Hanging 10 cold toes

MARBLEHEAD – It’s snowing on Devereux Beach and the causeway road linking Marblehead Neck to the mainland is clogged with snow, but before he jumps into the water, Marc Gallo surveys the ocean and says, “It’s a nice day. We’ve been lucky.”Gallo surfs off Devereux as well as beaches in Nahant, Gloucester and Swampscott all year long – winter or summer, sunshine or snow. Wearing a wetsuit that encases his body from the top of his head to his toes, he has no problem jumping in the ocean for up to an hour and waiting for a procession of waves to roll over him until he finds a good one to ride to the beach.The Salem resident likes the outdoors and he likes surfing, but what he really likes is the way the ocean defines how and when a surfer takes to the waves.”It’s the challenge – it is always different – sometimes it is good and sometimes it is bad,” he said.Three storms in three weeks choked streets and yards with snow, but winter’s fury also stirred up waves on beaches up and down the Massachusetts coast, drawing surfers to the water.Gallo joined two other surfers and paddleboarders off Devereux Thursday, ignoring the hassle involved in finding parking and hauling his board over the ice-covered seawall. The key to surfing in summer or winter, he said, is to wait patiently for the waves to offer the perfect opportunity for a good ride.”We wait for the sets – groups of waves – storms push in good surf,” he said.Gallo works construction, and he fits surfing around his work schedule. He took up the sport two years ago.”I went to California, tried it once, and didn’t stop doing it,” he said.He said the exercise and excitement involved in surfing helps him ignore the winter water’s chill.”It’s cold at first but you warm right up,” he said.Gallo said he learned to surf at a time when riding the waves has become popular on the North Shore. With a surf shop within sight of the Swampscott shore line and wave lovers trying paddleboards, wind surfers or traditional boards, surfing is no longer strictly a Pacific Ocean pastime.”It’s really come a long way around here,” Gallo said.