Surf Check: Cape Cod

The Cape's first real snow of the year merits a surf check, even if coastal flooding was not expected. 

This is especially true if you go at low tide, like we did.

I work for a church in December, it lowers my availability, which is why we went to weaker-surf beaches at low tide rather than superheavyweights like Eastham or Duxbury at high tide.

We started at Town Neck Beach in Sandwich. We were also shooting from the Drunken Seal, because reasons.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we also checked out Sagamore Beach.

Nothing catastrophic, but a nice mini road trip.

Note the difference between Sagamore Beach, above, and Kalmus Beach in Hyannis, below.

Cape Cod Surf Check: Hurricane Dorian

Hurricane Dorian wasn't far offshore, so we headed out to see what sort of waves she was throwing our way. All storms are girls, even ones named Dorian.

Sagamore Beach was where we ended the South Shore Surf Check article and started the Cape Cod Surf Check one.

We gambled on some high tide South Shore destruction (Cape Cod, especially the Outer Cape, gets better waves, but the South Shore builds right on the high tide line, and it makes for better Surf Check photos... generally) and lost, so we weren't on the Outer Cape at high tide. This delay gave the seas more time to build.

Someone wet the bed

You sacrifice some closeness shooting from up on a sand cliff, but you get a Seagull view of the incoming surf.

Eastham is always a good place to shoot some surf.

The surf was rough, piling up, no slow rollers. We saw one surfer, and he was beached.

This could have been worse, as Dorian was still quite powerful. There was an astronomically low tide, and Dorian was far enough offshore.

The whole vibe was "nor'easter." It was even sort of chilly.

Winds were tropical storm force.

I want potato chips.

It's cool having a famous house, unless it's famous because they show it on the news when they talk about beach erosion maybe swallowing up a house. Still, cool f***ing house...

Truro, btw...

By the time we got back to Sandwich, the seas had calmed. There was nothing left to do but go to The Drunken Seal.

South Shore Surf Check: Hurricane Dorian

Hurricane Dorian was south of Nantucket, but close enough for fringe effects like rain, wind and rough surf. 

We got out early (6:47 AM high tide) to see what was what.

We started off in Duxbury, because things tend to get wrecked there. I don't know who planned their wedding for today (see video below), but I wish them all the best.

Duxbury was saved some damage by A) an astronomically low tide, and B) the timing/placement of the storm and high tide.

If you leave your stairs up for even the fringes of a hurricane, you sort of deserve this...

I tore down this backboard with a 360 tomahawk, then we were off to Marsh Vegas.

Sorry about the blurry tower, but the wind was gusting with some tropical storm force.

No surfers were out, and we went to ten beaches between this article and the Cape Cod one, so we would know. This was rough, choppy surf, the slow rollers will arrive later.

Rexhame is where the North River used to empty before her course was altered during the Portland Gale.

Off to Plymouth we go, a bit past high tide...

Off to Cape Cod...

Surf Check: Plymouth and Bourne

A nor'easter passed us by at low tide, so we went out at high tide to see if the waves were any good.

I got held up a bit at my night job, limiting our reach geographically. This is Sagamore Beach, facing Sandwich.

Ideally, we would be further up the South Shore, at a beach like Duxbury or Scituate with higher surf.

Facing Plymouth... this was what nor'easter photographers call a PBS (Plymouth, Bourne, Sandwich) run. If we had more time, we'd have done the CEO (Chatham, Eastham, Orleans) run or the similar CHEW (Chatham, Harwich, Eastham, Wellfleet) run. The Scituate and Marshfield focus gives us the S&M run, while leaving from Bourne and starting in Duxbury upgrades it to a BDSM run. A LBQT run means Let's Bloody Quit This.

Enough with Sagamore...

...Manomet awaits!

Even weak surf looks good from up in a cliff.

Sometimes, a Surf Check article means that dangerous surf is happening. Sometimes, it's just to let you know not to worry.

This nor'easter was a bit of an anomaly. Normally, we don't get ocean storms after mid-April. A worse storm would have ruined lawn repairs up and down the coastlines of the South Shore and Cape Cod.

This storm, following 40 days and 40 nights of rain, was definitely a Freak. Much of New England got May 14th snow from this.

South Shore Surf Check, 10/5

Tropical Storm Leslie is way offshore, but we thought that we'd take to the beaches and see what they were up to. 

Today, we went to Scituate, Marshfield, Duxbury, Kingston, Plymouth and Sagamore.

We did Scituate first.

The waves will be at their highest tonight, but I only have daylight time free.

Enough of the Scity, off to Vegas... after some video

We were a touch before high tide, because we had/have some ground to cover.

I didn't mind, because true high tide probably would have soaked me where I was standing.

Off to Deluxebury, after some wind video...

Duxbury is interesting in two ways... one way is that the waves are big, and the other way is to see if the seawall gets more damaged.

The wind was more north than east, and Duxbury faces East, so they had weak surf.

At least the wall is safe... for now.

Kingston gets a shot in before we check Duxbury's kite surfers, or whatever you call this sport.

Some foliage... why not?

Off to the Bert''s part of Plymouth...

Remember, the tides and surf will be worse tonight...

Sagamore Beach...

We also have a Cape Cod surf check coming up....