"I caught it best on Sunday evening, the last hour or two before dark," says Outer Banks photographer Matt Lusk. All time -- a few feet overhead and long, heavy ones breaking like a right point where Irene washed the roads out and formed a new inlet." Photo: Matt Lusk

"It was the best day we had all year," says New Jersey's Sam Hammer. "Not the biggest, but hollow and really makeable. As the day went on, it got better and better. This sandbar has never produced like that." Photo: Mike Incitti

"This was my second road trip to the Outer Banks in less than two weeks," says Florida's Cody Thompson. "I was getting ready to fold my cards and drive home empty-handed once again, stuck around for one last shot of waves, and everything finally came together. I quickly regained sight on why the OBX is my favorite stretch of beach on the East Coast." Photo: Matt Lusk

"It was really strange that day," says New Smyrna Beach photographer Pat "Tupat" Eichstaedt. "Hopper, my son Ethan and I pulled up to the jetty peak, and a huge rainstorm was coming in with thunder in the distance. We thought to leave but saw this wedge starting to unfold right off the jetty. Hopper said to hold up a bit. A half-hour went by and these crazy little drainers suddenly started peeling and spitting." Photo: Tupat

"We did get a little window of First Peak," says Florida's Matt Kechele. "A good swell interval where we got some six-wave sets. Incredible water color, too. That whole swell, it was beautiful." Photo: Chris Wilson

"The swell was nuts," says Mike Gleason. "The sandbars were sick and my friends were getting good tubes all day. I think I surfed for nine and a half hours that day. Hammer, that crazy bastard, surfed for eleven. Crazy day." Sequence: Joe Guagliardo

Surfline couldn't reach New York's TJ Gumiela in time for a proper quote, so we'll paraphrase: "Just like you get the best barrels ever, it's just like you pull in and get spit right out of them and just WHAPOP, and then WHAPOW, and get pitted so pitted..." Photo: Mike Nelson

"It was a Delmarvalous spring day with the Wildlyfe crew!" says Colin Herlihy. "It wasn't as big as we thought it was gonna be, but we lucked out with the swell sticking around all day, breaking through the tides, and the wind cooperated, too!" Photo: The Wildlyfe

"This swell is what East Coast surfing is all about!" says Raven Lundy. "We loaded up the truck, drove up to the Buck Ranch, hung out with friends and got stand-up tubes. I wouldn't trade days like this for the world." Video: The Wildlyfe

"Finally!" says North Carolina's Brett Barley. "This has been the worst fall/winter/spring I can remember. And this swell was just what we needed to kill our run of bad surf. It was nice to get shacked again in overhead surf for more than just a short hour or two. I was so stoked to see the Third Jetty break again, too. It's been too long since it's been good there. Yesterday was quite a sight for sore eyes." Photo: Daniel Pullen

"Of course, we did some other fun stuff like bass fishing," continues Raven, "but the focus was on the solid south swell and getting all the boys pitted. Pre-dawn patrol surf checks to beautiful spring sunsets -- there were a lot of good moments logged into the memory bank." Ocean City, Maryland. Photo: Nick Denny

"What do you need?" asks Sebastian Inlet photographer Chris Wilson when we bugged him for caption fodder. "The Firecrotch [Justin Ellingham, who was attacked by a shark recently and has no insurance] needs help. First Peak has had its moments, and I just keep on pushing to get the photos ran. AND we haven't even started the bait run yet." Travis Beckmann. Photo: Chris Wilson

"It's the swell that won't go away," says North Carolina's Ben Bourgeois. "It's Tuesday now and I'm still looking at fun waves and no one is around! Six days of waves in a row. Thank you, OBX!" Photo: Matt Lusk, Video: Nate Appel

"Nice one-two punch," says Surfline East Coast Forecaster Mike Watson. He's actually talking about the swell, not this photo of New Jersey. But it kinda works here, too. Photo: Ryan Mack

"Not much current down here," reported Buxton, NC, photographer Daniel Pullen. "I was so eaten up from shooting water that I didn't shoot a single lineup. It felt so good to be in the water seeing guys get really good waves. Rare to have the surf stay all day like that, too." Tristan Thompson. Photo: Daniel Pullen

"It was like living in a video game," says Clay Pollioni on his Facebook page. And what's a swell story without at least one FB heist, especially when it sums up your photo/video clip so perfectly? Photo: Mike Incitti, Video: Phillip Mansfield

"It looked like Snapper Rocks," continues Tupat, "the wave shape, the water color. The strangest thing of all was the tide was going out, which normally weakens the swell. This time it actually picked up the waves. I had not been shooting any for a month or so, just focusing on clips for the webisodes I'd been producing. I had my 70-200mm on me and thought to just walk around for a few hand-helds, and it ended up being one of my more fun sessions in a while." Photo: Tupat

At least someone was doing turns. No quote necessary. New Jersey's best surfer ever, Dean Randazzo, Manasquan lip service. Photo: Joanne O'Shaughnessy

"It wasn't big or anything," adds Tupat, "just really clean and the light was very nice with an ominous background of storms." Noah Schweizer, NSB. Sequence: Tupat

"I actually shot with Ryan Rhodes and his crew all afternoon," says Outer Banks lensman Mickey "2M" McCarthy, "just trying to keep the boogies stoked. They don't always get respect and the surf was perfect for them yesterday." Photo: Mickey '2M' McCarthy

"Yesterday was a gnarly mission day," says New Jersey photographer Trevor Moran. "After an incredibly brutal flat spell, I hadn't been in the water, nor shot a photo in Jersey, since November. Everyone saw this swell coming from a week out and were amping for Monday morning. Although it wasn't the perfectly groomed south we typically see throughout winter, there were some welcome changes to the typical swell: warmer, green water and offshore winds that didn't immediately kill it made for a proper transition to spring." Chris Kelly. Photo: Trevor Moran

"It was tough to shoot," says Outer Banks photographer Matt Lusk. "Weather and light were all over the place and it was gloomy most of the time. But this is the best swell we've had since September." Dallas Tolson. Photo: Matt Lusk

"Offshore and solid waves for two days doesn't happen often in Wrightsville Beach," says North Carolina photographer Keith Ketchum. "It was close to as good as it gets outside of Hurricane Season." Twenty minutes south of the 'Ville, Shane Burn reveled in what many are calling Carolina Beach's best day in years. Photo: Benton Sampson

"The evening session really went off with some crazy golden light," finishes Tupat. "Hopper and Nils were the only guys out for quite a while. Super stoked to have scored the fun!" Shannon "Hopper" Eichstaedt. Photo: Tupat

"With a bit of an understandably pessimistic low-tide, most people packed it in and called it a swell," adds Moran. "Thankfully we posted up and waited it out. At dusk, as the tide started to fill in, the waves started to turn on again and it was cleaner and possibly even bigger than in the morning. Having left my house at 5am and not returning until 11pm, including nearly eight hours swimming with my camera, we definitely squeezed every last ounce of waves on Monday." Zack Humphreys. Sequence: Mike Incitti

How does a nor'easter produce a south swell? Mike Watson explains: "The center of this storm was close to the coast and we saw south winds on the east side of the storm and north winds on the west side. Not really a true nor'easter in the sense of what most people think." Delmarva. Photo: The Wildlyfe