Swell Watch

Some of these photographs were taken before I became a lover of surfing. I always loved the ocean, especially warm waters, but it all began when my wife and I had our first son and we bought a home in Montauk, Long Island. We would take family vacations to French Polynesia, Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean — all surf locations. It was something we could share together, and they were some of the best times of our lives. Now I can’t live away from the ocean. It’s part of my DNA. I don’t surf anymore — I’ve become a golfer — but the swells still raise my blood pressure. I’ve seen and met some of the best surfers in history, and of course there is the king, Kelly Slater, who is in many of these photographs. I met Kelly when he was a senior in high school in Cocoa Beach, FL. We have been friends ever since.