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Each Summer there are weeks and weeks of flat water on the Great Lakes, to the point where the kayak surfing junkies are ready to start sacrificing puppies to the weather god for a 3 foot wave.

September has given up her jewels like an oyster with a hiccup.

I managed to get out three times in four days.

Day one was big, but very windy and hard to break out. Six to eight foot waves caught just near the outside of the pier in South Haven, cutting towards the pier at breakneck pace, and then cutting away at the last minute. Breaking back out became an exercise in futility with the wind. I became more and more exhausted on each return trip to deep water until I was rolling more than paddling. A friend of the family who is now a South Haven Police officer came out to the pier and told me that he couldn’t stop me from going back out, but that he would feel better if I got away from the pier because of the rip current. I told him I was ready to bag it. Storm surge was flattening out the waves as the wind built to new crescendos in the 40 knot range. For a day with 35 knot wind veering Northwest, I managed four or five really good rides where I caught solid bottom turns, a few cutbacks off of the foam pile.

Day two The wind and waves had died down but there was still a strong swell moving out of the south west. I sea kayaked down to the dunes near Van Buren State Park into the wind for an hour our two, and then rode the swells back to the beach, playing in the small 1-2 foot waves near the beach. I have increasingly been trying to surf my sea kayak backwards ala Scott Fairty when the challenge of the wave itself is not that great. It’s been good fun to try to learn to surf in reverse. Bow ruddering for directional control when headed downwave is whacky stuff.

Day three
The wind was peaking at 40 knots, but had actually veered almost completely NW by the time I made it out to the beach. I paddled out on nearly flat water to catch steep easy to catch waves as the sun set across a stormy sky. Each time I paddled out, I basically sunk the tail, then leaned forward and dropped in on a seven foot wave. I would typically cut right along the wave face until it started to close out, and then I would try a cutback off the foam towards the pier, by then the first wave had typically fizzled out, and then I was climbing over the top of the next set on the inside right towards the pier at high speed, only to cut away at the last second to turn around and paddle back out. I could have kept going all night. The knowledge that the air temps and the water temps will not stay so warm for very long fueled the desire to keep surfing in the dark. I kept catching rides like this right up until the sun was gone.

Many of my posts have waxed prophetic on surfing. Suffice it to say each time I have a day like I did yesterday on Lake Michigan, I feel a lot better about my life. No thoughts about work, home projects, problems exist. Just lean forward and paddle like hell.

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This image of different types of breaks does a fairly good job of explaining how different breaks are formed.
The type we see the most often on the Great Lakes is the beach break. Though on the east coast of Lake Michigan we often get sandbars that form in deeper water simulating a bit of the reef break or slab type of break. Though I would never say that they form in quite the same way as they do in the ocean.

Beach Breaks form when the height of wave reaches a depth of roughly half of it’s height. So a beach break can be woefully unreliable in terms of where it will break and how big it will be based on the size of the wave. For instance on a big swell day, a wave could be breaking much farther out than on a day when the swell is smaller. The only way to be able to surf it is to watch it over time, observe other surfers and gauge where the best place is to catch the wave. Beach break waves can vary based on the slope of the bottom from gentle peeling breaks, to steep dumping breaks, though the speed and spacing of swells have a lot to do with the type of break. Surfing a kayak in shallow water at a beach break can often result in pitchpoling, neck-breaker surf conditions. For Michiganders this is par for the course, but for those with more options tread with caution.

Lahinch Reef Break in County Donegal Republic of Ireland

Reef Breaks form where a slab of rock, coral reef, or other undersea bottom feature, (sandbar) forms underwater that happens off shore. Waves at this type of break often are very meaty, powerful and occur in deep water. Bird Rock in San Diego as mentioned in a couple of posts is one such break, as is Mavericks, the big wave site in Northern California in Half Moon bay. Reef breaks often have the tendency to break in a bowl or crescent shape so that it may start to break over a rock at the middle and then wrap around and break at the edges later. I will try to find some video where this occurs. It looks cool as hell on film, but is a little freaky when you are out there grabbing greenwater, and then all of a sudden you’re staring an 8 foot close out in the face. If the reef is particularly shallow this can also make wipeouts horrendous.

