I'm posting this unfinished blog. I'm just ready to move on, and put last year behind me...
I caught some quality waves in 2021, no doubt, but there's no room to brag about the quantity. I fell behind early in the year and was unable to truly recover. I did not beat 2022's total wave count of 432 rides. There were just too many unsurfable days on the South Shore this year. It actually took me more than a minute to get motivated to write this blog after the way the year ended in such a thud. Sucks. And I was so pumped to get back in the game after a solid fall season delivered so many quality rides! But the waves... they just never came.
Looking back, when I factor in the obstacles I was facing to begin 2021, I honestly feel lucky that I reached my minimum wave goal - to average one wave per day, one surf per week - 365/52. And I barely made this mark in 2021, exceeding the minimum by only nine waves and four sessions. All in all, local conditions just weren't good for too many days this year, and I did not maximize my wave count when traveling to Costa Rica. Let's go a little deeper into the stats...
IN THE BEGINNING - It was a slow start to 2021 due to family and work issues. Only 27 waves were ridden during the first four months with a total blank in April.
Half-N-HALF - The bulk of this year's catch happened in only half a year's time... May, June, July, September, October, and November. In these six months I caught 334 or 89% of my total wave count. The other half a year's time I only netted 40 rides. For January, February, March, April, August, and December I averaged less than 8 waves a month. Ouch. But most of this was out of my control.
HOLIDAY SWELL - The 4th of July swell was super fun in Nantasket. It was the best day from a quantity perspective with 34 rides in 2 sessions. Then, July 6th showed up with a second pulse. Normally this is a completely flat month for my east-facing beach.
THE FALL STRETCH - The three month stretch of September-October-November was more active than usual. Those three months by themselves accounted for 217 or 58% of the total wave count. While September usually does deliver some of the better conditions for the year, this year went bonkers with days of fun surf courtesy of Hurricane Larry.
FLAT SPELLS - August and December were pretty much flat for the east facing beaches of the Northeast. I did get a few slides, but there were weeks at a time without a rideable day. December typically provides more opportunities. In 2021, not so much.
TRAVEL - Costa Rica did not pad my stats the way it usually does. The bigger than normal crowds and extra large southern hemisphere surf limited me to only 50 waves total out of 20 days travel to the Rich Coast.
LAST QUARTER PERFORMANCE - It doesn't seem like retiring in August, or having a second home in Costa Rica has impacted my actual wave count for 2021. But it has. I would never have met my goals of 365/52 after taking March and April almost completely off. Without access to the daytime tides I would not have been able to take advantage of Hurricane Larry. An additional trip back to CR in September helped a bunch as well.
GOING THE DISTANCE - 140 waves were ridden at least 80 yards, and in some cases more than 300. That's 37% of all my rides going 80+ yards! I had a ride that was at least 150 yards in 7 out of 12 months this year.
Spreadsheet
Hope you're surfing where you are