“Find what you love and let it kill you. Let it drain you of your all. Let it cling onto your back and weigh you down into eventual nothingness. Let it kill you and let it devour your remains. For all things will kill you, both slowly and fastly, but it’s much better to be killed by a lover.” – Charles Bukowski
While the late wildman post-office-worker-turned-cult-classic-writer’s simplistic, yet profound, approach to prose might be a bit extreme, dedicating one’s life to something they love, their true calling on this earth, is a noble pursuit. Especially when it’s something positive, like surfing.
For 14-year-old New Jersey native Carter Doorley, he’s devoted the last five years (1,825 days, nearly one-third of his entire life) to surfing. Every single day. No exceptions. Braving snow, a brutal long walk to the beach sans a four-wheel-drive vehicle, and poor conditions in the process. And now, despite celebrating the half-decade milestone earlier this week, Doorley ain’t stopping anytime soon.
So, we gave him a call to hear about the achievement, how surfing can make you a better person, and mainly, just to give the grommet a huge congrats. Keep scrolling for our chat.
First off, congratulations on the milestone. How does it feel?
Thanks so much. It was definitely a journey. It felt like just another day, but it was definitely interesting to know that I’ve come this far.
How did this journey start? Was it planned at first, or did it sort of kick off naturally?
It all kind of naturally started during COVID. They shut down everything, including the outdoor hockey course. They closed everything but the beach. I was like, ‘Could I surf every day until school starts?’ Everything was closed and COVID was going on. Then, I made it 100 days, 150, 200, 250, 300, 250, 400…then, before you knew it, 1,826. Today, it’s 1,827.
Frank Bellezza
What was the hardest part of surfing ever day? The cold, the waves, getting to the beach…?
In the beginning, one of the toughest parts especially during the winter was walking down the beach every day, because we never had a four-wheel-drive car. I think it’s around 1,500 steps. It’s a long walk. And we were doing that every day, summer and winter, to the jetty, so I could surf every day. In the winter, it was freezing. But it was actually kind of cool sometimes, because I got to walk through the snow, seeing all kinds of birds. I used to see lots of foxes and stuff. There was nobody around in the winter. It’s like a dead island.
Related: 10 Images That Capture Jersey Shore Surfing
There’s that guy, Dale Webster, who allegedly surfed every day for 40 years. And he had that rule – catch at least three waves. Did you set any requirements like that for yourself?
I just copied the same as him – three waves every day. But I made the exception that I could only get one when it was, like, super sketchy hurricane weather and stuff.
Were you always surfing the same spot?
I probably surfed off every street in Brigantine. I surfed Atlantic City a bunch of times. I surfed all up and down the east coast.
Supplied
Looking at the pictures from when you started as a long-haired, towheaded grom to today, a lot has changed. How do you think surfing every day has molded you as a person? What did it teach you?
It’s taught me that good things come to those who wait. It’s definitely made me a better person, it made me involved with my community, it made me nicer. It’s helped me all around.
And, of course, you must’ve seen your surfing improve as well.
Oh definitely. I can actually see it every day, what I do different. It’s funny, because the forecast could say one-to-two-foot crappy conditions, and it could actually be chest-to-waist high and pretty fun. That’s happened hundreds of times throughout the five years. I score it all by myself. That was always motivation for me to keep going.
Sounds like the community really rallied behind you on this.
It was pretty awesome. A bunch of my teachers congratulated me. It was super cool knowing that I made it to five years.
Allie Fischer
Do you have any goals with surfing?
No, actually. I’m just going. Whatever hits me, I hit back.
Looks like you’re still surfing every day. Are you planning on going for Webster’s record?
I’m definitely gonna keep going until I have a decent reason to stop. It’s not gonna be, like, ‘Oh…it’s boring. I don’t wanna do it anymore.’ I want a decent reason, instead of just quitting because I feel like it. I don’t know if I’m gonna beat him [Webster], but I’m gonna keep going
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