Gulf Coast Woes

[waterbaby]

the bad news is west florida is the worst area in the US for surfing (except maybe the great lakes)

the good news is you get to play in warm water and, if you can learn to "read" and surf that slop, you'll be able to surf anywhere.

dlrouen is right, "pop" is highly underrated. Doing sit-ups and push-ups in your down time will help you be prepared for popping up quickly when waves finally do come. Starting paddling way before the wave gets to you is a good habit, too

I surfed the gulf (bama point) and east coasts for years and still relatively sucked. Took a decade of surfing the consistency and size of the CA west coast for things to really start clicking like instinct for me...and I still have to keep conscious of certain things like popping up, not sloppily dragging my knees and/or other poor form

[DawnPatrolSUP]

the bad news is west florida is the worst area in the US for surfing (except maybe the great lakes)

Having grown up here I have to say it isn't ALL bad. As a matter of fact there are days that are very fun / clean waves, can even get overhead some days and barrels aren't out of the question when it's firing. Thing is, it's normally during a cane swell or major storm occurance. I have to say that THIS YEAR the Gulf's tropical storm / hurricane season has been above average and is right there with the E. Coast in terms of major storm swell, now it does go dormant in between a lot more and for extended periods of time, but when there is something out there it can be damn fun. Debbie and Isaac provided swell for an entire week here, that's not the norm here, but it was better than A LOT of places were getting at the time.

[johnnytoobad]

Id say you got some great answers here dude and to sum it up
1. a lil Barney
2. A lil slow take off
3. Charge and stand quicker

these waves are difficult here and what Mr Brady always sez at West Coast surf Shop
"If you can surf these waves, you can surf anywhere"
Meaning these are radical waves, mind of their own, not much uniformity in them...........

Have fun today........

[johnnytoobad]

the bad news is west florida is the worst area in the US for surfing (except maybe the great lakes)

the good news is you get to play in warm water and, if you can learn to "read" and surf that slop, you'll be able to surf anywhere.

woops jus read this, and to adovocate for the Lakes, Mich and specifically Sheboygan has way better break than my spot here on the gulf.........

So easy to get up there after learning here on this wind chop

[DawnPatrolSUP]

Here's a few videos and pics of what it can get like when the conditions are good. These are from Debbie / Isaac just recently...

http://vimeo.com/48497578

http://www.gulfster.com/062412b/

http://www.gulfster.com/Daily/2012Pi...llery/082712b/

[DawnPatrolSUP]

It's cleaning up now, headed out for a sunset sesh! WOOOO, hope you guys got some or are going to soon, it'll probably be gone by this time tomorrow...

[waterbaby]

yeah, looks like you did get waves today...didn't look as junky as usual, either.

I didn't mean it never gets good. I was just referring to the fact that the predominant wind direction on the gulf is basically east to west (trade winds or winter storms pulling air up from the southeast), which would make it offshore/flat on any west facing coast, most of the time. (Sheboygan is also east facing...no trades, but they get the massive northern low pressure wind vacuums)

The most consistent spots on the gulf are east facing beaches like the fla panhandle (west of ft walton), south texas and below. Hell, trade winds (and fetch) combined with a tiny continental shelf managed to put Veracruz onto Surfer mag's map of good Mexico surf spots...something to be said, considering all the world class spots on that map (I'm sure they get plenty of tropical storm swells, too...without the worry).

I'm exactly 2 hours from any beach and the water is always cold, so, sometimes, even west fla seems tempting...but only if I lived a couple blocks from one of the more exposed beaches, max.

[johnnytoobad]

It's cleaning up now, headed out for a sunset sesh! WOOOO, hope you guys got some or are going to soon, it'll probably be gone by this time tomorrow...

did not get out at sunset heard it was nice, still looks good now http://www.cedarcoveresort.com/webcam/live.html

but fading quickly waiting on an oldtimer to eat breakfast

SHEBOYGAN ON A TOO COLD DAY1192011 (3).jpg1192011 (2).jpg1192011 (4).jpg

[DawnPatrolSUP]

did not get out at sunset heard it was nice, still looks good now http://www.cedarcoveresort.com/webcam/live.html

but fading quickly waiting on an oldtimer to eat breakfast

SHEBOYGAN ON A TOO COLD DAY1192011 (3).jpg1192011 (2).jpg1192011 (4).jpg

Had some fun last night, but it was really crowded at Sunset, my fault for not going further up the beach, but I caught some fun ones

[DawnPatrolSUP]

yeah, looks like you did get waves today...didn't look as junky as usual, either.

I didn't mean it never gets good. I was just referring to the fact that the predominant wind direction on the gulf is basically east to west (trade winds or winter storms pulling air up from the southeast), which would make it offshore/flat on any west facing coast, most of the time. (Sheboygan is also east facing...no trades, but they get the massive northern low pressure wind vacuums)

The most consistent spots on the gulf are east facing beaches like the fla panhandle (west of ft walton), south texas and below. Hell, trade winds (and fetch) combined with a tiny continental shelf managed to put Veracruz onto Surfer mag's map of good Mexico surf spots...something to be said, considering all the world class spots on that map (I'm sure they get plenty of tropical storm swells, too...without the worry).

I'm exactly 2 hours from any beach and the water is always cold, so, sometimes, even west fla seems tempting...but only if I lived a couple blocks from one of the more exposed beaches, max.

Ya that place looks fun, I could see how they could get nice surf there too, the Gulf is fickle, but from time to time it will surprise you