Technically I haven’t surfed Hurricane Alex yet, but I’ll be on the leftovers  here in about an hour. I did however surf  Tropical Storm Alex on Tuesday and even though the storm was still hundreds of miles away there was some big, powerful surf to play in. The beaches way up here on the Upper Texas Coast, just  south of Galveston, were already impassable by late Tuesday afternoon.

I’ll admit that surfing on Tuesday was a bit crazy; but I’m not stupid so I didn’t even think about going yesterday. Well, okay, I did think about it, but not enough to actually drive down to the beach with my kayak. Looking at the conditions online was sufficient.  Had I drove down there then I might have done something stupid. Especially if there were some other stupid people there (which you know there were.)  Sometimes stupid does as stupid sees.

As expected there were quite a few regular surfers out on Tuesday trying to catch the big one.  There were clearly three delineations of surfers present.  There were amateurs who couldn’t even negotiate the shore break, which was substantial and would knock you down if you weren’t paying close attention.   These guys would try and try to get past the breakers but would settle for trying to work the shore break.  If you can’t go under the waves, you couldn’t get past Tuesday’s shorebreak, let alone anything beyond that.

Then there were the intermediate guys who were working the second breakers. I figure these were some tough guys (and a gal or two) just to get out to where they were but were not confident enough to try the angrier stuff a further out. Can’t really blame them as there were some plenty big waves on the second break.

Then you had the advanced. If they weren’t advanced surfers they were at least advanced swimmers.  There were actually quite a number of these guys bobbing around out there.  I didn’t see too many of them catch a wave because there was absolutely no opportunity to sit and have a look around, not even for a second or two. I had to constantly keep the kayak under power to keep it positioned correctly or else I’d be swimming around offshore during  a small craft advisory without even a small craft.  If you weren’t paddling, you were swimming.

I positioned myself  just past the third breakers to catch my waves. Curiously, since I was already out past the advanced surfers,  I could still see surfers bobbing much further out. I don’t how you classify these guys. Extreme perhaps.  Stupid maybe. The swells are so big and the troughs so deep  that you are pretty much lost to anyone on shore until you came back.

Once I got positioned it was only a matter of seconds before a wave came along that I needed to get on or be destroyed by. Unlike the surfers, when a big wave is about to break on a kayak, there is no diving under the wave. You go over the top, you catch it,  or you go swimming.

On normal days, even big days, once you get past the breakers you can get in position and let the waves roll under you as you wait for your wave. On this day, waves were breaking everywhere, not just on the breakers, so many times your wave picked you instead on of you picking the wave. I’m talking about some big waves. I’m not even sure how they are measured  or if I could estimate them properly, but I know when I was on top of one about to shoot down the face it was like looking down from a two-story house.  The feeling is indescribable.

All-in-all, in exchange for about 75 minutes of extreme kayaking I got three of the best rides of my short kayak surfing career along with one poor ride. I only fell off once but that was not due to a  wipe out so I was able to reacquire my boat and reboard in a matter of about 15 seconds.  Even though I knew it was almost a certainty, I really, really did not want to be swimming after my boat in such rough seas. It takes a lot of the fun out of it.

American Oystercatcher

There has been a couple of low pressure systems hovering around Texas and with all the rain we have been having over the past few days it was a nice break yesterday to have some mostly sunny conditions. I was out visiting a friend at Bastrop Bayou where I store my kayaks and decided it was a good idea to throw a yak into the back of the truck and shoot down to the shore. I keep a close eye on the surf charts and I knew there had been enough surf  to make the ride out to Follets Beach worth it. I have been jonesing for several weeks as all we’ve had is flat surf conditions. Typical summer conditions, I know, but come on. Where are all the tropical systems caused by global warming when you need them? I was really counting on surfing some tropical waves this summer.

Coming over the Surfside bridge I could see the water was beautiful; blue and green with tiny flecks of white caps interspersed as far as the eye could see–a result of the stiff SW breeze blowing at15-20 knots. Yes there were several kiteboarders out too.

I was in the water by about 2:30 and surfed for about an hour and fifteen minutes before tiring out. With such a stiff breeze you have to paddle constantly or you will quickly be a few miles from your truck.  It’s best to have someone follow you in a vehicle so you can expend your energy on surfing and not so much on fighting the wind and current to stay in the vicinity of your ride.  I can usually paddle for quite a bit longer but the lack of any surf over the past 8 weeks has  me out of ocean kayaking shape.

There were some rideable waves ; nothing too big but past the 3rd sandbar on the  outer sand banks you could catch a nice wave if you were patient and got lucky. There was  almost enough punch in the waves to get you to the reform, but  not quite. If you can get on a wave on the outer banks and stay on it to the 3rd sandbar, stay upright through the breakers and  catch a reform on the 2nd sandbar… let’s just say you will be out of breath, literally and figuratively. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a hell of a ride.

Wait for your wave and get on it!

After spending quite a bit of time to get a single big wave on the 3rd breakers I moved in to the second breakers where the waves were breaking nicely and packed a good punch. I wiped out several times on the 2nd breakers but was rewarded with many excellent rides.

After me and my compatriot for the day had had our fill (about 2 hrs of kayak surfing in some decent surf will leave even a fit fellow quite tired) I offered the boys in the next camp the opportunity to go for a ride. Josh was eager and Scooter was coaxed into finally boarding a kayak for some vigorous fun in the surf. They were both unquestionably hooked.

During this time of year we are at the beach regularly, several times a week, mostly in the evenings on weekdays, so if you see us there, stop by and say hello and even go for a ride on a yak if you are so inclined.

Catching a wave - Kayak Surfing at Surfside Beach Tx

For the patient surfer there were some fairly big waves breaking on the third sandbar yesterday, which is notable since there hasn’t been anything breaking out there at all for a couple of weeks now. Today and the rest of the week is predicted to be about the same as yesterday but you never know until you hit the beach.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been spending a lot of time in a kayak. I’ve done some fishing when there was no surf but when there has been any rideable surf I’ve had the kayak out catching waves. I’ve seen a lot of kayaks out at the beach but I haven’t yet seen anyone surfing in one. Once I caught that first big wave I was hooked.

I have two Ocean Kayak Drifter’s and a Pelican Castaway. I don’t use the Pelican except for as a spare and it is definitely not seaworthy. Take the Castaway on bays, lakes, and creeks only–and that’s if you already own one. I wouldn’t buy the boat. The welded seam and the front hatch of the Castaway absolutely will NOT keep water out and in anything but flat surf you will sink the Castaway.

Kayak surfing -- Getting over the breakers is half the fun!

The Ocean Kayak Drifter on the other hand is great in the surf. You can flip the boat several times before needing to drain water from the inside. The Drifter is nice and wide with a flat bottom, but not completely flat so there is some control once on a wave; but not much. Once you commit to a wave you are at the mercy of the wave. A bolt-on skeg would help with the control but I don’t think it would survive in rough surf since you get slammed into a sandbar quite frequently when you crash.

I’ve been trying to take some kayak surfing video but the footage so far is not too impressive. Don’t get me wrong, kayak surfing is a wild ride so I don’t know if the ride is just funner than it looks or if the effect is lost at such a long zoom, but eventually I’ll get some good stuff if it’s only a crash compilation.