The "North Shore" Surf Adventure - April 12, 2008

On Friday, April 11, 2008, a friend of mine that I swim with at the downtown Minneapolis, MN YMCA asked me an interesting question - would I be interested in surfing on Lake Superior?

How could I resist? Here is my surf report for "L-Trains," a left-hand pointbreak just north of Duluth, Minnesota:

Air Temp: 25 degrees

Water Temp: 33 degrees

Surf: Chest to shoulder high on the sets

Comments: FUN! And the people were so great too, my friend's friend let me borrow his board, wetsuit with hood and booties! The way people hang out and are so friendly makes me think of how surfers in Hawaii must have been back before localism and crowds got out of control.

How good was it? Better than a bad day at Kewalos or Cliffs, about as fun as a good day at Irma's. Some of the longest ones I rode for almost 100 yards - my first time really at a left-hand pointbreak, so I was pretty stoked.

How cold was it? I was shocked at how warm I was in the 6-5-4 wetsuit, and how flexible it was - but my hands were really gold at first even in the 5 mm gloves. After a while, I got used to it, and ended up staying out for almost 3 hours!

What a great adventure! I hope to go again some time.

Here are some pics:

The North Shore of Lake Superior, that is. A long way from Haleiwa! And yes, that is snowflakes in the picture - it was snowing on the way to the surf (a 2.5 hour drive from Minneapolis to Duluth).

The setup at L-Trains - incredibly, surprisingly fun for "lake surf."

Natural board rack. Yes, we had to walk over snow to get to the water.

I struggled to get used to all the gear but ended up getting a couple fun ones, and even got a couple pics to prove I did it! Photo Credit: Bob Tema, superiorsurfclub.com (thanks again Bob!!)

I like this pic a lot too - but I'll give you two guesses what happens right after Bob took this picture - and the first one doesn't count (thanks again for making me look good Bob!).