SURF'S UP!
AND COLD!!

Winter surfing means fewer people and bigger waves. Just watch out for the chunks of ice

by MARC SCHULTZ

On a typical weekend in January, when most of us are thinking about shovelling snow or heading to the mountains for a weekend on the slopes, guys like Mark Anastas are zipping up their wetsuits and getting ready to go surfing. Anastas owns two modest surf shops in southern Maine and surfs the Atlantic north coast 12 months of the year. The sandy beaches of Ogunquit and York that Quebecers flock to in the thousands every summer are well covered in snow by December, but it doesn’t deter some of the local surfers who brave the five-degree water.

From Nova Scotia to southern New Jersey, the coast rustles with surfers who surf the Atlantic in the most unpleasant of conditions. Snowstorms and blowing winds are often the forecasts that bring the best waves. Anastas and his friends endure the cold water, watching icicles form on the brims of their neoprene hoods, to get some of the best surfing of the year.

“I’ll put my wetsuit on at home, put my jacket and boots on, shovel my way to the truck just to get the car out of the driveway,” Anastas says. “When I get to the beach I’ll take off my winter clothes, trek across the snow and get into the water.”

Over-head high and rising

Surfing’s rise in popularity has been a mixed blessing for Anastas, proprietor of the Liquid Dreams Surf Shops in Ogunquit and York. Coastal Maine and New Hampshire get very busy in the summer months, with up to 25 surfers sharing the same waves. The winter brings a kind of justice.

“In the winter there are still days when you share waves with others,” says Anastas. “But you can find spots where it’s just yourself and a few guys getting some really good waves.”

On the north Atlantic coast, the water temperature from October to April varies from 7 to 0 C, compared with the summer months when the water can push up to 20 C on a good day. Lance Moore, owner of Hurricane Surf shop in Halifax, Nova Scotia, explains that what surfers lose in temperature, they gain in quantity.

“The waves get up to double over-head, 10 to 12 feet,” he says. “We get head-high surf once or twice a week or more. It all depends on the storms.”

Beware of ice chunks

In addition to dealing with the cold, there are other obstacles that aren’t so evident. Near a river mouth (where rising ocean tides funnel into), the water can freeze up when the tide comes in. When the tide pulls out, the frozen water breaks up and sends large chunks of floating ice back out into the ocean. Though injuries are rare, broken fins and dented boards aren’t uncommon.

Moore also points out that the ocean isn’t the only obstacle: “We check the roads to see which are best—the weather dictates where we surf. Last winter, my truck did two full spins trying to get to the surf. It was crazy, people were off the road everywhere.”

Since Maine and New Hampshire have the coldest surfable waves in the USA, it’s a good thing that wetsuit technology is improving. New features like liquid tapped seams, high quality thin stretch rubber and integrated hoods have made winter surfing more enjoyable and more accessible. Says Anastas: “Surfers in North Carolina and Florida think we’re nuts, but we’ve got companies coming up here and asking us what they can do to make surfing better in cold water. That’s never happened before.”

Frozen solid

Even with the best equipment, surfing in the winter months still presents real challenges, even for veteran surfers. “I’ve been in the water and the air temperature will drop 20 degrees as a storm blows in,” Anastas says. “The water on my wetsuit got so cold that it started to freeze solid. I had a hard time moving.”

The sheer addiction to the sport is what drives surfers to the beach 12 months of the year. Anastas even has good things to say about summer tourist surfers. “I love Montreal surfers,” he says. “They call me at the shop asking how the waves are and I tell them if it’s going off. Then they drive down, sleep in their cars and surf early in the morning.”

For more info about surfing in Maine go to www.liquiddreamssurf.com . For surf school and Nova Scotia info go to www.hurricanesurf.com.