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.

Jesus surfing in Alaska. (Jake Bell on ice)

November 10th, 2008 there was nothing except wind in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Twenty miles up the road in Anchor Point there was wind, waves, and ice! Big chunks of ice were drifting out of the Anchor River into the lineup.

Anchor point is a surf destination that never fails to surprise. Usually we find ourselves battling a 2-5mph current running down the beach. This day the current wasn’t particularly bad so Jake Bell mixed it up with a little ice surfing. Later Jake Beaudoin walked up the Anchor River a little ways, jumped on a big piece of ice and rode it out towards the break.

I am yet to edit through all the photos from this day but I wanted to post a few that caught my eye on first glance.

Jake Bell surfing ice in Anchor Point, Alaska.

Jake Bell surfing ice in Anchor Point, Alaska

Jake Beaudoin riding ice out to the surf break. Anchor Point, Alaska

The ice wasn’t the only strange thing going on around the mouth of the Anchor River. The river current and odd shaped bottom were making for some crazy wave peaks. And topping it all off, there was a rainbow out over Cook Inlet for a few minutes.

It wasn’t all just a freak show though. There was some nice surfing going on, and topping it all off, a rainbow formed out over Cook Inlet for a few minutes just before I put the camera away and joined in the adventure.

The Anchor Point tongue wave

Mike McCune surfing Anchor Point, Alaska

Jake Beaudoin surfing (ripping) with a rainbow on Cook Inlet, 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.

It hasn’t really been THAT long since we last had waves. Only a few days really. But yesterday afater my brain had gone to mush and any chance of productivity had left me, I left the office and went to try out an idea that had been brewing for a while – tie a line to a bridge, jump on a surfboard and hang on while trying to surf standing waves. It all seemed a bit fantastic in my mind, but even I figured it might not actually work out. Talking about it certainly wasn’t going to resolve my curiousity, so off I went to our nearby river.

I took my handy pocket digi cam (canon G9) and recorded this fine film:

It was better than sitting at home. With a faster moving river and larger standing waves I think this could be pretty fun. The board I was riding is an 8’6″ and barely kept me afloat. Maybe I’ll go back when the river is flooding some day.