Surf: Waist high and choppy. Some larger waves, strong currents.
I’ve made it no secret that I’m from the midwest. I grew up in cornfield in Michigan. A few years ago folks moved to a stretch of the coast of Lake Michigan known as the Indiana Riviera.
In 2009 I was fortunate enough to be home during a good windy stretch and was able to surf. It was little and sloppy, but the wobbly tiny rides were fun and I’ll surf knee high waves any day.
Today the winds were forecasted from the North at 15-25 knots which was expected to kick up some serious waves. It’s a lake. There’s no groundswell, just wind. Winds from the north mean the wind has more water to push before it gets to us here on the south end. Wave forecasts were as high as 5-8 feet in some places. I figured it would probably be about knee high, waist high with a little luck, and picked up a board from Third Coast.
What was coming in was a solid waist high with a few larger waves and a rather un-fun 3-4 second interval. The water was in the 70’s and air temps in the 80’s so I gave it a go.
The second wave was pretty solidly above waist high, nearly chest. Snagged a few fun seconds before BOOM closed out. I came up to find my soft top skipping away having better things to do than surf with me, dragging what was left of my leash behind it. Crap.
My mom hates the water. For her, watching me surf is uncomfortable. Watching me swim in after my board while briefly disappearing to dive under waves, was pure agony.
So now I’ve got rough waves, a broken leash, and a pretty unhappy mom.
I didn’t want to paddle back out without a leash and a jury-rigged one didn’t inspire confidence in either my mom or myself so I agreed rather sheepishly to wear a life vest. >_< I got a few more short warbly waves. Nothing epic, but still fun for a lake surfing sessioon. Plus surfing with a life vest is mildly hilarious for a wave or two. It'll be interesting to see what it's like tomorrow as the winds calm down.