This is no joke and we have talked
to surfers that have gone as far as having a serious and painful medical operation to carve back and
reopen the ear canal which leaves a scar. Don't forget we have two ears so this surgery can be doubly painful.
Short of this measure which is no doubt exasperated by duck diving in 60°F
degree and colder water many locals have been taking preventive measures using an ear wax plug that can be
inserted in the outer ear prior to entering the water. The idea being preventing all the water from entering the ear.
Surfers and body boarders are not the only one susceptible to the ear bone closure. The problem is even more common among sailboarders who habitually face off into cold water, get their ear canal full of water then run at high speed
usually with a favored side of the head to windward. In these situations an anomally occurs with that ear in extosis while the leeward ear shows little affect.
It is difficult to tell who might be more suseptible to ear bone extoses because this might be related to heredity.
However, to be sure, the younger you are, the shorter board you probably ride and the more exposure
you will have to duck diving and time in your life to surf in our cold climate, so you are already at high risk. Go to CVS before your next time out and
start using wax plugs. The Macks silicone ones are the only ones that I know about. Some of the
best surfers are now using the ear protection, but it is incredible how many don't or just don't know! We are just not built like pinnepeds as much as we think we are! Only you can save your hearing.
And remember, "Egredri litem mundus" (Leave the shore clean, neat, elegant.)
The average natural erosion rate on the Atlantic Ocean side of Cape Cod had been 3.8 feet a year. However, in the area of Nauset Light, the average for the period 1987-1994 has accelerated to 5.8 feet. There may be little or no erosion in some years, and more than fifteen feet in other years.
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Where the waves are
By K.C. MYERS
CC Times
WELLFLEET - David Newell, manager of Nauset Sports, checks Coast Guard Beach in Eastham each morning before making his recorded surf report.
"Knee-high, ridable lines from yesterday's swell but a north, northeast wind is chopping it up," Newell says in his June 10 recorded rundown.
If his information makes as much sense as Swahili, your adventure into surfing has just begun. You are about to enter the "cult of climatology," as Newell says, where even the most casually-dressed teen makes complex meteorological predictions and testosterone-laden surf wars can break out over the position of white water and sand.
And Newell knows where the surf is.
Cape Cod may not have the mammoth swells of Pacific Rim surfing meccas. And Cape Cod Bay and Nantucket Sound are known for their gentle waters.
But there is a fair share of foam on some of the Outer Cape beaches where those seeking to sample the ocean's power flock to surf, boogie board and generally play in the waves.
This is a mini-world that extends 40 miles from the southernmost tip of Nauset Beach in Chatham to Head of the Meadow Beach in Truro, Newell said.
For beginners, a boogie board, which is inexpensive and easy to ride, is a great way to get into the waves. You can learn to ride it in a day, and the waves don't have to be too big to have some fun.
For the more dedicated lover of ocean power, surfing on Cape Cod has proven good enough for people to alter the course of their lives around it.
"It screwed up my life pretty good," said Sebastian Frawley. "It made me lose a few jobs."
Frawley, 33, now works for Eric Gustafson, 42, owner of Fun Seekers, a Wellfleet company that provides surfing, kite surfing, and windsurfing lessons as well as kayak and mountain bike tours.
Many people have tried to describe the joy of surfing. For my first ride, I felt scared and awe-struck. My muscles prickled with fatigue and adrenaline for hours afterward. A day later, my muscles didn't ache (as much) and the world away from the ocean seemed slightly flat and colorless.
Finding the waves
Predicting good surf is a science that people actually get paid for in California, Newell says. But for the uninitiated, there are some basic ways to find waves on the Cape.
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Wind: On Cape Cod, a north to northeast blow is no good. That's an onshore breeze that creates white caps, and causes the waves to break at odd, inconsistent moments, Frawley said. The summer prevailing wind, south to southwest, is better. This off-shore breeze "cleans" the waves, Frawley said.
Surf: The best swell comes from thousands of miles away where, surfers sincerely hope, there has been a hurricane or a least a low-pressure system that has kicked up the sea. These waves travel until they reach land and are the most powerful sort. Waves are also generated by certain winds right here off the Cape. In that case, they have less power, but can still be great for novices, Gustafson said.
Tides: Sandbars -or shallow spits of sand - are more exposed during low tide, and that means low-tide is the best time to surf. But every sand bar is different and they move all the time, Gustafson said. In general, Wellfleet's White Crest Beach earned it's name because of the attractive surf at low-tide. The sand bars there get better as the water level drops. Head of the Meadow in Truro is fantastic at low-tide. Mid-tide and low-tide, you can find surf at Coast Guard Beach and Nauset Light Beach in Eastham and Nauset Beach in Orleans, said Frawley.
