Introducing...The Third Coast

Most of you are probably scratching your head saying, "Brian, have you lost your mind? There's only two coasts, and you're not close to either of them!" Au contraire!



Consisting of over 11,000 miles of (mostly) unsurfed shorelines spread out along five lakes, the Third coast is the largest coastline in the United States! And yesterday as couple friends who had heard that I surfed back in SoCal invited me to surf Lake Michigan.




And it was a blast! Though by the time we got to Cliffs (the beach) the surf had died down to around 2-3 ft., we still got in several good waves. The sets rolled in consistently and there was enough push to get our 8'6" boards going. The water temp was 67 and the air was a cool 65, especially as I was trunking it! But it was worth it.

For those who aren't familiar with lake surfing (I was one of them), allow me to tell you a bit about it...

Remember back to the early days of surfing when you'd be cruising along a freeway to get to your favorite spot with your surfboards strapped to the top and people would look at you like you were crazy? Well I don't, but I've heard plenty of stories along that line. And though surf culture has exploded (or imploded) in SoCal, it is still alive and well here on the lakes. As we were driving down the coastal highways, people would stare at us as if we were from a different planet. My friend Don (it was Don and his brother Joe Jones I went surfing with) even told me of a time he went out and a person motioned to him to role down his window, only to inform him that California was 2,000 miles away! And we wouldn't want it any other way here.





Surfing is still underground here. We were the only ones on the beach that night. And as we were driving along the coast, it felt as if we could drive as far north as the shore would go only to find miles of beaches that have never been surfed before. That's what made surfing great back home, and that's what makes surfing the lakes so much fun out here!




(Joe on the left, Don on the right - Look close enough, and you'll see Joe's got a Stewart...Rock on Bill...your boards are awesome!)

Many thanks again to Don and Joe for having me along! You guys rock!

Click on the following names if you're interested in either Stewart's Boards or Third Coast Surf Shop - the Official Surf Shop of the Third Coast.