Ralph's Pix of the Week

NEXT BLOG September 13th, 2026.
All future Blogs will be posted on the 1st and 3rd week of every month (give or take a day or two). *Also in the event of any significant swell I will post the week of that swell. Although the blog is now bi-weekly, I'm certainly not gonna pass up a decent swell. So while it's basically going to be every other week, I left it open for some wiggle room.

THE 18th ANNUAL HIT THE BEACH. THE 17th ANNUAL HAMPTON BEACH COMEDY FESTIVAL. KING'S X COMES TO THE SEACOAST. RIP DOLLY PARTON, TIM CURRY, and GLORIA STEINEM.

HIT THE BEACH August 28, 2026
Each year I stress over the weather and the waves for this event. I mean lets face it. You can't really have a HIT THE BEACH day if there's no waves. I never ran a surf contest but I have been around those who have long enough to know what they go through each summer. And look, running three surf contests every summer is really stressful. We're just doing the one day. But make no mistake about it. We're stressing.

But I am beyond happy to report that this year we had REAL surf and no seaweed. Man we scored. Or rather the vets did. We had a legit waist high plus on the sets and the conditions were clean. There were several times throughout the day where all the "surfers" in the volunteer group would stop what they were doing to watch one of the set waves peel off the rock cropping at 18th Street. Oh yeah, it was that good.

And all the weather reports had rain all day on Friday. 80% chance of showers with potential thunderstorms But as luck would have it, we did not get a single drop of rain. Not a drop. It was overcast, but nobody seemed to mind that. In fact I heard several people say they preferred the clouds over a baking sun. I agreed. I much prefer partly cloudy over a blazing sun.

The only longtime member of this elite HTB group who have been to all 18 years tat is not in this photo is Dave Cropper. But he was there earlier in the day. And he's in the video at the top of this page. I could not do HTB without these men by my side. Suffice it to say i love them all. They are my true brothers.

BIG THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING:

PARTICIPANTS:
1. WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT
2. MANCHESTER VA
3. NEDS (NEW ENGLAND DISABLED SPORTS)
4. 110 FITNESS

SPONSORS
1. AMERICAN LEGION POST 35
2. SHELIA & BOBBY NUDD
3. TONY & SHELLY BERARDINI
4. ROCKINGHAM COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT
POLICE UNITY TOUR c/o Steve Henderson
5. CINNAMON RAINBOWS Dave Cropper and Phil Carey
6. SUMMER SESSIONS Ryan and Tyler McGill
7. ZAPSTIX Michael Paugh
8. FRESH VALLEY FOODS with JOE GANGI
9. NH PARKS AND RECREATION
10. SEABROOK BEACH NH ROCK PAINTING GROUP
with Mary Lou Dion
11. The town of Hampton, HPD, and HFD
12. NH PARKS & RECREATIONS
13. NH LIFEGUARDS.
14. ESA-NNE with Nohea and Lenny Nichols

LAST BUT NOT LEAST. ALL THE VOLUNTEERS!
YOU PEOPLE ARE THE HEART AND SOUL OF HTB.

Each year we go through the same concerns. Weather and waves. We are at the mercy of mother nature. The conditions change from day to day and from hour to hour. Earlier in the week they had thunder and lightning for today. There’s no crystal ball that we can look into. So, we roll the dice and hope for the best. And on that day we had some real fun.

LET ME REMIND YOU ALL OF WHAT SURFING IS.
SURFING IS RIDING ON YOUR STOMACH.
SURFING IS RIDING ON YOUR KNEES.
SURFING IS RIDING ON YOUR BUTT.
SURFING IS STANDING ON YOUR FEET.
AS LONG AS YOU ARE RIDING ON A WAVE, THAT IS SURFING.

Each year I ask the vets and participants who are new to HTB a question.
"How many of you are new to HTB?" I typically ask them to raise their hands. And there's usually a group of 6-10 individuals who are new to the program. So I say the following:

"So, you are probably wondering if there are any sharks out there. Here's what I want you first timers to do. Walk down to the water's edge and stick your finger in the water. Then I want you to taste your finger. If it's salty? There's your answer. However, should one of you be bitten by a shark, or God forbid, killed by one. Next year there will be a bronze plaque with your name and face on it."

There's usually a lot of laughter. Especially from the vets who are severely wounded. The only ones not laughing are the people who just so happen to be walking by. But it's all in good fun. Let's face it, the chances of being killed by a shark in Hampton NH are pretty slim. But if we ever did lose someone to a shark attack? I would lobby very heavily with the state and town to get that plaque. And if I were the victim? I would hope my friends would do the same for me. (Now why you gotta be so hurtful?)

New this year was my quoting the late Robert Duvall from the movie Apocalypse NOW. "If you recall the late Robert Duvall playing the part of Col. Kilgore talking with Martin Sheen's character, when Sheen was trying to talk Kilgore out of taking "Lance" surfing at a surf break that was being shelled by the VC/NVA. There were rounds impacting everywhere and Duvall is strutting around oblivious to the shelling as Sheen's character is pleading with Duvall not to take Lance out. Finally Duvall's character has had enough and screams at Sheen. "If I say it's safe to surf this beach Captain-it's safe to surf this beach!"

Then I immediately went into the countdown to get everybody surfing.

"ON THREE HIT THE BEACH! 1-2-3 HIT THE BEACH!"

The HFD's ladder truck is being serviced so they couldn't come down and hang the Garrison flag. Then I looked a cross the street and saw this. I love this community. They are really supportive of one another.