Surfing in Interesting Climes: Fresh Water
L ake Michigan Surf Trip, Fall '01
Skate
History
Home
Me on a Lake Michigan right
In the fall of 2001 I was shaken by the events of September 11 and decided to travel across country, by bus. I wanted to see the country as slowly and passively as possible. I also wanted to surf someplace other than the east or west coast.
My first stop was the Great Lakes region. I intended to visit a friend in Detroit, and wanted to visit Lake Michigan and attempt to surf there.
Here are some notes from the trip journal.
Journal entry: 10/12/01 day 2 I made it to the Great Lakes. Rented a car in Benton Harbor and drove up the Lake Michigan coast. Checked into the funky Budget Motel in South Haven. For being in a peaceful little town on a lake in the off season, the funny indian guy who ran the motel seemed pretty stressed. He was having his phones serviced. He tried to help me make a phone card call, but something was wrong, either with my card or his phone. I had a feeling he had blocked some outgoing calls because of motel freeloaders. Had a devil of a time calling for info about the surfing contest. I can't figure out my calling card situation, for some reason. Every time I travel, there's some gap in my planning.
Saw surf on the Lake for the first time, but very raw, howling on shore. Very green water, reminded me of the wind slop at Cornwall. Bluffs with lovely houses overlooking all that weather. And no sign of land on the other side. You can see how some explorer might come to Lake Michigan and think it was the Pacific. Makes a lot more sense than thinking America was India.
10/13/01 day 3 Sat. South Haven 7:05 AM expected the sun to be up by now, but its still dark. Maybe daylight savings time is still going out here.
Went to Woodman St beach, and saw tiny waves, what I could see in the dark. It's really died down.
9:00 AM After all that searing wind last night all that was left were tiny barely ankle high lake lappers. I guess that's a good lesson in wave fetch characteristics. You prabably have to hit it right after the wind switches, then you get whatever time it takes for 100 miles of fetch to exhaust itself. Really, isnt that much less frustrating from what we deal with on the east coast, just a different scale.
Still, got a refreshing paddle and some little rides on the cleanest prettiest water I've ever surfed on. It also has to be the cleanest my gear has ever been. No backyard hose or apartment board-in-shower antics ever got this board as clean as this lake water. Its also the only time I've ever got done surfing and didnt feel like I needed a shower.
South Haven lighthouse
Drove up to Grand Haven. Got to the beach here and was amazed to see a jetty setup exactly like in South Haven. There are two red lighthouses on the south jetty instead of one. Got rained on fairly hard. My synthetic pants saved me.
Talked to Craig Kemnitz and learned an important lesson about Great Lakes surfing. You have to be even more of a meteorologist than us east coast surf fanatics. It seems that you have to hit the swell direction and wind direction just right, and you have to drive to where the waves are forming well.
Craig said that while I had howling onshores and raw weather Friday in South Haven, he had epic clean waist to chest high lines in Chicago of all places. He said that's why the whole secret to GL surfing is keeping in touch. Maybe thats why the web site is so sucessful.
10/14/01 day 4 Grand Haven. Surfed on knee high slop in Grand Haven. A little bigger than yesterday's ankle high rides, but still not quite rideable. More like times I've surfed in Rockaway Beach slop when I was really desperate to surf. Still not the lake surf experience I'm looking for.
Grand Haven pier and lighthouse
Grand Haven beach grass
Rented Great Lakes surf mobile, and portable Pope Bisect longboard
Lake Michigan is lined with dunes on its east coast. I guess the westerlies blow piles of sand on the coast. That big hill in the background, that's a dune.
Grand Haven has a great kite store, and here are some varieties I saw in the mobile home parking at the beach. There was a big kite contest in town scheduled for the weekend.
