Time and Tide

Surfing has become an increasingly popular way to recreate here along the seacoast, and across the US as a whole. During the summer, it’s hard to drive anywhere without seeing a longboard strapped to the roof of a fellow commuter’s car.

But why has surfing become so popular in recent years? From 2019 to 2020, the surfing population in the US grew an astounding 28 percent, and over the past five years the sport has experienced 8% average annual growth.

On this month’s two-part episode of Time and Tide, we’re paddling into the lineup with local legends of surfing to look back at the sport’s past along NH’s coastline, attempt to understand who today’s cold-water surfers are, and unpack what coastal issues New Hampshire surfers care about most?

In part one, we paint a picture of what surfing’s past and present looks like along the seacoast. We kick things off with Ralph Fatello, a local photographer and surfer who runs a weekly surfing blog called Ralph’s Pic of the Week and has been doing so for the past 21 years. Ralph has been surfing and photographing New Hampshire waves since the 60’s, and has seen the sport, and how surfers are using our coast, change through time.

Next, Brayden Rudert shares his perspective from the water angle. Brayden is a professional photographer who helps shed light on what surfing culture looks like today, and how surfing can connect coastal communities with the ocean. We dig into the question of whether a connection to the ocean through surfing is enough to inspire surfers to protect these coastal places.

Full episode transcript is available below.

Guest Speakers:

Ralph Fatello, Surfer and Photographer, Ralph’s Pic of the Week

Brayden Rudert, Surfer and Photographer, Vision Lagoon

Hosted by: Brian Yurasits, Science Communication Specialist, New Hampshire Sea Grant

Co-hosted by: Erik Chapman, Director, New Hampshire Sea Grant

Produced by: Brian Yurasits

Creators and Guests

Host

Brian Yurasits

Science Communication Specialist, New Hampshire Sea Grant.

Host

Erik Chapman

Director - N.H. Sea Grant

Guest

Brayden Rudert

Surfer and Photographer, Vision Lagoon

Guest

Ralph Fatello

Surfer and Photographer, Ralph’s Pic of the Week

What is Time and Tide?

Time and Tide is a New Hampshire Sea Grant podcast for anyone who is connected to the Granite State’s waterways and wants to learn more about the latest science impacting both yourself, and the animals that live here. Hosts Erik Chapman and Brian Yurasits break down complex topics from seafood to coastal resilience by bringing on guests from both the research world, and local industries to share their expertise and perspectives.

Cold Water Surfing Part 1
===

Ralph Fatello: [00:00:00] Surfing is this tempest starts out to sea and creates a swell. The swell becomes this wave, and then you go out and you meet this wave at the end of its life, you ride this wave. You'll hear surfers say, I got the best wave of my life, I got this insane barrel, I got the best wave of my life. And I always say, think about where you were earlier today, if you had changed anything, if you had done one thing different, that wave was gonna be there whether you were there or not. The fact that you met this wave at the end of its life and you got that barrel at the end of its life and you're so stoked, beyond stoked, you got the wave of your life. I mean, think about how special that is. You're riding along on living liquid matter.

What else on the planet can you say that you can do that with?[00:01:00]

Brian Yurasits: The sport of surfing has become increasingly popular as a way to recreate here along the Seacoast and across the United States as a whole. During the summer, it's hard to drive anywhere without seeing a longboard strapped to the roof of a fellow commuter's car. But why has surfing become so popular in recent years?

From 2019 to 2020, the surfing population in the US grew an astounding 28%. And over the past five years, the sport has experienced 8% average annual growth. That's according to the Surf Industry Members Association. On this month's two-part episode of Time and Tide, we're paddling into the lineup with local legends of surfing to look back at the sports past along New Hampshire's coastline attempt to understand who today's cold water surfers are and unpack what coastal issues New Hampshire surfers care about the most. In part [00:02:00] one, we paint a picture of what surfing's past and present looks like along the Seacoast. We kick things off with Ralph Fatello, a local photographer and surfer who runs a weekly surfing blog called Ralph's Pic of the Week, and has been doing so for the past 21 years. Ralph has been surfing and photographing New Hampshire waves since the sixties and has seen the sport and how surfers are using our coast change through time.

Next up, Brayden Rudert shares his perspective from the water angle. Brayden is a professional photographer who helps shed light on what surfing culture looks like today and how surfing can connect coastal communities with the ocean. We dig into the question of whether a connection to the ocean through surfing is enough to inspire surfers to protect these coastal places.

I'm your host, Brian Yurasits, and today I'm joined by my co-host Erik Chapman. Here at New Hampshire Sea Grant, we work to enhance our relationship with the coastal environment to sustain healthy and resilient ecosystems, economies, and [00:03:00] communities. In order to do that, we want to understand the people who work, live, and play along the Seacoast.

Paddle out with us as we learn about the history of surfing in New Hampshire and what coastal topics connect with today's growing group of surfers.

