(above):Beach Haven, NJ. LEEWARD AVE: Where I began surfing  in the summer of 1969.

1968Fall: One New Jersey FALL day, A friend and Frosh football teammate of mine, BOB AMEO mentions something in passing about 'surfing' to me,  That was the first time I had ever heard anyone say anything whatsoever about 'surfing.'

1969: Summer. Me (14) and my next door neighbor Steve Murphy (15), rented a couple of surfboards in Surf City, NJ. and proceeded to get our asses totally kicked by the ocean. We were both very macho football players from NA and we couldn't believe that this girly surfing thing was so damn difficult to do! We were pissed at ourselves for not being able to it, meanwhile these little skinny kids were ripping all around us . That was my first of many to come, mega-humiliating surfing experiences.

1970: Sophomore year, life is great, happy as a clam. Had no idea of what my parents were plotting. My parents owned a summer home in Beach Haven West and out of left field we moved there full time in June, 1970! I did not want to leave NA in the middle of my HS years and I was ultra depressed about it and wanted to die!  BUT, as fate would have it,...It was only a few weeks later a few L.B.I. friends of mine took me surfing and showed me how to actually do it. It totally changed my life overnight. I immediately loved it and I mean LOVED it. (been doing it every day since then!) By the end of the summer I was was absolutely addicted to the ocean. I was surfing really well and life once again was good!.

Back then, winter of '71,  there were maybe a dozen of us on Long Beach Island who lived there all year round and surfed. That's what we did, played football in HS and surfed.

Hudson Ave. soon became my favorite spot but I also loved Holyoke, Iroquois, and Leeward Ave's. There also used to be a small point break down in Holgate that was absolutely killer.

No leashes, Ice Cold Water, Crappy wetsuits, and  I LOVED IT!

Bought my first board at Ron Jon's in 1970......a 6'8" Surfboards Australia single fin. I washed dishes and bussed tables all summer at The DUTCHMAN'S to pay it off.

 After a rough start, (I had no clue as to what I was doing) I picked up Surfing really fast and got pretty good at it right away.

2010 marks 40 years of surfing for me. Which is funny because growing up I had never even heard of it!