2009 saw the start of www.surffireisland.com on May 13th.  With December turning out to be one of the worst months of the year (especially for the start of winter) I had plenty of time to analyze and breakdown the waves.  I have always used my ratings of wave quality like surfline's  model http://www.surfline.com/surfline/forecasts4/forecast_blog_entry.cfm?id=31942

Here is what I came up with:  May 13th-December 31 2009 (230 days)

 

  • 95 days of poor waves:  Poor waves generally could be anything from flat and clean to double overhead and blown out.  41% of the days   

 

 

  • 89 days of OK waves:  OK waves are generally ridable waves over 2 ft with choppy to semi-clean conditions.  39% of the days  

 

 

  • 43 days of Fun waves:  Fun waves are generally over 3 ft with clean conditions.  19% of the days

 

 

  • 3 days of Epic waves:  This is the tough one...it rarely happens and is reserved for those occasional days when Wrong Island lights up.  To me Epic Long Island waves are head high + with perfect offshore winds and swell periods.  Those three days in my opinion were Sunday Aug 23rd (Hurricane Bill) and the November Nor'easter on the 14th and 15th.  All three of those days featured double overhead waves with offshore winds all day long.  While there could be a few other days (Tropical Storm Danny comes to mind) labeling a day Epic should be reserved for the very best of the best.  less than 1% of the days

So there are a couple of ways to look at this information.  One of course would be to say that 40% of the time the waves suck.  Another would be to say that almost 80% of the time the waves are at best ridable....or that less than 1% of the time we have epic waves..(the cup half empty view)  The other view is that 58% of the time we can get wet and catch a few fun waves.  Or that 20% of the time we have fun waves with some truly special days as the cherry on top....(the cup half full view)

Overall I would say that 2009 was a typical New York surf year.  December has left a bad taste in many surfer's mouths because of the flatness and also because November was so good.  Hurricane season provided Bill, Danny and Ida.  Hurricane Bill produced 3 solid days of surf and some fun leftovers.  Danny was great for a few days and Ida combining with a nor'easter proved to be the best in my opinion.  

A few issues should make 2010 interesting for New York surfing.  One being the state of our beaches.  As of this post (Dec 30) almost all of Fire Island is vulnerable to major beach erosion.  Winter has just begun and a few powerful Nor'easters could produce breaches and or loss of property.  Will the officials simply pump more sand (futile efforts and a waste of taxpayer money) on the beach or will a new vision emerge....(jetties or groins?)  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another issue is the fisherman vs surfer one.  It simply won't go away and there are more and more anglers lobbying the state to create some sort of surfer registry similar to the fishing license requirement.  While I don't think it can/will work it might be something coming down the pipes.  Being a surfing angler, 2010 may be the year a new alliance is born of surfers and anglers who are tired of the BS of the local angler groups.  Only by standing together can we preserve all our rights to our beautiful beaches.  

Here's hoping everyone has a happy and safe 2010 filled with barrels and cutbacks.  Thank you for supporting the site and I look forward to continuing to provide the most accurate and reliable reports for Long Island surfers.  Namaste