Logging the New Jersey Surf for Over Two Decades
But you'll only find Rick Huegi on a shortboard when in the water
- Published:May 26, 2016
- Views:3,465
"I want to stop, but at this point, I feel like I can't," says Surfline's Mid Atlantic report Coordinator, Rick Huegi, introspectively referring to his twenty-plus year 'daily-habit' of recording the local New Jersey surf conditions. "It's kind of become a burden, but after this long, how can I stop? Smartphones have made it easier to record my notes, but I still have to sit down and transfer the notes to the journal, and that takes time." Much like a recovering addict looks back to an exact day they forever changed their life, Rick's day is November 10th, 1994, the first of over twenty one and half years of daily reports. Sure, Rick dabbled in keeping a log of his sessions before his habit took over, scribbling some notes on a wall calendar like many of our more seasoned readers probably remember doing themselves.
You see, groms, there used be a time before the internet when you couldn't easily go back to a swell from year's gone by, check the likes of your video edit from the swell on Instagram, or scroll back in your Facebook timeline to see who you paddled with -- you only had your memory, however inflated or jaded that might have been. If it was truly a memorable swell, you were lucky to find a few shots in a magazine to rip out and tape to your wall as a visual, yet fragile, reminder.
Rick's daily wake-n-check habit began soon after returning to his native New Jersey following a few years far to the south, in Cocoa Beach, FL. While the weather was warmer, it was unimaginably the Jersey winters that Rick and his friend were homesick for, more specifically, the frigid fall and winter barrels that were difficult to replicate in the Sunshine State.
Rick's daily wake-n-check habit began soon after returning to his native New Jersey following a few years far to the south, in Cocoa Beach, FL. While the weather was warmer, it was unimaginably the Jersey winters that Rick and his friend were homesick for, more specifically, the frigid fall and winter barrels that were difficult to replicate in the Sunshine State.
But has he missed any days over the past 1123 weeks? Of course he has, but the only ones he can recall were during a four week stretch post-Hurricane Sandy.
Most reports, around 80% estimates Rick, are from his local spots in Ship Bottom on Long Beach Island, with the remainder of the reports coming from other Jersey spots he checks or surfs. If he takes a proper surf trip, he just records the conditions for the spot he's surfing, even if abroad. It is his personal surf log after-all.
But has he missed any days over the past 1123 weeks? Of course he has, but the only ones he can recall were during a four week stretch post-Hurricane Sandy when his family's home flooded and they were forced to head further inland and focus on more important matters than the surf. But aside from Sandy, Rick can't recall missing a day, much less a stretch that would leave a gap in his personal data mission.
So what are some of the highlights Rick recalls from the roughly 7800 days he has laid eyes on the Jersey surf over the past 21 years?
• Best Surf: "Summer/fall of 2005 had lots of waves and hurricanes, that was the year they ran out of names and had to start over with the Greek alphabet."
• Coldest Winter: "Coldest by far was the winter of 2015, 28 degree water with slush and ice chunks in the water; couldn't surf one day because I didn't want to ding my board on the ice chunks."
• Coolest Swell: "In July 2012 we had a southern hemisphere (Atlantic) swell from a storm off the coast of Namibia (we called "the great Namibia swell"). Waves were only waist to chest high and didn't last very long, but the period was super long and a friend and I caught come of the longest waves that I ever had at the south end of Long Beach Island. It was super cool to be surfing waves that came from that distance in the Atlantic."
And there have been unintended benefits of his daily surf devotion that have shown themselves along the way, some surf related, others not. "When I look back through the journals, there are notes from my wife and kids written in the margins. My daughters have added stickers and drawings, it's a way to look back and the journal reminds me of times when they were younger too."
Rick's dedication and habitual, daily act of recording the surf conditions led to a role as a Surfline spot reporter for Long Beach Island in 2002. A year ago, he expanded his role and began working as a Report Coordinator for the Mid Atlantic region, a role which will expand this summer. "Now being behind the scenes at Surfline, what I have learned and seen shows how brilliant and dedicated the forecasters truly are, they are all super good people who work hard and are very passionate about their job," Rick graciously offers.
And we feel the same about Rick's dedication to his surf journal, amassing what is arguably the longest record of surf observations anywhere in New Jersey. Hell, no one here at Surfline has worked dawn patrol for twenty plus years without requesting a day off, and they're paid for the effort. The best we can offer Rick is that we will keep recording his reports digitally for him, without need of a journal, but there won't be any stickers or sweet notes attached. We're betting he will still be moving on to journal number twelve sometime next year.
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