Thank you Hurricane Gustav for these wonderful waves!

So far in the 2008 hurricane season, the East coast and Northern part of the state of Florida were flooded by a never leaving Tropical Storm Fay. Now in the Gulf of Mexico, we have Hurricane Gustav about to make landfall almost in the exact same location as Hurricane Katrina did in 2005, devastating New Orleans. I pray for everyone that is in the path of Gustav, as it has become a major storm and will again bring damage to the Gulf coast. The only upside to this storm, and I know, I'm in a small minority that sees an upside, is that it is bringing a huge swell to my area of Florida. So what does that mean? SURFING!! And not just surfing, but "epic" surfing for this area of Florida. The Gulf side, contrary to popular belief, does not get the waves as say the East coast, so when anything kicks the swell up, believe me, there isn't a parking spot to be found!
I got up and headed out around 2:30pm. When I got to the beach, there was about 500 other surfers already out!




I'm going to digress here for a minute to give you a brief background of my surfing career. I started surfing at Cocoa Beach the fall of 1999 when I was working at Disney. The first time I went out, I had no idea what I was doing and it showed! I ended up eating a good portion of the beach and several days later was still finding sand in places I didn't know it could lodge! When I moved back to Michigan I put it aside for awhile and when I moved back to Florida for the second time in 2000, picked it up again. I then continued the sport back in Michigan in the freezing cold water of the lake. Believe it or not, you can surf Lake Michigan. The waves are not the best, but when you love the sport, you will brave 45 degree water for a 2 foot swell!


And I'm not the only crazy surfer that braved the waters of Lake Michigan. Here are some shots my brother took one day when the winds had kicked up a pretty good swell.



I used to have 3 surfboards and 2 bodyboards. I sold 2 of my boards and just kept my longboard as it suits me better. However, in February of 2005, I slipped on some ice at a patient's house and shattered my right elbow. 3 years and 2 surgeries later, I still don't have the strength I need to surf as much as I would like, so now I stick mainly to bodyboarding.


Back to today's event. I first went to a private beach that I know of, but after seeing the waves and feeling the pull, I knew the rip currents here were way too dangerous to be around. I went back to the beach that I normally surf, but had to park at a non-surfing beach and walk the rest of the way. I was finally able to hit the surf...and, it kind of hit back! LOL There was a pretty strong pull and the waves didn't break in sets, so, it basically was just dive in and pray! About an hour after starting the session, I got out to catch my breath and to take some pictures.




By the way, in these pictures notice the sky. It was actually this dark out because of the storms rolling in. I was trying to get a picture of the lightening hitting the water, but was unable. Right after I took this picture, it started raining. And not just raining, it was like a monsoon! I was in the water at the time and had to get out because the rain was so strong, you couldn't see your hand in front of your face let alone the 8 foot wave about to devour you!

After almost 4 hours in the water, I called it a day. Why do you ask when the waves here are few and far between? Well, because...I'm totally out of shape! Seriously, fighting the waves and strong current for 4 hours really can take it out of you. Besides, I no longer have a right elbow as it has totally seized up on me in pain! So that ended my amazing day in the waves. And all I have to say is, thank you Gustav!


PS. In the 4 hours I was there, only 1 ambulance showed up to help someone that had been caught up in the current. Not a bad day in my books!