Before starting Ralph's interview, he takes us on a tour around his house and studio, pointing out some of his favorite artwork.

It's like a museum.

Ralph Fatello: So this is where all the, uh, it all goes down.

Brian Yurasits: The magic happens.

Ralph Fatello: Yeah. This is an original Endless Summer poster.

Brian Yurasits: Yeah.

Ralph Fatello: Hey, check this one out. This was the day that David Bowie died.

Erik Chapman: Oh, wow.

Ralph Fatello: That was the first photo I took.

Brian Yurasits: Yeah.

Erik Chapman: Space Oddity.

Ralph Fatello: Isn't that wild?

Brian Yurasits: Yeah. That's cool. Do you have like a favorite photo that you've ever taken?

Ralph Fatello: No.

Brian Yurasits: No.

Ralph Fatello: No. [00:04:00]

Brian Yurasits: The next one, right.

Ralph Fatello: I've taken thousands and thousands and thousands of them. This is, was, uh, hanging at Flatbread in Portsmouth for the longest time.

Brian Yurasits: Oh, nice.

Ralph Fatello: I gave one of these to every member of my family, all the kids, you know.

Brian Yurasits: Oh, that's awesome.

Ralph Fatello: Because that's where they grew up.

Erik Chapman: Yeah, yeah.

Ralph Fatello: So, twice in my life I surfed every single day for a year. Did you know that?

Here.

Erik Chapman: Here.

Ralph Fatello: Yeah. And I did it once in memory of my dad,

I called it Catch a Wave for Gus, and he turned me on to surfing. I'll tell you about that later. When this little girl Molly passed away, she was, uh, had large cell lymphoma and then passed away and I was just crushed by it. So, I surfed in her memory. And this is Max again. My son is a way better surfer than I ever thought about being.

Brian Yurasits: Do you and your son get to surf a lot together?

Ralph Fatello: We did a lot when I was still short boarding, you know. My short boarding days are behind me. We just, it's what happens.

Brian Yurasits: So Ralph, we're here now sitting together in your studio surrounded by surfboards, photos, and probably [00:05:00] more stories than we could ever hope to tell in one episode.

Let's start with a story of the first time that you picked up a surfboard.

Ralph Fatello: My name is Ralph Fatello. I live in Hampton, New Hampshire, and I am in my 75th year on the planet. In 1963, you know, we were on a coastal town, Beverly, on the North Shore. My younger brother and I were training, believe it or not, to be stuntmen in Hollywood.

It was 1963, the summer of 63, and I heard my dad yell out the window, Ralphie, Ralphie, come in here and see this. And I ran into the house and on a little black and white TV in the den there were these guys on surfboards, and he's like, they're surfing. I'm like surfing, I had never seen it before. It blew my mind.

I stopped and looked at it. I'm like, what is this? And I had never seen it before. Where is this? And he said, probably California, or Hawaii. I'm like, I was fascinated. I couldn't believe what I was watching. I had never seen it before, and then it was shortly later, we were on the beach in Nahant, and there must have been a tropical storm because there were like three to [00:06:00] five foot waves.

My dad said, you know, if you had a surfboard, you could surf on those waves. And I looked up at him and looked at the waves, i'm like, he's right. Those are the same size waves we were watching on TV. And so that was our mission to get a surfboard. And that's where I rode my first wave, the summer of 64, and I paralleled that wave.

And I can remember like it was yesterday, the board chattering along on the face and that sound of the board, just that living liquid matter moving and me going. I'm like, I'm gonna do this the rest of my life. Caught my first wave in Hampton in 1966 and went through the whole longboard thing and into the shortboard stuff, you know. The shortboard revolution happened in '67.

Guys were taking their long boards and actually cutting them down to, you know, seven feet, seven and a half feet, eight feet.

Brian Yurasits: So what were wetsuits like back then? Were surfing wetsuits tough to come by, and what did they look like?

Ralph Fatello: There were no surfers wetsuits. We wore diver suits.

They were quarter inch. Divers were not doing what [00:07:00] surfers do. Eventually the surfer wetsuit came out, but it was like you wore pants that came up to your chest, and then you wore a jacket with a beaver tail that came up between your legs and you'd snap it. And then you'd wear a hood on top of that, and then gloves, and then you know in the winter, boots.

But the water would rush up inside your jacket and then fill up your pants. So you were always full of water. I'm old enough to tell you that our original wetsuits were not made for surfers.

Erik Chapman: Was there enough to call sort of a New Hampshire surf culture at that time, or did that start to happen later?

Ralph Fatello: Oh yeah, it was all coming.

What would happen back in the sixties was whatever was happening in California, we would mirror that. And our only source of information, there was no internet, there certainly weren't any cell phones, so the only thing we had was the magazine. Surfer Magazine was our Bible. You got a subscription to Surfer and that's what you learned.

