Winter Surfer

David Ryan

David Ryan is a boat builder and USCG licensed master captain. He is the owner of Sailing Montauk and skipper of Montauk''s charter sailing catamaran MON TIKI You can follow him on Twitter @CaptDavidRyan

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9 Responses

  1. Roger says:

    Awesome pic!

    I got a chance to get in a couple of hours of surfing this AM too. Of course it was in the mid sixties and sunny in SoCal (Encinitas) and the water was mid fifties. I cannot even imagine surfing the north Atlantic in the winter.Report

    • David Ryan in reply to Roger says:

      I bought my first hooded 5/3 Thanksgiving weekend of 1996. By the end of January ’97 my wife and I were married and we had a bid in on the house where we live today. Never would have considered buying a house in Montauk — except that with a 5/3 you could surf year ’round.

      I blew out my booties and gloves around the same time I spent the Winter on INTEMPERANCE in the Caribbean. 83 degree water will spoil you. When I got back I was in no hurry to buy new ones.

      But a couple days ago I was down at Ditch. It was clear and cold, with just a hint of an offshore breaze and a clean waist-high line. Two people were out, but were hapless. Wave after wave was rolling through, gentle and unridden. Yesterday I went down to Air & Speed and got new boots and gloves.Report

      • Roger in reply to David Ryan says:

        We’ve been getting a ground swell from North of Japan. Hiked down the cliffs to Black’s beach today. Gorgeous day. But I had forgotten it was a holiday. Big crowds and long lulls.

        Half the fun is just being out there though.Report

  2. James Hanley says:

    You really know how to frame a photograph. Great visual balance, dynamic lines, and rich color. Me likey.Report

    • David Ryan in reply to James Hanley says:

      Thanks, James. 🙂

      We’re doing a rebuild of the SailingMontauk.com site, and my wife and I have been studying travel and tourism sites. A lot of the ones we like use very exaggerated horizontal aspect ratio photography. These sorts of “wide-screen” shots are good for scenic images, but don’t fit so well into the aspect ratio of a magazine, so we’re not accustomed to seeing this sort of framing.

      They do seem to work well in a browser window, so I’ve been experimenting with 16:9, 2:1, 2.35:1 (cinemascope), and even 3:1. Combined with a wide lens, the exaggerated perspective (that’s what makes the dynamic lines) and a sight-line that stays near the horizon (not too much sky or too much foreground) does a pretty good job of capturing the emotional feeling of “Wow, this place is gorgeous!” that you get when you’re at a gorgeous place at a nice time of day.Report

    • Glyph in reply to James Hanley says:

      Seconded, that is a beautiful photo.Report