Boogies & Beaters & Missiles, OH MY!

Words & video by John Streit.

In our corner of the Atlantic Ocean, ridable waves are usually accompanied by grey skies, raindrops and brown water. But East Coast surfers aren’t the most fairweather lot of wave riders out there.

We’ve been known to wear 5 mm’s of rubber to brave ice-cold conditions just to get our wave fix, so when a relatively balmy July afternoon yielded waist-high shorebreak — in turn breaking a long flat spell — the Surf & Adventure crew embraced the treat from Mother Nature.

Sure, the conditions were not ideal; but riding a bodyboard, Beater or handplane sure beats the heck out of not surfing. In fact, the boys had a blast whomping it up in some surprisingly powerful Sandbridge shorebreak. As Shaun Devine states on his Party Missile Handplanes website: fun is where you find it. It’s also dependent on picking the right piece of equipment, as demonstrated by his fellow shorepound enthusiasts Elliot McCallister, Conner Barnes and Forrest Roberts.

So while we impatiently await the tropical storm season to kick into swell-producing gear, remember that memorable sessions are possible nearly anytime you intend on surfing.

Just choose your weapon wisely, and know where to look.