Winter @ Otter Cliffs, Maine.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xShfEjel69o&list=UUVEiUwUWANQ-HEIiFMpg7LA&index=1[/youtube]

Winter moved in quickly up here in Maine and we had very little opportunity to get out and paddle anywhere in the late fall 2013. No rain came and then the bitter cold moved in which left very little option up here as all the rivers froze up tight.

2014 moved in with another cold snap and ice storm but they say if you don’t or do like the weather up here wait 15 minutes because it will change and it did for the better.

A warm rainy front came in but the rivers are all locked in tight with ice but we having been watching the swell forecast and east coast buoys. Chuck Mathews and I hatch a plan to head for Higgins Beach just outside Portland ,Maine but the plan changes quickly.

Peter Latallie gets a call from me as I am trying to haul him away from a kitchen project he has been dedicated to, not to mention numerous ice climbs he has been chasing. He is an accomplished board shaper and SUP’ler and has the beta down for waves from Rhode Island to Maine.

On the phone Peter sounds excited as the winds are way too high in southern Maine and the buoys indicate big swells of 10ft+ at 11 seconds off the Northeast coast. All this points to hitting Otter Cliffs in Bar Harbor. This cove is protected from high winds and opens it’s arms to big eastern swells.

I have only been here once and it is easily the best place I have surfed off the coast of Maine. Ridiculously scenic, quality right to left point break and close to home this gem is stellar. The only thing holding me back is Peter mentioning a few times on the phone and on the ride how big he thinks it might get. Coming from a seasoned ocean surfer I get a little anxious.

We arrive to find the parking lot full of hikers as it is 46degrees and sunny and we both almost run to the cliff overlooking Otter Cove. Peter is all jacked up about the conditions as it looks extremely good. We now are in a full run back to the car and gear up.

Climb down the forested cliffs to the ledges and set some camera’s out of the oceans long reach. We put in and get sucked out the rip as the cove fills up then empties. Paddle out the middle of the cove and head back towards the cliffs and we don’t have to wait long as clean sets cruise into the cove and break nicely. Peter yells to me the waves are 10ft but gentle so I float into the break zone, paddle hard and scream down my first wave of the day. It is wonderful.

We catch wave after wave after wave, it is warm, sunny and as long as you head left and stay off the rocks this place is very fun.

I never got the chance last fall to get my 2014 Rockstar on a fast wave so I could bounce into the air but now I have and can’t wait for more. Otter Cliffs on Mount Desert Island has some of the best goods going up here and I have found another surf spot to drop everything start driving with my boating gear and friends.