Liquid Lines
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•September 9, 2026
Listing Summer Awesomeness, Staring Down a Quiet September
There is a certain way that people leave the beach on Labor Day. They drag the soft top behind them. The walk is slow and difficult. The beach chair is on its last leg. It is the ultimate schlep.…
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•September 2, 2026
A Summer Gone: You Shouldn’t Have Blinked, Monitoring the Slow Tropics and The Local Summer on Tap
Trying to remember what happened this summer. It’s all just a blur. Let’s see.
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•August 26, 2026
Is the Sandbar Quieter Than Usual This Week? Summer Surf May See an Upgrade
Traditionally, things slow down on the backside of August, but this past week got strangely quiet on the Island. Maybe it was the questionable weather after a few ideal weekends, but the beaches…
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•August 19, 2026
Littleneck Love, Students Financial Advice, Sleepy Surf in Middle of August
This is not an advice column. But if it were, I have an idea for the 18- to-23-year-old crowd: Skip the fall semester. There’s an excellent financial opportunity right in front of you.
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•August 12, 2026
A Phenomenally Fun Run of Summer Surf, the GOAT Is Back and Hot August Events
There isn’t global surfing news very often that is relevant enough to be included in Liquid Lines, but this just might be. This week, one Kelly Robert Slater was awarded a wildcard spot to the World…
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•August 9, 2026
This Summer May Have Just Hit Its Stride
We have reached that special time of summer – that point when the bottom of your feet have hardened to dark callouses. And as the temperature spikes over 90 this weekend, you’ll have no problem…
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•July 29, 2026
Pizza on the Beach Plus Best Summer Waves Yet
This week, it became quite obvious that the next few summers might not be like this one. LeBron just signed with the Sixers.
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•July 22, 2026
Ripping Through July With Wild Storms, Surf and Events
We are being told that going outside under smoky skies is like puffing multiple packs of cigarettes. Great … now I’m addicted to Canadian wildfires.
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•July 16, 2026
Hurricane Season Canceled? Small Waves Leave Us Wanting Better
The ocean is bathwater and the hydrangeas are bursting. Crabs and flounder have returned to our bay, I had my first cup of Nutella chocolate ice cream, and each weekend, more and more folks are…
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•July 8, 2026
Ladies Expose Favorite Bathing Suits With Small Summertime Waves
Over the years of writing Liquid Lines, there have been lots of occasions when I have written about boardshorts – boardies, trunks, baggies, whatever you call them.
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•July 1, 2026
Embracing the Micro Waves of Summer; Which America Are We Celebrating at 250?
Of course, Japan looks at us and says, “Two hundred fifty years? Call us on your 2,686th birthday.” And then Egypt is over there, feet up in its favorite chair, just laughing. This is certainly a…
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•June 25, 2026
The Science of Upwelling: The Talk We’d Hoped Not to Have
Boy, did I hope we wouldn’t have to have this conversation.
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•June 21, 2026
Sand and Surf Setting Up Sensational Summer
When it was announced the 2026 World Cup was coming, we were told the five New York/New Jersey matches would be at MetLife Stadium and the six Philly matches would be at Lincoln Financial Field. You…
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•June 10, 2026
June Finally Delivers Relief and Little Waves From the Neverending Winter
Who would have thought that in 2026 we’d have two weekends in a row with decent weather?!
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•June 4, 2026
The Great Green Swell of 2026 That Snuck Up on Us
There are so many ways the surf can disappoint you in New Jersey. Happens all the time. It’s far more common for the surf to be worse than you expect than to be better than you expect.
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•May 28, 2026
The Pop-Up Party That Never Popped With Hope at the End of a Gloomy Holiday Weekend
I had a kitchen full of 14-year-olds on Saturday night, laughing and crushing Pietro’s pizza, including a Grandma’s pie with vodka sauce (Oh man, so good …) when one of the kids informed me, “Dude…
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•May 22, 2026
With the Official Unofficial Start, We Think Back and Aim to Make Every Minute Count This Summer
Despite the fact that we needed three layers of clothing and a hot thermos to leave the house almost every morning of May on LBI, Memorial Day weekend, the “unofficial start to summer,” is here. And…
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•May 13, 2026
A Look at Summer Gas Prices and a Run of Chilly May Swell
It has been several years since I siphoned gas.
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•April 30, 2026
Below Average Hurricane Season Projected; Could That Actually Be Good for Surf?
If there were to be headline news in the Liquid Lines world, it would be that the ocean will likely hit 50 degrees in the next day or two, if it hasn’t already. We’ll dive deeper into the water temp…
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•April 20, 2026
April Is Season of Give and Take
This is the season of the give and take. As we hope beyond hope to finally shed winter and move toward summer, we will take steps forward and back. And if you’re yearning for those days when you…
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•April 1, 2026
March Is Never Out Like a Lamb
From time to time in Liquid Lines, I have written about social issues and marginalized people. Well, I recently learned about a group of people who are facing some of the toughest hardships on the…
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•March 19, 2026
A Lifetime at a Red Light; the Most Marchy March Ever
I wrote the first half of this week’s column while sitting at the light on Central Avenue and Eighth Street in Ship Bottom. I was headed southbound when I got caught at the red light.
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•March 9, 2026
Firing Winter Barrels Amid a Snowstorm – How Much More Can We Take?
Winter 2026 will be a season we talk about around the fire pit for years to come.
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•February 19, 2026
Emerging From Historic Cold With More Waves and a Shout to Big 4WD Trucks
I want to give a shout-out to the guys in big 4WD trucks.
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•February 4, 2026
Two Great Swells That May Have Been The Coldest Stretch of Waves Ever
Well, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. Six more weeks of winter means at least 16 more on the Island, even though it seems silly to put a lot of faith in a fat little rodent giving us a weather…
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•January 21, 2026
New Lingo Is Old Already; Cold Winter Keeps Producing for Surfers
I don’t know if you heard this week, what with the stable genius administration dominating the international news cycle, but the Gen Z term “six seven” is officially dead. Not to worry, kids will…
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•January 8, 2026
2026 Has Been Cold and Flat; That Pattern Change Starts Now
Here it is, my first column of 2026, which is odd because it feels like the fifth week of January already. This year, so far, the waves have yet to hit 2 foot, and the temperature has yet to hit 33.…
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•December 13, 2025
Did It Seem Like Everywhere in the World Had Waves Except LBI?
Boy, the ocean got quiet for a while there. That stretch from mid-November into December we are normally awash in quick-moving nor’easters, south swells and/or clean groundswell, but from Nov. 16 to…
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•November 27, 2025
What Might Happen If New Jersey’s Coast Was Open to Offshore Drilling? Waves Quality Over Quantity
The last few weeks have been a bit quiet in our area – pleasantly quiet, I would say. Not much surf; not a whole lot of weather haymakers or huge newsmakers.
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•November 13, 2025
Settling Into the Happy Winter Season With a Great Run of Waves
I certainly hope everyone got out and enjoyed Saturday for the lovely day it was. Even Sunday was nice minus some rain showers. Monday was decent, and the waves were firing.