Wave Garden too fast?

Tagging along. I live 3 hours out from Austin and been waiting for this thing to happen forever. They've been t trying to get one in the Southern part of Texas but everytime it's brought up, it seems to get shot down just as fast. Anyways, this seems like a good thing to point out especially for the ones who have never surfed. I can see a lot of wake surfers from Lake Travis trying to surf this thing and eating it left and right.

 

I can imagine: (wsl commentary)
Our surfer in yellow, Felipe Toledo up against Caleb Jones, in the red jersey, fresh on the CT for his rookie season hailing from...Austin, Texas all set for round 1 heat 1 of the billabong Tahiti pro

 

100's of Rick Kanes

 

My guess...

wave garden wave= fart from elderly human trasferred into water

real wave= fart from a god transferred into water

fart in the wetsuite

 

i think overall they are good ideas and will only increase the surboard,surf world i mean what if surboard companies or shapers can start selling to inland people? talk about a boon ...
but
to me the challenge that a break(especially a beach one) presents is part of the joy...the obstacles and changing factors all lead to changing wave sizes and breaks,time,tide,wind, wind direction,sandbars, and picking the right wave /set is part of the fun for me

 

Dane a pretty big guy...maybe he's riding an under volumes board or just trying to make the wave do more than it can...

As for the ethics of this vs. surfing the ocean...pretty of other variables come into play in the ocean...tides, rips, etc. however I'm not a purist in this sense...i think frost has it right good for the little guy in the industry...who knows maybe this can pull quick outta the gutter financially.

 

yup, I wouldn't say it's a challenge, though. More of a way of leveling the playing field for everyone to have the same chance at getting waves. Can't be mad at the guy 200 yards away getting barreled bc he watched the beach break and picked the best spot. However, I can see people getting agro quick if prices jump at busy times and they start making VIP clubs or limiting time/type of waves in the pool.

Don't get me wrong, wave pools like sweet. But I can't imagine living inland and relying on them as your 'home break.' I couldn't shake the feeling that they are plastic, pop-out waves made in China or something.

 

This is a long shot but.... saltwater is more dense giving the rider more float in the ocean. Maybe the guys are sinking a bit and surfing slower.

 

Will be interesting to watch those that learned on that predictable conveyer belt wave paddle out in the Gulf washing machine 6ft@6sec with 20mph wind current....

 

1) fresh water = less buoyancy
2) probabay a surface wave, as opposed to ocean waves having more of a "ground swell" effect where a portion of the wave's energy actually being under the wave's surface

 

The more I think about it, the more I wonder how much chlorine is going to suck. Splashtown (local water park) usually reeks of it. can't imagine it won't be far off from that. surf nice wave, water splash up in your face burning the very soul of your eyes. fallibg off in dramatic way as you pulmmet to a concrete floor.

 

I believe an article on the 'snowdonia' wavepark mentioned, supposedly, that surfers did not notice the difference in freshwater, and that the water would be filtered but not chlorinated.

Either way, 2/300 yard HH barrels? I would relish in the chance to practice barrel stalling and pumping. Going vertical too.

Truth of the matter is, there's only so many days a year that I get to even attempt that. And usually, on those hollow-drifty-wompy days, I'm far from the best surfer out there, and I'm eating scraps. So I would love to use the wavepark to prepare for those days.

That being said ... for the price of flying to Austin (300), finding a cheap place to stay(200), and paying for 4/5 days of wavepool (300?), I could have a sweet week in Nica or El Sal.

BBQ and southern women are nice, but arid inland hip cities don't really compare to the wonders of Central America.

 

Slash has a great point. I guess it would be awesome if you happened to be in Austin for the SxSW, which can be awesome. But I sure wouldn't book it as a surf destination.

I haven't done the homework on the wave, but chlorine? Many home pools are getting away from chlorine and going to salt water....cheaper and easier to maintain. Surely, the wave would be using the same technology, no?

 

The problem with keeping up with the wave is that it's waist high and gutless. Hard to generate speed after a turn on a wave like that.

 

I always thought it was the saltwater ones that would be more expensive due to the on going maintenance needed for them. i.e. draining the whole pool of the water and literally scrubbing it from head to toe. the generator needed to make the salt active as a fitler. truth be told they still technically use chlorine but to an extent to where its unnoticeable. my money is that theyre going to use chlorine for the fact of it being slightly cheaper in the long run.

 

So it begins...

[video=youtube_share;lYUXm1CHCvc]http://youtu.be/lYUXm1CHCvc[/video]

 

[video=youtube_share;2u5w8kvYBJ8]http://youtu.be/2u5w8kvYBJ8[/video]

 

Better than no waves.