August 16, 2017 | Long Beach, New York
Hurricane Gert was one of those storms that never had to make landfall to get the attention of surfers on Long Island.
In August 2017, Gert tracked north through the western Atlantic, strengthening into a Category 2 hurricane. On August 16, Gert reached peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of approximately 110 mph before turning northeast and accelerating away from the East Coast.
The hurricane stayed well offshore, but its position and track were enough to send a solid pulse of hurricane swell toward the Northeast.
For surfers in Long Beach, that meant one thing: time to get in the water.
Gert Lights Up Long Island
The swell generated by Gert began making its way north toward the coast as the hurricane moved northeast. The National Hurricane Center warned that Gert would produce increasing surf and dangerous rip currents along portions of the East Coast, including Long Island.
Surfline was watching the same storm from the perspective that mattered to surfers. Their coverage noted the Gert swell beginning to show around Long Island late in the day, with the swell filling in overnight. The Northeast was looking at head-high to overhead-plus surf in places as the storm moved away.
Gert was moving quickly, so this wasn’t a storm that sat offshore for days building an endless supply of waves. Instead, it delivered a concentrated pulse of long-period energy that traveled hundreds of miles toward the East Coast.
And Long Beach was right in the path of that energy.
Filming the Surfers in Long Beach
I was out in Long Beach filming the surfers as Gert’s swell arrived, and there were plenty of familiar faces in the water.
Some of my friends were out taking advantage of the swell, including TJ, Will Skudin, Jairo, Cody Williams, and Australian surfer Adam Dufner.
Having those guys in the lineup made the session even more fun to document. These weren’t random surfers I happened to find on the beach. They were friends and people I had spent plenty of time around in the Long Beach surf scene, and Gert gave everyone a reason to get in the water and chase some waves.
Will Skudin was, of course, right at home in the lineup. Long Beach has always had a strong connection to the Skudin Surf family, and hurricane swells are exactly the kind of days that get surfers watching the forecast closely and checking the ocean every few hours.
For me, it was another opportunity to bring the camera down to the beach and document what was happening.
The ocean looked completely different from an ordinary August summer session. The lines were coming in with more energy, the current was moving, and the surfers were positioning themselves for the better sets.
Watching the Swell Arrive
One of the coolest parts about hurricane swells is that you can watch the forecast days ahead of time, follow the storm track and then eventually see that forecast become reality.
That’s where Surfline becomes such an interesting part of the story.
As Gert moved through the Atlantic, surfers along the East Coast were watching the projected track and swell models. Once the swell started arriving, the forecasts became something tangible. The lines that had been nothing more than colored maps and numbers on a screen were suddenly rolling through Long Beach.
Gert wasn’t coming to Long Island.
Its waves were.
That distinction is important. There was no direct hurricane landfall in Long Beach. Gert remained offshore and eventually moved northeast into the North Atlantic. But hurricanes don’t need to make landfall to have an impact on the surf.
Sometimes the best part of the storm is what it leaves behind.
An Offshore Hurricane, a Long Beach Swell
Gert eventually weakened as it moved into colder water and encountered increasing wind shear. Its life as a hurricane was over, but the swell it generated had already traveled toward the East Coast.
For Long Beach surfers, it was a memorable August session.
For me, it was another day on the beach with a camera, documenting friends and local surfers taking advantage of an Atlantic hurricane swell.
TJ. Will Skudin. Jairo. Cody Williams. Adam Dufner.
Different surfers, different backgrounds, one lineup, and a hurricane hundreds of miles offshore providing the soundtrack.
The hurricane stayed offshore.
The swell didn’t.
