Sweetwater Salvation

Seea (vid)

2012-02-01T15:17:00.000-05:00

It may be February in the Midwest, but we are already looking ahead to warmer days and lots of sunshine at the beach. With that, we are stoked to announce the latest addition to our ladies' swimwear lines: Seea.

A small business based in Southern California, all of Seea's swimwear is made in LA, not overseas. Their vintage, surf-inspired line is quickly gaining the attention on California's coast, so when they emailed us to check it out, we jumped.

Third Coast Surf Shop is now Seea's only Midwest dealer; we'll be receiving our first order in April. Take a look at the line here, and check out the video below for an idea of what they are all about...

SEEA ~ lookbook from The Seea on Vimeo.

Consistency, eh? (pic)

2012-02-01T11:20:00.000-05:00

Lake Michigan holds a handful of good right points

like this for those in the know. Photo: Jack Flynn

I recently gave a short interview for Great Lakes Echo, and online news community, about surfing in the Great Lakes. I've done a lot of interviews like this and one question that always comes up goes something like this: "Which Great Lake is the best for surfing?".

Any veteran lake surfer can tell you that each lake gets good surf, and there is no easy answer to that question. It is probably easier to break it down into other, slightly more definable questions, like "Which lake gets the biggest waves?" (Superior), or "Which lake has the most surfers?" (Michigan). Even then, there is no hard data to pull from, just the experience of the person giving the answer.

One question asked in this interview was "Which Great Lake is most consistent for surfing?". Again, an ambiguous question, but one that I would argue does have a pretty clear answer: Lake Michigan.

Think about it this way: if you had all the time, money, resources, and local experience to chase surf on one lake for an entire year, which lake do you think you would get the most days in on? Only locals with experience surfing throughout the region, and/or those who have been watching and participating in the GL surf scene for quite awhile could answer that, but I would bet that most would say Michigan.

Does it matter? Of course not. But, for local sweetwater sliders, it is fun to consider. In the end, as Gerry Lopez once stated, a wave is where you find it. We know all about that in the Great Lakes.

Ice Free (pic)

2012-01-31T11:12:00.002-05:00

This has been a remarkably warm winter in the Great Lakes region (it's 51F outside our shop right now), and one that is a double edged sword for local surfers.

On the one hand, lack of ice means an extended surf season; normally, we would be locked out due to huge ice shelves for at least a couple months in mid-winter. But on the other, lack of ice means more evaporation; a major player in lake level fluctuations. Lake levels are currently below average, and it looks like this winter might bring them even lower. The consensus among most local surfers is that this is not a good thing for most surf breaks.

The photo above was taken a couple days ago and shows virtually no ice on Lakes Michigan and Superior. This article talks about how that rarely happens. Pretty crazy.

Third Coast Movie Night in Chicago (vid)

2012-01-27T11:18:00.002-05:00

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)

2012-01-26T15:20:00.000-05:00

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)

2012-01-26T11:20:00.000-05:00

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)

2012-01-24T11:07:00.000-05:00

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)

2012-01-22T14:42:00.000-05:00

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)

2012-01-20T08:38:00.000-05:00

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)

2012-01-17T11:22:00.001-05:00

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)

2012-01-14T16:04:00.001-05:00

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)

2012-01-11T11:05:00.000-05:00

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

South End Slide (vid)

2012-01-10T14:05:00.000-05:00

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.

Ice Shelf Slacklining (pics)

2012-01-09T16:57:00.000-05:00

In the midst of an obscene mild weather spell in the Midwest, it's easy to forget what the weather could be like at this time of year. Here is Milwaukee's resident surf rat, Blake Meisinger, having a little fun during a mid-winter flat spell last year. Photos: Dave Meisinger

Epitome Of Stoke (vid)

2012-01-02T18:07:00.002-05:00

Each year, a big group of Great Lakes surfers get together on New Years Day morning for a paddle out at Holland State Park in Michigan. Wind (duh), rain, snow, sleet, or hail...this is the epitome of stoke.

New Years Day 2012 Annual Paddle {Lake Michigan} from Tim Stoepker on Vimeo.

Hollow Lake Ontario (pic)

2012-01-02T11:19:00.000-05:00

Cool story by a Lake O surfer on Surfline.

Offshore All Day (pics)

2011-12-29T13:42:00.001-05:00

Winds were offshore all day yesterday for those lucky enough to get out...

Morning.

Artem blasting.

Only a handful of guys at this spot.

We surfed a local beach for the first time as the sandbars were firing.

Don't get conditions like that very often.

Anticipation (pic)

2011-12-27T17:06:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow's forecast looks mighty promising with a big NW swell building down the lake overnight and the promise of the wind going offshore at some point tomorrow morning. These are the kind of days you look forward to as a lake surfer; when you pull up and see something like this photo above.

Happy Hollow Days (pic)

2011-12-25T12:44:00.000-05:00

As we prepare to enter our eighth season in business, we couldn't be more grateful for the continued support from friends, family, and customers. From all of us at TCSS, Happy Hollow Days and Holidays to you and yours.

Timelapse Dream (vid)

2011-12-22T09:15:00.001-05:00

Here is some incredible timelapse photography taken around Northwest Indiana (including at some of our local surfing beaches) by a fellow we met while surfing one day.

Northwest Indiana Timelapses from Eric Hines on Vimeo.

From The Archives (pic)

2011-12-14T15:40:00.003-05:00

Mike "Moondog" Mooney on a crisp December day in 2004. A handful of lake surfers were invited by Red Bull to share a house on Lake Superior for a week of chasing waves all over the UP. We found good surf on all three lakes. Photo: Steve Sramak

"Symmetry is Overrated" (pic)

2011-12-13T14:48:00.000-05:00

I remember reading an article with Tom Morey (eclectic genius who is probably best known as the inventor of the modern boogey board) where he stated that "symmetry is overrated."

If some of the shaping and surfing of asymmetrical boards by youngsters like North County San Diego's Ryan Burch is any indication, Tom may be on to something. We surfed with Ryan a little bit on our last trip out there, and suffice it to say, he was killing it on boards of all shapes and sizes. Boards he shapes himself.

Here are a couple. We saw him paddle out on one like that at left here and absolutely burn rubber...some of the fastest surfing I have ever seen. Guys like him and Tyler Warren represent the new breed of the surfer/shaper, and man, is it fun as hell to watch.

Bungee Madness (vid)

2011-12-12T16:58:00.000-05:00

For all of our snow surfing friends, we share with you this new video from the guys at Banshee Bungee. We sell these at the shop, so after you watch this and get all inspired to shred, give us a call or stop in to check them out for yourself.

Oh, yeah...they can also be used for surfing, skimming, and skating. Shorebreak, here we come!

Banshee Bungee 2011 Snow Edit "THE Shots." from Banshee Bungee on Vimeo.

Surf Your Skate (vid)

2011-12-09T14:50:00.001-05:00

We are looking for some feedback from our friends and customers...

The guys are Carver Skateboards reached out to us about stocking some of their boards. They have been around for awhile and some of you may recognize their ads in surf mags. Essentially, you can pump the boards for speed and skate it like your surfing. The feedback has been incredible: it can really help your shortboard surfing.

What do you think?

http://www.carverskateboards.com/v2/

Al Knost, rubber man (pic & vid)

2011-12-08T15:06:00.001-05:00

Alex Knost at Velzyland recently, and below in Newport. The dude oozes style...

Alex Knost: Single Fins from Taylor Bonin on Vimeo.