======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: A Hotdog of a Session From: Foondoggy Date: Tue, 08 Apr 1997 09:03:17 +0100 I was hanging out at the dunepath last Saturday after a cold and disappointing morning session in waisthigh mush. The 15 mph onshores managed to squash what was left of a promising swell. The air off the 47 degree water was chilly and damp and the weak semi-cloud covered sun did little to warm my spirits. I decided to call it a day, go in and watch golf. (No just kidding, I meant to say the Quilting Channel) As I headed back toward home I noticed a group of 4 teenagers out by the dune, standing there in shorts and light sweatshirts. Their shoulders hunched against the wind, they were discussing the poor conditions and the prospect of it getting better. I followed them as they headed back to a late model Blazer with New York tags and noticed that the interior of the truck showed all the telltale signs of a surftrip in progress; camping gear, dripping wetsuits, junkfood wrappers everywhere, a few surf magazines and a couple of bodyboards. There were 3 shortboards lashed to the roofrack. I said hello to the boys and asked where they'd been? They replied that they'd just come back from Cape Hatteras and had left Long Island New York on Easter Sunday just ahead of a late season snowstorm that had pasted the area on Monday. They'd driven all night to check out the Carolinas, and had scored some good surf in the beginning of the week. They were now on their way home but didn't have to be there until the next day. They didn't feature leaving early hoping for better conditions in the evening when the wind might die. By the looks of the group, it had been a tough trip. They all sported scraggly beards, sunscorched legs and faces, and bleary eyes from lack of sleep. They'd been staying at campsites but the cooler temperatures had made that somewhat uncomfortable. None of them seemed to own a pair of long pants. They all stood there shivering, eyeing the crumbling waves and I sensed they did not want the trip to end on this sour note. Impulsively I told the boys I had a couple of packs of hotdogs at the FoonPalace and invited them to come over for a late afternoon snack. Hesitant at first, the cold wind convinced them to accept my offer of hot food and a warm place to hang for awhile. We all piled into the house just as Mrs.Foon was leaving to shop for our upcoming trip to Mexico. I introduced my new friends from Nu Yawk and she told them, "Oh, he's from Nu Yawk too, don't let him get started telling you about the good olde days in Montauk." "Well take your time, sweetheart," I said, "I suspect we'll be comparing some notes about Montauk." I dumped the weenies in a pot of boiling water and broke out some chips, dips, veggies and soft drinks. Those boys hadn't eaten very much on their trip because within an hour we killed 16 hotdogs and most of the snack food in the house. I was glad to share, remembering the times I'd been on the road and had benefited from the kindness of others. The boys turned out to be wonderful company. They told me about their adventures in Hatteras and I took note of the breaks they thought would be good this season. (I also reminded myself to check Cap'n Rons MojoCafe webpage to see about the proximity of barbacue joints for future trips.) After a while I put on a video highlighting the incredible Right Coast "Summer of All Time" in 1995. All the boys had experienced that epic season and the video prompted them to tell all their great sessions. As the boys relaxed and opened up I was impressed with how well mannered they were. Initially they had displayed a bit of surf dude attitude, but that disappeared quickly when they realized I was and old time Long Island surfer, a native Nu Yawker, and there wasn't much about the Island I hadn't seen or experienced. The movie was a great catylst for conversation and I laughed and praised their stories of surfing Long Island and New Joisey. Too soon the afternoon was over and the boys reluctantly realized the surf was not going to improve. They thanked me profusely for a good meal and a good time and decided to push on that evening to try and score some surf up in Jersey the next morning. As I walked them back to their truck I came to realize what a good feeling I had about these young guys and the future of the sport. These were good kids. One of them turned to me and shook my hand, then gave me his address and phone number. "Thanks for everything Mr. Foondoggy," he said quietly. "If you're ever up on the Island this season, give me a call and we'll hook up for a session somewhere." It didn't matter that I was an old bodyboarder, I was considered to be a peer. If I do go up there this year, that's one call I'm definately going to make. -Foondoggy "I beseech you to direct your efforts more to preparing youth for the path and less to preparing the path for the youth." -Ben Lindsey