Moon Tubes

No doubt we aren’t the only ones to have entertained a dream or two of surfing by moonlight.
During the heart of a long Alaskan winter it’s only natural to consider this…with only eight hours of daylight and a 10-20ft tide fluctuation you’d think the chances of the surf peaking at night are relatively high.

Well, after about 10 years of watching the surf in Homer I have to say, it’s a special night that the swell, wind, tide, and cloud cover will cooperate with the moon cycle.

Once upon a time in a little cosmic hamlet by the sea all the magic ingredients came together. A swell was rolling into Kachemak Bay, the winds were calm, the tide was right, the sky was clear, and it was a full moon.

These weren’t just some mushy little good enough waves, this was chest to head high barreling surf lit by the light of the moon.

I couldn’t pass the opportunity to attempt photographing this once in a decade event, so here is the humble results of my attempts. Let me just make it clear- the photos don’t do the experience justice. There was a buzz in the air, we talked about moon tubes for weeks after this, and we are eagerly awaiting the next chance we get.

Jake and Jake giggling into their wave robber suits.

10ºF, 2:30am, and Maria Calhoun is heading out for her first Alaskan surf session.

My view from the beach littered with ice, Orion's belt floating over the Kenai Mountains.

A ghostly image of Jake Bell standing on the beloved super sandbar (RIP).

Study this for a minute and you can make out a white streak and black blur of a surfer.

They surf at night by the light of the moon. Look close.

It's a race against the fog and the rising tide. We barely snuck in, now the plane has to sneak out.

Yet another successful fly-in fly-out surfari to the Petrof Glacier break.

Something to put in the back of your mind for the next time you are scheming on flying over a coastal mountain range for a day at a remote surf break . . . What you see on your side is likely not what you’ll find on the other side. This was the certainly the case on January 30th when we loaded up the Homer Air Cessna 206 with surf boards and a little survival gear and headed up over the Kenai Mountain Range.

Scenic glacier and mountain views on our fly-out surf trip to a remote surf break in Alaska.

This time we did suspect that we might see some fog, but just couldn’t resist taking the gamble. The coastal fog was pretty thick as far as we could see as we came over the mountains. It was all smiles and surf stoke when we saw a swell crashing on the beach through a little sliver of a window in the fog right over the very beach we needed to land on.

A window to paradise. The fog parts for our beach landing.

The tides were such that we could just squeeze onto the beach in the morning before the water rose too high (see the photo below, no time to spare!). Pickup was scheduled for just before dark once the tide had ebbed enough to uncover the beach landing site again.

No sooner had we unloaded the plane than a set wave surged all the way up to the landing gear as the pilot powered up for takeoff.

We were particularly eager to surf through the high tide this trip after what we found on the previous Petrof surfari – Winter storms had sculpted the bar into something that just begged to be surfed on a high tide. Well, it turns out that the winter storms weren’t done and the bar was totally different again this trip. But no worries, our dreams were fulfilled with a killer session of quick drops and barrels on the new bar.

As soon as the plane departed the little window in the fog that let us onto the beach closed in all around us. The entire day was spent in a fog so thick that the beach was only intermittently visible. Silky smooth waist to slightly overhead swells were emerging out of the fog all day.

Stephanie Haynes walking out to a myseriously perfect break.

Mike McCune gets his first bit of bliss for the day. Trust me he's there in the fog, right in the pocket.

After watching Mike surf this wave, the camera went in the bag - My vision was foggy, but it was clearly time for me to get in the water!

After a short four hours we decided it was time to think about how we were going to spend the night with four wet surfers in a single two man tent. And how about starting a fire in a rainforest?

As soon as we were out of our wetsuits we got to working on the fire and heating water on a camp stove. Just as the fire finally got going we heard a buzzing overhead. With mixed emotions we watched our plane emerge from the fog as it touched down on the beach. I don’t think I was the only one already looking forward to that morning surf session.  At least it was a more appealing thought than the 14hrs of darkness to come before it.

Loading the plane still wondering if we really wanted to be stranded?

View back to the remote Petrof Glacier fly-in surf spot somewhere under that coastal fog below the glacier.

Stunning flightsee at sunset on the way back to Homer, Alaska through the Kenai Mountains.

Not a lot of photos from this trip, I kept thinking the fog would clear and then I’d stop and capture a few of those sweet waves. Well, good thing I took a few shots before leaving the camera high up on the beach, out of the tides reach, and ran myself out of sight into the fog. No regrets missing the photos here though – my memory is foggy but I’ll bet there were more barrels in that session alone than my previous three years of surfing combined. I take that back, one regret, I should have started counting at the beginning!

Like what you are seeing? want to see more about this Petrof Glacier fly-out surf thing?Further reading here on SurfAlaska.net below:

• Petrof glacier surf – pt. 1
• Petrof glacier surf – pt. 2
• Surfing Petrof Glacier 1.8.10 – Getting There
• Surfing Petrof Glacier 1.8.10

Iceman scores another left on a steel blue morning in January.

