BEST SUMMER EVER: EAST COAST - From Maine to Miami, 1995 stayed active with 19 storms

A year after this momentous Newport, RI, bomb ran on the September 1995 cover of Eastern Surf Magazine, New England charger/ U.S. National Team Coach Kevin Grondin led an ESA-stacked platoon to the gold medal at the 1996 ISA World Surfing Games. Coincidence, or confidence triggered by a Right Coast summer gone mad? Photo: Mez/ESM
This went on for months. Even as surfers' eyes were affixed on whatever storm was brewing right out front -- another bulbous, tropical eye was always right behind, staring them down. Daytona Beach, FL. Photo: Dugan/ESM
You couldn't fart this summer without Jeremy Saukel catching a whiff of it. The kid was everywhere: Florida, the Bahamas, North Carolina, New England... In fact, "The Weasel" likely gave Cape Cod, MA, groms their first proper lesson in high-performance lip surgery, long before off-the-lips were called "blow-tails." Photo: Mez/ESM
Up until 1995, Virginia Beach, VA's, most prodigious photo surfer, Jason Griffith, kind of went pro (East Coast deal), kind of got the cover of Surfer (East Coast version), and fully ripped for cameras everywhere from the North Shore to Hatteras. When Griffith got the call to get some work done amidst the Abacos' turquoise hues during Luis, he was all in... glaring red trunks and all. Photo: Mez/ESM
Turning, stalling, standing still, and racing off before doing a big ol' carving 360 -- the radical lines Hurricane Felix drew mimicked his biggest fans' visceral experience. Image: NOAA
Before the Summer of 1995, Outer Banks, NC, upstart Noah Snyder was collecting plastic trophies in ESA contests. By this time the following year, Noah had a pro contract, the cover of ESM, video parts in Kevin Welsh's Nuclear NRG and Dave Genchi's Flail, and had nearly taken down Kelly Slater in the King of the Peak. Sometimes it only takes a spark...or three months of sparks. Photo: Mickey '2M' McCarthy
"'The Jack Rabbit'," laughs ESM co-founder Dick Meseroll, "aka David Speir, deep with no hands on a head-high, glassy left at Chernobyls." Hard to believe Speir and Mez were actually willing to leave waves like this to find something better up the coast. Photo: Mez/ESM
With such a precocious family of north swells shifting the focus at Sebastian Inlet from the First Peak rights to the lefts at OK Signs, 1974 Pipeline Master Jeff Crawford was able to shake the kids, stall deep, and revisit those glory days with his classic red airbrush. Photo: Dugan/ESM
"In the beginning, there were only rumors that Donavon and Gerr were coming up the coast," remembers Jersey shooter Bruce Chrisner, "then it all came together. Donavon pulled a retro single-fin off the rack at Brave New World and proceeded to annihilate the inside section at Manasquan Inlet. Ray Hallgreen and I were trying to capture him while still shooting the rest of the 'Squan Crew, and whoever else showed up from neighboring towns, at the Main Peak. It was one of the most action-packed photo sessions I've ever shot." Photo: Ray Hallgreen
"It was on," reckons Chrisner. "One hurricane after another. The Summer of 1995 was a serene Holy experience." Baptism at Bay Head, NJ. Photo: Ray Hallgreen
Felix says, "Don't be a pussy." Photos: McGovern (left); Mez/ESM (right)
It ain't easy being East. Once considered a dirtier, regularfooted version of the Hobgoods, the Yergens twins of Vero Beach, FL, upped performance levels at Sebastian Inlet and beyond throughout the mid to late '90s. Had the glorious Summer of '95 repeated itself, Haley and Chris might've been able to apply their freaky layback gouges to the international stage like their Satellite Beach counterparts. Photo: Dugan/ESM
"During Luis, we got a prime slot on the Point Judith ferry because the guy loading it was a surfer who dialed us in," remembers Welsh. "We caught a couple of mysto outer reefs courtesy of Long Island, NY, surfer Chris Harmon, who met us up there. I called the main spot 'Pig Point' (after a pig on the ferry) to disguise the break. But those in the know knew the spot once the video came out." Unidentified surfer at an unidentified spot in New England, just the way the locals would want it. Photo: Joe McGovern
"1995 was certainly the best summer to date," insists Floridian photographer/videographer Kevin Welsh. "My annual SurfNRG tour was in full swing and it seemed like everywhere we went we scored insane surf, especially in Hatteras. After winding down in early September I was relieved to be back in Florida to relax after such a hectic road trip. Then the phone rang. Surfer Magazine was amped on sending Aussie pro Nathan Hedge here. The next morning we were on a flight up to Rhode Island." This is what Welsh left behind, idyllic Spanish House. Photo: Dugan/ESM
It may only be an hour flight away, but any Bahamas surf feast requires a bit of prep work: You gotta find the plane, take Jim Cantore's data into account, get a good photographer and a solid crew together, and patronize the wife: "Luis is firing in the islands, babe, and I need my guns to be able to fire back. But at least I left you the funshape." Top right photo: Mickey '2M' McCarthy; all others: Mez/ ESM
Despite gunning for his third ASP World Championship, Kelly Slater was at home a lot this summer: filming with Welsh, shooting with Doogs and Mez, planting the King of the Peak seed... basically using his celebrity appeal to bring attention to the spot that helped nurture his talent, Sebastian Inlet. Photo: Dugan/ESM
If there was ever a question whether or not an East Coast surfer could make an actual living by staying at home, the Summer of '95 answered it: "You find the stickers, the photog, and the grit to smash the waves to pieces, and I'll do the rest." Paul Reinecke, Sebastian Inlet. Photo: Mez/ESM
"The Newport, RI, sessions during Felix offered some of the biggest bombs I've ever shot on the Eastside, in the 15-foot-faces range," finishes Mez. The only thing weirder than a legit big-wave session during what is usually the East Coast's flattest time of the year is that every non-spot on the coast was going bananas, too: Delaware, Georgia, Virginia Beach... And ever since 1995, it never got weird enough for us again. Photo: Mez/ESM
Surfline's HurricaneTrak look a little cluttered to you? That's because it was. 1995 tipped the scales with 11 systems that reached hurricane strength. Not shown are the other eight which only reached tropical storm strength, making a total of 19 named tropical cyclones that year. Pretty impressive!
Chris Ward in New Jersey during the Summer of 1995. Video from Lost Across America, courtesy of ...Lost.

