Winter Surfing in the Hamptons

Working 40 hours each week during the summer while surfing for 10 hours in between constitutes the identification of a weekend warrior. But when those weekends are taking place during the winter, the term weekend warrior is an insult. If you've been surfing this winter, consider yourself a chilly champion.

Believe it or not, there's still plenty of surfing going on in the Hamptons during this "off season." How do we know? Our good friend Lutha Leahy Miller and his continuous surf reports. And for this final, full weekend of February, he's forecasting perhaps the best waves of all winter.

To quote the surfing sage:

It looks like Saturday and Sunday and maybe even Monday are going to have some nice little ground-swell. Your best bet will be Saturday at breaks that work well with north and/or northeast winds (Head west). Then, Sunday the swell might still be around but we will have to deal with west winds, so one might have to find shelter from that. Good luck on your surf hunting and keep an eye on the weather vane.

So you've got your waves. Now, to survive 40º temperatures, what gear do you need? Once again, Lutha has the answer:

• One 6/5/4mm hooded winter wetsuit, preferably an O'Neill Psycho because of it's rubberized sealed seams.
• One pair of 5mm gloves or mitts.
• One pair of 7mm booties.
• One surfboard that's slightly thicker than your summer surfboard (unless you're riding a longboard) because the winter wetsuit adds up to 15 lbs when wet.
• One tin of cold water wax.
• One warm car to get back into quickly.

Simple enough? We thought so. Now get in the water. As for where? Well, we know the Ditch and The Cut are always reliable, but besides that we're not giving away any secrets that might get us in trouble with the tribe.