January 2010 was a pretty slow month for us Homer, Alaska surfers. We were eager when a swell finally showed up on the 22nd. Honestly, I can’t remember much about these sessions -  judging by the small number of photos, I must have spent most the swell window in the water recovering from the preceding dry spell. Looks like we had a nice morning session then a sweetly scenic sunset surf.

Party wave!

Iceman sneaking in the backdoor. Looks like it's going to be a tight fit.

Tim Bowler slipping along after sunset.

Douglas Volcano floating over Cook Inlet. Sometimes the scenery is a bit of a distraction here in Alaska.

Augustine Volcano

A commercial fishing boat heading for home.

Goodnight.

Iceman surfing a remote surf break in Alaska near Petrof Glacier.

As promised, this post is the meat and potatoes of our last fly-out surf trip to Petrof Glacier, Alaska. Check out the first half of this adventure, which is just getting to this remote beach, in my last post - Surfing Petrof Glacier 1.8.10 – Getting There. With the short daylight of the Alaskan winter we only had four hours to enjoy this swell so let’s get on with it! Below is a nice selection of photos from the day. I photographed for a few minutes, surfed for a few hours, then photographed for a few more minutes. Hope you enjoy the show.

Mike McCune heading out to surf at Petrof Glacier, Alaska.

Mike McCune surfing at Petrof Glacier, Alaska.

Iceman surfing a remote break in Alaska.

Mike McCune surfing the Petrof Glacier break, Alaska.

Iceman surfing Alaska

Iceman still surfing Alaska

A few nice ones snuck by the crew.

Mike McCune surfing Petrof Glacier, Alaska.

Mike still surfing Alaska.

Can you believe this setting!? Mike McCune surfing a coldwater paradise in Alaska.

Loaded up in the plane after a four hour session, Stephanie Haynes is all smiles.

ps: Stephanie is worried that there are no photos of her shredding at Petrof and everyone will notice that she was on the trip but not out there ripping. I tried to assure her that all the other surfers reading this would remember when they were just learning and cut her some slack. For a beginning surfer, we know that success is defined by not giving up after your first three poundings accompanied with a 40ºF flush. If you can endure that and still surf till you are shaking with hypothermia then nothing will stop you!

Mike and Stephanie watch as the plane departs Petrof Glacier Beach, Alaska.

In 2009 our dreams of surfing this particular remote break in Alaska were realized, several times actually. All told I think there was about seven attempts at getting there and maybe four successes. The spot is called Petrof Glacier because the beach we surf is nearby the glacier and it’s the easiest way to locate it on a map. Access is by a short bush plane ride through the Kenai Mountains that is really long on scenery. In the brief 15 minutes of flying we cross Kachemak Bay, pass several glaciers, countless mountain peaks, an ice field, more glaciers, glacier lakes, rivers, and then back to the ocean in the Gulf of Alaska and the much anticipated moment of . . will it be fogged in? . . . will there be a swell?

Flying through the Kenai Mountains in the morning.

Flying over the beach to make sure it's suitable for landing. The break is dead center.

Petrof Glacier surf break aerial view.

Three days ago we scrambled at first light after noting a building swell forecast for a couple days and hoping that the mountains would not be shrouded in clouds as they are 98% of the time in this season. We awoke to a hopeful sky. 45 minutes after the phones started ringing four of us were at the Homer Air office loading a Cessna 206 with our surfboards and survival gear. With some smart packing by the pilot we can easily fit four surfers, one surfboard each (less than 8ft) and some camping gear and food for the day. The camping gear is for the almost expected change in weather that would prevent the airplane returning for a pickup. So far we have never actually been ’stranded’ though on a few particularly sweet occasions we found ourselves wishing it would happen.

Back seat window of the airplane full of surfboards.

Once over the mountains the suspense builds as we start getting glimpses of the ocean on the other side. Things were looking good this morning – the rocky reefs had white rings around them from an ocean surge. One pass over the surf break and we knew it was our lucky day. After one aborted landing near the break where we discovered some exciting bumps on the beach, we had a silky smooth touchdown about a mile back up the beach. With the winter darkness only allowing us four hours on the ground (or in the water) this time of year, it was a frantic show getting the plane unloaded, into our wetsuits and off running down the beach to the surf break.

Mike McCune and Iceman unloading their surfboards from the plane on Petrof Glacier beach.

The plane preparing to depart leaving Mike McCune and Stephanie Haynes in their own Alaska surf paradise.

Iceman leaving the only set of tracks on the beach as he walks towards the break.

Mike walking to the Petrof Glacier surf break.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that the winter storms had changed the layout of the break significantly for the better. The tidal slough drain / river shown in the above photo has moved it’s outlet down the beach a couple hundred yards which keeps us from having to fight the current during the ebbing tide. And in its wake it left a picture perfect sand bar that looks like it was hand carved for producing peeling rights.

When I edited the photos there was too many to fit in one nice post, and really, getting to this surf break at Petrof Glacier is half the adventure so I’ve split it up into two posts. The rest coming soon, your patience will be rewarded.