The first two are accessible to anyone as long as you buy a beach pass from the Cape Cod National Seashore. They're $30 for the season, or $10 a day. White Crest and Nauset are town-run and cost $10 a day for non-residents.
Getting started
Now that you know wind, waves and tides, you will suddenly find yourself in the water, facing a wall of shining, blue energy.
What do you do?
If you've never done anything in the waves before, boogie boarding is amazing. The 42-inch boards can be purchased at sports shops or corner stores and range in price $10 to $200.
To begin, walk with your board into the water until you are standing where the waves are generally breaking. Stand and look at a wave until you are a few feet from where it is about to "throw over" or break. When you see the beginning splash of the break, jump on that board. With chest and belly on top of the board, hold onto the front or the sides. If you're lucky, you'll virtually fly to the shore.
But if that still sounds boring to you, welcome to surfing. A sport that "makes you feel lucky to be alive," Gustafson said.
You're never too old to learn or too young, said Matt Rivers, owner of the Pump House Surf Shop, which also offers surfing lessons. The thrill seeking will cost you. Lessons here are $40 an hour.
But unless you have all summer to hang out on the beach and the abdominal muscles of a teen pop star, you better start out with a lesson. Gustafson recommends a two-hour lesson to get the basics.
One tip, Gustafson says, is to respect surfing etiquette.
Beginners aren't welcome at the best, most crowded sand bar on the beach. There is a pecking order, he said. The best surfers reserve that spot and they won't be shy to tell you, either.
Tip number two: duck if you ever fall off the board, and then see it in between you and a huge wave. If you don't, get ready for a good knock to the noggin or neck.
Long boards are better for smaller waves and more stable. These can be rented at several shops for between $10 to $20 a day.
And since the Cape isn't exactly tropical paradise, get a wetsuit. They're needed even in the peak heat of summer.
Newell recommends a 3/2 full-body suit, which is generally thick enough for water temperatures between now and Columbus Day. Prices start at $65 to over $100 at the Pump House or Nauset Sports. They are also rentable at Jacks and the Pump House.
Catching the import wave
Now surfboards represent the ying and yang of foreign production: less tradition but lower prices
By ETHAN ZINDLER
Cape Cod Times
WELLFLEET - (8/8/04) In a nondescript, corrugated aluminum warehouse on the Lower Cape, Shawn Vecchione plies the craft of hand-shaping surfboards, carefully sanding their polyurethane cores, then coating them with Fiberglas.
With the help of three assistants, he can produce 400 to 500 of the sleek, colorful beauties a year, each branded with his trademark "Vec."
The boards retail at surf shops around New England for $400 to $700 but he can't crank them out fast enough.
"I've blown up. I've got hundreds of orders," said Vecchione recently. "Now I can't meet my demand."
Still, he worries about rising competition posed by a flood of imported boards from China, Thailand and Taiwan. Thanks to lower labor costs, they typically retail for $100 to $200 less than those made by traditional methods.
"My life is surfboards," Vecchione said. "I can't afford to make $1 an hour."
It's a common complaint among U.S. shapers, who for decades have crafted boards in the same timeworn way. Now, riding the recent wave of surfing's increased popularity, foreign manufacturers have joined the game, producing less expensive boards by the thousands.
American shapers, including Vecchione, acknowledge that the quality of some imported boards now rival those made domestically. But they charge that foreign manufacturers, aware of the stigma among surfers of "Made in China," deliberately dupe consumers with misleading branding and insufficient labeling to make them believe they're buying U.S. products.
Federal regulators appear to agree. They've begun cracking down on companies that fail to clearly, indelibly and in large type indicate country of origin on their boards.
Cool like "Blue Crush"
In 2003, $4.1 billion in surf-related products were sold in the United States, according to Sean Smith, managing director of the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association, based in San Clemente, Calif. That's up from $3.3 billion in 2001.
Apparel sales accounted for the biggest portion of that sum. Thanks to the success of films such as "Blue Crush" and "Step Into Liquid," kids from Toledo to Tuscaloosa now wear long "board shorts" and flip-flops.
Boards themselves totaled $200 million in sales in 2002, but have grown substantially since, said Smith. What portion of that represents foreign-made boards is unknown because U.S. Customs and Border Patrol hasn't specifically tracked surfboard imports.
The growing popularity of the sport can be seen on Outer Cape beaches around low tide when as many as 30 surfers crowd the breaks at Whitecrest Beach in Wellfleet. A contest held there two Saturdays ago attracted more than 100.
