Sunset Paddle (pics)

We had a super fun paddle on the Galien yesterday. It is three miles downstream from the drop point up river to the harbor in town, flora and fauna in abundance the whole way. This entire stretch of river is protected - it will never be bulldozed to put up a parking lot!

Our stand up paddleboard demo quiver was put to good use by new and old friends alike. Can't think of a better way to end the day.

Some of the guys contemplate the serene Galien.

Ed, our Global Surf Rep, flew from New York to paddle and hang with us.

The best way to learn? Start on your knees.

The start; it only gets better from here.

Artist Wanted

Third Coast is looking for an artist. A broke artist, preferably, and one who doesn't mind bartering as we are broke ourselves.

Quite simply, we need someone with a keen eye for fashion (think American Apparel) and an interest in surfing...

If you know someone or are interested, send an email to ryan@thirdcoastsurfshop.com.

Here is the type of stuff you might be good at...

Milwaukee Rescue

A Milwaukee surfer rescued a kiteboarder as he drifted near rocks off of Bradford Beach on Sunday. Apparently, the kiter's lines were tangled around his body and his drysuit was filling with water. Hypothermia appears to have been the biggest risk.

Here is the full story from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, and a short write up at MSNBC.

Surfers have been rescuing swimmers, jet skiers, boaters, and others in the Great Lakes since waves were first ridden here. As I talked about in this old post on Great Lakes "Surfmen", it should be one more reason why surfers are not only accepted in their local communties, but respected as well.

Thankfully, a happy ending in Milwaukee

Spring Drive

Grover (Shop Dog) and I took a nice spring drive yesterday. The Shop is closed on Wednesdays and we needed to get out of town for a few hours. Sometimes not working is how I get my best work done.

One thing I really dig about living so close to the big Lake is how it affects our weather. We left New Buffalo under sunny skies and an air temp of about 60 with a light wind. 45 minutes inland, it was still sunny with an air temp of about 70 and light wind.

However, as we headed home I could see the cloud line quickly approaching as we got closer to NB. It was extending inland only a couple miles or so, and I knew what it meant - the wind had turned onshore. So we pull into town to find a stiff NW wind, cloudy skies, and air temps in the 40s.

Gotta love the big lake.

Grove getting some fresh air

We stopped to look at the blazing red tulips

Fire!

Recycling Day

Every once in awhile, as the bags full of recyclables pile up in our cubby, I'll drive down to the local bin to unload. It feels good knowing that all of this stuff will be reused in some form and not end up in some smelly landfill.

Sandboards

Sandboards are sooo fun. Think surfboard meets snowboard meets huge dunes of sand and you start to get an idea of what these things are like.

We've been renting and selling them for about four years now and are quite happy to keep people stoked on the sideways sliding experience, even when the waves are flat. Next time you're in town and are looking for something fun to do, grab one of these and head 15 minutes north to Warren Dunes State Park to see for yourself.

A few of our rental decks, complete with Dakine waffle bindings

And start doing stuff like this after a little practice

Ruined Surf Trip

One of the guys from northern Michigan shared this on our Third Coast forums. After seeing Inglorius Bastards recently, it struck a chord, so I thought I'd share it here.

He doesn't deserve a trip to Indo, anyways...

From The Archives

I shaped this 9'6 log for North Shore Lake Superior surfer Brian Stabinger about eight years ago. I thought it came out pretty well at the time.

My Dad and I built this shaping bay behind the cabin I was living in while at school in Marquette, Michigan. It worked well, even when outside aire temps dipped below zero on many winter nights. Fond memories of shaping boards and exploring the vast coastline (and often GOOD surf) back then...

Kayak Tours Are On!

As a small surf shop, in an extremely seasonal small beach town, in a big region not known for having surf shops, we have to find ways to diversify - it helps us survive and enable us to do what we love - surf and sell surfing equipment.

One way we have chosen to diversify is by offering kayak and SUP rentals and river tours.

We're stoked about this because we have a lot of folks who come out in the pleasant weather months looking for something fun to do. Many are friends or relatives of surfing customers, and we are happy to make people happy - it's what succesful retail business is about.

So we retrieved our yaks from storage yesterday, gave them a good washing, and set them up in the racks. Kayak and SUP River Tours are now ready to go.

The Subie, loaded to the gills

Black is Back

Curtis, a local surfer and friend of ours, contacted me over the winter about getting a new longboard. We quickly agreed that getting something custom built at the Bing factory was best suited for what he was looking for.

This is what he ended up with - a 9'6 Slim Noserider. There's something about a black resin tint that looks sooo stealth...

Classic Bing logo

One stoked dude

New Interview Video

A reporter showed up during last week's swell and interviewed a few people, including myself and my dog. Pete - the teacher - is going to get in trouble for ditching work that day!

Thursday's Swell

Thursday's swell came through as promised and provided some fun for dry South Enders. The maps had been showing a 10' push by mid-morning and that's exactly what happened - the buoy was showing 10' most of the morning with big NW winds behind a cold front.

Our nook was a solid head high early and slowly backed down through the day. Wind went from side on to side off the entire time, drastically changing the face of the waves, but surface conditions were pretty good overall.

Hope those able to get on this one did, as the spring doldrums are not far around the corner now!

Morning peak

B-Rad waxing his shred stick

Terry off the top

Steve Walden Coming to TCSS

Steve Walden, veteran surfboard shaper and the man behind Walden surfboards from Southern California, will be stopping by our Shop on Thursday, April 29th. We plan to take the SUPs out (unless there's surf!), talk surfboards, and hang out for the afternoon and evening. More details on the evening to come soon, but in the meantime, mark your calendars and make sure to be there!

Happy Easter

The nephews Gerard show off their bounty on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. Seems that the Easter Bunny treated the kids well this year.

Hope you and yours had a wonderful weekend, too!

Moon Rise

A full moon came out of the lake after a surf recently. What a nice way to end a fun, offshore session with a few friends. As usual, we were the only ones in the parking lot (and the water) to enjoy it...how many coastal surfers can say that?