Liquid Lines
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•May 25, 2024
MDW Is Here at Long Last, and Are We Ever Ready for Summer
It’s safe to say we’re ready for summer. I, for one, am ready for a Pamwich from Barry’s, sunglasses and the squeak of an old beach cruiser that has gotten rained on 28 days in the past month. I’m…
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•May 16, 2024
Surf and Weather Have Been Depressing But Better Days Ahead
As we’ve muddled through May with the fireplace on, trying to keep Mom warm on Sunday and get our punch list done in the wind and rain before the unofficial start of summer, there’s been some news…
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•April 30, 2024
How Ridiculous Short-Term Rental Sites Have Become; Ocean Temp Hits 50
Does anyone remember when Airbnb and VRBO were actually worthwhile?
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•April 18, 2024
April Can Always Find New Ways to Disappoint But We Had a Diamond in the Rough
I’m writing this column on my phone, from inside my Volkswagen. I am currently lost in Beach Haven West. Due to whatever is being done to eastbound Rt. 72, I was forced to detour into Beach Haven…
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•April 3, 2024
Early Indications for Wild Hurricane Season Give You Time to Make Tinfoil Hat
OK, it’s the first week of April. So let’s see … the conspiracy theorists have about four months to start thinking of crazy stuff to account for whatever happens this year at the peak of hurricane…
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•March 24, 2024
Solid Surf Roundup and March Radness; Put Away Your Snow Shovel But Don’t Plant Lettuce
Is the written word ineffectual these days? As a columnist in a weekly beach rag, do my accounts of the surf, editorializing of atmospheric events, small-town social commentary and general saltwater…
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•March 10, 2024
One Hundred Days ’Til Whenever, Countdown to Forever
I don’t remember exactly who said it recently – I’m sure there were several folks who mentioned, both out loud and on social media – “100 days until Memorial Day.”
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•February 21, 2024
Could There Be New Category for Hurricanes? Tropic Talk During Long Days of Winter
I recently reread a column that I penned back in October 2016. A formidable Hurricane Matthew, a massive spinner that reached winds of 165 mph in the Atlantic and would tear a vicious path through…
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•February 7, 2024
No Matter How Much You Love This Island, There Are Times to Get Away
For as ripe as 2024 started out, it’s gone rotten pretty darn quick. We went from a barrage of giant swells and classic late-season fishing to an icy bay and soggy meteorological misery real quick.…
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•January 25, 2024
A Couple More MegaSwells and a Milestone; Seeing Where El Niño Takes Us
Thirty-three degrees and raining might be about the most miserable weather New Jersey can get.
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•January 12, 2024
Old Year Goes Out With Historic Monster Swell; January Wave Train Continues
Well, it has been a minute since the last Liquid Lines. I fully admit that was me picking up my dried-out old fir tree off the bridge last Friday when it bounced out of the bed of my truck (much…
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•December 14, 2023
If November Is ‘Happy’ Version of Winter, December Is Merry
When I was a kid, we wrote letters to Santa. So we were a little surprised when we recently got an unprompted letter from Santa in October.
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•November 30, 2023
How to Stay Warm With Winter Activities; Waves to Be More Than Thankful for Last Week
These next few weeks are what we refer to as “happy winter” – cold but not frozen, with the charm of the season. Beyond that is real winter – more bitter, less charming and much, much longer.
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•November 16, 2023
Holidays Are Upon Us … Already; Flat Surf Looks to Turn On
I have to apologize for my last column. Liquid Lines runs every other week after October, so this would have been my column from Nov. 1.
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•November 1, 2023
Pumpkin Treats, Unpopular Offshore Wind Opinions and Fantastic Weather With Waves
I guess we should have known this, but if you carve a pumpkin in the middle of October and then we have a few late October days in the 80s, said jack-o-lantern is going to rot out in a hurry and…
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•October 30, 2023
Though Our Waves Can Be Challenging, LBI Has It Good in an Ever-Crowded Surf World
On pretty much any given day, you can pull up Surfline’s Malibu First Point camera and see no fewer than 30 black dots moving around in the water. Scroll over to Third Point and there are a few dozen…
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•October 19, 2023
When Waves, Fall Commitments Collide; Another Weekend Swell Keeps Run Going
I am starting this week’s column off with a story. And there is a good moral here.
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•October 12, 2023
Family Scavenger Hunt for Weeknight Dinner Is Autumn Adventure
Life around here lately (since the great eight-day nor’easter, anyway) has been that October dream that we relish all year long. We’ve been standing on dunes as the goldenrod blooms, watching little…
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•October 4, 2023
Ophelia Is Gone … So Are the Sandbars; Trying to Resume Local Summer After the Battering
Last week’s extended storm was a real kick in the teeth.
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•September 21, 2023
While Workers Go on Strike, the Ocean Does Not; Notes From a Scorching Tropical Surf Season
It almost seemed like the tropics were on strike earlier this season. Thankfully they decided to come back in full force.
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•September 14, 2023
This September Is Truly Time for Islanders; Hurricane Lee Rocks This Weekend
If you’re holding this paper and still on or around LBI, then good for you. Welcome to week two of Local Summer. This is when things get good. All surfers’ eyes – the ones with the crow’s feet sun…
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•September 7, 2023
Surf Culture Need Not Come From Big Surf Companies; It’s Ours to Create
There was a bit of business news in the surf world last week that didn’t really get much attention, nor should it have. Both the West and East Coast have been busy with much more important things –…
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•August 31, 2023
The Subtle Current of Surf Culture Running Through Labor Day Weekend
The once-underground Southern California band artfully mixed punk, reggae, ska, jam band and hip-hop subcultures in the early-’90s surf and skate scene. The first two records, released on tiny little…
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•August 23, 2023
What LBI and NYC Have in Common; Outrageously Fun Summer Swell and Tropical Storm Party of Four
BEST OF THE BEST: Long Beach Island is pretty good at a few things. Generations of folks have come here because they like the simple coastal vibe. And to toot our own horn, we are really good at…
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•August 16, 2023
Cue the Start of Seasonal Transition and Hurricane Season; Props to Great Classic Event
We haven’t had enough summer, but more than enough heat.
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•August 10, 2023
Remembering ESPN Hot Summer Nights Programming and Living Our Own Hot Summer
Back in the early ’90s, ESPN used to run a Tuesday-night lineup in the summer called Hot Summer Nights. It had its own graphics – pretty heavily ’80s influenced in colors and aesthetic with a catchy…
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•August 3, 2023
Waves of Strength Gets Stellar Waves; Potential for Open Space in Ship Bottom; Barbie’s Pink Milkshake Brings Ted Cruz to the Yard
Chances are that you’ve enjoyed something Barbie themed this week on LBI – some kind of pink milkshake, cupcake, ice cream or something else to celebrate this summer’s blockbuster that has earned…
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•July 27, 2023
Jetty Coquina Jam Puts Spotlight on Women, Littlenecks Put Smiles on Faces
To date, local apparel company Jetty has run 15 Coquina Jams and 17 Clam Jams. There have been spitting tubes and daring airs. There have been gracefully executed cross steps to gorgeous nose rides.…
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•July 19, 2023
Online Complaints Make Pure Comedy; Every Element of Summer Surf at Once
Last Sunday, we were out to breakfast at a mainland spot north of LBI. Just after our food arrived, the friendly waiter/owner of the spot asked if we needed anything else.
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•July 13, 2023
Controversial Plastic Bag Ban Is Working; Tiny Baby Waves Get Us Between Swells
It has now been over a year since New Jersey enacted the ol’ P.L. 2020, c. 117 bill, or as it is known out on the streets, the plastic bag ban.
