I have lots of cool/funny stories to share and one of these events inspired me to ask my amigo Joel Feid to do another guest article on What the Schnell?! Here’s a little background of one story. So I’ve been in New England since arriving back from Senegal and the seasons have certainly changed since my last visit 6 weeks ago. The water is now getting into the 40’s and the air with wind chill was 22 when I paddled out this morning. There are some things that you certainly don’t want to do here that in other climates might not be of any consequence. Long story short, I ran out of gas for the first time ever going to check the surf the other morning, and this is what helped fuel Joel’s piece. Here it goes…

That was a solid streak – Thanks long holiday weekend and ocean storm! 3 great days of waves followed by some super fun leftovers today if you knew where to look. Mr. Schnell came back through town after a trip to Senegal and I was looking forward to some stories. He’s about as amped as I am to surf whether it’s knee high slop or overhead barrels. Adult groms basically. Well things don’t always go according to plan…When a 630 surf check call is answered by “what does it sound like when you’re running out of gas?”, I should have known it would be a gem of a morning. To avoid details and a drawn out blog here’s some tips on HOW NOT TO DAWN PATROL!

– See how to hype a swell. This will get you amped for that dawn patrol you were hyping up all night – https://whattheschnell.com/2012/10/25/take-this-advice/
– Borrow a friend’s car and don’t check the gas level. Especially an extremely fuel efficient truck like a Durango. Then hop on the interstate and assume you’ll make it to your destination. Worst case, you run out of gas and your bud that’s almost at the spot will gladly detour, buy you gas and find you on the highway so you can add to the count in the lineup.
– Milk the break that’s been firing and empty the past couple mornings. Surfing is not trendy so crowds are never a problem. Friends also don’t talk about the spot they surfed if they had a good session.
– Take your own car. No carpooling allowed. Vehicles are hard to recognize, especially if there’s any form of stickers on them. It will be harder to know if it’s good somewhere by the lineup of cars and anybody pulling up will be stoked to see all their friends at the same spot.
– There’s six guys in the water with multiple peaks – damn it’s crowded! I wish it was all Quebexicans!!
– Document it. If people can’t see it, did it happen?
– Once you’ve had a sesh sharing some waves with people you know, go rant about the crowds online without naming names. That won’t point any fingers – social media is so 2010. No one will ever see it.
– You know that term “you should have been here yesterday?”. Well, you should have. See “document it”

On that note, I think that’s a Thanksgiving swell people in New England will remember for a while. Most of us take ourselves too seriously. Lighten up, appreciate the area we live in and the fact that most crowds are familiar faces. (Disclaimer: I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t mention how much I can’t stand the crowding that has plagued most of our spots in the past 10 plus years. Unfortunately it’s here to stay. But that’s why we having a pecking order, right?!)

Some notes can be taken from this photo. Notice how Joel’s whole body, not just eyes and face are in the barrel? That’s a good idea and some people would even say that is what’s required before telling your buddies you got stuffed in a tube. Just takes practice, and we all bent only at the waist at one point. Even Slater! (Which Slater, Kelly, Dylan, Sean or Evan is up to you to decide as we are all our own judge and jury…)

Some notes can be taken from this picture too. Notice the idiot who is freezing holding the brand new $20 gas can on the side of a freeway(actually that’s a lie. It’s a toll way and they LOVE charging for it. Especially when you forget you need to carry cash to drive back here!)? This is a BAD idea! When freezing is ten degrees warmer than the current outside air temp, running out of gas can be more than just a pain in the ass, it can be dangerous! However, since we’ve all done dumb stuff, remember to help others when they are in the middle of their “crisis”. Haha. Thanks again Joel!