Pre-Jose Surf Check

With Hurricane Jose lurking offshore, we went to a few beaches to see what's what. We met the Weather Warrior up by Bert's in Plymouth.

Plymouth is a big town, so we also stopped at The Lobster Pound in Manomet.

Manomet needs a little off the top, so to speak.

The Tropical Storm Warnings are no longer applying to the South Shore.

"I am a rock, I am an iiiiiiisland."

I had to crawl down on the rocks to get better shots than the lazy NECN people in the van.

It looks very menacing if I zoom in, but this wave was about 18" high.

See?

Things will probably be a bit more perky tomorrow.

From Plymouth, we then headed to Duxbury. Duxbury was a bit far north for storm waves, but we may return there, so it's good to have some BEFORE pictures.

Duxbury Beach was fixin' to get angry, but it wasn't quite there yet.

Two of those equals Steve's house, no joke... that one has a better roof.

My camera levels well if I have a 1700 foot flat level thing to aim at... three or four times.

Whenever I look at this bridge- and  grew up in Duxbury- I always wonder what Evel Knevil would do with it. Eventually, you realize that nothing could top putting a ramp at the beach end and jumping the shark off of it. It worked for Fonzie, although the term lives in infamy.

There's no way Jose that a puny tropical storm was gonna keep ol' Poop Deck Pappy here from his appointed fish. I'm not picking on PDP, he's way cooler than I am and is most likely having a nice striper filet as we speak.

There would be a certain irony to being killed by a wind-blown lifeguard stand, sort of  the anti-Hasselhoff. Not a worry in Duxbury, though... they tip that ish over.

Best wave I saw in Duxbury, hoping Thursday will be better.

Why I never jog in the dark on Duxbury Beach... OK, that and 300000 Newports.

We actually started in Fairhaven, but we'll end up there now to give this article a snake-draft feel.

New moon high tide, should be fun tomorrow. We'll be out there somewhere...

South Coast Surf Check, 8/30/17

There's a storm offshore, and our business had us on the South Coast today... so why not check out the surf, so you don't have to?

We started off in Fairhaven, heading down Sconticut Neck Road to West Island. That tower is for, depending on when you ask, watching out for U-Boats, fire control, storm viewing (if I can break into it at the right time) and Art.

This is/was the fringes of "Potential Tropical Cyclone 10," for all you weather geeks. The NHC is no longer issuing advisories on it, and it was heading out to sea by the time I got to the sand. We strolled down to the beach, and the seas were riled up...

... but nothing terrible. The storm curved more East than Northeast, and her effects were somewhat lessened around here. I'm pretty sure that there's still a High Surf Advisory for south and east facing beaches. Bourne has a warning, Plymouth doesn't.

Hoppy's Marina was a bit blue, but otherwise calm. The storm that sent me out today will be hitting Atlantic Canada by the time you read this. If you want the big storm, your best bet is Tropical Storm Irma, which is SE of the Cape Verde Islands. Harvey may also rain on us, but nothing like in Texas.

We then rolled the dice on Horseneck Beach in Westport, which was also pretty calm.

Nothing says "end of summer" like a vacant lifeguard chair on a grey-sky beach, huh?

Horseneck Beach has her curves, just like any other lady. The sea favors some spots of a beach with better surf. We walked down a half mile and seas were more camera-friendly.

The little dot between the building and the chair is a very patient surfer.

This was probably the best wave I saw today.

My man, honing some skills, taking what he can get...

Cowabunga!

Gooseberry Island, also in Westport, was more wind friendly, but the storm was moving away quickly and it was time to go to the presses.

Driving Around: West Island/Sconticut Neck

We plowed through the West Island/Sconticut Neck part of Fairhaven recently, seeing what there was to see.

I immediately fell for this lookout tower. It wasn't made in Pisa, Our photographer (me) is twisted. It's a genetic defect, I've stopped trying to deal with it. Know that the picture of the Hoppy's Landing lighthouse later in the article took me 10 tries to get it just that straight.

The lookout tower was made in 1943. The Nazis were sinking a ship a week, and the Army put trained spotters up in these towers to search for wolf packs. They kept soldiers based here, and they'd work in shifts. The tower was manned constantly through the war. It was kept active after to deal with Soviet threats.

Now, it serves all mankind as a really cool structure that I may have to break into and film a hurricane from.

I took a few cracks at these boats, too. A great painter can create a work of art that looks like the real thing. A bad photographer can take something real and make it look like someone painted it.

There are some very nice houses in this part of Fairhaven, but I be lovin' this little stucco job.

As we noted in our earlier harbor-visit articles, the boats will be a bit sparse until the summer people come around.

They welcome all safe boaters, but the lighthouse-sign-painting-guy must be on a bad list somewhere in town.

I wonder if this guy is expecting some coastal flooding in the future? He's more than 100 yards inland, too. Duxbury makes all residents of the beach area rebuild on stilts, maybe this guy has the same directive.

Does that count as a two-story house?

It wasn't all the hoppin' at Hoppy's Landing, but that's never a bad thing when you have pictures to take. Hoppy does have a cool looking place, although his lighthouse makes me think 50% NASA and 50% dildo.

One story house, with an observation tower. I like this guy, and I've never met him. That tower is sweeeeeeeeeeet.

There was a persistent east wind, and we went down to West Island hoping for some stormy waves. The angriest sea we got was the turbulent water working this marina.

I wasn't joking about the twisted photographer. If I moved to Pisa, there would suddenly emerge a stream of very straight Pisa Tower pictures.

I drive around the Massachusetts coast a lot, and nautical towns tend to have nautical front yards. The only guy I saw in Fairhaven who could beat this guy was...

... a different part of the same yard!

I drove through some Lake Michigan sized puddles to get down Edgewater Lane, but the views were worth it.

I do more drive-by shooting than a Crip.

A better photographer than I should go to this same spot and wait for that same fishing boat... my skills don't do it justice.

I suppose that someone manufactures new fishing boats, but the old ones are way better in my book. I don't have to go out in them, keep in mind...

I love this house, which appears to be equal parts lighthouse, castle, treehouse, and cool. You expect to see a yuppie Hobbit emerge from it or something.

All of the best clamshell paths start small.

You can usually tell the historic flooding heights by how high the locals jack up the cottage.

God bless America, Fairhaven, West Island and Hoppy's Landing.