Matt Pruett

San Francisco

Senior Writer and Editor at Surfline

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Articles

Arctic Blast Ushers In Primetime Puerto Rico

Jan 15, 2025 | surfline.com | Matt Pruett

Photography by Cynthia Ale, gOnzo, Rachel Tanner, Babby Quiñones, Printzel Larregoity, Jorgito Rivera, and Michael Regan. How’d you spend New Year’s Eve? Well, our Puerto Rican pals rang in 2025 with an island-wide blackout — yet another epic fail from an underground line to a chronically ill power grid that’s been bumming everyone out ever since Hurricane Maria razed the thing back in 2017. But a holiday’s just a day, and in a place where every day is la junta, there was no time to sulk.
Five Takeaways from Hurricane Season

Dec 7, 2024 | ourcommunitynow.com | Matt Pruett

Share Photography by Alex Dantin, Brian Nevins, Cody Hammer, Pat Eichstaedt, Mike Nelson, Theo Potgeiter, Cate Brown, Mike Janusz, Cody Hammer, and Chris Giannone. The best thing about being a surfer is you always have something to look forward to. No matter how bad things get in life, there will always be another wave. Another swell. Another storm. These phenomenon are forever. Back East, every surfer looks forward to, or at least considers, hurricane season.
Once More, Florida, With Feeling

Nov 12, 2024 | surfline.com | Matt Pruett

Photography by Jason Wagoner, Andrew Nichols, Ivy Scott, Alex Dantin, Valerie Rose, and Mark Townsend. In 1964, at 13 years of age, Joe Roland rode his first wave. Last Thursday morning, November 7th, he rode his last. His body was found washed up on the shore in Ponte Vedra Beach, his shortboard still attached to his ankle, the cause of death unknown. Roland was 73, meaning he spent six straight decades getting after it.
Moments: Single-fin and Silly in St. Augustine

Apr 28, 2024 | surfline.com | Matt Pruett

Photography by Laserwolf, Mark Townsend, Darby Moore, and Dustin Miller. Saturday, April 20th, 2024. A-Street, St. Augustine: They call this the “Oldest City.” Because that’s what it is, founded by the Spanish in 1565, a full 42 years before the English rolled up to Jamestown. You know what else is old? These surfers.
Lifecycle of a Low: Florida to Maine

Apr 18, 2024 | surfline.com | Matt Pruett

Photography by Ralph Fatello, Bobby Siliato, Dick “Mez” Meseroll, Will Walling, and Natty Graham. We say it all the time — nonstop surf, the never-ending swell — but we don’t really mean it. Not literally. All surf stops eventually. Every swell ends at some point. And regardless if it’s a two-week shredathon or a two-hour strike, we tend to judge a swell by how it performs during peak maturity — and forget all the good things it did before and after leaving its indelible mark.
Delmarva: the Other East Coast Wonderland

Apr 15, 2024 | surfline.com | Matt Pruett

Photography by Cody Hammer. So, I broke my first surfboard of the year on Friday. It’s cool. After five years of death by a thousand dings, it was just its time. Now, approaching a half-century of life on this planet, I’m reminded that surfing’s a physical activity, paddling a 5’6” in a hooded 4/3 ain’t as easy as it once was, and I’m probably three years away from a mid-length. Fine. Until then, I shall break every shorty in my quiver. This one went out accordingly.
'Don’t Call It Spring'

Apr 9, 2024 | surfline.com | Matt Pruett

Photography by Cody Hammer, Brian Nevins, Ralph Fatello, Mike Nelson, Daniel Pullen, and Joshua Kelly. April is a famously frenetic time on the U.S. East Coast, where most towns depend on summertime tourism for year-round sustenance. Those without jobs (frequently referred to as children) are cramming assignments and counting the days til summer vacation, but everyone with a job (otherwise known as grownups) is Defcon 3-focused. That which was closed is now open.
East Coast: Farewell Niño?

Mar 28, 2024 | surfline.com | Matt Pruett

Photography by Cate Brown, Mike Nelson, Alex Dantin, Dick “Mez” Meseroll, Theo “Tao” Potgieter, Ralph Fatello, and Joshua Kelly. El Niño. You know of what we speak. (Because we haven’t stopped speaking of it for months now.) It’s finally winding down, believe it or not.
Daylight Savings Tubes: East Coast Springs Forward

Mar 15, 2024 | surfline.com | Matt Pruett

Photography by Cody Hammer, Tim Torchia, Mike Nelson, Bobby Siliato, Jon Carter and Joshua Kelly. The Daylight Savings Time thing almost jammed me up this year, briefly sticking me in this panicky seasonal limbo. I woke up all frazzled and confused on Sunday morning, like: Is it still winter? Is it spring yet? Can’t remember, did the groundhog see its shadow? Are we still in an El Niño? A Leap Year? Do I gotta set my clocks forward? Then, slowly, the answers all came to me: Yes. Kinda. Who cares? Yes. Yes.
Kinda Cooking: Florida Heats Up in March

Mar 12, 2024 | surfline.com | Matt Pruett

Photography by Tom Dugan, Will Vogt, Cory Lopez and Stephanie Brown. East Coasters can bark all they want about life sucking in their hometown. The cold, nasty weather. The funky, gutted sandbars. Not being able to afford a surf trip, whatever. But it all falls on deaf ears, don’t it? Because Florida’s right there.