September 2, 2009 13:58 by
Seth
Big monday.. Hurricane bill came ripping up the east coast and bringing with it massive waves to the coast of maine. Tragedy struck when a young girl was washed out to sea from MDI'S Thunderhole, but last monday when the winds calmed down and I sat outside the gate of Scarborough Beach State Park in the pre-dawn darkness of 5 am I was filled with nothing but anticipation, for I had not stood on a clean wave since my last morning session in Costa Rica at the point of Matapalo on the morning of June 1st.
My friend Ben Coombs pulled up along side me and opened the gate with the swipecard and we were in! The first two cars for what I heard discribed afterwards by many as the best swell to hit Maine in August in years. My first paddle out sucked me into a fast rip that sucked me 70 yards down the beach and right in front of an 8 wave set. Severely winded, I paddled out the back to meet Ben grinning at me amidst the rolling swells. As I stroked into my first wave of the day some minutes later I was brought back to that magical feeling of standing on water, flying along in a place visited by very few. The moments I experience in the waves of the world are only matched by my most zen moments in Alaska and fill me with a contentment in life that is very hard to find.. The day was epic indeed.
As I drank my third red bull of the night to stay awake on the drive up 27 north that night after some 7.5 hours in the water I was reminded once again of just how special Maine is. It's been a good week of golf, training and landscaping, and now I find myself in seat 9k ready to fly to Beunos Aires. I am going to the winter and the task at hand is upon me. The quest to repeat in Vancouver begins. I will awake in Argentina and cross the continent in a search for snow. To test the Kessler boards I have designed and to meet my comrades in competition. I am less then six months away from the opening ceremonies and couldn't be happier to be embarking on this quest. When I return home the color will be coming into the maples and we will all be moving closer to snow on the Loaf. Have a great couple of weeks Maine. I will see you soon...
Seth just emailed in a quick update from somewhere over the Atlantic ocean. Check out what he's up to and stay tuned for some cool footage of his off-season training coming later this week...
It blows my mind how quickly the time passes, but as I settle into seat 11d buisness class bound from Boston to Zurich the reality of the mission ahead of me is becoming clear and the time is getting near..
A quick four day hop over the Atlantic to the Kessler factory to build up my quiver of race boards that will hopefully carry me back to the podium of the Olympic Games is my mission of the moment. Snow is moving closer with every day and this is the first real trip to mark the starting line towards Vancouver.
Departure days are always hectic for me and today was no exception:
- Early morning laundry, coffee, Cheerios with fresh Maine raspberries.
- A rally mission over the Carriage Road complete with an unsuspected security sighting halfway there.
- 1020 flat-water paddle strokes on my smallest surfboard for an early am workout.
- Rallying back to try (unsuccessfully) to make a 10:40 tee time.
- Second breakfast in the form of a Strokes breakfast sando delivered with a smile and green Tabasco from Laurel.
- Get beat by Blake and Simpson without contributing much to McClure’s valiant effort at grinding back in our 9-hole best ball match. Managed to birdie number 7, but McClure already had before me so no help there.
- Lunch, more laundry, packing, and surprise! It’s the USADA to put me two hours off my projected departure with a surprise drug test. Yeah! Love it when I can't pee on command…
- A frenzied drive south through Maine amidst the mass exodus of weekend NH and Mass plates, and once again I have made a flight thanks to the short line of the Premier Exec Gold Line.
I am pumped to see the Alps and old friends again. It will be a quick trip to pick up my boards (no doubt the best I will have ever ridden) before I jet back to Maine to get the training wheel spinning again to prepare for Argentina.
Summer has finally arrived in Carrabasset and it has been beautiful! All of you down southers owe it to yourselves to come ride your bikes, hike, and smack whitey around the course (as our friend McCormack would say). It is sugarloaf off-season at its best right now and I can't wait to get back there on Thursday to move into my house and enjoy the days.
Seth
PS. - A funny story from last night about the first fouling of my carpet at the new house. My good friend Chad Coleman was helping me move my bed over last night, and when his dog Cedar got to the top of the stairs and saw my bear rug he literally crapped himself on the new carpet. I had never seen a husky so scared of an inanimate object. The good news is that the carpet is ok, the dog is ok, and we all had a good laugh.