Date: Sat, 3 Jan 1998 Subject: Re: New Years surf
Finished off this year with a sloppy session at RM5 on the 31st. It was cold as fuck, the wind was sideshore and the waves were lumpy shoulder-high mushbergers, but, hey. it was the last surf of '97.
Friday the 2nd was much better. Andrew and I drove out to Montauk to see dr at the Ryan Ranch. Since the wind was SW, we went to Turtles where it was about shoulder-high, pretty well lined up with only five other guys out. Dr got some long rides off the point, which pissed off the shortboarders no end, Andrew got moshed in the rocks and I had a few fun rights.
Later we went out for dinner. Dr took us to a spot where we gathered about three dozen oysters. Then we trekked to another quiet cove where the Minister and Andrew raked up some clams in waist-deep water that was topped by a slurry of ice. Beer, scotch and BBQ chicken rounded out the hunter-gatherer's feast -- not a bad start to 1998.
Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 hey nikki,
hope you had a good weekend.
a crew of surfers went out to demo point yesterday to catch the remains of the nor'easter. i'd like to say that it was epic and we ruled, but it wasn't and we grovelled. still it was fun to get wet.
dr caught it all on video. I could say it was an off day, or that my inner ear was damaged, or that it was too cold, but the fact is, I just sucked. If you have quicktime you can see the proof by clicking here.
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 Subject: Re: MONTAUK MADNESS dr, Just had a look at the wave models. Looks like the weekend will blow out. I think Friday's the day for LI and possibly NJ. Probably have another hellacious westward sweep to contend with, but if you hit in the morning (Hi tide's at 8:30) at least the outgoing tide should help with the paddle out.
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 Subject: Oaxaca! harry, sorry we didn't connect in nyc -- i
guess you were busy connecting with that producer babe.
sudden, fortuitous change of circumstance -- i got fired! -- leads me to believe that playas and pyramids are the plan for march/april. will talk to alonzo this evening abt. mayan article and mexico in general.
you still interested in coming along as staff photog? call me or post me back on this bat-channel.
Thu, 29 Jan 1998 Subject: Equinox in Palenque harry, i spoke to alonzo earlier this evening and i think we've got a story, or several stories.
a big part of the tourism in alonzo's corner of the jungle is driven by new age seekers, who are drawn to the pyramids as an epicenter of mystic forces. among the pilgrims have been terrence mckenna, who occasionally leaves his hot tub at the esalen institute to write books like "true hallucinations" and recharge his cosmic batteries in the rainforests of south america. the guy who wrote "the mayan factor" (?) is also a frequent visitor.
every year heavenly events draw the make-your-own religion crowd to palenque like sparrows to capistrano. after mayan carnival at the end of february, the next big event is the vernal equinox, march 20. i propose we get there a week ahead of equinox to see what happens.
while i've got the time, i'd like to do this right and spend a few weeks in the yucatan, with maybe a side trip to belize, and then take the boards and head for the coast. march is a good time of year to go. it's the beginning of the wave season, a relatively dry time of year and water temps should be around 80F. i guess i'd look to return to nyc by the end of april. what do you think?
Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 Subject: Rockaway Thursday
Two cheers for global warming. It was a beautiful day at the beach: 44F water and 45-50F air with a light offshore breeze. And sunny -- in January.
Waves were grinding at 90th st. Rockaway, breaking top to bottom in the 8-10 ft range. Moderate westward current with a decent rip forming in the lee of the jetties, but we couldn't get out.
At noon today FI buoy recorded swell at 9ft, 13 seconds. Sounds ideal, yet none of the locals suited up. Apart from being old and slow, I blame it on the wave trains. There were no substantial lulls.
Simon, Jon and I headed down to Far Rockaway -- 27th St., near the inlet that separates Long Beach from the Rockaway peninsula. Talk about urban blight. This place looked more bombed out that the worst parts of Atlantic City. And there was this weird brown foam on the beach, like the head on a sewage cappacino. Anyway, it was smaller and we paddled out no problem.
Unfortunately, it was peaky and closing out a lot at 27th so we hiked up to 42nd St., which had even bigger closeouts. Simon and I both got drilled a couple of times. And then on one left, I pulled in and saw the curtain come over, and there I was in the brown room looking out at a receding oval of daylight. Then it all went black.
I guess it was a good day, I mean I was at the beach and it was sunny and nobody broke into my car, so yea, it was a good day.
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 Subject: flight #s Hey Harry,
Tiks came in the mail today. Also picked up my prescriptions for malaria and typhoid today.
Probably some other important planning stuff to communicate, but it escapes me at the moment.
.