Date: July 26, 2010 Visits: 47844 Create A Surf News Widget

Comments: (16) Add Your Comment

Dr. Shred 09/29/2011 02:10 PM

I almost failed out of my freshman year of college cause there were literally waves everyday that fall.

CB 06/20/2011 02:48 PM

Wimble Shoals broke so good that summer in Rodanthe

Whit Matthews 09/02/2010 12:18 PM * PREMIUM MEMBER - Real Name

"That summer shaped my life." Couldn't have said it better myself. Started surfing (at 14) in Sept '94, surfed hard all winter, and when summer rolled around I was good enough to be ready for the onslaught of surf. I worked across from the Nags Head Pier, hung out and showered before work at The Pit (old location). Ate my meals at Tortugas, and caught every last shred of surf I could. I packed about 3 years of progressing into 4 months... I can't imagine it ever being that good again.

SHRKB8 09/02/2010 11:53 AM

that was a summer to remember, i had been laid off from my job the previous fall and had just spent my first winter in hawaii, all i did that summer was surf, surf, surf, then the imfamous day at "the river" and "libby's", i rode a 9'9" during the FELIX swell. somewhere on the coast of maine and new hampshire

BMC 08/02/2010 01:25 AM

That summer shaped my life. Biggest wave I took off on prior to moving to Hawaii was in Newport, RI. Crypes - I even have a dog named Ruggles.

corvis corvaxian 08/01/2010 04:01 PM

My Brother and I went to Costa Rica with Kevin Grondin and his family. He was 51 and still charging huge swells at Playa Negra.

Sheppa WeBer 07/31/2010 08:05 AM

Sir SideBottom, WHAT !!! Rocking in Rhode Island (S. New England !) to the best JULY on record, and still awaiting a monster August. Wake Up and smell the Sex Wax !!!

Terry Diamond 07/30/2010 10:44 AM

i was there that session. so much fun. poverty beach!

07/29/2010 09:47 PM

regarding the preivous comment..i'm sure there were other people...just one session., but its dobson not dodson....any way eric... thnx

Nat 07/29/2010 09:37 PM

Such an unreal summer. Never forget that one day of Chantal at the Rodanthe pier. Insane barrels on everywave. Todd Holland, Bonneville, Dodson, Randy Harris taking of on the southside going into the pier like a madman.. Epic session

07/29/2010 07:43 PM

sure was good at spots all over honolulu..... i was rippin it up, yeah for 10 days....july 13---july 22.

Gators8820 07/28/2010 11:45 AM

This pic was taken at the Main St. Pier in Daytona Beach, FL.

florida 07/28/2010 10:43 AM

yeah, lets talk about florida

Michael Sidebottom 07/28/2010 07:11 AM * PREMIUM MEMBER - Real Name

Brutal, man. This summer has been pancake flat up here in New England; this story has me drooling just thinking about a single hurricane swell, much less nineteen of them. Too bad the Summer of 1995 came a few years before I started surfing... maybe we'll see an epic Fall of 2010???

Jason Allen 07/27/2010 09:45 PM * PREMIUM MEMBER - Real Name

God forbid we actually get good waves again. SNC is always flat now and the Banks haven't been that great since spring.

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