Florida Surfing

I'm in Orlando right now for a Chesapeake Conference for my work. Prior to this I stayed two days with my mom and Dave in Melbourne and was able to catch up with a bunch of good friends one evening and catch a couple of mornings of some small waves. The water was and is actually 1 degree cooler than San Diego in the lower 70's due to an upwelling. Had to ride my buddy Kevin's longboard which was fun. Surfed at Greg's Left at the old Pet Den and the old O-Club. Officers Club burned down but the parking lot is still there for surfing.

Also caught up with several former professors, friends, etc. and that was fun. Here's a shot of all of my good friends I either grew up with surfing with or knew after high school and surfed with. Pictured from left to right are: Mike Novak, Seth Novak, Jon Schultz, Mike Kohler, me, Jim Moore, and Keith Hamelin. These guys all surf very well. One of the best longboarders in the group is Jon. He's hands down the best longboarder I've ever known. His style and his versatility are incredible. During the Big Kahuna contests he was always our ringer which managed to land us first out of many teams almost every year. With great footwork, noserides, spinners, switchstance, modern cutbacks, modern floaters and off the lips, he does it all..

He was ripping one footers on Sunday at the O-Club. Not to mention none of us wore or needed leashes because there wasn't anyone nearby and the waves were so small if you lost your board you could swim 5 feet to go get it. That's the first time since I left in Brevard that I've surfed without anyone else around. Much less population of surfers in Brevard. The biggest difference between Florida and San Diego...