GREAT LAKES SURFING

The Great Lakes

The Great Lakes represents the first chapter and a continuing theme of surfing in my life. I learned at Atwater Beach in Shorewood, Wisconsin. When I started Tim Hailey

Tim Hailey

showed me the ropes and alerted me to swells. He soon moved out west, and left me to fend for myself (I hear that he runs some big skateboard company and surfs on his free time). As you can imagine, progress was really slow. I think I learned how to catch a wave in the first two years and finally learned to go down the line on the third year.

My first years as a shortboarder

It wasn't until I met the crew from Sheboygan and started to ride longboards, that I truly learned to surf. I soon became a local in Sheboygan, enjoying the friendship of many hard-core surfers. I mean people who surf when the water is the consistency of a milkshake and most of us would want a down blanket and a hot chocolate. It may seem like an insignificant scene for surfers in California, but for them, its all about surfing uncrowded waves and discovering new brakes and sharing knowledge with any newcomers.

Ski scores a glassy right	Scott Schmidt at Big Bay
Teek with some hand jive	Nuclear Plant at Camp Logan
Rare offshore winds	Good surf comes with a strong wind
Patrick, Larry, Teek	Snake gets a nice ride