In Maine, a day off from school means a day on for surfing. When everyone is complaining about a storm moving up the coast, surfers are hitting the water for some fun.
On a recent trip, I headed out with John Lane, Ethan Humphries, Nick Hutchins, Finn McLain and Jack Sharp. The swells were over 15 ft high and the breaks were firing. The film below was the result.
We packed up John’s van with surfboards, wet suits and camera equipment and headed out. We first stopped at Higgins Beach and checked out the waves. Unfortunately, Higgins Beach was a confused mess of whitewater and funky wave breaks so we decided to keep driving south. We checked out a couple more spots, but it was more of the same.
We then decided to take a risk and check out Old Orchard Beach. To our surprise OOB was perfect. We parked on the side of the road, gathered our things and got ready. To surf in Maine you need a certain amount of drive and grit, and this group of dudes had it.
The weather was brutal and it was hard to stay warm. As I shot video from the beach, my hands were numb and my face burned from wind. In other words, a perfect day for surfing.
Nick and John caught back-to-back, head-high waves in the first 5 minutes of the session. Unfortunately, the winds increased and started to ruin the breaks. After a short but sweet session, the boys rounded up their gear and headed home thinking about the next winter surfing trip.
