Had a moment swimming yesterday, after diving under huge waves for about 10 minutes straight (they kept coming), where I thought, “Yeah. This is how people exhaust themselves. This is why there is a yellow flag. You really need to stop swimming right now.” The waves weren’t dauntingly big, but big enough – definitely twice my height. But it wasn’t the height that was the issue: it was that they never stopped rolling in. You would be dealing with the roiling foam of four huge waves at any given moment. Come up for air to see another green monster barreling down on you. Dive under, come up for air, huge wave in your face yet again… I was at the beach for five hours yesterday and that pace never stopped once while I was there. It was rather extraordinary because usually, on normal days, you have moments of calm, where the sea pulses and heaves gently, and everyone stands around waiting for the next wave. Yesterday, there was no waiting. And each wave was huge, there were no minor waves going on. The surfers were in their glory. The waves barreled towards the jetty and crashed in giant mountains of foam. The lifeguards were all very nervous, and there were many red flags up too, they wanted to control where people were swimming. It almost wasn’t fun because you didn’t want to go out too far to pass the breaking point of the giant waves – the lifeguards were waving us in anyway – so you were forced to deal with their teetering crashing phases. Repeatedly. You have to time your dive through the wave perfectly, otherwise the foam will pummel you about. I have bruises on my elbows and knees from being thrashed around. The foam was so TALL too: at all times it was up to my chest. That was another thing that was unique about yesterday. There was a lot of debris on the beach, crushed up flotsam and jetsam (I love having an opportunity to use those wonderful words) left over from the storm. One little girl, around 10 years old, (the one doing the cartwheel in the photo below), was rolling around in the surf next to me, her mother nearby. We hung out (as much as one can hang out when one is constantly diving under waves twice your height), and the little girl, before each wave smashed her in the face, kept calling out, “I’m sorry, God of Neptune!” I was very impressed with her.
Irene’s effects were definitely still seen in the ocean as of yesterday. Many of my family and friends in Rhode Island not only don’t have power, but many still don’t have running water. YMCAs are letting people shower for free, as well as come in to charge their phones and laptops. School has been pushed back. The damage is extensive (not to mention what’s going on in Vermont and the Catskills area – very scary stuff). I wanted to go visit my beach again – I had seen it on the news on the day of the hurricane and it looked like armageddon. Except for the flotsam and jetsam and – oh yeah – the giant rollers tearing in, one after the other after the other after the other … there was no evidence that Irene had even been there.
I know the fun and awe of the Atlantic in high surf, but I’m really glad yougot out of the water. Hope things are better for your friends and neighbors today.
Cool break, Sheila! Good surf prose and pics! I wanna angle in your soup.
I had wanted to go down to the beach on Monday when I knew the surf would be even more insane but many of the highways were closed and that area was still flooded, so, yeah, I decided against it. :) But I had to see what was going on yesterday – I knew there’d still be some wave action!
GREAT! They look really tight, or is it your zoom? Good beach, keep ya busy!
Are you between two jettys on the same beach in these pix? Or did you cross the sagittal plane, (or the jetty) and there’s only one main jetty? Looks pretty intense, though I don’t know the optics… but, beautiful breaks in any case!
as someone who has spent very little time on an ocean beach, i have a question.
what is the significance of the yellow flag?
Kent – the jetty you see behind the surfers is giant and abuts up against a channel of water which goes under a giant drawbridge. The beach is broken up by rock jetties (you can see another one behind the little girl cartwheeling). It usually gets really rough around the jetties, of course – and that’s where the surfers hang out.
Amelie – on this beach anyway, yellow flag meant: “Only knee-deep wading”. Red flag meant “no swimming at all”. “Green flag” means: “All clear, everybody in.” Of course we all kept pushing the yellow flag warning – I was definitely in up to my chest as were many other people – but they just wanted us to be aware and careful and not get too far out. It was hard to get far out anyway because of the relentless nature of the waves.
Kent – and the jetty with the tower on it is where all the fishermen hang out. Great great views out there, I like hanging out out there, it’s something else to see those waves barreling at you from open sea.
Is Block Island ok? I was worried about them. Over the weekend I went back and re-read your posts about the Island from winter last year. I am definitely going to visit the Island next summer! Glad you’re ok, I was worried about you too! My husband’s family is in Queens and on Long Island, it was a weekend of worry but all turned out fine.
Block Island is pretty good but there are many sections of Rhode Island still without power. People are holding up okay but it makes it hard, what with school starting and everything. Mixed reports on when people will get power back – Facebook has been a great gathering place to share information (especially if you don’t have the Internet but can get there through your phone). Info about places you can shower for free, and who has power back, and etc. I’m more worried about Vermont right now!!
Thanks for the info, Sheila! What a fantastic spot… wasn’t sure but it looked like multiple jettys, and well planned. Thanks for sharing your secret beach! LOVE it.