Date of Birth: September 11, 1993

Best Known For: Frontside duck-dive

Local Spot: BM

My Crew: Lou Mane, Dominic, Julian, Bri po, Ballsack, Pat, Corey, Stevie, Zack, Gundi and everyone at Barewires

Board of Choice: Chemistry Mike Gleason model. Best board I’ve ever ridden.

Dream Wave: Overhead, offshore barreling beachbreak

My Top Five:

1.) Mick Fanning 2.) Chris Ward 3.) In N Out Burger 4.) Al Cappuccino in Newport 5.) Friends and family

PJ Raia heads south for the fall

Sitting home during the rare October doldrums looking back on how fun the waves were in obx a few weeks ago is just depressing. The waves were fun but ofcourse not when the contest (Eastern Surfing Championships) was going on, it was knee high at most. Bummer. After and before the contest the waves were good, the days before the contest there was a fun windswell with rippable peaks and the day after the contest it was head high offshore and going off. Thats just the way these things work i guess. -PJ

Fickle summer swells

It has been flat for nearly 2 weeks now. I have just been fishing and trying to stay active up here because there has been nothing to do. Before this giant flat spell there was a solid 2 weeks of nonstop waves which was fun. This coming weekend, it looks like the East Coast will be seeing some Tropical Storm Swell courtesy of Anna and Bill. I will keep you posted on the way these swells unfold. - PJ

Qualifying for the Grudge Match

I had a great time. The rest of my stay in california for the summer was fun and there was a ton of waves and people around for the US Open. Unfortunately I only got to surf the first half of the So cal "Super Swell" that could have been hyped out but I wouldn't know because I had to come home for an important contest that ended up being worth it. The Grudge Match is a big deal in NJ and I am very happy I earned a spot in it by getting third in the Qualifier. This is a great event put on by Rob Cloupe every year. Cloupe made a great call for waves on the contest day and we ended up with overhead spitting barrels all morning that had to be the best waves ive ever surfed in a contest but deteriorated to chest high wind-chop by the end of the day, but hey, it is New Jersey. Here are some photos.

PJ's hitting the West Coast for NSSA

The waves were super fun at the beginning of the week but now it has gotten pretty small. Luckily, Newport, where i am staying has been fun due to a combo swell. Nationals brings alot of talent to Lower Trestles, so i like to go down there and surf with friends and watch people blow up. So far it has been going pretty well. I will keep you posted on my month and 1/2 visit in cali.

How to escape from Jersey

We got some little waves for the past week. It has been small and not really clean. I am ready to get out of Jersey because the season is over till the fall! I will be going to Cali next week for the Arnette Pro Jr. t and then a week later I'll be going back out for the NSSA Nationals. So, hopefully I'll be getting some fun waves elsewhere and staying away from the East Coast for the worst part of the summer(June/July). I'll let you know how it goes. — PJ Raia