Tag Archives: no surf on the Strait

Happy New Year, and No, I’m Not Worried

Posted on by under northwest surfing, real surfers, surfing the strait of juan de fuca, writings of Erwin Dence

…Except when I am. Not right now. Or, if I am worried, I’m trying my best not to outright panic.

It is fitting that each new year starts so close to the shortest, darkest day of the year. So, if everything is bleak; better days are ahead. If new year’s day was in April, or worse July, we’d be forced to celebrate that slow roll into the uncertainty that is, for many of us, winter.

For surfers and snowsliders, of course, winter brings some increased hope of waves. It has been brought to my ATTENTION that I am, possibly, the only one consistently writing about the very fickle and utterly inconsistent waves on the STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA; this with the possible downside that my even mentioning the possibility might influence surfers to make their way to the Olympic Peninsula.

I DO CONFESS that, back in 2013, I did name a couple of spots that can, occasionally, get crowded. I stopped that practice, partially in my own self-interest. BUT, if someone asks you why you’re searching for waves out in this (let’s face it, the strait is a harbor) area, you should probably also confess. “Yes, Erwin seduced me into believing I could find such blissful happiness here.” ALTERNATE (and more realistic) RESPONSE- “Who?”

I have always written songs and, another confession, poetry. I’ve been concentrating on it a bit more lately. I am not sure if I posted this song (yes, it’s singable) before on realsurfers. If I have, PLEASE FORGIVE ME!

Nothing to worry about               

OUT OF THE WIND

There’s something sublime, a soft summer breeze, But the cold gales of winter will bend you to your knees, Yes, you can resist, but you’ll never win, No matter how fierce, all storms have an end, But… I just want to get out of the wind, out of the wind, out of the wind.

Most colors will fade, some colors still shine, Other colors just refuse to stay within the lines, While some colors clash, still others will blend, Some take you to the clouds and back again, Still… I just want to get out of the wind… out of the wind, out of the wind.

Small change is dirty, big money’s all clean, I just need some dollars that are somewhere in between, If there’s none to save, still need cash to spend,     If money’s your love, please find a new friend, And… I just want to stay out of the wind… out of the wind, out of the wind.

All truths remain true, all lies are still lies, Politicians smile and hit you right between the eyes, False stories they spread, still others defend, The damage, once done, is too hard to mend, So… I just want to stay out of the wind… out of the wind, out of the wind.

Looking for justice, it’s always on sale, You won’t change the system if you know you’re bound to fail, The world isn’t fair, it never has been, The answer, my friend, got lost in the wind, And… I can’t seem to stay out of the wind… out of the wind, out of the wind.

I sailed for safe harbor, I couldn’t outrun the squall, I’ve tried to live my life in Summer, but I’m heading for the Fall, You say there’s no sanctuary, well, I’m still willing to pretend, We’ve made it through so many winters, But winter’s coming ’round again…

THANKS FOR CHECKING OUT REALSURFERS. Important NOTES: I don’t get any money from whatever ads WordPress puts on my site. I wish I did. Remember- any original stuff is protected by copyright. All rights reserved by the author/artist, Erwin A. Dence, Jr.

May we each get some rides worth putting in our ‘best of 2025’ memory files! Example- “This one time, Westport was sooooo good, and me and my crew, we was on it.” OKAY, now I’m blowing up Westport. I’d apologize, but…

No

Last Wave of (and at) 2020

Posted on by under Uncategorized

There’s always that one last wave, the one you’ll ride as close to the shore as you can get. It’s only fitting that my last one was on the last day of what, if you’ll forgive the foul language, was a fucked up year, a real (please fill in your own adjectives, I just got a bit more depressed and pissed-off considering my options) doozy of a year. PLAGUE YEAR- During which we discovered each of us is a potential threat to anyone we come into contact with, or are even in the same room with. CULTURE WARS- During which the divisions in our population became increasingly clear, with or without bumper stickers and big-ass flags and FoxNews Addicts identifying anyone more intelligent that they are as Elitists. POLITICAL YEAR in which the cruelty of the power elite has only been matched by its cynicism and cowardice. FISCAL YEAR (yes, I know it’s not a complete match)- During which the stock market went up and the jobs dried up.

See the source image

Wave image taken from Google or Bing; not an exact match to any local waves

NOW, on the political side, here’s an image I can’t quite shake. Imagine Mitch McConnell. Okay, now imagine him supposedly throwing desperate and drowning AMERICANS a lifeline that is just not quite long enough. Yes, he’s got that gleeful smirk/smile any politician representing one of the poorest, per capita, states in the Union might have when he’s claiming a two thousand dollar stimulus check might just accidently go to someone who doesn’t really need it. Possible caption: “Come on now, just jump for it.”