And you had to look at photos 'cause there were no surf videos that we could watch. And then on TV they would run these uh, [00:08:00] contests. Once a year you got to see it on TV. And then the movies came out The Endless Summer. I showed you the original poster. So that was made in '64, but it didn't really get distributed till '66.

My dad took me to see The Endless Summer in 1966. And that was the end all to end all, it was like, this is what we're gonna do.

Brian Yurasits: How did you all know when the waves were gonna be good? What was surf forecasting like? Was it all word of mouth? Did you have anyone that you could call? And also how were the crowds?

Was it mostly just you and your friends out there, or did other people have the same idea as you?

Ralph Fatello: Back then before there was surf cams, typically the primitive, archaic way was driving down to the ocean and looking. I call it the Ralph Cam. I went down and Ralph looked, and Ralph saw, and Ralph made a decision, you know, but there was also in the Boston Globe, The Globe would show little low pressure systems and you could look and see a low, like down off the Carolinas and know that it was gonna track up. And then there was the uh, marine [00:09:00] forecast radio that you could get. And then there were knowing people who actually lived where the waves were. And so it was pretty primitive but effective. When we lived in Massachusetts and we wanted to go north, we would do a person to person collect call.

Like my friend Jeff Opes, who lived at 10th Street down here. His mother, Mrs. Opes, I would call person to person, collect, she would answer the phone and say, no, he's not here right now but he'll be back around two or three, uh, he'll be back at three or four. I'm like, oh, thank you, Mrs. Opes. So I didn't have to pay for the call, but I would get the surf report.

And Duffy McCarthy's mom did the same thing. I would call her. Person to person, collect, for the Duffy and he's not here. You know when he'll be back, he should be back around five. Okay, thank you. So, I knew it was five foot. The thing about surfing and the crowds, it ebbed and flowed. It was the sixties was popular because the Beach Boys, you know, everybody's gone surfing.

Real surfers didn't listen to the Beach Boys, but they made it so popular. And then those goofy Annette [00:10:00] Funicello and Frankie Avalon movies, that made it popular. Gidget, you know, the Gidget, uh, TV series in the sixties made it popular so that popularity created crowds, but it only created summer crowds.

You had the summer crowds, unless you were hardcore, you had to go up and buy the boots and gloves and, and suck it up and, and do it. Most of the crowds were in the summer, so Labor Day came, the crowds were gone.

Brian Yurasits: It's clear that this shared experience of surfing in itself is a connecting force between the people who ride waves.

What exactly is it about that experience that brings people together into a community?

Ralph Fatello: You're connecting with Mother Nature, you're connecting with Mother Ocean. Once you do it, once you parallel a wave and ride, like I described my first wave, and that chattering of the board and like looking down and seeing the bottom go by and just, and then once you've done it and then you have friends who've done it, you're part of this pact.

It's like we share that. And the same with uh, you know, surf photography. You take a certain photo that resonates with [00:11:00] surfers.

Erik Chapman: What is it about a surfing photo that you appreciate?

Ralph Fatello: The best surf photographers are surfers. If you've surfed and you take photos, you know, 'cause you've been out there and you've felt that, to capture that image that a surfer's gonna look at and go, oh, as a surf photographer, uh, and a surfer, you have to anticipate what the surfer is gonna do.

So, if you're shooting a surfer and you're shooting stills, you have to know he's gonna make this drop, he's gonna hit that bottom turn, and then he is gonna come up and hit that lip. And you gotta know exactly when to pull that trigger. This is before the *noise* taking a million photos. And the other thing too that I do, and if you notice all my paintings and a lot of my photos are empty waves.

And the reason why I paint empty waves, and I love taking photos of empty waves, is I don't wanna rob you of your imagination. I want you to look at that empty wave and imagine where you would be on that wave. Maybe you just paddling out and looking over, or maybe you're dropping in, you know, or maybe you're in the barrel.

Erik Chapman: So it's an invitation for [00:12:00] you to interact with the wave, the image of the wave.

Ralph Fatello: Exactly. So you looking at my paintings, or my empty wave photos, you can imagine where you would be. If I put a surfer there, that's where your eye is going. If I put a surfer on a wave, take a photo of a surfer, you're looking at the surfer. And there's nothing wrong with that.

I'm just saying for me personally, I love empty waves. And I love to paint empty waves 'cause I want you, the viewer to imagine where you would be on that wave.

Brian Yurasits: How have you seen this coastline itself change through time through your lens? I'm talking about the sport itself and how surfers relate to the ocean.

How has that changed from the sixties to the present?

Ralph Fatello: First of all, the physical aspect, the act, the ocean itself, the waves and the coastline, that hasn't changed.

Erik Chapman: Have the surf spots changed?

