The Windy Season

For as long as I can remember, November has been the windy season out here on Eastern Long Island. We get the best surf in September which is the peak of hurricane season, and sometimes we’ll see the epic surf bleed into October, but nothing ever seems to prepare me for the misery, bite and chill of the pre-winter blustery winds and cold grey skies of November. September through October surfing is grand, with decent, offshore, not too crazy winds and plenty of swells. But once November arrives, suddenly, 30 to 40 to 50 kt winds become normal and commonplace, and the sea starts to cool down all too damn quickly. Within weeks you’re rubbered up head to toe, (albeit in a hooded 4/3mm which ain’t all too bad) but with boots and gloves and that’s it; you’re confined in that mire of thick neoprene until May of next year.

Problem is, all that wind doesn’t necessarily make for good waves. More often than not it’s honkin’ NW or NE, which tends to blow it all flat in mere hours. Other times it’s just endless side-shore or onshore wind blow outs at 30-40 kts plus, with little relief in sight unless you can find just the right sheltered break, at just the right tide, on just the right day. There are at least a handful of good days to be sure, but there’s so much damn wind all month long!

I remember when I was a kid my dad would take me surfing all the time from May through October, but once November rolled around, then came the grey skies and the rain and the wind and the cold, and that was pretty much it until we went on vacation, or until May came about. I remember countless days avoiding the freezing cold wind-whipped surf, going to movies, or eating at Silver’s, or trekking off to the city to hunt around at the record shoppes in the Village and so on. Anything to avoid the oppressive damp cold of grey and late autumn which mocked us, reminding us that winter had not yet even arrived, but your bones were chilled through and the dark came upon us at just half-past four. I remember spending hours watching surf videos, or just doing art in my house, keeping out of the cold and trying to find some joy in the soul-sucking greyness of the 11th month of the year.

Then as I got older, when I got my license to drive and next bought a winter suit, my surfing season expanded. My first winter suit was a clunky 5/3mm O’Neill chest zip. Could barely move in that damn thing, especially with the old fashioned blocky ass chest zip that was idiotically placed exactly across your pecs, so that you couldn’t put your arms back all the way ‘cause that zipper wouldn’t stretch or give way at all whatsoever, it felt like a restrictive bar across your chest. Plus, it really wasn’t that warm despite all the thickness! Ugh. But it got the job done so to speak, despite ice cream headaches and being unable to paddle or anything. Blech. But, when the water starts to dip below 48º F you don’t have much choice.

Even so, November (in my opinion) is miserable. Sure there’s nor’easters and weather patterns that’ll bring you some surf, but again it’s so freaking cold and damn windy that in the end, you’ll only get out there for a handful of days. Better to go on vacation and try to find a nice paradisiacal surf break somewhere in the Caribbean, or just jet off to Hawaii. That’s what I used to do when I was young and free enough to just pick up and leave. Every year just after Halloween I would fly to Mexico, Cali, or Hawaii and stay there ‘till Easter and then come back home and repeat, Samhain to Easter year after year after year. But, then came kids, marriage, divorce, adulthood, endless jobs, and you name it…

Eventually however, the wetsuits got better, and nowadays a good 5mm is so comfy and stretchy that besides all the bulk, it’s really not all that bad once you’re in it; as long as you have a fatter meatier winter board to help with the paddling and extra weight of all that rubber. Yesterday, November 7th, 2025, the wind was quite stupid, but there were some nice longboard waves to be had at a few select breaks that could offer a wind-block. Unfortunately for me, the spot I wanted to go to was a bit too far out to hit up on a workday. So I spent the day doing my workouts at home and planning my escape to the tropics in a few short weeks’ time. I plan to escape to my training grounds far far far south, so fingers crossed there’ll be waves.

On the bright side, once November has gone, December and January are often less windy, sunnier, and choc full of surf. So even though the water temps might be colder than November, the bright sunny days with less wind feel warmer and more hospitable somehow. Seems to happen to me every year. November just sucks, but then in December and January I get to have fun in my winter suit and play around with the seals, oftentimes with little or no one out.

So yes November has come, let’s hope that I’m wrong, and that the winds stay light out of the NW while we get lots of swell, with the water still in the 50ºs for the remainder of the month! If not, try to get the hell out of Dodge while you can, or get used to the ice cream headaches and dark grey sky melancholy; with blustery, cold-damp wretched, side-shore conditions, until things calm down in often sunny and light-winded New York December…