When Hurricane Franklin swung past Nantucket, that tiny, idyllic, isolated island off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, surfers knew that good things were on the way. The surf culture there is unlike anywhere else. With over 80 miles of beaches, the place has waves a-plenty… at least when the conditions line up, which isn’t all that often. But when you’re in the right place at the right time, you’re going to score. Sure, it might be February and freezing when those conditions align, but the juice is worth the squeeze.
As a tourist destination, the summers on Nantucket — for the locals, at least — are busy times. But when fall rears its head, those tourist crowds begin to clear out and the locals can get back to the business of enjoying everything Nantucket has to offer.
“The locals work for the bustling summer population,” wrote Dan LeMaitre, a Nantucket photographer who shot the photos you see above. “They leave when the swell shows up, and it’s all the locals at scattered sandbars around the island.”
The fact that the good days are few and far between is part of the charm of the place, so when Franklin’s waves began tripping over the many sandbars, Nantucket locals were frothing.
“It is so fickle and rarely good.” LeMaitre continued. “But when it does get good, that’s what we wait all year for. Documenting hurricane swell and Nantucket’s surf culture will never get old.”