Ralph Fatello: The sandy beaches, the bottoms change, but the point breaks and the reef breaks they never change. The culture, the scene, you know, the surf scene, like I said, ebbs and flows. The sixties was super popular and the [00:13:00] seventies were kind of laid back, and then the eighties came and everything was really bright and in your face and, because of the photography and the new videos. The styles have went from being very kind of casual longboarding in the sixties and walking the nose, to getting barreled like Jerry Lopez at Pipeline, to the eighties where everybody was in your face, lip smacking, popping out of the wave. Everything got radical, you know?

Brian Yurasits: So it sounds like you're leading us up to today where we have. The internet and social media and surf cams. I'm curious what you think about surfing in the time that we live in now, more and more people seem to be exposed to the sport and the crowds seem to be becoming denser.

What are your thoughts on the crowds and having surfing exist in a digital world?

Ralph Fatello: As far as my blog is concerned, it's a double-edged sword. And I will not and have not named any spots except, except for The Wall. If you can drive by it, it ain't a secret. The other thing about surfing as opposed to any other sport like [00:14:00] skiing, you have black diamonds, you have the blue squares and you have the green circles.

We don't have that. And they have ski patrols to tell you you don't belong on the black diamond. You are a green circle skier. Here, in surfing, we don't have the black diamond signs, the blue squares and the green circle and the ski patrol is us. We tell you, hey, you shouldn't be out here man. Why not?

Because you're gonna get A yourself killed, or B, worse, me killed. It's that kind of a atmosphere that we live in.

Brian Yurasits: So, you really touched on two ethics of surfing here to help deal with today's inevitability of crowds. One is not sharing locations of surf spots online, um, through photos or just by pointing out the names of these spots.

And two is following surf etiquette in the water and knowing your limits, which is enforced by the locals, a term known as localism. Are there any places left along New Hampshire's Seacoast where you can score a surf session with just you and a few friends out?

Ralph Fatello: [00:15:00] You can if you open your eyes and your imagination, you could find spots.

You will find lesser quality waves, but you'll find less crowds. And just you and a few friends can still share that, those magic moments. And there are, believe it or not, places that no one has ever surfed yet.

Brian Yurasits: As someone who grew up surfing, I've always seen that surfers have this responsibility to protect the ocean that gives us this source of joy.

Are there any issues facing our coast today that you personally, and the people in your orbit, are most concerned about?

Ralph Fatello: Surfers in general are tuned into the ocean and the environment and wanna keep it clean. Just on a local level here, there's always that element of the non surfers that go to the beach and leave trash.

The culture here today is very much aware of keeping the ocean clean, you know. Surfrider is perfect example of that. Surfrider has been around a long time now, and it's a wonderful organization.

Erik Chapman: As I've gotten to know Surfrider [00:16:00] a little bit more, you know, one of their keystone issues is access.

And I can imagine if you're tied in and connected to that incredible experience that you get when you come to the ocean and the relationship between yourself and your life and the life of the tempest and the wave, you know, it's really important to you to feel like you can, you can have access to that.

Ralph Fatello: As far as beach access, people get crazy about the ocean and wanna keep it for themselves. Surfers will always find a way to get to those waves. Whether they have to walk around your property. That's the one thing about the surf, if you can see those waves, you're gonna get to those waves. You know, we did it during pandemic.

They shut the beaches down. My son went out and surfed one of the point breaks. They parked their cars inland, walked down, scrambled over the rocks and the beaches were closed, but they paddled out and this state cop pulls up and goes, what are they doing out there? I said, they're surfing. He said, they're not supposed to be out there.

They're a quarter of a mile out the sea. You and I right now are way closer, you know, but surfers will find a way.

Brian Yurasits: A through line that comes [00:17:00] up anytime that you talk about surfing is the word community. And I'll share a quick story I have. So, when I first moved here to New England 10 years ago, I didn't know a single soul.

I started paddling out at these New Hampshire surf breaks, slowly working my way into the lineup, seeing the same people each and every time. And eventually I found my people and made friends with plenty of surfers here. Surfing gave me much of my New Hampshire community and I was wondering what your perspective was on how surfing can build community in a time when the world seems to be in desperate need of these shared in-person experiences away from our phones.

When you're surfing there's not a single phone in sight, which is such a refreshing thing.

Ralph Fatello: We are a tribe 'cause everyone has to go through it, you know, ease your way into the lineup. You don't paddle out at some spot for the first time and paddle beyond everybody and sit the furthest out, 'cause that's gonna get you nowhere.

You paddle out, sit on the inside, watch everybody get their wave, give a wave, [00:18:00] get a wave. You give a wave, let someone take a wave, then you eventually work your way in. It's really simple. It's a slow process, but the end result is so worthwhile to be part of that, sharing those waves, because once everybody's getting waves, there's nothing but smiles and good vibes, right? On the other hand, there's also, there's those rules about dropping in on somebody. That drop in rule is pretty basic. And I always say it's like crossing the street when you're a kid. Look left, look right, then left again. When you're going for a wave and there's two or three guys, you look over, the guy is deeper to the breaking part of the wave, has possession of the wave.

