Memorial Day Countdown
Are you ready? Bracing yourself for the crowds while welcoming summer is a yearly ritual on the east end, especially for surfers. Along with visitors are the cars in the lot, lessons in the water, beginners in the line-up. We wait all year for warmer days and playful waves while we navigate everyone else that wants them, too. We asked around to uncover what surfers are excited about when Memorial Day hits and the summer commences; this is what we learned.
- Time. Summer Fridays, more daylight, vacation, there is more chances to surf than the rest of the year.
- Ditch Witch. Paninis in the middle of the day without leaving the beach, Costa Rican coffee, watching the line to order snake through the parking lot while catching waves.
- Friends. Memorial Day to Labor Day friends appear, and there is the chance to spend time with those so happy to be in town, especially if they are not so lucky to have access to Montauk all year long.
- Sunshine. Now is the time to reduce the store the neoprene, slather on the sunblock, not have brain freeze when duck diving or falling off your board.
- Spontaneity. In the spirit of neoprene how easy it is to stop by the beach and hop in without all that gear to change in and out of?
- Nostalgia. Usually and ultimately a sad notion, this type of nostalgia is experienced in real-time, where spending time at the beach surfing feels simultaneously like the present while evoking memories of past summers and fun times.
- The Unexpected. The summer breathes new life into the long, habitual winter routine of surfing chilly waves. While it may be flat at times, summer offers up new people, experiences and excitement.
- Picking up a new board, waxing a neglected one, trading with a friend, summer is a chance to be more playful and creative with waves and equipment.
- Montauk is beautiful all the time, but sunrise and sunset from the water, surf checks, and breaks between surfing have the most spectacular backdrop in the summer months.
- Summer is short and is a bold reminder to have gratitude for the good fortune of surfing in Montauk in the first place.
Happy Surfing!