New Jersey surfer catches wave in wake of ferry boat
Here’s how you hang ten — even when the surf’s down in New Jersey.
A pro surfer caught a gnarly wave in the wake of a massive ferry boat and rode it for two full minutes — dazzling passengers, wild video shows.
Rob Kelly, 31, of Ocean City, made a splash despite still waters by paddling behind the Cape May-Lewes Ferry Friday then hopping up on the shortboard, he said in a Facebook post, where he posted the footage.
Totally rad video shows him carving through the Delaware Bay alongside the vessel — prompting ferry riders to whip out their phones to film the daring stunt.
“That was the first time I rode a board like that, and that was the best one that I’ve ever caught there,” he told NJ.com. “It’s such a big boat, it still feels like a wake, but if you can get it where the conditions line up, you get pockets where it feels like a real wave.”
Kelly, who is one of the state’s most famous surfers, said ferry surfing — which involves the timing and balance of wake-boarding, without the rope — can be as challenging as surfing the old-fashioned way.
“The weight of the boat, how fast the captain is going, the tides, all those [are] factors. It seems like you can never figure it out,” he told the outlet.
Kelly has surfed all over the globe, including in the wake of boats in Indonesia and Nicaragua, and documents the rare waves he rides.
Earlier this year, he went tanker surfing in South Carolina, footage shows. And, despite calm waters, catching a wave behind the Cape May ferry last summer also went swimmingly.
