Wave Surfing on the Great Lakes, Yes, on a Lake

TUESDAY

On Tuesday the Northern Lake Michigan buoy maxed out at 8.2 feet. The wind was blowing steady out of the south at 15–20 knots and it was sunny. Despite the sun, the air was a little cooler than the last several days. I fit in one kiteboarding session before the quick repair job I made that morning on my kite failed. Fortunately, the problem happened toward the end of the session. Perhaps because it was during the week it was a little less crowded on the water than it could have been. The swell was significantly larger than Monday. Plenty of head high (6') waves coming in, and the water was not very choppy. Plenty of surfers were hanging out way outside waiting for larger sets to come through, which would eventually push them toward the second break, a much steeper, faster break. Those who didn’t opt to walk back out the pier had to be quick to get past the relentless closeouts and whitewater.

After my kite broke, I packed it up and grabbed my foam surfboard. I ran into a fellow surfer who I have seen a bunch of times recently. He suggested I walk the pier with him. It’s an intimidating thing to walk out on a pier and throw yourself to the elements with just a piece of foam a quarter mile out. I paddled into the lineup, waiting for something big enough and steep enough to paddle into. From the shore, the waves just look like a bit of foam gradually crumbling as they break in that spot. In reality, it’s a bunch of angry foam that pretty much mows down anything in its path. I got caught in a little whitewater and got a lot more ‘worked’ than expected. I paddled out a little further and spotted a large wave. It was easy to paddle into and I decided to take the easy way out and stay on my stomach. I sped past a couple surfers and yelled with glee, on my pink surfboard, and no I don’t care if I looked like a kook. As I got to the bottom of the wave I realized, “wow, this wave is still going I could have stood up”. It was reforming nicely. My goal, however, was to just get back to shore. My arms were spent from the day before. Had I stood on that wave, it’s likely I would have made a stupid mistake. I got back to shore, happy with the accomplishments so far.

The last “session” of the day was bodysurfing. A friend told me she was coming out to bodysurf. When she arrived I decided to do a little with her and her boyfriend. I might have had the most fun bodysurfing. The way the waves break there is like a beach break in Hawaii. There are a few spots where the break heaves up at 6 feet and breaks on a 2 1/2 feet deep sandbar. It should go without saying that bodysurfing into shallow water is dangerous. It can be done with relative safety. We were all grinning from ear to ear getting hit by whitewater and riding waves. I started to get some good rides, but it required swimming out a little farther and getting deep inside the wave. I didn’t push it too far but managed one solid ride out in front of the wave, like a porpoise.

I captured some GoPro footage but did not shoot with my good camera. A local surfer and editor extraordinaire, Mark Goethel, put together this incredible one minute video summary of the day:

SATURDAY

By Saturday, most of us (35 and older at least) were recovered enough for another big day. A lot of anxious lake riders arrived early. The temp was over 70, it was overcast and strong wind out of the South. I arrived a little after 12 Noon, and the Buoy had hit 8 feet. After my first session, it had hit 10.2 feet, and that was likely the max. The water was more turbulent than Tuesday. The waves were larger but seemed to be coming from two different directions.

I managed three long kiteboarding sessions. All three a lot of fun, and mostly without incident. During my second session, I took a surfboard style kiteboard. The conditions were way over my level with that style board. I went out and played it safe until I got separated from the board and a massive set of waves came in. I didn’t try to save the board, looking in awe at the waves come through, as I was perched on the shoulder of the wave. After the set passed, I sped toward shore and was surprised the board was not all the way on shore. I hurried to get on it, and did, just as a wave broke in front of me. I braced the board at 90 degrees, waiting to see what would happen. I was able to pop through the back but couldn’t stay on the board. The next wave came through and took both of us out. Then I thought, “shore, safety!” Not so much. First, there was no shore there, it was waves and trees. On a calm day it’s ankle deep sand, but not today. The kite pulled me within 15 feet of shore, which would have been fine if it was sand, except it was all slippery rocks and boulders on the bottom. To top it all off the side shore current there was a river, with whitewater, pushing me the wrong way. I managed to not slice my feet in half (although they were somewhat numb at the time anyway) and find enough grip to get the strip of sand. Then I walked (fought) the kite back to the beach.

I took out my twin-tip board for the last session, The waves were still coming in large and a buddy was from downstate was riding a new SUP.

There were some serious diehard surfers still hanging out at the elbow. I had witnessed several guys dropping huge waves there. I’d like to call that spot Mini-Maverick’s. Several of the drops I saw were two or three feet overhead as the surfers would hit the bottom of the wave. It’s not much of a ride, but one of the biggest, heaviest drops I have ever seen.

It was an incredible week, waves and wind don’t typically come in like this in such warm weather. Despite the extreme conditions, the only casualty was that a foam board got snapped in half on Saturday. When boards are breaking, you know there is some serious power out there.