Surf’s up, in Rhode Island
Rhode Island is home to some of the “best winter waves,” said Ken McAlpine in National Geographic Traveler. Yes, you read that correctly. Every winter, serious surfers brave the cold to ride the waves off Rhode Island’s rugged 40-mile coast, known for its year-round surf breaks. Even when air temperatures plummet, the water holds at a manageable 34 degrees. Narragansett Bay’s waves are especially “perfect,” and Narragansett Surf & Skate will rent all the necessary gear. On a chilly but sunny afternoon, I zip up my wet suit, smear Vaseline on my face for “added insulation,” then “crunch through the snow.” On the beach, the “mist turns to fog” but I can still make out the “ghostly forms of waves marching shoreward.” As I paddle out, my body quickly begins to warm up. A “wave rears out of the mist,” and I take four quick strokes and hop to my feet. “There is a moment’s weightlessness, then flight.”
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