Erik Chapman: Everything you're describing is the reason why I pretty much go where there's nobody. And I'll take whatever waves are there 'cause I'm just, it's hard enough for me to just find a wave and get on it, you know, let alone deal with all the people and figuring out, I just don't wanna do anything wrong out there.

Brian Yurasits: Well, how has it been for you, Erik? As someone who's newer to the sport and learned later in life, were you aware of everything that Ralph has been describing when you first hopped in?

Erik Chapman: These days, if you wait this [00:19:00] long, like it took me 50 years, you know about the social dynamics. So I was very cautious and I still am. I go far away, but you know, when you described your first wave, I'm just so thankful that I know what you're talking about. I know that feeling, the sound, that kind of just miracle moment.

Ralph Fatello: That sensation.

Erik Chapman: That sensation, and I just am so just thankful that, and grateful that I've been able to experience that.

Ralph Fatello: Welcome to the tribe, my brother.

Brian Yurasits: What would you recommend, Ralph, for someone listening who's just starting to surf?

Is there a place you would recommend that they go or avoid? Are there any other tips you would share for someone who wants to connect with the ocean through surfing?

Ralph Fatello: First, I wanna say that Erik, you're on the right path and eventually you will graduate to those other spots. Once you start riding the wave, once you start getting better and better and understanding the mechanics of the wave, understanding the pecking order. As far as a new surfer, too many surfers paddle out at like the point breaks because it's easy to [00:20:00] paddle out. You don't have to duck dive through a beach break. You paddle out in the channel and there's no signs there saying this is not a beginner break. So, there's a reason why you don't paddle out to those breaks until you know what you're doing. You know, surf the beach breaks, take the waves on the head.

Learn the way we all did. You know, you learn how to paddle for starters, you know. Paddling is 90% of the game. Don't be that beginner bunny slope paddling out into a black diamond break. The men and the women, and there's a lot of women who are surfing really good these days, really good, and they've earned their way out there.

They've earned their way in the lineup.

Erik Chapman: There's no ski patrol out there, but I know what a ski patrol is. They're the ones who kind of give you the guidance. They tell you what to do, and that's a service. They're there for your safety.

And so it's not about just like, protecting it for me, probably a little bit about that, but it's largely about keeping people in the places that they should be and they're gonna have the best experience for themselves.

Brian Yurasits: I think your blog is awesome for a lot of different reasons, but there's something about being a surfer, seeing yourself catch a wave and [00:21:00] surf.

I know whether you're doing a lot better than you thought, or you're doing a lot worse than you thought.

Ralph Fatello: It's usually a wake up call, like, uh, that's not how I remember it.

Brian Yurasits: Have you heard from people who have seen photos that you've taken of them on your blog.

Ralph Fatello: I took a couple of photos of this one kid, and I'm like, the wave itself was really crisp looking.

He saw it on the blog and I don't know who the guy is, and freaked out. Oh my God, this is the best photo I've ever seen of me surfing, do you, do you sell them? I'm like I do sell them, so I sent him what I had of him and uh, he was so happy about it. That's happened to me hundreds and hundreds of times over the years.

There's not a surfer on this planet who doesn't want to see them in a photo of them surfing because of what I described to you earlier about that sensation of riding that wave, how special that is. And to have a photo of you riding on that wave. Dude, everybody wants that because it's that special.

And that's the beauty of surf photography, and that's the beauty of my blog. I love to hear from people for the first time, or even the jaded ones who've seen a million photos of themselves. If [00:22:00] I can get one that stops them and say, that's a great photo, man. I know I still, I still have my finger on the pulse.

Brian Yurasits: I'm sure that there are hundreds of maybe thousands of people out there that have a printed photo of themselves from you. Like you were saying earlier, this wave traveled from across the ocean all that way. You put yourself in that moment and you captured that moment. That's a special thing. What do you hope for the future of surfing?

Ralph Fatello: I just hope that the vibe, the stoke that happened in the sixties and is happening today will be here 30 years from now.

Brian Yurasits: That's a good way to put it. But Ralph, thank you so much for. Sharing that stoke.

Ralph Fatello: Well, I appreciate you having me. It was fun.

Brian Yurasits: Next we meet with Brayden Rudert, a professional photographer who lets us swim alongside as he captures the water angle of surfing.

And shares his perspective on the anatomy of a swell. Brayden is a University of New Hampshire alumni who has also spent some time on the West Coast. We explore how social media is changing the surfing seascape and what makes New England [00:23:00] surfers unique. Stay with us.

If you could paint your ideal day of surfing, when does it start, what are the conditions like and who's there with you?

Brayden Rudert: Perfect day surfing. Surfing always has to do with time. I'd start late morning. I don't really like waking up early. I will if I have to, but it's, it's really not actually a preference of mine.

