Third Coast Movie Night in Chicago (vid)

Our friend Jeremy Rumas, a Chicago surfer working on his own independent surf film called Hangs Upon Nothing, let us know about a new indie surf documentary playing at the Facets Theater in Chicago next month. We reached out to the folks at Facets and have collaborated with them to invite the local surfing community to see the film on Saturday, February 11 at 7:00 CT.

Splinters documents the evolution of surfing culture in Papa New Guinea. Here is the synopsis from the film's website:

Splinters is the first feature-length documentary film about the evolution of indigenous surfing in the developing nation of Papua New Guinea. In the 1980s an intrepid Australian pilot left behind a surfboard in the seaside village of Vanimo. Twenty years on, surfing is not only a pillar of village life but also a means to prestige. With no access to economic or educational advancement, let alone running water and power, village life is hermetic. A spot on the Papua New Guinea national surfing team is the way to see the wider world; the only way. 


The Third Coast crew will be coming over to hang with our friends in the big city and enjoy a night of surfing on screen. Come join us!


What: Third Coast Movie Night in Chicago: Splinters Chicago premiere 
When: Saturday February 11 at 7:00 CT
Where: Facets Cinematheque: 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. Chicago, IL. 60614
Cost: $9

CLICK HERE for directions, and HERE for parking info.

Kneelos (vid)

Since first seeing George Greenough's brief clip in the Endless Summer (and all of his own films), there has always been something about kneeboarding that has intrigued me.

The guys at Korduroy are devoting a week to the 'legless' variety...be sure to check it here. In the meantime, enjoy this clip they put together. These guys rip.


Legless - InnerViews from www.KORDUROY.tv on Vimeo.

A First Time For Everything (vid)

There's a first time for everything, including surfing freshwater waves on a Great Lake. Ryan Nuner gets the full winter-time experience off Milwaukee's coast in this video.

There's More Than Corn in Indiana (pic)

There's an old (still active) outdoor water park in central Indiana called Indiana Beach who's slogan is "There's more than corn in Indiana".

It's a different kind of water park on a different kind of Indiana beach, but as these photos taken by Mike Killion last week show, the slogan still rings true.

Third Coast Beard Ice Contest (pics)

We thought it would be fun to hold a winter contest that could only work in one particular surfing locale; the Great Lakes. No stranger to suffering through freezing conditions, lake surfers are a pretty hardy breed. It's the hairiest among us who capture this spirit in the depths of our winter surfing season, and who doesn't like a good ice beard?

Email us your best beard ice photos or share them on our Facebook page. Please include the surfer's first name, photographer credit, and the lake it was taken on. We will pick a winner when things thaw out and send them a little gift from the Shop.

Here are a few to get things started. Dig in, boys...

 Scott, Lake Erie.

Photo: Cole Slutzky

 Tim, Lake Michigan.

Photo: self portrait

 Andy, Lake Superior.

Photo: self portrait

Brad, Lake Michigan.

Photo: Ryan Gerard

Master Skip (pic)

Love this quote from surfing legend Skip Frye...

“Ponce DeLeon sailed the ocean
in search of The Fountain of Youth,
when all he had to do
was jump over the side of his ship.”

–Skip Frye

Bing Swee' Pea (pic)

Our friends at Bing keep rolling out these ridiculously fun shortboards. From the Mini Simmons to the Puck, Dharma to Spork, there's a board in the range for every surfer in all kinds of conditions.

Shaper Matt Calvani's newest design is called the Swee' Pea. Adapted from the Dharma, the Swee' Pea takes a more progressive approach and can handle anything from waist high mushburgers to well overhead surf. Here is the Swee' Pea's description on Bing's site...

Inspired by the Mini Simmons designs, Matt Calvani evolved the Dharma to be something more progressive. After a full season of riding and perfecting the Dharma, he wanted to continue the evolution with the Swee’ Pea so he kept the middle and tail the same width, pulling in the nose considerably, going with a deep single concave going out the rounded tail. In turn, he had to increase the tail rocker to ensure the water would release, making the board more smooth and responsive off the top and bottom of waves with controlled speed. Like the Simmons and Dharma, he maintained the thinned out tail and rail for increased sensitivity. He also eliminated the concave deck, which was intended to maintain the Dharma’s flat rocker but increase the board’s sensitivity, and went with a slightly domed deck to get optimized floatation for surfers of varying builds and weight. The rounder outline, in comparison to the parallel Dharma, also lends itself to quicker, more responsive direction changes and can handle more power and speed. The Swee’ Pea is ideal for intermediate to advanced surfers, looking for a small-wave board that will handle up to double overhead conditions. This model can be ridden at the same length as your Dharma, but unlike it’s predecessor can be sized up to much longer lengths to suit a wider range of surfers.


Third Coast Surf Shop is Bing's only Great Lakes dealer. Email us for more info and to see what's available.

TCSS Winter Break (pic)

Well, it's time for our winter break. Ryan, TCSS owner, and his wife Erin have a one week old baby boy (Oliver) at home and Chris, TCSS manager, deserves a break. He works his butt off. So, we'll be closed starting Monday (Jan.16) through Feb. 3 and will re-open Saturday, Feb. 4.

Ryan and Erin get some family time with the baby and Chris gets to go to Costa Rica to surf his brains out with a couple other employees. We'll be back in early February and looking forward to a killer 2012 - we have some more surprises in store. Thanks for all of your continued support and see you soon.

P.S.You can always find our current hours on our Contact Page!

P.S.S. We'll leave you with this photo from Mike Killion taken yesterday on the South End. Score.

Young Brody Rips (vid)

Brody is a young customer of ours with some serious natural talent on a skateboard...

South End Slide (vid)

 J got some video of our logging session on the South End of Lake Michigan last week. It's short and low def, but you can see that we had a few nice little peelers rolling through.