Liquid Lines
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•February 20, 2025
A Surfing Winter of Misses, Stafford Skate Park Talk and Uncovered History
Well, ladies and gentleman, you will be happy to know that in the quest to make America tough, strong and ultimately great again, the president has signed the all-important “Ending Procurement and…
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•February 8, 2025
Six More Weeks of Winter? That Will Feel Like Six Months Near the Ocean
Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. Anywhere near that terribly cold Atlantic Ocean, it will be more like six months.
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•January 27, 2025
Winter Is Here and Not Messing Around for Surfers and Workers
Oh, so this is what a real winter feels like (shivers and pulls on hood …)
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•January 9, 2025
Flat and Cold to Start the Year With a Pretty Little Snowfall
I went out into my snowy yard on Monday morning in just a pair of board shorts to take a cold plunge … and then remembered that I don’t have a cold plunge.
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•December 19, 2024
Worst Christmas Song of All Time? Plus, Holiday Wrap on 2024 Waves
This week, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 list. That make it the most loved … and probably most hated holiday song of all time. If it’s still…
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•December 11, 2024
One Thing We Can All Agree On, and Smattering of December Swell
Let’s make a distinction right off the bat here. Liquid Lines is a newspaper “column.” While it is full of facts, it’s also threaded with commentary, which is the nature of a column. It seems some…
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•November 27, 2024
Possibly the Best Surf of the Year Ushers in Thanksgiving Week, a Sacred Time on the Sandbar
There are about three or four columns a year that I love to write. Inevitably, Labor Day is a good one – after the long summer of work and general overdose of humanity, the Island comes back under…
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•November 14, 2024
Weather Anomalies That Aren’t So Bad; Small Surf and Big Fire Threat
When you stepped outside early Saturday, did you feel something different? It was … cold.
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•October 31, 2024
Nickeled and Dimed by the Convenience Store of the Skies; Another Weekend Swell
We took a little trip last weekend out of Atlantic City, which, as you may know, is exponentially easier than flying out of Philly, Newark or JFK. Given a choice, I would rather ride my bike to…
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•October 23, 2024
Waves Proving October Is Best; Trick or Treat Traditions, a Skate Candidate, Beach Happenings
Here’s a message to the kids. Wait, do any kids read The SandPaper? Perhaps not. Maybe someone can put a picture of my column on Snapchat.
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•October 16, 2024
Hurricane Kirk Delivers and a Return to Quick Moving Weather Patterns, Autumn Spells and Magic
If there are spelling mistakes and grammatical errors in this column, I apologize in advance. I am pecking this out on Monday morning while I struggle north up the Boulevard. I started the 18-mile…
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•October 10, 2024
October Ends Bad Wind Pattern; Epic Weather Weekend, All Manner of Waves and Relentless Hurricanes
Before I get into the jokey jokes, I just want to say that as someone who covers weather, even peripherally, Hurricane Milton is hitting Florida right now and there will be some serious loss. We’ll…
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•October 3, 2024
Chalk September Up as a Bust, Looking for a Local Summer Pattern Change for October, Ram Surfers Look Hot
The one thing that makes New Jersey surfing so incredible is the change of seasons. Well, that and we’re the only place in the world that requires beach badges (more on that a little farther down in…
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•September 20, 2024
Sea.Hear.Now. and Bruce Provide Memorable Experience for LBI Folks
Though it wasn’t on Long Beach Island, Jersey Shore history was made this weekend up in Asbury Park. Dozens of LBI folk were up at Sea. Hear. Now, the two-day festival that Bruce Springsteen…
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•September 14, 2024
Surf Perks Up, Hurricane Season Restarts and Sandmen Cometh
Well, how about that. We finally have some surfing to write about in a surf column!
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•September 5, 2024
The Belmar Beach Badge Summer Slam and Its Ramifications
If you woke up in the 609 on Tuesday morning, there was likely a sense of relief. Obviously for those who work every day, it’s reaching the light at the end of a very demanding tunnel. Even for those…
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•August 29, 2024
The Case of the Missing Paddler (Who Was Home Making Dinner); Small Waves to End Summer
The Island seems quiet. Not as quiet as it will be next week, but this weekend was pretty tame compared to the previous 10. On Sunday morning, at prime pickleballing hours, there was an empty court.…
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•August 21, 2024
Earnest Ernesto’s Hurricane Swell; Swimmers Beware and Replenishment Might Not Be the Worst-Case Scenario
Well, it seems hurricane season and election season are once again intertwined. And there will certainly be a few readers who would insist that Liquid Lines “just stick to surfing.” But isn’t it my…
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•August 15, 2024
The Race to Enjoy Shortened Summer; After Debby, Possible Coming Hurricane Swell
Exactly this week last year, I wrote in Liquid Lines about how summer’s days were numbered and we should all be making the most of them. To quote that column: “Just go surf; doesn’t matter how good…
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•August 8, 2024
Wind, Water, Waves Feeling Like Endless Bummer; What Will Tropical Storm Debby Do?
My family came here for our a week vacation. We spent a lot of money on a shore house and the water was soooo cold!
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•July 31, 2024
Review: The Soft Top Not To Buy; Tropics Shake off the Dust
The other night we were surfing some tiny little onshore waves at low tide. The sandbars are amazing right now.
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•July 26, 2024
Surfing in the OIympics This Week, You Might Actually Care; Water Warms, Summer Is Replenishment-Free
When the Summer Olympics’ opening ceremonies are held on Friday, there won’t be any surfers in Paris. Now, that’s not because surfing is shut out. It’s just that the Olympic surfers will be on the…
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•July 19, 2024
Mid-July and We’re Still Talkin’ Cold Water
Over the past few years, pelicans, once a rare sight in New Jersey, have become ubiquitous. And I suspect that has something to do with the ocean temp.
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•July 14, 2024
So Many Community Events, Such Short Time; Water Temp Swings, Dates to Plan
“How many steps are you going to take?! That’s a travel!”
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•July 4, 2024
LBI Dupe, Plus More Cold Water and a Lot of Science
This past week, LBI’s online community, which consists of several entities, had quite the discussion about an article from the Travel + Leisure magazine’s website.
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•June 27, 2024
Cold Water Last Week? Let’s Blame Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis
Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis. Boy were we ever cursing his name last week!
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•June 20, 2024
Things Revealed in June; Tropic Thunder Starting to Rumble
It’s also Pride Month and the month we celebrate the nationally recognized holiday Juneteenth. All that makes June tough on certain straight, white people in a beach resort area who face such…
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•June 14, 2024
Perfect Summer Adventure Sandwich: Little Clean Waves and Hop Sauce Weekend
What I’m talking about in the headline is a sandwich idea for your summer, something we’ve been making to take on hikes, beach days and boat adventures for a few summers now – the peanut butter and…
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•June 7, 2024
Big Jump in Water Temps With Surf on the Way
On Sunday morning, the surf temp hit 61 and even crept upward a few degrees during the day. This marks a very important milestone in the water temperature rise for the year.
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•May 30, 2024
Will Department of Justice Stem Ticketmaster Disaster This Summer? Surf Makes a Poor Showing to Start Season
I heard of no fatalities on the Island this weekend. No one lost a hand to fireworks and none of the motorized scooters that zipped into traffic got hit. And that’s a relief. From the nonstop sirens…