Point Breaks are rarer still in the Great Lakes, Steamer Lane is a very famous beach break because of the surf contest. Point breaks are great for using the sheltered side from the swell to capture wrap around waves that are more uniform with clean lines. Depending on the prevailing swell direction and the way the point juts into the ocean these can be great spots. They tend to break in a predictable uniform manner. But if the swell direction changes you can have a pond with nothing to surf which happens from time to time for the Santa Cruz Surf Fest.

I don’t personally have any preference for one or the other of these types of breaks. Point Breaks and Reef Breaks are nice because you typically paddle out on flat water to catch a wave rather than through an intimidating beat down of beach break to catch even one ride. Knowing which type of wave you are surfing and watching how boardies and other paddle surfers are catching waves will give you a lot of intel on how to surf each type of break. Barring that, you will have to head out and do it by trial and error. I usually use landmarks even when I can watch other surfers. I place myself in the same place in the lineup each time using feature on shore, and then another further down the coast line to triangulate my position.

If you have good videos of any of these particular types of breaks you want to share drop me a line.

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Keith digging in

  So far, my surfing experience seems to be 90% paddling back out and waiting, 9% frantically trying to catch a wave, and 1% actually surfing.  But, that 1% is pretty scary sweet!  I can see why Keith gets all geeked out about getting proper waves.  I imagine that I will be out there waiting, too. FYI, it was a bit challenging taking any photos from the surf boat.  I still feel like I am bobbing around on a  cork, but hopefully that will improve.  After I was too trashed to go on, I took a couple of short videos of Keith out next to the pier.   The waves right up against the pier crumbled really fast (they reform nicely later), but I think the videos are cool.

The link to the flickr set is here. (I’d like to think Keith had a brief “oh sh*t” moment during the last clip)

The day before our surf session, I went out to the lake with my three year old son to witness the peak of the storm.  I didn’t know if he would like it, but he had a blast.

The wind was blowing something like 45 knots straight out of the west.  The westerly was not a good day to be in the lake itself, and I watched the board surfers give up within an hour.  The waves rolling down the channel however were beautiful, but it was complete mayhem towards the end of the piers. I will definitely be taking the sea kayak down the channel (but not into the lake) during the next big westerly.

posted by John Fleming

Monday. Big, clean 8' - 12' waves rolling straight down the channel.

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The fall storm season is on with a vengeance. When the wind starts to howl we get waves on both sides of the lake. Today the wind is at gale force with 50 knot winds out of the west.

The result of the storm weather is this picture:

Fall Storm on Lake Michigan Sept 29 2009

This fall storm on Lake Michigan is blowing at 50 knots directly out of the west and is creating, according to NOAA, 14-19ft waves on Lake Michigan near shore. Despite the sheer magnitude of this storm, the size of the waves, and the wind speed, this is horrific weather for surf kayaking. You can’t break out because of the direct on shore wind. The wind basically keeps you on the beach. When you set your paddle down to put your spraydeck on, your paddle blows away down the beach. Your gelcoat is sand blasted by the sand on the beach. You might actually make it off the beach, but then just get pummeled by the surf that you can’t make any progress against because of the force 10 winds.

Also the waves, if you managed to break out are so squashed down by the wind that you aren’t likely to find a well formed wave in a set to drop in on. So the overall recommendation is to stay on the beach until the storm has peaked. After about 4 years chasing storms, driving to the beach to find the storm is so strong I can’t even catch a wave, here are the conditions I look for in both the launch spot, or break, and the weather.

• A sizeable storm of sufficient magnitude to last several days with winds over twenty knots (as is the case with the current storm).
• A northerly or southerly bend in the wind direction in order to take advantage of a pier, or jetty as a wind and wave break.
• Wait until the after the peak of the wind has hit, and watch the wave formations, not just the wind.
• Triangulate using the webcams, Spyglasshill.com and the Lake Michigan cam. In this way you can see how things are moving on both sides of the pier. If it is dead on the north side in a north westerly gale, it will be dead on the south end of the pier as well. However if it is blowing at 25 knots and looks gnarly on the north side, it might be perfect on the south side.

