting over it... on the way out, I passed a Park Service Trolley bringing the hoards to the beach.

See all you NE Zoners at CCBC next Saturday. I am psyched.

Pictures are dawn patrol stoke shots from Saturday & Sunday.... nothin' surfy... but fun.
Shots are all in order... the sunrise did come up after Andy went out. Prime Great White feeding time. Pre- dawn, with lots of seals around. And Andy.

[freetobeme]

Nice Creek!  We are def lucky to have the SUP opportunities that we do and now some community!!! Even tho I complain about a lack of races. 

Im sure I will be making some kook appearances come Fall in the SUS scene

[Chaser]

Thanks for the kind words Creek...but you are the ripper.  It was fun to watch Rick catch a wave from outside the line up.  He is always in the right place and never misses a wave he sets out catch.  Watching him work down the line, you can just tell he is bursting with skill & experience.

Anyway, it was completely eye opening on Saturday to see what is happening on the Cape these days from a SUP perspective.  We got in the water around 5:20 and at that time there were probably 4-6 SUPs either out or on their way out, by 5:45 it was a dozen and by 6:15 there were probably 25-30 (maybe more) SUPs scattered up and down the coast.  At the peak we were surfing, there were SUPs, proners and a lone surf kayaker.  Generally the stoke was very high with the occasional glare from a proner or two but every one of the SUPrs was grinning from ear to ear and always willing to let his or her neighbor jump into the next wave.  It is a very cool vibe and I hope it can last.  I am spending a week on the Cape after the CCBC and can't wait to get out again with Creek and the crew.  What a great morning!

[ron.c]

Please excuse my poor grace Andy for not chatting it up on the high seas.  I think all the bobbing around kept the jaw-jacking down.  I'm sure that if you did not blaze the trail, none of us would have gone.  

Andy started it, Rick brought me to the edge and Terry kicked my scrawny a$$ over.

After going 5 or 6 for 5 or 6 without even getting wet above the waist, I had to brag to Terry about my imagined skill.  Shortly thereafter, Mother Nature, that sometimes cruel b!tch, gave this smug pip-squeak a schooling.  Too bad I didn't learn - over the handle bars  with my tombstone giving me a pounding.

Warm water, 5 supers with John plus a couple "regular" surfers thrown in.  Not as good as Saturday, but good just the same.

[stoneaxe]

I almost came down Saturday but took daughters boyfriend Jason to Newport to get him in some small waves...semi success. It wasn't that small and the short period made getting the 9-8 outside tough for him. He eventually made it though and experimented with the board outside for awhile. Caught a couple of small waves while getting caught either too far out or worse...too far in...wish I had my camera...lots of fun wipeouts.

I was surprised...no zoners...at least that I know...in the lineup at Newport. It was a busy day there too. Very nice glassy waist to chest with bigger sets. Ton of fun rides.

[supthecreek]

Bob, I was hoping you would show up Saturday. Glad you guys had fun in Newport.

Free.... get yer a$$ down here. Your missing all the fun.

Mike... I'm looking forward to getting in some more wave time with you. Let me know where you need me next weekend... I am very psyched about this years CCBC crossing.... TONs of very cool Zoners and other paddlers will be there.

[andygere]

The Zoner stoke was alive and well in Eastham. It was great to meet Rick and take a few waves on his sweet AllWave.  After a few misses, he quickly mastered the Uli bounce and ripped off a couple of long lefts in the chunkadelic conditions out there. Thanks for the surf alerts, always good to know when to go.

Ron C., nice to meet you and no worries, the surf is for surfing, plenty of time for chatty chat here.

Although I'm blessed with living in a wave rich town, it's always great to come home and surf the gin clear waters of the Cape. It's even better to do it with a crew of stoked surfers from the Zone.

[SlatchJim]

Man, there's "Bromance" and then there's... *(really, nothing I put here will be uncensored).

I've never seen the Atlantic, but I hear the sun rises right in your eyes.   
Good story by the way.

[ron.c]

Rant warning - Being close to home and all, I might get in trouble for this.

A self professed casual surfer from Eastham gave me a scoff when I mentioned SUP surfing yesterday.  My reply was - get a few good days under your belt and then give me your opinion.

My real thought was - although we all have a different skill level, I'm sure none of our crew would characterize themselves as casual.  How dare you judge us!!

Rick - you might remember the nice long left your were on while I was heading out.  Not "big" by "big boy" standards, but far from effing casual!  

Not only do a appreciate the older guys who go for it but the younger ones too.  A young lady parked next to me had all out-of- the-wrapper-clean Naish gear Saturday morning.  I gather from her description that she got an a$$ kick'n; but she did it and thought well enough to stow everything away neatly.  I suspect that she gave it more than a casual effort!

Time to take my meds--

[supthecreek]

Andy, look forward to seeing you out there again... it looks good ALL week.

Slatch... that's why I wear that silly looking hat... morning sun blindness

Ron... plenty of my surfer buddies are useless to talk to about SUP... it's like liberals and conservatives trying to say their way is best... no worries. We surf when they sit home... that's good enough for me
The last thing I want is for all the proners to show up on a SUP

[piece of 8]

Great story . I have not had the pleasure of joining the STC crew for the sunrise sessions, but I will be in Wellfleet after the CCBC until Tuesday. Sunday will definitely be out of the question, but Monday is a possibility depending on how I feel. At worst I may surf during the day. See you Saturday Rick.

[Caribsurf]

We'll be in Wellfleet until Tuesday too and hope there will be some surf post CCBC.
Looking forward to seeing old Zoners and meeting new ones too.

[stoneaxe]

I actually think getting out and surfing the next day is good for you so long as you don't push too hard. Bill and I have managed a have couple of sessions the day after in previous years. I'll be around Sunday and hopefully have Monday off so i'll be looking for waves.

[PDLSFR]

that's a ditto here as I'll be down til Monday night so getting waves with this crew is at the top of my agenda for Sunday and Monday. Lets hope for an easy CCBC paddle so we can all rip it up on Sunday (with hangovers from all cold Wachusett brew) !!

[Caribsurf]

Hey Stoney, SUP the Creek and all, how far are your usual surf breaks on the Cape from Wellfleet?  Last year we stayed and surfed some fun waves at Wellfleet's town beach, but am sure there are better options...