PROVINCETOWN — Jay Critchley led the 42nd Re-Rooters Day ceremony on the beach in the East End, at a spot he says he chose for its embrace of the harbor […]
Surfing
WARRIORS WATCH
Nauset Boys Hockey Rolls Over the Hilltoppers
Ward and Poulin both notch hat tricks as Warriors remain unbeaten at 7-0-1
ORLEANS — The Nauset boys hockey team jumped out to a 4-0 first-period lead and coasted to a 9-0 victory over the Hopkinton Hilltoppers Monday night in front of a […]
NATURAL SELECTION
Shadow Dancing With the Pines
If you see a young pine growing in the dim understory, it’s not likely to be one of our iconic pitch pines — Pinus rigida, a pioneer species, is intolerant […]
SURFING
The Small Wave Days
Finding the joy in a knee-high swell
Coffee spilled from our mugs as we drove over the big tree root at the end of the driveway. It happens every time Eli and I go to check the […]
SURFING
Flying on the Edge of Sunset
After fearing it, a surfer rides the calm of the fading light
For most of my life, I’ve had a recurring nightmare. It’s dusk, the light is fast fading from the day, and I’m headed to the ocean to surf. I arrive […]
SURFING
Giving Up on Second-Guessing the Swell
After chasing the perfect storm waves, what’s remembered is something else
For a whole week, I had been watching the storm develop in the southern Atlantic. Lee was growing into a hurricane and was predicted to track northward up the East […]
SURFING
To Learn to Surf, Leave the Board on the Beach
Watch for currents, feel the waves, and start your relationship with the ocean
Surfing is, in essence, being in a relationship with the sea. Before you learn to surf, you must learn to be close to the water. A learner soon finds that […]
SURFING
The Surfer’s Curse
Blind spots, optimism, and the pursuit of novelty waves
You might see surfing as a virtuous thing. It provides a rewarding focus. It ignites a sense of passion and serves as a creative pursuit. Surfing tunes you into your […]
SURFING
The Paddle Out Completes a Circle
The surfers’ ritual of celebration, gratitude, and farewell
WELLFLEET — The messages and phone calls came in all day. People asking, “Are you OK? I heard something happened at Lecount’s.” Messages and calls went out, asking the same […]
SURFING
The Complex Stuff of Simplicity
Boards, suits, straps, wax, and other things surfers need to ‘be in the moment’
Surfing exemplifies simplicity: a human, on a board, riding a wave. There is a presence and purity to it. When you are surfing, everything falls away and the only thing […]
SURFING
The Wave as a Quasi-Religious Presence
Defining the soul of a place by the ocean
I spent a good part of my late teens and early 20s traveling and surfing in Central America. I followed word-of-mouth suggestions on where to find the next good wave […]
COLD WAVE
6 Questions Sane People Ask Winter Surfers
It might be crazy, but ‘it makes us smile’
Being a surfer on Cape Cod in the winter invites a lot of questions. Willingly jumping into the ocean when the temperature dips below freezing and the waves are big […]
SURFING
Nyepi, the Day of Silent Danger
A lesson in social responsibility on the island of Bali
We knew the waves were good. The surf reports showed it. There was a big south swell sweeping in from the Indian Ocean onto the reefs to the west. The […]
SURFING
After the Shipwrecks, Joy
Is it right to feel so happy in the very place where sadness dwelled?
Often, when I am sitting out in the ocean, snug in my thick wetsuit, warm against the ripping wind and salt spray, I think about all the souls that have […]
SURFING
Localism Is Surfing’s Dark Side
A protective instinct that unites us and can drive us apart
You’ve heard a lot about the wholesome, soulful side of surfing. That’s what draws most of us in. It is the current that runs strongest through surfing. It is the […]
