The good news is we got another long period hurricane swell and had a blast riding some fun waves. It was a Texas surfers’ treat with fairly clean conditions at the peak of the swell. The bad news is that the people impacted in Louisiana are struggling, as we all understand the aftermath of being hit by a category 4 hurricane. It’s hard to believe that they were impacted by seven storms last season and now they are dealing with another. Hopefully we can all give them help and pray that the recovery process goes well.
When deciding where to catch this swell, my first thought was to go to SPI. That would have been the right call, but the logistics of a six hour drive and overnight stay were not in the books for me. I would have to settle for somewhere closer. I kept an eye on the forecasts, and for a while it seemed that Galveston would get the best part of the swell with offshore winds at its peak. As the storm got closer and raced across the gulf, I knew the timing window for the swell would be critical. The wave height predictions started out with an overhead swell. Each day the forecast dropped and ended up being a waist to chest high event. I decided to go back to Surfside around noon on Sunday as the swell would be at its peak around four that afternoon. I knew it would be crowded, but I was able to find a parking spot on Beach Drive close to Crab Street about one pm. The winds were fairly strong out of the northeast which put a good chop on it. At the peak of the swell, the winds were forecast to go straight offshore. That did not happen, but the winds did lay down a bit when the bigger swells started to arrive.
I decided to wait until four to paddle out, so I set up my camera to shoot some video for a while. I usually get into the water on a clean hurricane swell too early and wear myself out before the best conditions arrive. I shot around three hours of video (and it took me approximately the same amount of time to pull the best clips from my camera). The swell continued to build as predicted and by four, I was itching to get into the water. My timing was perfect, and the paddle out was easy during one of the thirteen second lulls. As a large set approached, I set up on the outside and caught a large wave. I took a steep drop and began to bounce up and down on the chop. The board went into auto pilot, and I was left behind sitting down hard on the chest high face. After my leash got stretched to the max, I came up laughing and excited about the juice these waves were offering.
For the rest of the afternoon I caught a lot of fun waves that offered numerous tactical possibilities. Nose rides, closeout hits with air drops, and off the lips were the menu for the day. Did I mention juice? Yes, the speed and steepness was surprising on some waves, which is unusual for Surfside. Needless to say, I had a blast! At times I found myself in a crowd, but that is to be expected on a good swell. The nice thing about Surfside is that there is plenty of room to handle the crowd. All you have to do is paddle away from the cameras and you are usually in a more open area.
By sundown my fun meter had peaked, and I rode my last wave to the beach. The sunset cast a pink glow on the remaining waves as Poseidon slowed his pulse. It is amazing how quickly the swell began to fade as I drove away thanking God for the chance to ride on his creations again. The stoke meter from this session is still running high as I write this. I hope everyone got their fill, and remember those in our neighboring state in your prayers. Exodus 22:26
Thanks for reading my blog! God bless you!
Tim Lumpkin
Blog: Legacy-Outdoors.net
Instagram: @tlump10
YouTube: Legacy-Outdoors
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