This year’s camping trip to RI for a September hurricane swell did not disappoint! We saw Flo on the forecast and figured it was just the right time to get out to Tyler Garceau’s slice of Narnia in the middle of downtown Narragansett. It was a bit wet for camping for the first week of the trip. Many CSC students stayed in hotels and Air Bnbs while us coaches toughed it out on Tyler’s couch — Tyler is the dreadlocked dude in the vid with the longest wave ever. But then the sun came shining through, the tents went up, and the grill came to the party.
The surfing from the crew was totally inspiring. Alistair Bramley did the first real cutback we’ve seen from a student. Naomi Cookson, Catee Lalonde, and Jacqueline Thompson were figuring out how to swivel the board back into the pocket. Phil Bohlman is developing epic style. Zac has only been surfing since June and was trimming his Josh Hall mini eagle through some glorious left hand sections. Our fearless lawyer Benita Hussain has developed the smoothest backside pig dog technique — she was blowing our minds. Gaston Olsen had the session of a lifetime — he’s the tall dude towards the end of the video nailing drops at that funky wave by the lighthouse we stumbled upon. His surf buddy Norva Bennet was pushing her limits to stand up earlier on the wave. Bridget Dearborn was the camping trooper staying on site with coaches in the wild. She also pushed her levels in the surf which is impressive since she’s only be at it for the summer. Karen Shih and Beni Chuun swallowed some fear and dropped into bombs on the big day. Ben Kim smoothed out his approach. Deb Altman got to score waves near her home (Deb is from RI). Johan Kritzinger practiced his late drops and top turns. Jennie Lyutskanov got some absolute bombs at every location she surfed — she will not be stopped! And all of us coaches had some really fun rides as well. The waves were punchy and long and the water was clean — a nice reprieve from the sewage laden filth we’ve been enduring in NY this summer.
This was a lot of people to pull through a place that is not our local break. And I want people, both students and locals of that place, to take note that we are well aware of this. We had a big crew of people flowing through this year and it worked out just wonderfully. Everyone was courteous to locals. We had zero hassles in the water or in any parking lots. We stayed away from expert peaks and timed our more advanced sessions with precision. We never paddled to the main peaks and we never descended on a spot all at once. We took turns rotating in and out of the lineups. This is the Conatus way. We saw a lot of dangerous activity from other beginning surfers who did not have coaches, mentors, or chaperones. The wild west mentality that surfing does not require teachers is still wrecking havoc on lineups the world over. We were so stoked on the manner and comportment of all Conatus crew on this trip. It was a job well done from everyone. We are also super grateful to the local businesses and people of Rhode Island for having such sweet places to stay, eat, and shop. Mucho mahalos RI!!!!
