The Youth

9/2/10
I was 20 when I first rode a wave. It was at a local beach that we still call home, and introduced to me by guys 10 years older. I remember that I was one of only a few younger guys down here at the time, and learned over the next few years that surfing in the Lakes seemed to be done mostly by guys that were older - late twenties, thirties, forties and beyond. There would be the occasional 'youngster' like me, but for the most part, it was ruled by our elders...and I am grateful to have learned the rules of the water that way.

These days, as more folks take to the waves on surfboards in the Midwest (weird, I know), the demographic is changing. We see it at the Shop all the time. The youth are coming, and it is refreshing to see. The guys I grew up surfing with are now bringing their kids down and there is more progression happening than ever before.

Blake is a recently turned 14 year old from Milwaukee, and a perfect example of the new youth movement in Great Lakes surfing. Here he is slicing backside across a well known right point on his new Bing Pintail Lightweight...


Photo: Ryan Bigelow



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GSI has teamed up with Tom Wegener on a new finless board project they are calling "Seaglass"...

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Cleveland surfers are a different breed, for sure, and some of the coolest people you'll meet. It takes serious dedication to surf there and these guys are dead serious about it.

Our friend Scott, the man behind the recently released Out Of Place - a documentary on the Cleveland surfing scene (and winner of the 2009 New York Surf Film Festival) - sent over the links below to a local photographer's site. Needless to say after seeing the visuals, we were pretty stoked.

You can click here for a small portfolio of Billy Delfs' Cleveland surfing photos, and visit Billy's main site here.

Lake Chewbacca: one of the raddest surfers
to ever come out of Cleveland, Ohio.



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Dharma

8/31/10
We spent much of last weekend hanging with the Bing Surfboards and Wegener Surfboards crew and had a blast. Unfortunately, my digi camera was stolen in transit, but I do have some phone photos we'll load onto our Facebook page soon.

In the meantime, dig the new Dharma model created by Bing shaper Matt Calvani and team rider CDM...



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We went away to California for a few days and got back around 2 am this morning. More on that trip soon. While we were away, a little swell filled into the South End and our buddy Captain Jack scored this little ditty all to his lonesome...

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Luau - 2010

8/24/10
Yep, another Luau come and gone. That makes seven of them now, six of which have been orchestrated by TCSS. It's been a nice run, and this year definitely did not dissapoint.

Big thanks to all of our friends, customers, family, and vendors who continue to support us and the community - thanks for coming, and see you all soon, we hope.

BTW...if anyone has photos of the grand prize raffle winner, please send them to us. Thanks!

We will load more pics on our Facebook page. Enjoy...

Stoked paddle team

Wunderkid, Blake, took top place in SUP and prone

We cleaned the hell out of the beach. Special thanks to Ocean Minded sandals!

Emcee, Brad, and Greg the bluegrass picker

Capatin Jack's band kicked ass

Rios' food always dominates

Our team for the day







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Tuna (pics)

8/20/10
Tom Wegener has been busy experimenting in Oz this winter (down under). Take a peek at a couple of his latest Tunas...so nice.


And here is a dude named Xabi making small, mushy waves look really fun on one of Tom's traditional Tunas.

Tuna from xabi lafitte on Vimeo.

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Web Nerd Needed

8/19/10
We have never done this before, but here we go...

Now Hiring:

We are looking for an IT/Web person (technical term) for work at our New Buffalo, Michigan location. Must live near the area - no remote work. Part or full time. Some experience with html and solid computer skills preferred, but passion for the job is a must. Duties would include updating and editing the website, filling and shipping orders, marketing, and other neat computer stuff. We may have you doing other things around the Shop as well.; we wear many hats here.

A college student or starving freelancer may work - this job is more about the lifestyle than the money. We are a small business with a limited (small!) budget, but if you like the idea of running a (growing) surf shop e-commerce website, working in a fun atmosphere, and are into surfing and the lifestyle, send an email to info@thirdcoastsurfshop.com. Please give us time to respond as we are in the hieght of our busy season.



Not a bad place to work.


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Pro surfer Jamie Sterling was in the region last week, searching for surf in a Red Bull seaplane. I can only imagine what the UP of Michigan locals thought when they saw this rig pull in. Is it deer hunting season yet?

Our new friends at Matuse, who sponsor Jamie, sent us this link. We plan to begin offering the superior line of Matuse wetsuits in our online store this fall - check out the goods here.

A collage of Brian Nevins' photos from the Red Bull trip...


And here are a couple photos (credit goes to Steve Sramek) from the last trip Red Bull put together in the Lakes, circa Decmeber 2004. They rented a house on Lake Superior and piled seven of us in for a week - we used it as our base camp and drove wherever the surf was good, all over the UP. It would have been cool if we had a plane that time, but we still had fun...

Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater.

Moondog and Slasher Bob.


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New art via Captain Jack...

We are pretty stoked about the new 3rd Coast Surfboards built for us by the fine folks at Bing.



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