Wave formations around piers are the best way in a small surf kayak to get waves like they form on the ocean. On the last day of a storm, when the wind begins to die off, the waves will form into uniform periods and sets and become nice and glassy. The waves are rather crumbly at the top when the wind is up above 30 knots as they are in the picture. These are the waves you want, not the waves at the peak of the storm.

This diagram gives a really good picture of the sort of conditions and the area in which to catch waves. This may hold true for ocean waves under some conditions as well, but is pretty specific to the eastern shore of Lake Michigan during fall. (it’s pretty niche I know).

Great Lakes Surf Kayaking Diagram for Conditions on Lake Michigan

This diagram of wave formation for surfing and surf kayaking on the great lakes shows what I think about every time the wind starts to blow. And unfortunately what a huge nerd I am.

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Are you troubled with the need to talk about your surf Kayaking experiences?

Don’t bother!

As humans, we have the need to contextualize our experiences. To explain them. Often when it comes to our physical endeavors, words fail us. Hemingway was a master at taking a niche sport and converting it into simple symbols and actions in very few words.

Coming down the mountain in the telemark position, kneeling one leg for-ward and bent, the other trailing: his sticks hanging like some insect’s thin legs, kicking puffs of snow as they touched the surface and finally the whole kneeling, trailing figure coming around in a beautiful right curve, crouching, the legs shot forward and back, the body leaning out against the swing, the sticks accenting the curve like points of light all in a wild cloud of snow. – Ernest Hemingway

Surfing, and specifically kayak surfing has eluded me for a descriptive lexicon. You can try to explain to people what it is like. Why you think about it so much, and why catching waves on your butt should deserve so much of your waking brain power, but in the end, there really isn’t a good reason, it is something outside of human language that can really only be experienced first hand. Dropping in on a steep wave, gliding at top speed edged over hard hanging in the greenwater by the thread of your paddle, even pictures lack the thrill, the punch of actually doing it. What’s even funnier, is that actually being good at it is totally secondary. I don’t care if I wipe out 20 times and catch 2 rides. I always remember the two rides more than I remember the 20 wipeouts.

So rather than trying to force conversation about surf kayaking with your co-workers, family, or non-paddling friends – don’t bother.

Tomorrow is looking like a 6-10 foot day with 25 knot winds out of the northwest. Hope it holds true.

Ride’s 1990 song Seagull may do the best job of explaining surfing through verse:

My eyes are sore, my body weak,
My throat is dry, I cannot speak.
My words are dead,
Falling like feathers to the floor.

You gave me things I’d never seen,
You made my life a waking dream.
But we are dead,
Falling like ashes to the floor.

Definitions confine thoughts, they are a myth,
Words are clumsy, language doesn’t fit.
But we know there’s no limit to thought,
We know there’s no limits.

Now it’s your turn to see me rise,
You burned your wings, now watch
me fly,
Above your head.
Looking down I see you far below,
Looking up you see my spirit glow

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Results are in for the World Surf Kayak Championship in Santa Cruz Portugal.

Surf Kayak Championship 2009 Results available via SurfKayak.net.

The boys from Jersey took it home the men’s HP division. David Speller from Jersey Channel Islands placed first. Though Chris Harvey did not have the showing amongst his team, he was consistent in the heats.

Urko Otxoa took first in the men’s IC (Basque Country).

Naomi James from Wales took first in Women’s HP

Ainho Tolosa also from Basque took the Women’s IC trophy.

Still hoping to find some footage from Youtube!

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The New York Times wrote an excellent travel piece about winter surfing on Lake Superior.

The waves in the pictures are stellar, clean spillers, not the norm on the north shore by any stretch of the imagination, don’t be fooled.

They also mentioned the venerable Superior Surf Club. Great article about the fresh water surfing phenomenon. I would love to see some growth in the Great Lakes Kayak Surfing club. Oh wait, there isn’t one? Did I just start it? I soooo did. Anyway…Our winter surfing is somewhat limited at the moment by 4 foot pack ice about 200 yards out. We need some meltage and soon.

Is it clear that I am dreaming of open water and waves, even if it is cold.

