Every now and again, I'll email our editor Tom Dunphy about what he would like to read from me next. This morning, I asked him just that and his response was, "Write about what to do when the waves go flat." He followed it with a "Haha." I also laughed. July is coming which usually results in flatness and intense heat, due to the Bermuda High that generally situates itself over our coast. After my initial, "that's a good one," my mind began to wander and this actually became a great subject to write about. Explain some of the activity's that keep me in surfing shape while I'm not surfing all …

For as long as I can remember, back as a little kid until now, people anywhere in the state of NJ have to pay to use the beach from June until September. The fee isn't even a drop in the bucket, but it still raises alarms with most people. While I and most others understand the reasoning for the fee to use the beach contributes to the cleaning, raking, upkeep and over all cleanliness of our beaches, these fees do nothing to actually contribute to the condition of our oceans, which, is the reason that surfers are up in arms every-time Memorial Day weekend hits. Many surfers will argue …

Local artist Shane McClatchey is already making progress in gaining exposure for his artwork. Not even a high school graduate yet, his pieces are in demand among some of New Jerseys best professional surfers and local surfers in general.  Shane has been using his love of the ocean and surfing to inspire his artwork for years now and will be taking his skills to art school this coming fall in Southern California.  With his images recently being seen on surfboards of our local pros and receiving exposure on ESPN.com, we wanted to know more about the young man. We sat down with him to find out …

Surf camps seem to be popping up every few miles along coastal towns all over the United States at an alarming rate. Just a few years ago, there were only two, maybe three full service, five day a week surf camps along the New Jersey coast. Now, there are at least two for each beach town. The outcome is arguably positive and negative, depending on whom you're speaking with. These camps offer a very in depth and hands on insight into the proper ettiquite and respect towards your fellow watermen. They teach proper paddling, safety techniques, how to handle being swept out in a rip current (…

I have written about my experiences with being a surfer in New Jersey during the winter, fall and summer. Fall is far and away our best time of the year. Spring is a close second. Even though the winter offers us the biggest surf we get all year, the spring is welcomed with open arms by everyone that considers themselves a surfer in New Jersey. Spring does mean that we are approaching the doldrums of summertime surf but that doesn't stop our enthusiasm after enduring a frigid, trying and snowy winter. Once the hoods come off, we will surf no matter how small it may be. The rising temperatures…

When you hear the phrase "Dream Tour" referring to the World Tour for the top 32 surfers in the world, you think of palm tree-lined exotic locales— Australia, Fiji, Tahiti, Hawaii, Indonesia. If you currently have any interest in the world of surfing and have seen the calender for the eleven stops that include the aforementioned, one of the scheduled events will stop you dead in your tracks. Long Island, New York, United States of America for the Quiksilver Pro New York. Growing up, I dreamed of qualifying for the World Championship Tour. I wanted to go to all of these foriegn, wave-rich …

The Belmar Pro is one of the only marquee surf events to take place in New Jersey every year. It used to be a featured stop on the ASP's WQS tour. Once the ASP lifts their sanction from an event, the event usually folds. The Belmar Pro, however, is still running stronger than ever. With over 100 of the top competing surfers from all over the globe setting their sights on a Belmar Pro victory, it is more entertaining now than ever. Holding a major surf event in New Jersey is always a risky endeavor. Not for lack of spectators, but for lack of waves. To hold an event of this magnitude, you need…

You look outside. Its windy, snowing and absolutely freezing. Bone chilling cold. The kind of cold that you can feel just by looking and listening. The kind of cold that confines ninety nine percent of our population to indoor activities. Then, there's the other one percent. These are the people that leave you questioning them. "Why the hell would you ever want to do that in this weather?" And there, you have us, cold water surfers. There's surfing. Then, there is winter surfing. While any outsider would consider them one in the same, winter surfing is an enitrely different world. Winter …

Each year summer starts and every surfer in the Northeast dreams of what this hurricane season will bring. To those non-surfing residents, a hurricane means destruction and worry. To a surfer, a hurricane simply means surf.  The end of May until the middle of September is a pain staking time for any waterman. The weather is perfect, the ocean is warm— and flat. Now and  again the ocean will send us a tiny two foot swell that is actually ridable to remind us of what is to come. Each time these little waves reach us, we all start talking about "how good" this year could be and how "if the …

Robert Kelly Slater, otherwise known as the best surfer to ever grace this planet,  might as well be known as the most dominant and soon to be influential athlete to ever grace this earth as well. Some may argue this point but when it comes down to pure statistics, not a single  athlete in history even comes within striking distance of Kelly's dominance and winning record. He's won ten world titles, making him both the oldest and youngest ever to do so. He has 55 professional victories including forty-five World Tour wins. He has won the highest amount of prize money ever handed out for a …

The tenacity, the grit, the explosiveness, the heart, the honesty, the talent... the raw, infinite, endless talent. That is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Andy Irons. As many of you may have seen on the news, read in the papers or heard through other media outlets, Philip Andrew Irons, the three-time ASP world surfing champion, prematurely left our earth on Nov. 2 at 32 years old. The details of how he passed are varied and I will not voice my opinions as to what I think led to his death. I am going to focus on the personality, determination, love and heart that shaped …

Greetings. My name is Luke Ditella and welcome to The Rising Tide, the weekly surfing column on Monmouth Shore Patch. Every week I'll detail different experiences, logic, insights, knowledge and lessons I've gained as a professional surfer. I am originally from Ocean City, NJ and am currently splitting time between New York City and Neptune City when I'm not traveling. Since the age of 13, I have been traveling around the world surfing and since the age of 17, I have been doing so as my profession. My title is Editorial Chaser or Free Surfer. My job has been to get as much magazine, movie, …