WELL, HIS NAME WAS EARL Phlogging The 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season With Tom Dugan And Dick “Mez” Meseroll Words by Dick “Mez” Meseroll
Earl is no longer stalking the length of the Eastern
Seaboard and the Canadian Maritimes giving major agitation to a string of
overcrowded summer resort towns from Charleston to Wrightsville to Montauk to
Halifax during their most crucial 96 hours of prime-time consumer spending over
the course of a calendar year — Labor Day weekend.
After Earl severely head-butted Nova Scotia
with 75 mph winds and a 10-foot-plus storm surge over the holiday, he vaporized
himself from the atmosphere somewhere between Prince Edward Island and
Labrador.
A former Cat 4 monster and a potential heart-breaker
and life-taker while churning 200 miles due east of our target in the central
Bahamas, Earl lost his intensity and his meteorological identity, but his
memory as the major swell producer so far this 2010 Tropical Season was captured
in depth from our little wave-filled slice of the Abacos in great detail by our
crew of thrill-seekers.
Headed up by seasoned hellmen of serious heavy-water
waveriding, Baron Knowlton and Skeeter Zimmerman, the ESM crew was joined literally at the last hour by ESM Senior Photographer Nicola “Boogie”
Lugo, taking an injured Matt Kechele’s seat on the plane to handle the job from
the water with the old guy (me) safely posted up on terra firma a very safe
distance away from occasional 8- to 10-foot bombs detonating in sickly fashion
over shallow reef and through swirling currents I had no business swimming out
in, at least on the first morning of shooting in this idyllic surfing uber-paradise
anyways.
We were bummed that Bahamas vet Kech had to beg
off, but having Nic on board was a blessing in disguise, as you will clearly
see from the images posted below. And the fun began with a loud bang as we
motored over from our host Jesse Golon’s secluded hideaway on a secluded island
to the dock on the backside of White Sound where we walked up over the dune line
to be greeted by the wake of Earl’s passing in the night — thick six- to
eight-foot cylinders spun into clean, green crystal groomed by stiff 15 to 20
mph offshore winds outflowing from the backside of Earl’s rotating fury as he
took aim on the Outer Banks next while we waxed up and pondered glory. We were
pumped to the max at what we saw in front of our eyes, but still, nobody was
laughing either.
I said a little silent prayer for family
members, friends, coworkers, colleagues, and business associates now firmly in
the bull's eye, before Nic and I figured out our game plan and went to work.
And work we did.
Long, hard, hot hours in the Bahamian summer sun
making new friends, bagging barrels, laughing at each other’s foibles and dumb
jokes along with Baron’s one-of-a-kind riffs on any topic he chose, enjoying
Jesse and Skeet’s fine cooking — the perfect kind of surf trip and
adventure you live for in this world of ours.
In other words — mission accomplished,
see photos below…
A very special ESM thanks goes out to Jesse Golon, Sarah
Sams, and to all the Elbow Boys — Justin Russell at Local Boy Charters
for the smooth ride in choppy seas from Marsh, locals Warren Knowles, Christian
and Andrew Wilhoyte, Cory Engle, Chris Tomson for the good vibes and great
barrel rides by all, and to the Nippers crew on “the other island,” Blake and
Josh Sands, and to Paul for the ride back to the dock so I could catch my plane
on time, wet baggies, stinky T-shirt and all. It is “Better In The Bahamas” and
your amazing hospitality is why.
THE OLD IN-OUT
The 2009 WRV Outer Banks Pro Presented By Hurley Is Moving Ahead Like Clockwork
Along The Graveyard Of The Atlantic... Let's Hope Hurricane Season Doesn’t Dish
Out A Bit Of The Old Ultraviolence
BILL OF SALE Surf Expo Comes To Town Early With Lower-Than-Usual
Attendance Rumors And Category 4 Hurricane Bill Zooming In. Will You Blow Town To
Bro Down Or Sit Tight And Get Right?
