Hurricane Joaquin x Urban Camping

She only goes 58 but that’s all you need to make it to St. Augustine from Pensacola overnight. She ran like a champ without a hiccup. Well there was that little hold up off the interstate with a curious cop. Apparently there had been an increase in watermelon smuggling on I-10 . No joke. The trooper gave a nod and the journey continued.

“She only goes 58 but that’s all you need to make it to St. Augustine from Pensacola overnight.”

Day 1

A shirtless fellow wearing red skinny jeans, waving a rasta flag, and a sign with the writing “Leagalize Nature” stuck proudly right in the ground next to him welcomed us into our cozy little 3 space parking spot that we called home for the next 3 days. Couldn’t have been 10 minute before Satellite’s finest rolled up on us asking if this character was among us.  A quick hell no response and chuckle then he was on his way. Day 1 consisted of 5-6 ft waves with some on-shore waves. More or less just a warm up session for us gulf coasters considering we haven’t had real waves since God knows when.

Day 2

Unknown surfer

Anticipation was high for that morning, but Joaquin delivered. Surfers made their way to the water as first light entered the sky. They were greeted with over-head to a few feet over-head waves with offshore winds and no sign of the swell dying. Multiple sessions were had this day all thanks to Pub subs and cheap beer in our stomachs.

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Photos by Alex Dantin

Between sessions

Day 3

Austin Chachko taking cover

Day 3 was a doosey. With stomachs full from Dakine Deigos the night before McDonald’s didn’t know what was coming for them that morning… After a little morning movement and some breakfast, we decided to check the waves. It seemed like deja vou from the day before, except a little bigger.

Will Warren

As Joaquin made it’s way up the coast, so did we. Sun burnt/noodle armed surfers returned to school and work that morning in high spirits telling tales of the rides that had over the weekend. The trip back to Pensacola was long and the hours of sleep were at a minimum but, the satisfaction of scoring epic waves would endure for weeks to come.