Surf Alaska!

Just a little something from the archive for a flat Sunday afternoon.

Jake Beaudoin walking into a timeless surfing scene, Yakutat, Alaska.

As you probably figured out, this is the third post reporting on a 7 day surfing trip to Yakutat, Alaska. Part 2 was the story for Sept 28th. Something happened between that day and October 1st. Or, what I mean is nothing happened, with the camera that is. I know there was plenty of surfing, and along with it plenty of rain– so the photographer left his camera in the tent and caught up on some surf.  This was good, because on the first morning in October we were excited to see our first and only sunrise for the week. The six days of waiting for a glimpse of the mountains and a chance at some classic Yakutat surf photos finally paid off. No complaints though, waiting out the rain clouds is not bad when it means surfing for 6hrs a day, and when the pay off looks like this.

So, we started this day off with a hike to our regular spot – Pt Carrew. The waves were decent and glassy with a stunning backdrop of the Saint Elias Range. Later in the day we bumped into some visiting California shredders in Yakuat with the good folks from Alaska Brewing and the Coastal Code program. Growing up and learning to surf in Alaska exclusively I honestly was pretty impressed. I didn’t realize shoulder high beach break had so much potential.  To finish the day off there was a very sweet surf session at Snappers. I showed up a bit late with the camera, but judging by the grins on the boys’ faces it was pretty good.

Keith Bell and Dan Stafford starting their day off right with a sunrise surf at Pt Carrew, Yakutat, Alaska.

Glassy morning surf at Pt Carrew with the Saint Elias Range backdrop, Yakutat, Alaska.

Jake Beaudoin surfing Pt Carrew, Yakutat, Alaska.

Clear skies, sunshine, snow covered mountains, and the call of some lonely surf, Yakutat, Alaska.

A lull in the surf, but the scenery was going off- 12,000ft glacier encrusted faces.

California surfer Chris Del Moro doing his thing beneath Mt St Elias, Yakutat, Alaska.

Chris Del Moro surfing Yakutat, Alaska.

Matt Kinney displaying his 'This is surf stoke' billboard after a dreamy session at Snappers, Yakutat, Alaska.

Rainbow at Snappers surf beach. Yakutat, Alaska

Day 2: Looking back through the photo files from 9/28/08 there’s nothing for the morning session, must have been rainy and the camera was left behind.  I think we surfed Pt Carrew at first light. Back to camp for a tanner crab lunch, cheers Iceman! It’s not so bad camping in the rainforest when you’ve got all you can eat crab legs after a long morning surf session.

The schedule for our Yakutat surfing trip was pretty strict, rarely in the seven days did we waiver from the following routine:  Wake up at 7am, crawl out of the tents into a drizzle and light the fire. Eat breakfast while stoking up the fire. Moan about crawling into a cold wet wetsuit so early, get over it because the surf is firing, grab your board and hike/run the beach to Pt Carrew for the morning session. Three to four hours later back at camp for lunch and maybe a short nap. Around 3 or 4pm back to the water for the evening session until dark. Once it was too dark to surf, it was time to eat again. Get that fire stoked high and try and forget about the rain till an early bed time around 9pm.  Replay, replay, replay.

Below are some photos from our first full day which gave us a rare and precious glimpse of the sun during the evening session at Snappers. The pot of gold was all you can surf glassy sucking up head high washing machines. Everyone got their share.

Matt Kinney putting away the crab legs in a craze between surf sessions.

Keith Bell navigates the driftwood approach at Snappers. Surfing Yakutat, Alaska.

Iceman applies the wax before surfing at Snappers, Yakutat, Alaska.

Mike McCune dropping into a glassy backlit beach break barrel while surfing Yakutat, Alaska.

Iceman on the nose surfing Yakutat, Alaska.

Mike McCune riding between the lines, Yakutat, Alaska.

Iceman scoring another glassy face at Snappers, Yakutat, Alaska.

Rainbow just before sunrise at Snappers surf beach, Yakutat, Alaska.

Matt Kinney heading back out for another surf session at Snappers, Yakutat, Alaska.

Iceman walking out of the sunset after surfing Snappers, Yakutat, Alaska

Iceman and his reflection go for a walk with their surfboard on the beach. Yakutat, Alaska.

Jake Beaudoin shares a little moment of surf stoke after a great session at Snappers, Yakutat, Alaska.

Back at the campfire Jake begins the long wait for dawn patrol. Yakutat, Alaska.

Tim Bowler surfing Alaska

No surf for a few days now. One of the symptoms of no surf disease is a strong desire for waves. This can lead to the destructive habit of looking through surfing photos which ony worsens the condition.

Back to November 2nd for me. Those were the goold old days. Misery loves company, so take a look at a few more surf photos from that day with me.

Mike McCune surfing Alaska

Ty Gates surfing Alaska

Jake Beaudoin getting what we call a wet barrel.

Tube with a view - The Kenai Mountains as seen through a hollow wave.

What a sweet welcome November gave us today! Sunny and gorgeous like the last few days, but this time with a nice little swell.

The phones were ringing this morning long before the sun rose- “Surf is up my friend, get ready for a 8am dawn patrol (thanks to daylight savings time we didn’t have to wait till 9am).

I spent most of the three sessions for today in the water with the camera in a surf housing and I’m very excited about the resulting photos. I’ve just had time to glance at them now, and am totally beat so I’m only posting one and heading for bed.  More to come soon though! Maybe not tomorrow since we might be hard back at it.