Let me start this out by saying that Hannah and I are not surfers. Not yet at least, maybe someday. That said, we had some huge waves today that I had to enjoy vicariously through my friend Sam Gardner, who I am certain you will all hear more about in the near future.

Wave Forecast Map for Lake Superior

I recieved a phone call on Saturday from Sam asking if I had seen the latest marine forecast. A quick visit to the NOAA website showed me what Sam was talking about. The wave forecast map for Monday was covered in a dark red color I had never seen. Upon closer inspection I discovered that this color means twenty plus feet. That is HUGE! It was so big that Sam was willing to drive the nearly 400 miles up from Ann Arbor just to ride this massive surf.

When I woke up this morning the house was shaking from the 55 mph wind gusts and I knew that the weatherman had gotten things right this time. The wind made work in the woods a little sketchy and the driving rain made it miserable so we did some paper work and geared up for an afternoon in the cold and wet. A brief look at the Lake around 10AM confirmed that this was going to be a big day on the water.

When Hannah got done with class we loaded up some camera gear and the dogs and headed up the Keweenaw to meet Sam at Great Sand Bay. The temperature was around 48° F and the wind was gusting about 60 mph out of the north.

Sam was already in the water when we pulled up. The waves in the bay were easily 8-12 feet but out on the reef they were breaking well over 20 feet. Hannah and I walked around the point to get the best vantage point for the big waves. It was incredible. I was standing on shore and got blasted by surf spray. It nearly knocked me down. It was very humbling standing in close proximity to 25 foot walls of water. The power is indescribable.

The photos we took can’t do it justice and none of them turned out as well as we had hoped. Between the surf spray and pouring rain we couldn’t keep our lenses clean. The aquapac I was using for my point and shoot worked wonders keeping my camera dry. It seems like every picture has water spots but they at least give you the idea of what it was like. You can see more photos on our Picassa page.

After about 2 hours of watching Sam surf the cold got the better of me and we loaded the dogs back in the car and headed home. I was really jealous watching Sam out there. Surfing looks great. After a summer on the Lake I know that big waves can get pretty scary but he made it look fun. I just might have to try it next time the waves get under 10 feet.