Surf Report # 7

Location: North Muskegon, MI – Muskegon State Park
Time: 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Air Temp: 60 F
Water Temp: 52 F
Wind: From S 17-18 mph
Waves: 8-10 feet off the pier, 5 feet inside
Gear: 5/3 wetsuit, 5 mm boots, 3mm gloves

After cruising around on some local Great Lakes surfing forums, I got invited out to go surfing with a guy who said he grew up surfing in South Africa. After meeting up in GR, I followed him out to Muskegon State Park in my car and discovered a whole new kind of surfing. Leaping-from-a-pier kind of surfing.

North Muskegon has a neat boulder pier that extends perpendicular from the shore then bends off at a 45 degree angle. So the waves come in, smack into the bend, then kind of roll around the corner with some built up intensity, get big, steep, and rideable, then continue on their merry way.

There were about half a dozen other guys surfing out there when we pulled up, so everything was a little intimidating to me, trying not to ruin anyone’s day with my incompetence. Walked out onto the boulders, getting buffeted by the wind, with a leash around my ankle threatening to trip me up on every step. Said good morning to a few fishermen. Walked to the bend in the pier. Threw my board into the water as a wave crested nearby and jumped right in after it.

I paddled out to where it looked like most people were catching waves, then just sort of bobbed up and down for a while watching a couple of obviously very competent surfers swooping up and down the biggest, cleanest faces I’ve ever been close to.

I didn’t really catch much of anything myself. Stood up on two massive waves but promptly stumbled off my board and was buried under the whitewater. I came up laughing each time. Everything was so happy today. I loved the feel of a giant wave rolling underneath and through me. I loved that my feet were nowhere near touching the bottom. I loved the sixty degree weather and occasional bursts of sunshine in November. I loved trying not to smash by surf board as I jumped from the pier.

Eventually, just to get some reps in, I floated inside and goofed around in the shore break, before making my way back home.

Simply put, stunning. My Friend Leonard is easily the best book I’ve read since The Brothers K. It’s so good that there’s realy no excuse for waiting two weeks from the conclusion of the reading to the writing of this entry. Or maybe the distance is good.

It’s a book that so completely transports and moves you that it leaves your real world a little fuzzy, a little smoothed over around the edges. Leaves you a little shaken when it’s all over. Wondering why in the world you aren’t spending every moment of your life finding more of these shattering experiences. The author’s biographical character isn’t the world’s most sympathetic charmer, but the details and the emotion behind the words suck you in completely. And suddenly his friends are your friends. His joys and pains are your joys and pains. I laughed, I hoped, I even felt like crying a couple of times (which I never do). But, mostly I just read without stopping, absorbed and happy to have found this. So good.

Next up, A Million Little Pieces, which is the prequel to My Friend Leonard, which of course I should’ve read first. Too bad it has 631 holds on it right now at the local library. Guess I’ll be mooching off of Barnes and Noble.

Surf Report # 6

Location: Ferrysburg, MI – North Shore Beach
Time: 2:00 pm – 4:15 pm
Air Temp: 48 F
Water Temp: 52 F
Wind: From W 19-25 mph
Waves: 7-8 feet
Gear: 5/3 wetsuit, 5 mm boots

Big stuff, kind of like the day I went out with Mary except colder and windier. I learned my lesson from last time though and didn’t take the waves too seriously. Just kind of gave up and laughed as I repeatedly got flipped end over end. Awfully fun, watching a wave come towering in over your head, feel yourself getting sucked backwards up the face, then a moment later launching headfirst toward the bottom. Had a couple of really fun, really fast, really long rides, but really didn’t catch much else. Which was okay.

Haven’t been able to find my hood for the past couple of days. So went out with just boots and the wetsuit. Once my face went completely numb and I ran out of snot to drip out of my nose I didn’t even notice the cold though. In hindsight I probably should’ve worn the gloves too (hindsight being the inability to straighten my fingers for fifteen minutes on the ride home).

I think the water could’ve been completely calm and I still would’ve had a great time out today though. One of those days that feels a little magical and a little overwhelming. Where it feels like the sky is so full of color and shadow that it’s just going to overflow straight into your soul. Purple and darkness, than bursts of blue and sunshine. Spread out over surging white and cresting blue/brown. Someday I want to wake up to that expansive view every morning.

It was tempting. It was. In spite of visiting the beach on zero sleep. In spite of the fifty mile per hour gales and the stinging sand storms. In spite of witnessing a woman nearly washed off the pier.

I drove out to Ferrysburg by myself after working third shift last night with every intention of trying to surf the twelve-foot waves that my Internet forecast promised. I wolfed down a couple of Snickers and a Powerade on the drive out to keep from passing out at the wheel. The drowsiness and the sugar balanced out nicely into a foggy contentment as I pulled up to North Shore Beach. I spent about ten minutes here hunched underneath my hoodie, squinting into the wind, trying to decide whether it was worth my time before driving down to the fishermen’s parking lot near the north pier.

In the end I bailed on the surfing idea and just sat and watched the water until every part of me was numb. If I hadn’t been by myself I’m pretty sure I would have gone in. No, actually, I am sure I would’ve gone in. By myself the water just didn’t look that fun. Just looked violent and choppy. Big, but not twelve-foot big. Or maybe the wind was just squashing things down.

Watched some dorky high school kid try to surf for a few minutes, giving thumbs ups to his dorky video-camera-holding friends. He didn’t fare too well and I took that as my cue to go. Took an hour nap in my car, then drove back to GR. Some minor regrets on the ride back about not at least getting in for a couple tumbles, but all in all felt okay about at least getting to see the weather.

Surf Report # 5

Location: Grand Haven, MI – South Pier
Time: 9:15 am – 1:00 pm
Air Temp: 59 F
Water Temp: 54 F
Wind: From SSW 11-16 mph
Waves: 3-6 feet
Gear: 5/3 wetsuit, .5 mm hood (first 30 minutes)

Oh my, have I ever been putting my body through the wringer over the past few days. Played three hours of flag football and lifted for an hour at work on Tuesday. Yesterday (on some incredibly tight hamstrings) I hobbled through two hours of basketball. Then I topped that all off this morning with a day in the water. Didn’t really notice the pain this morning though once I was in the water.

Beautiful day. Top to bottom beautiful. Almost 60 degrees and sunny, in November, in Michigan! Waves were similar to Sunday. Lots of fun. Easy to catch. I stood up and rode the first four waves I went for. Always a good sign. Waves weren’t particularly clean, but that also had to do with the fact that I was playing around near a sand bar and seaward rip current. I’ve been getting better at catching and riding the faces of the bigger waves (as opposed to flopping into the whitewater). The speed. My goodness the speed difference is spectacular. Now I’ve just got to work laterally, though I know that is going to take forever to get right.

After today though I don’t feel like I’m necessarily surfing how you’re supposed to surf though. I watched a guy paddle out, who obviously knew what he was doing. He coasted right through the breakers I was playing in and cruised out about twice as far from shore as I was, bobbed up and down for a while, then gently stood and rode a wave over half the way back to shore. Caught another wave back to shore then walked down the beach and started all over again. He did this twice and was waiting for a third during the last hour that I was in the water. I guess that’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re good. I don’t know if I’m going to have the patience for that when I’m good though. I’m more of an instant gratification kind of guy.