CANADA

drove up to north this weekend to see my girlfriend and look for some summertime surf. didnt find much but the views alone were worth adventuring over.

SEA TIME

time out to sea is a drain. emotionally and physically. but its a also a replenisher for the soul. its simple. its free. and even though it hurts to be away from the ones i love, the ocean has a hold on us all. i wrote this sitting on the fantail of the ship i was on. watching the sun set over the north atlantic and two seagulls float and perch on our main mast. the photos are from this trip.

Theres truth in the ocean. Somewhere deep inside her waves,

Theres comfort in her hold, to always be a slave.

The salt, sun and wind getting tossed about like a flea,

Theres truth in the ocean, but its only true for me.

See, my truth is different from the one you call your own,

To you its just the ocean. And I am but a stone.

My truth isnt accepted, though I feel it to be true,

Your truth is more real, because its accepted by you.

But id paddle back out for seven lifetimes more,

because she gives me the choice to go back to shore.

And Ill keep staring at the sun as it sets,

Looking back on my life, it full of regrets.

So, my truth may not be fit for all but the salts,

And I sit here craggy and aged, tack those on to my faults.

This life is a lonely one for a man and the sea,

But its the one I choose, and I choose for me.

  

GOODBYE GOOD NIGHT

BSTN

im leaving on a sailing trip for two weeks. my new home will be on the decks of the coast guard cutter eagle. i took this as the clouds broke before sunset. we sail on monday. looking forward to being back at sea, if only for a short time.

AVLA

its cloudy today. dug through some pics of my last trip home. missing the golden state and patiently waiting for a strike home in october. 

DAD

another one from the dusty archives of when i thought i wanted to be a writer. circa 2009, fathers day. 

A lot of dads surf. Mine doesn’t. But, the lack of having him in the water with me makes thoughts of him ever more present. I think of it when, after a session I see some kid peeling off his wetsuit with his dad there helping the cumbersome process. In the water the father-son bond is even more prevalent. Hooting your progeny through a floater, or even sharing a wave with a parent, evokes feelings that I haven’t been able to feel. The bond between son and father is multiplied when the medium through which they are connected is something as spiritual as the ocean. 

You could say i'm jealous, maybe even a little cynical towards the family surf session. But more than resentment i've learned to show my father what surfing means to me. He may not be in the water, but he is still there in spirit. Ill tell him about the waves I caught, the dolphins I saw, or the new friends I made. I explain swell, wind and tide to try to paint a better picture for him. And slowly, my dad starts to be there with me. The post-surf briefing no longer starts with a comment from me. He engages and asks about the conditions, how I did and what I saw.

He may never get to experience what it feels like to get tubed or the first breath of air after getting held under, but he can live those things through me. No longer do we search for that common ground for conversation. We have made our own ground, and found it with the sea. I am a surfer, and my dad is not. And, we can still be stoked together.

ross

RHODY LOVE

since moving from hawaii to the east coast, ive been missing the laid back vibes of home. fortunately, in rhode island, there is a like-minded group of cruise people I can call friends. not to mention, its pretty as hell.

BLK ISL

my friend carl took me to an island this weekend. we surfed alone all day. i took some pictures. i surfed. it was a good day to be a human in the water.