Hurricane Florence Recap

Hey guys and gals,

Hoping everyone got their fair share of the Florence swell last week. We’d also like to express our thoughts and prayers to our southern brethren for a speedy recovery from the flooding damage. As we reminisce on Hurricane Florence, we’d like to give a little recap of the 4-day swell from the Cat 2 hurricane and discuss what equipment worked well out in the lineup.

SE swell from Flo started showing up Wednesday evening and tapered off towards the end of Saturday, with Thursday and Friday morning seeing the bulk (peak buoy reading of ~8 ft. @ ~15 sec!!). Although swell was sufficient to light up most of RI’s nooks, the persistent easterly/northeasterly winds made finding the right spot a bit of a challenge. That being said, if you were up early, you probably got the best of the tides and winds on Thursday and Friday.

Team rider Nick Burdi laying into a fun section on his Pyzel "Phantom."

One of our shop employees found some protection from the wind along the eastern shoreline of RI Thursday morning, where wave heights were reported to be 6 to 8 feet. Here he used his step up - a 6’3” Pyzel “Ghost” with a rounded pin tail - which provided all the drive and paddle power he needed to lay down some proper rail work on the double-overhead faces of the Landing. South County breaks also saw sizeable surf Thursday and Friday, and fared a bit better when the NE winds would pick up in the afternoon. Shop owner, Gerald Yuska, found that the more versatile shapes - The Pyzel “Phantom” (featured above, ridden by team rider Nick Burdi) and the Roberts “Dream Maker” – suited the racy beach breaks of Green Hill and Misquamicut very well, drawing the speed necessary to go high performance.

Florence was certainly a proper kick off for fall swell, and it has us optimistic for the next swells to come *fingers crossed.* Unfortunately, for now, the Atlantic seems to be taking a little hiatus from any major cyclonic activity. With that said, there appears to be some (minor) wave action in store for the end of the week, as a warm front moving north of the RI coastal waters Thursday draws some (potentially) gale force S-SW winds by Friday. As always, feel free to call the shop for any questions about oncoming swells, what boards to ride, or any other inquiries.

Cheers