Yeah, probably anywhere like chest to head high and kind of some peaky beach break. People kind of spread out. Have your own zone. It's funny because I think a lot of people, they want a perfect right hand point break, and some of my best sessions have been just kind of maybe more mellow, but clean offshore, like warm day and yeah.

Brian Yurasits: Who's there with you? Like are you just going to this peak yourself?

Brayden Rudert: I've got a couple good friends that I kind of surf with frequently, but I also am maybe somewhat notorious for just like showing up to the beach. You know, I just like, I know where the waves are gonna be good and that's like, honestly, there's a lot of people who socially, that's just where I see them and that's the relationship I kind of have is [00:24:00] just you show up, you end up seeing some people in the water that you know, I mean, you being one of 'em.

Brian Yurasits: So Brayden, how does someone become a professional photographer and videographer in New Hampshire? Can you tell us a little bit about the path that brought you here?

Brayden Rudert: So I grew up in Massachusetts, went to UNH, and then it was shortly after coming to UNH that I started getting a little bit more into surfing.

And then we were in a weird housing situation in Portsmouth, which there are plenty of them. And so we ended up looking at winter rentals down in Hampton and that is when we got a winter rental on The Wall. I was shooting photos at the time, or I just decided to go freelance and shoot video and photo. And so yeah, I decided to grab a waterproof housing and in a lot of ways I was introduced to surfing more through photography than I was through actually surfing.

I feel like the surfing community can be a bit, it can be a little bit gated, and the reality of it is, is like people love the guy with the camera and especially when you're the one in the water with the camera. And I'm not naive to the fact that I feel like I was able to expedite the process of meeting people by nature of having a camera in my hand and [00:25:00] people liking my work.

Erik Chapman: What are you kind of aiming for when you're shooting someone surfing? Like what kind of things make a really good shot for you?

Brayden Rudert: The basic equation is like for a great shot is like good light, good surfer, good wave. I think around here. The light is actually usually really beautiful. A lot of the storms, they move out to sea and then the following morning is this sort of like clearing of the clouds and the sun's coming up and it's amazing.

I think the hardest thing around here is like lining up a good wave. A wave that actually when you're photographing it looks proper and feels like something that other people from around the country or around the world, they're like, oh, that's a good wave.

Brian Yurasits: You take photos from the water, which is something that it seems not many people in New Hampshire do.

Can you talk a little bit about the differences between capturing surfing photos from land versus the water angle?

Brayden Rudert: I like to shoot from shore because I think a good lineup shot or a good cultural moment, it helps kind of complete the story. So, if I'm thinking about a swell, I'm thinking about a set of photos and to me it's, you know, a good lineup shot, maybe a [00:26:00] really good shot from shore with a surfer on it turning.

Maybe it's someone waxing their board at the car or something beforehand. And then there's maybe the water component as well. And I feel like if you put all those together, like you shot a swell really well, but I just really enjoy getting in the water and just kind of being out there and like a bit more a part of the action and around here it's far rarer to see someone swimming with a waterproof housing.

Erik Chapman: You mentioned photographing a swell, I've never heard that kind of term before, but I know what you're talking about, but I'm wondering if you could kind of describe what is a swell and what are the parts of a swell that you want to capture?

Brayden Rudert: I mean, I think when I'm talking about a swell, I'm thinking about a cluster of days where it's like one particular storm or one hurricane or system or something that's creating the wave. So, the leading edge of it, maybe you get some small days as the storm builds, then you probably have a day where it's gonna be like wildly stormy, like tomorrow's gonna be.

Then there's usually like the cleanup day around New England. And then I just feel like the speed at which the storm goes out to sea depends on how many of those clean days that we get as it starts to fade. A lot of times I like [00:27:00] to shoot during the very peak of it. 'cause my ability as a shooter is, it's much better than that as a surfer.

But then when it's leaving town and stuff and a lot of people are surfed out, I also think that's a really great time to get clean, fun leftovers.

Erik Chapman: I'm at the point where I've surfed enough, so I kind of understand like 80% of the things that you just said. But the, so the cleanup, the cleanup day was one that like, what is a cleanup day?

Brayden Rudert: The cleanup day is clean up in the sense of crowd where people get surfed out the first day, the next day it's a little bit smaller, and you can kind of find your way around a little bit more.

Brian Yurasits: First off, I want to say you are a really good surfer as well. I saw you out there the other day, but you do make a great point in that every swell has its own unique fingerprint in a way, and I think as a surfer, your relationship to a swell really depends on your work and life schedule and balance. Could you talk a little bit more about what it's like being an East Coast surfer where we don't have consistent waves every week. We have these prolonged stretches of not being able [00:28:00] to do what we love, and then when a swell hits, you have to drop everything. So, what does it take to actually be there when a swell does hit?

