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Brad Ettinger dropping deep and making the lineup jealous. Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
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Newport local Preston Dexter drags a hand to stall and stay deep in front of the morning crowds at The Wedge. Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
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TS Lowell brought another rarity to Newport, Jamie O'Brien in a wetsuit! Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
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Teddy Navarro does his best to hide behind the lip of this heavy shore-breaking barrel and below the seven-foot tall wall of sand. Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
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Clay Crandal pulls into a hollow barrel close to shore at dawn. Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
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Does your surf team manager air better than you? If it's LJ O'Leary, he might! Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
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The Wedge may be known for massive peaks and cavernous closeouts, but Addy Giddings knows how to find a wide open drainer. Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
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Maybe J.O.B. didn't see him...let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
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Spencer Pirdy has been charging The Wedge for years and knows when to stand firm under the lip. Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
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Rights at Wedge...share the stoke! Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
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Bobby Okvist working power turns at a rarely breaking, fickle surf spot. Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
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Not sure where to surf? Bet your local surf shop owner knows. You could stop in and ask JP of Russell Surfboards, but odds are he's already out getting shacked. Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
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Big waves pulled so much sand off the beach at The Wedge that lifeguards and Public Works had to drag Tower W back from the 10-foot sand precipice. Photo: Benjamin Ginsberg
Collective hopes soar when a tropical storm is named, only to deflate slightly when it stays a tropical storm. It’s called “Hurricane Season,” after all.
What happens when a tropical storm gains a 400-nautical mile fetch, you ask? Apparently it can suck that small CAT 1 hurricane, which missed your local swell window, back your way. Even better, it generates more swell than that small, measly CAT 1 ever could.
Yet life is full of tough decisions. You have a choice to make: watch what Kelly Slater just called, “The best contest waves ever” at the Billabong Pro Tahiti, or go hunt waves.
They’ve got replay and the Heat Analyzer, right? Good. Orange County loves a north pacific storm swell. And the Chopes comp might go on a lay day (which it did). Unless you’re in the contest, it’s no decision at all.
See more of Ben’s work at driftwoodfoto.com and on Instagram: @driftwoodfoto
