Wintersleep - Weighty Ghost

Bros from Halifax Nova Scotia...killin it. love it. enjoy

Frigid. Strong NW winds, i mean strong, upwards of 50 knots. -45C. Winston thought it would be a good idea to check the surf late in the day. I opted to stay warm, says he got wet, caught a couple and then got out...suit frozen by the time he reached the truck. Stayed in his wetter until he got home. He was hard up as he is unable to surf next week. Do what ya gotta do. Here are a few.
Spruce grouse Dec. 2006

Steamers- 2007

These were sent across the the wire from local man Jer. Bowery, who is currently in Korea.

"Then we hear tweet,tweet,tweet etc...over an over...Rickey tells me that it is the coast guard and they want us to come in...but don't worry they will just sit on the beach and blow their whistles. I ride one way in.......Shit...ok, I'll go in. The coast guard meets me on the shore...with the look of shear fear on his face....typhoon, dangerous.. are the only words I can understand through his rambelings. I look at him with a smile...pat him on the shoulder...assure him it's ok... and say don't worry...Hawaii and motion with my hand way over my head...I look him dead in the eyes and say, with my finger pointing up, one more...one more. He lets me back out for one more...mabey to tell the others to come in...but I don't know them and I am not one to spoil fun. I pretend like I am telling them...wait for my wave...it brings me in....and call it a day".

Mad skills...wow..flowing.

There are those days when everything just falls into place.  Fickle forecast the last few days, and we opted for a dawn patrol this morning despite the fridged deep freeze we have been in.  Checked the two stations that are still in operation on this side of the lake, first thing this morning.  WNW?? What the hell? It was suppose to crank SW, W at the least.  It blew WSW upwards of 30 knots last night until about 1am.  Instead of pulling the plug on the session, we cooked it down. Slack jawed by what we saw, we surfed some of the most glassy consistent waves we have had in a long time. Chest high for about two hours and waist high for the last hour. No wind, no current, -16C (maybe a bit colder), steam rising off the green water...hootin' and glidin with two buds on lake Superior in January....GORGEOUS...and fun. So stoked...No better way to start a friday.  Back to work for the afternoon.




John at Secondglance took a break during today's session to capture some of the lakes beauty....check it out.

Also, noticed Daniels post over on Wine and Woodsmoke about Patagonia's new campaign, Freedom to Roam. An initiative to create and preserve continental corridors so that wildlife can survive on a warming planet. There is lots of good reading to be had, linked off of their website, whether you know much about this topic or not. Anyways, good on them for tackling this growing dilemma, check it out if you get a chance.
peace
e

Cold this week, but some potential surf on the horizon. A couple images from warmer times.

Spring steelhead- 2007

Monterey sea lion- spring 2007

Well, on the coldest night of the year thus far (-30C something plus a howling NW wind), Winston stopped by with his new, hot off the stand, blue home depot eps Pavel Superbank inspired retro quad fish...a-la lakes. Measuring in a 6'0 X 2 3/4 T X 22 W, it looks like it'll be a real glider on our smaller days. Setup with lokbox fin boxes it currently has some adapters to fit a set of FSC fins...Rainbow fins are on the way for our future shaping projects with Biofoam blanks and the lok box system. John Roland is largely responsible for the development of this board... the second to come out of his garage. He shaped a 10'0 last summer (and a real wave bandit at that) before starting on Winston's project. Anyways, someday when this deep freeze backs its wrath off, the new fish will go for a swim..until then...looks sweet and Winston is stoked... maybe you can tell.

Small glidables. NNE 30knots, -11C and sunny skies. Not nearly the size that we were expecting...too much north... but ended up being well worth it...waste high or so and glassy. Surfed from 4pm till 6:30pm at which point the set waves were mere black lines rolling towards you. Crescent moon, starry sky. stoked.

Booted around town the other night on my bike, playing with the camera and just enjoying the evening. Quiet spin of the pedals in the brisk night air.  Fresh snow as of today to replenish the recent melt caused by freakishly warm weather.  Going to be nice skiing tomorrow.
Night mission-January 9th-2008

Northshore January 2008

Sunday morning, phone rings..it's Winston, he's already up and has checked the wind speed and direction...it's blowing SW@26 knots on the other side of the lake. Things are looking slightly more promising than the night before. Because all of the open lake buoys are down for the winter, we rely on realtime wind data and computer models that usually manage to predict the swell. Winston is persuasive and gets Liam who is hungover and has had a couple hours of sleep, out of bed over a cryptic phone call. Coffee, rice pudding...2 hour drive to up the shore. Warm...its just above zero, seriously balmy for January 6th. Gear up and hike in 20 minutes through shin/knee deep snow. Sweating like a mad man in my wetsuit by the time we reach the beach. Things are looking way better than expected. The three of us surf shoulder high rights and lefts with the occasional head high set for 3 1/2 hours. Foggy day, snow covered hills, ravens swooping and waves chattering. (According to the GLCFS nowcast the waves should have peeked at about 8 feet.). Do the hike again, chill out by the truck, drink some tea, refuel the body and then drive home through pea soup-tick fog to some fresh venison stroganoff. Body is tired, mind is clear. stoked.

Liam droppin in- January 6th, 2008.

Big and burly out there today..winds gusted higher than 50 knots from the SW.  Checked a few known spots...surfed something new instead...fun.
Enjoy.





Lake Superior looking like a rainbow .  This is what actually went down. GLCFS Nowcast.

Obviously i do more than just surf, though that might not be apparent if you could get inside my head. Inspired to put this shot up after reading a long good entry by Pete over on Foulweather, regarding bicycles, roads, fixed gears and hipster subculture.  I don't know...a bikes a bike...no gears or otherwise.  Feeling guilty that i am forced to drive to work these days after commuting year round for many years.  The new job is not nearly as close to home...might just have to bite the bullet and try the 20km ride one morning soon though.

Ride-2007 


On another note, check out tomorrows forecast-eroonee!!

"Thursday: Southwest wind between 20 and 30 knots, with gusts as high as 40 knots. Partly sunny. Waves 3 to 5 feet building to 8 to 12 feet."  Could be looking decent mid to late day.  Time to surf.

peace

Back in the Bay after a week and a bit, spent with family and friends in Winnipeg.
Tradition, food, ritual, skiing, love, music, dominoes...
Grateful.

Happy New Years All.