Brayden Rudert: Yeah, it sucks. It's funny because when I was on the West Coast, it was almost the opposite, where you always had the excuse to go surf if you wanted to. And then on the East Coast you really do have to be patient. You really just have to take advantage of the waves when they come. So yeah, clearing schedules and moving things around and luckily, you know, if you have patient people in your life, I think most of 'em understand that.

Brian Yurasits: Yeah, it's certainly a life choice that we make to pursue this sport.

Brayden Rudert: The people I know that surf on the East Coast, I think are very interesting people. I do think surfers on the East Coast tend to be really multidimensional. Because you can't just sit around with your surfboard all day, like waiting for the next swell 'cause it could be weeks.

Brian Yurasits: I wanna hone in on this West Coast versus East Coast conversation a bit more. You're someone. Who spent time living on both coasts. If you were talking to someone who's landlocked and has no relationship to surfing, how [00:29:00] would you describe surfers on the West Coast versus in a place like New Hampshire?

Brayden Rudert: I mean, obviously you are far more quote unquote unique if you're a surfer in New England versus California. But the same thing applied to being a photographer and a filmmaker. In California, you go to a dinner party and I can guarantee you half of them are photographers or working in the creative space in some way.

And then the other 80 to 90% of 'em surf and a hundred percent of 'em have probably stood up on a surfboard before. Versus New England, I mean, most of my friends, like really close friends, they didn't grow up surfing or they don't surf at all. So, I do think it kind of like creates a bit more of a unique aspect to the culture around here, like a slightly more tight knit, because you kind of see that one person that you can talk to about surfing at the party or the grocery store or whatnot. Here it's like a bit more defining for a lot of people.

Brian Yurasits: I probably lived in New England, I came up from New York about 10 years ago, and I feel as though in that time, I've seen it become a more popular thing. Really, especially since COVID. Like you [00:30:00] hear of COVID surfers, right. I'd say broadly when it comes to outdoor recreation, that it's become a more popular thing. I don't know if it's driven by social media or the drive to take these cool pictures and people just have more access to seeing what's out there.

I'm curious if you could talk about how you've seen the coast here change in your time, surfing and photographing it.

Brayden Rudert: First off, surfing is like so hot right now from an advertising perspective. I mean, every Ford commercial has somebody walk into a car with a surfboard under their arm. Every lifestyle brand has some photo in their catalog of someone at a beach holding a surfboard.

It's extremely photogenic. People on the outside perceive it as cool, so brands leverage it all the time for their advertising. I think around here, the big thing is there's just more people moving to the Seacoast in general. It's a long drive to the mountains. This is my non-professional opinion. When something's in your backyard, it's just so much easier to get into it.

And I think when the local people that live on the Seacoast or closer to the ocean, realize like, oh wow, there's like actually [00:31:00] waves on the East Coast and like, oh wow, it can actually get really good here. People started realizing like, oh, this is like an alternative thing that I can do besides driving three hours to the mountain, I can put on like a really nice modern wetsuit and get in the water. It's really not that bad.

Erik Chapman: That's exactly what happened to me. I grew up hiking and I rock climb also, but I got so tired of driving.

Brayden Rudert: You can do it before work.

Right, like you can go surf and then you can show up to work later in the day.

Erik Chapman: In theory.

Brian Yurasits: Speaking of waking up early, it's not like surfers are crazy. We're just so driven to get out there and put ourselves where the waves are, no matter how early or how cold it is. What drives both of you personally to cold plunge into the Gulf of Maine?

To catch a wave before work?

Brayden Rudert: The literal reason that I would get up early is because I think the conditions are just going to be best in the morning. Like the storm's moving fast away. It's gonna be biggest in the morning. The light's gonna be best for photos in the morning. I need to be up early if I want to photograph things like in a way that I want to.

And then [00:32:00] around here too, it's really tide dependent. If the window's in the morning, you just have to get up when you have to get up. Sometimes, I struggle getting up in the morning, but I never regret it.

Erik Chapman: When you go surfing. In certain conditions, you know where the surf is gonna be good. So there's a lot of knowledge that you have about what's happening with the coast of New Hampshire.

Can you describe a little bit about that kind of knowledge? What do you think about what is at play and what are the things that kind of determine where you're gonna go?

Brayden Rudert: But I mean, you're really looking for, you know, the right tide at the right spot, the right swell direction at the right spot and the right wind.

I don't know really anything about the ocean bathymetry off the coast. I know that the Shoals shadow East swells. I know that South swells, obviously we get shadowed by the Cape. So, having just that basic level of understanding of which direction the swell is coming in from. And then in terms of wind, I mean, you want it offshore, you can just look at a map.

Brian Yurasits: It takes years to gain this knowledge both through your own trial and error and from acting like a sponge with all the people around you. So we have more people surfing on the coast than really ever before. A lot of people moving to [00:33:00] this area of the coast. What coastal. Issues do you think that people care about the most?

