KENNEBUNK — It’s a cool morning in late September, and Gooch’s Beach is packed. For now, the sky is calm, but the sea is not. 

From the seawall, where vehicles loop around and struggle to find parking, the surfers below look like a crowd of patient ducks. Sprinkled all throughout the water, one could mistake the view for a civilization lost at sea, but these surfers are exactly where they want to be. 

As a fall nor’easter bore down on Maine, dozens of surfers descended on coastal spots like Gooch’s Beach and Higgins Beach, all aiming to take advantage of the big waves created by the storm. 

By noon Friday, clouds had begun rolling in. The number of surfers in the water at Gooch’s Beach stayed steady throughout the day. 

In anticipation of the nor’easter, the town of Kennebunk removed sets of wooden steps that allow visitors to access the beach from atop the seawall. The surfers didn’t need them; they just hopped down anyway. 

The National Weather Service advised that towns along the southern coast could see waves ranging from 5-12 feet through the weekend. For surfers like Doug Harwood, that merited an 8 out of 10 rating. 

Harwood, 68, has been surfing since he was a boy. And on Friday, the Kennebunk resident said he hadn’t seen so many people at Gooch’s Beach in a long time. 

Backlit by sun sparkling on the surface of the ocean, a surfer kicks up spray while cutting back on a wave in Kennebunk on Friday. (Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer)

As he took a quick break from catching a few waves to wax his board, Harwood paused to consider the weather. He said the high winds expected over the weekend were likely a bit much for him, but a day like Friday was perfect. 

“The storm coming just brings good wind,” he said. “There’s some pretty good waves out there.” 

For a less experienced surfer, the sentiment was a bit different. Alexa Carpenter has only been surfing for a year and found Friday’s waves a little daunting.

“I’m more of a two feet on land kind of person,” she laughed as she bundled herself in a sweater. “But it’s a wonderful opportunity to overcome apprehension over being swallowed up by what feels like a big old washing machine.” 

Carpenter, who drove up from New Hampshire with her boyfriend to surf, said the sport teaches her how to keep her cool — but it’s still pretty frightening. 

A surfer falls backward over a wave while surfing at Gooch’s Beach in Kennebunk on Friday. Numerous surfers took advantage of swells kicked up by the approaching nor’easter on Friday. (Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer)

Winds brought on by nor’easters are like magnets for surfers, said Mark Anastas, owner of Liquid Dreams Surf Shop in Ogunquit.

The 55-year-old has been surfing since age 7 and has become his own meteorologist over the years — you have to when you’re a surfer. Learning to understand different winds and tides can be crucial, he said — especially on the East Coast, where surf conditions are less consistent. 

While the waves were expected to reach their highest Saturday, they’ll also be accompanied with strong winds that will make the sea more dangerous. The National Weather Service forecast gusts up to 45 mph.

So far, this season has been “surf-starved,” Anastas said. Thanks to a strong El Niño, little to no major storm activity along the Atlantic coast has led to a disappointing year for surfers.

“We’ve been waiting for surf and waiting for surf and waiting for surf and had all these small, fun little summertime days,” he said. “But this is, like, the best surf we’ve had since June.”

That’s precisely what brought Alek Boulianne down from Quebec City.

The 26-year-old has been surfing since 2019. He got to Gooch’s Beach at 6 a.m. Friday. He travels a lot, and most of his journeys are based on finding places to surf.

“It’s kind of like meditating,” Boulianne said. “There’s definitely a rush, but it’s also a place where you don’t have to think about anything else.”

At a small camp set up beside his car, he cooked a steak on a little personal grill while resting up before heading back in the water.

Big waves or small, longtime surfer or newbie, Boulianne says the most important thing to know when surfing is remembering be kind out there.

“Everyone’s on a different level,” he said.

On Sunday, the waves were higher and the wind stronger as the nor’easter reached full strength. Sean Smith and Danielle Solomon watched the lineup at Scarborough’s Higgins Beach from their converted van as rain battered the surfers and the wind sent white water flying through the air.

The pair were on a surf trip from Long Beach, New York, that happened to align with the best surfing conditions Maine has had in months. But for them, Sunday’s conditions were just a little too good.

“We love to surf, but we also value our lives,” Solomon laughed, adding that an unfamiliar break in this weather could pose some risk.

Smith said Maine surfers are “pretty diehard” to go out in nor’easter conditions, and it makes them fun to watch.

The crowd at Higgins was a lot bigger than Matt Taliadoros, who learned how to surf years ago at the beach, has seen in a long time. He wasn’t planning to surf Sunday, but the couldn’t pass up the conditions when a friend asked him to go.

“We always says the waves are the best here,” Taliadoros said “I thought it was going to be kind of windy and more stormy and unorganized. But I think the wind’s in the right direction and it’s shaping up pretty nice today.”

Several local surfers said that even though the sets they caught were better than they’ve been in months, they still wished the waves were a little higher. Friday and Saturday’s swells provided more consistent waves, said Greg Knights, a Portland firefighter.

But for him and fellow firefighter Nick Derrig, the storm made for a great morning in the water. Not too cold with the wind blowing in the right direction, and a chance to make the most of the weather.

“The water is beautiful,” Knights said. “It beats going to the gym. I’d rather get my workout in here.”

Portland firefighters Nick Derrig, center, and Greg Knights head back into the water after taking a brief break from surfing at Higgins Beach. (Staff photo by Derek Davis) Purchase this image

Orion Sargent, a Topsham native, stood on a rock at Higgins watching the surfers expertly create lines in the water. He loves surfing in these types of storms and hopes the fall will bring similar swells when he recovers from a torn ACL in a couple months.

“It’s cool to see guys out here that really know what they’re doing,” he said. “A lot of skilled people out there riding these larger waves that we don’t normally get.”

For now, he’ll continue watching and planning for the next nor’easter.