For decades, crafting a surfboard has held a certain mystique among devotees of the sport. Surfers contract shapers to build a board tailored to their height, weight and surf style.
Today, the cachet of having a locally-made board, or at least one produced in one of the world's surf meccas, remains.
"I'd like to buy one that's made wherever I'm at," said Nate Howe of Wellfleet on a recent evening before hitting the waves at Whitecrest.
He and a friend, both AmeriCorps volunteers, couldn't afford a new board so together they paid $200 for a used 8-footer made in California.
A surf shop's dilemma
The influx of foreign-made boards has placed surf-shop owners in a pickle. They remain loyal to the hand-crafters who have supplied them for years but are fearful of mass retailers eating their lunch. Low-priced boards from mainland China can now be found at Costco and other big box stores, they point out.
Matt Rivers, owner of the Pump House, a surf shop in Orleans, said it makes sense for his shop to stock both foreign and domestic boards.
"Not everyone wants to spend $400 to $700 on a board, especially when they're just starting out," he said. "The lower end stuff gets you in the water and gets you hooked."
He sells plastic boards made in France by Bic, a company better known for its pens, for $200 to $300. After they get comfortable in the water, surfers can upgrade to a custom-made local board, said Rivers.
Just across Route 6A at Nauset Sports, manager Dave Newell said individual board shapers may soon become as outmoded as cobblers. His store sells Vecchione's boards alongside imports. Some foreign-made boards are actually better, he said.
"There's a certain mystique born of ego of the surfer who would like to have input," he said. "But who would you rather have build your house, a guy who has built two or 2,000?"
Vecchione and other shapers admit foreign makers have made significant strides in production and design techniques. But they say importers deliberately mislead consumers into thinking they're buying American and, in the process, violate federal trade law.
In recent years, overseas companies have purchased the rights to defunct surf brands popularized in the '70s and '80s, such as Surfers Alliance and Surfboards Australia. They export their boards clearly marked with those splashy logos but with relatively obscure 3- or 4-square-inch "Made in ... " labels affixed to the tails.
"Our stance is it's unfair because the end consumer doesn't know the whole story," said Smith from the board makers' association. "It's imperative that all companies abide by federal law."
Under U.S. Customs regulations, overseas products must clearly and indelibly indicate their country of origin, said Tom McKenna, a national import specialist with the U.S. Customs office in New York. A tiny removable sticker won't do.
"You better be prepared to write 'Product of China' as clearly and the same size (as the logo)," he said.
McKenna said he was aware that a number of foreign board makers have not complied with those rules. The agency can impose penalties on importers or force them to send the boards back.
In what appears to be Customs' first official response to the complaints of domestic board makers, the agency last month ordered Hawaiian Pro Designs Inc., a California company that imports from Thailand, to better label its boards. It stopped short of forcing the company to purge its existing inventory.
Company spokesperson Diane Takayama said she isn't concerned that the new labeling will turn off customers.
"We're known for the designs that we manufacture and that is what we're selling, not where it's made," she said. "I know there's a lot of small shapers who are not real thrilled about it because it's kind of taken away from them, but ... it's a growing sport."
Hard-to-spot imports
Retailers also sometimes obscure where boards are made by peeling off country-of-origin stickers before displaying boards. At Nauset Sports recently, two boards from Thailand did not have stickers.
Newell said the store has a policy of not removing labels. He said he had removed the sticker on one board because he planned to purchase it himself. He offered no explanation for the other board.
Customs doesn't ordinarily enforce rules at the retailer level, McKenna said, adding that surf shops ultimately feel the impact of enforcement against their suppliers.
Back at Whitecrest, longtime surfer Carl Breivogel of Wellfleet represents both the loyalty of the sport's enthusiasts for traditional board making, and their gradually changing attitudes.
As he waxed his American-made board before paddling out, Breivogel said he remains committed to local shapers.
"I don't associate the ability to make a board for local conditions that far away but I imagine they can do that," he said about imported boards.
But he admitted to buying a relatively inexpensive board last year for his daughter, probably made overseas.
"I'm embarrassed to say I couldn't remember where it came from," he said. "It just met the specifications I was looking for."
Quickly realizing he might just have admitted a surf faux pas, he quickly added quickly, "but buy a locally-made board. Make sure you get that down."
Since surfing conditions along Cape Cod's shoreline tend to be inconsistent, some visitors conclude that surfing waves with a buddy at the Cape is as common as surfing waves with Santa Claus at the North Pole.
But according to Dave Newell, manager of Nauset Sports in Orleans, folks in the past have never given surfing at the Cape a fair shot.