Brayden Rudert: Conservation of obviously that coastal land. Coastal access is huge. I just feel like access to the ocean is, is something that we should all have and everyone should be able to, you know, find a trail within five, 10 minutes of their house and go walk in the woods as well. Our water is still really clean.

The more that we develop and the more that we pave over things that absorb water and stuff, the more all of that runoff like just inherently ends up back in the ocean.

Brian Yurasits: The act of simply just catching one wave might change your entire life like it did for it sounds like both of us. And it can change the way you think about the ocean, your relationship to the outdoors and how you think about conservation.

This was kind of you. I'm hearing coastal access. I'm hearing water quality. Do you think that the other people in your surfing community, are environmental topics or coastal topics on the front of people's minds who are enjoying the coast?

Brayden Rudert: I mean, I would honestly say that almost a hundred percent of all New England [00:34:00] surfers are in some way ocean stewards.

How we get there is maybe disagreed upon right now. No one that I know in the surf community is going to eat a Snickers bar and throw the wrapper out the window. We have thankfully reached that level of like environmental awareness. I feel like things like pollution in the ocean and coastal access, these are things that I've just seen within my circle of people, seem to be things that people are really passionate about. Things become a lot more controversial on different subjects, even though I do feel like everybody wants the best for the ocean or wants the best thing, it's just there is a lot of things that people disagree upon right now.

Brian Yurasits: I want to ask you about a singular word and how it relates to photography and to surfing, the word respect.

Brayden Rudert: Trying to not, as best you can, blow up a spot by just consistently posting photos that show a backdrop or that kind of give away the location of the wave. And then the other thing I definitely see a lot is posting right after a swell or during a swell.

I mean, people should just know that I feel like I'll go and shoot a sandbar [00:35:00] somewhere and then the next swell there's a lot more people out, 'cause word spread that like the sandbars were good, the photos looked great and like next thing you know, it's busier. If there's gonna be swell in town for a few days, like holding back on posting some photos of some spots can definitely help alleviate the pressure and stuff on a lineup.

I also think, going back to the fact that it's a respect thing. There are people on the Seacoast that have like put in their time, and they have shot a lot of photos and they're extremely respectful of everyone in and out of the water. And this is still, for some people, not a lot of people, but for some people it's still their job.

It's something that they love to do, and they don't wanna be held back from like posting a photo just because you can see a lighthouse or a outcropping of rocks in the background.

Brian Yurasits: Well, I had to ask this question. It's very relevant because of the way people use social media today. And this is across not just surfing or photography, fishing is another

Brayden Rudert: Yeah.

Brian Yurasits: huge place.

Brayden Rudert: I know fishermen dude, they're even eggier about their spots.

Brian Yurasits: Yes. It's, it's something [00:36:00] like if you spend time on the coast, you're protective of your spots, like you feel this sense of, not ownership, but like connection to that spot.

If you didn't have to do the whole online Instagram thing, where would you like your photos to end?

Brayden Rudert: In a book.

Books are the best. To take an individually beautiful photo is so challenging. To take a picture that is like moving and beautiful and it might not even be a photo that you wanna like put on your wall, but an individually good photo is extremely challenging. And then all of a sudden when you mix in great photos with other great photos, the sequencing of those photos completely helps tie the story together.

I feel like the page is really just a vessel to the next page.

Brian Yurasits: And it slows you down. I just wanna say, Brayden, thanks for taking the time and sharing your perspective from behind your lens.

Brayden Rudert: Totally. Yeah. Thank you for, uh, thanks for having me on and

Brian Yurasits: yeah, maybe I'll see you out there tomorrow.

Brayden Rudert: Yeah, I don't know, we'll see.[00:37:00]

Brian Yurasits: As you've heard from Ralph and Brayden, like the waves we surf, the sport of surfing is in constant motion. The feeling of riding a wave is unmatched and a connecting force between those who do know it. We've covered the history of surfing along the Seacoast with Ralph and insights into the anatomy of a swell with Brayden.

You can see Ralph's photos and videos from the latest New Hampshire swells by visiting his blog at Ralph's Pic of the Week. And you can follow both Brayden and Ralph on Instagram to visualize everything we've been speaking about today. You can find those in today's show notes. Stay tuned for the second episode in this two part series where we continue our journey to understand the impact that a sport can have on our lives and the coastal environment.

We'll chat with Becs O'Brien and Christina Dubin, two surfer friends with a background in marine policy to understand how surfing can build community and a sense of responsibility to protect the ocean. We'll then try to answer the question, how much is clean water [00:38:00] worth? With Scott Lemos, a Research Economist and Senior Lecturer at University of New Hampshire.

The Time and Tide is produced by New Hampshire Sea Grant. Explore more episodes featuring the latest coastal science happening in the Granite State, wherever you get your podcasts. And if you like what you've heard, please consider leaving us a review.

See you next time on time and tide.

More episodes

Chapters

Creators and Guests

What is Time and Tide?