To be clear; I don’t believe McConnell to be cowardly; a cruel and cynical power broker who, I hope, makes no claim to being a Christian (anywhere on the radical spectrum of claimants), hell yeah.

I DO APOLOGIZE, to those who believe you aren’t, for getting political. I will try not to get too religious EXCEPT to say that I have come to interpret that commandment about not using God’s name in vain as meaning we mortals (sure, you could also put an asterisk on this) don’t have a right to give commands to whatever God is (and, since none of us really know, I would be considered liberal or blasphemous on this, considering how cock sure you are). I do believe it’s acceptable to make requests. As such, and realizing we are all hypocrites in some way, we are all infidels to someone, we are all sinners (if sinning means breaking some part of your own code), and many of us have been taught that there is some sort of overriding and final judgment and that vengeance is not ours; I do have a few requests in the disabling-if-not-damning category.

SO, GOOD FUCKING BYE to 2020; I do have some optimism for 2021; but heading into it is like, if I can compare it to my last surf session, yesterday, in which I took off before dawn, knowing the recent rains and tides and other factors have altered (and not for the better) my favorite reef; and then, heading up Surf Route 101, checking the buoy readings, discovering the swell has moved too south for anything to work on the Strait; then discovering a long chunk of 112 is closed due to the usual landslides; and, with the surf always fickle, rarely matching the forecast (unless it’s for flatness and unfavorable winds), and… and I kept going.

It worked out. Kind of. We adapt. We hope. Maybe the tides and the rivers and the waves will push the gravel and the rocks, reshaped and reformed into a different reef, one that turns chaos into a peak and a running shoulder. Change is constant. Keep going.

TWO LAST THINGS: One, two thousand dollars is ‘walking around money’ for some, desperately needed for many. If you don’t understand true desperation, ‘lucky you.’ Two, since, all of us being masked and dangerous has allowed the true dickheads to be much more open about it. As such, I have made it my first NEW YEAR’S resolution ever, to be as nice as I can bring myself to being in public (properly distanced) situations. EXAMPLE- Getting gas at Costco, I told the guy gassing up his big-ass SUV with those big-ass rims that those kind of rigs always remind me of covered wagons. Negative response. I turned to see some other dickhead had just said something rude to the attendant. I said something nice. No, actually I said that some people are just dickheads. Then I said something nice, like, Happy New Year. “Thanks, man” was his response. Then, just to prove that I (well known for being a wave hog) am a hypocrite, I had a chance to share the three bucks in my wallet with a couple at the stoplight (sign, dog, both smoking). I didn’t. Might have been the smoking part. Still, dickhead inaction.

Is it Over Yet?

Posted on by under Uncategorized

People want to know.

See the source image
While we’re waiting, why not medicate? Fake News. I meant meditate on all the good times…

MEANWHILE, it’s stormy out on the Olympic Peninsula and the buoys are down. The buoy analyzers are doing some sort of maintenance and they floating wave readers won’t be back in service for awhile. There are some raw data spreadsheet things, but for those of us who don’t know how to read these things, and don’t know which hour is hour one, for example… it’s hard to really know before you go.

So, probably the best thing for surfers to do to avoid being skunked is not going. Risky; and I’m not even including already-and-potentially-even-more pissed off folks one might encounter enroute, men and (some) women, all still flying big ass flags from their trucks (no, not like the Taliban in Toyotas, American made trucks), wanting more votes counted, less votes counted, whichever; folks who might be even more pissed off and red-faced in a blue state should the national results be suddenly announced.

Peace.

Suggestion: I’ve found a peace sign is pretty much taken as a flip-off; have to recommend keeping your windows rolled up and hands inside.

I can’t help imagining the people picking up all those Culp signs spread around the Peninsula, vehement supporters asking each other if they’re contributing to the guy’s fund, seeing as (note the use of the vernacular, or, in the vernacular, talking all downhome-ish) the place where he was the Sheriff of and sole police dude in the town defunded the fucking police.

Yeah. Sad; but he can always go back to being a successful contractor, and, as a start, those signs that are actually made of plywood… probably worth twice as much as when they were originally made.

Hmmmm. Thinking. No, I’m going to work. I mean, the buoys aren’t giving us results, might as well.

Peace. Really. All it takes for peace is for each of to decide to not be a… thinking of a word; no, not a-hole or dickhead, that would be provocative. No, can’t really come up with one that describes a person who goes along with the will of the people in a democracy. I guess one could say, “Let’s just all be, yeah, democratic in our republic.” I added the ‘republic,’ not wanting to appear partisan, or, again, provocative.

Again, peace.

Since I’m really not into medication or meditation, and I do believe surfing is pretty good for stress relief, and the forecasts did call for… no, I’m going to go work. Really. I’m sure the buoys will be straightened out by Friday night, the election should be… wait, let me check… no, not yet; too early to call.

Oh, and thanks for voting.