I must admint, I was pretty nervous heading into this fall season. Despite a couple minor windswells, September and the first half of October was pretty lackluster in terms of swell. On top of that, the east coast saw unseasonably cold weather force its way in early and dash anyone’s hopes of an Indian Summer. Seeing as how I look forward to the Fall all year, I was pretty disappointed leading up to the middle of October.

But here we are on the closing day of November and I can safely say the the 2009 Fall surf season turned its act right around for the second half of the season. If my memory serves me correctly I would say the first real swell (aside from the early hurricane swells in August) was on the day of this year’s Grudge Match.  That day saw perfect conditions in North Jersey with sunny skies and overhead clean waves and this Autumn has not looked back since. We have had numerous windswells, a couple groundswells, and of course that huge Nor’easter in the middle of November that produced some of the biggest surf in New Jersey in over a decade (buoys topped out over 26 feet during the peak of that swell).

For me personally, that Nor’easter, which apparently has been dubbed Nor’Ida, was certainly the highlight of the swell season. For four days straight I surfed overhead and well overhead barrels up and down the New Jersey coast. A marathon swell for sure. But this past Thanksgiving week was no loser either. Again, head high windswell which eventually cleaned up gave most surfers an opportunity to work up a serious appetite. And only adding to the bounty of this Fall season is the fact that it’s almost December and I have yet to put on my gloves!

So for all that, I thank you Fall 2009 Season!! Now let’s see what you have in store for this winter…

When the sun finally poked its head out after Nor'Ida slammed the coast, it was quite a site. Photo: McMullin

There were definitely some gems to be found this Fall season. Photo: McMullin