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Evil Forces at Work

You know those days when you wake up to an overflowing coffee maker, broken glass on the floor, or a flat tire on your car? And you know the rest of your day is not going to go well. I had that feeling all day yesterday about surfing. I somehow knew it wasn’t going to go my way. I knew that it was going to be more pain that pleasure, and more fight than love. Not sure why I knew this.

For the record, my Pentax has completely crapped out on me. Hence no photos of the event. The camera claims my battery is depleted despite a full charge. That is once contributing factor to the evil forces at work yesterday. Not sure if I will be as trusting as Derrick about buying a new Pentax.

I drove out to the lake with that bad feeling in my gut. I knew that the lake might well be beyond my strength when I arrived and was ready for surrender in that event. When I did arrive, the wind had turned north-northwest around the pier in South Haven. The conditions looked manageable. I suited up replete with pogies. I had a heck of a time with cold hands getting my bomber IR skirt on. But it eventually bent to my will and around the coaming. Once out I paddled to the outside break. They were spilling in and breaking at around 7-10 feet. The wind was every bit of 30 knots. The pier was acting as a windbreak for the most part on the way out. I paddled hard to catch a few rides but seemed to be lacking either enough propulsion or hull speed from the Maverick to make the takeoff on the 7-8 footers. I caught a few short rides I worked hard to catch.I waited a bit and watched the waves.

Here’s a tip for Great Lakes Surfers. The sand bars around the pier tend to shift with wind and waves over time. Where good waves were breaking last time may have moved the next time. It’s a good idea to sit and watch the waves from a sheltered spot, if you can find one. Watch to see where the majority of them are forming steep crests that spill, (not dump). Once you see that paddle in a little further on the outside and try to spot a good set and paddle hard into it with some hull speed for a good ride.

I saw a good section further south, but more exposed to the wind. I paddled over knowing it might not be a good idea. I got in position. I saw a good steep wave coming and paddled hard. Once I started to plane out near the crest, that 30 knots of wind caught me and an edge flipped me a bit, thus ruining my takeoff. The wave started to dump and I plunged nose first from the crest and was then grabbed by the hydraulics. My paddle was directly in front of me when I capsized- a definite bad move. The wave pulled on the paddle before I could swing it alongside the kayak. I felt both of my shoulders scream in agony as the wave dumped me from crest to trough. It took me three tries but I rolled up. I was frantic for breath when I finally came up and was succinctly knocked in again. I rolled up again after I was released from the wave. As I looked around hail began pelt me. I began thinking is the day out to get me or what?

I tried to relax and surf some of the inside break. I caught a few small short rides. I then went back to the outside break. I tried to pick some of the smaller 7 footers coming off the pier. All I got was short mushy rides that closed out quickly. Every time I got on the crest of a wave for takeoff the 30-35 knot winds would start pushing me southerly. My non-engaged blade would catch the wind and throw off my stroke too. I was on a good steep wave carving towards the pier and the wind actually held me in place and then started to push me the other way. Somehow this was not my day. I had to accept it and pack it in. The lights from the pier twinkled on. This was not the magical moment of fall surf I had been dreaming of for weeks. It was ignoble defeat at the hand of the wind and waves.

I felt less than competent as a kayak surfer, and that I really needed to spend more time in my surf boat on smaller waves again to regain some of my skills. I felt at the top of my game last year and just ran into bad luck, this year I feel out of it and off balance now that the big sets are rolling through. We’ll have to see what the future holds and if I can get out again on a smaller day to get my timing and strokes down. It could be that I just had an off day. My body today is aching and I feel lucky to have survived the evil forces of the lake. Perhaps it just didn’t want me to surf yesterday.

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Worst Fall Storm Surf Kayaking Season Ever

Ok for the record, this has been the worst fall storm Surf Kayaking season on record. I’ve been out once. Last year was undoubtedly better. More days with wind. I was actually picking my days based on which way the wind was blowing.

The wind has been out of the frigging south east for the last three days? What the hay am I supposed to do with south east wind? That doesn’t even help the FIPS It’s going to be November by the time the wind starts blowing.

Sunday, maybe, maybe will be a dead on shore wind at 20 knots with 4-7 foot waves, and I am so wave starved I am inclined to take it.