Posted on 06/02/2005 10:10:25 AM PDT by 68skylark
GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — After seeing Vince Deur's new movie, surfers looking for the next hip spot to hang 10 may be inspired to head for the West Coast — of Michigan.
Or the East Coast — of Wisconsin.
The 38-year-old filmmaker hopes his documentary, "Unsalted: A Great Lakes Experience," will expose what could be the nation's best-kept surfing secret: that under certain conditions, some of the best waves around can be found in the Upper Midwest.
The 56-minute film, which documents 40 years of freshwater surfing in the Great Lakes, debuts this week in California. Its Michigan premiere will be at a free outdoor screening on June 9 at the Waterfront Film Festival in Saugatuck.
Deur, a lifelong resident of the Lake Michigan summer resort town of Grand Haven, has, since age 14, spent countless hours surfing the lake.
"When you grow up surfing here and you go to other places, no one believes you when you tell them you can go surfing in a lake," he says.
Deur's obsession with the sport almost cost him his life while he was attending Northern Michigan University in Marquette.
The film opens with dramatic footage that he videotaped in November 1990, when he nearly drowned while surfing Lake Superior near Whitefish Point.
"I just remember being scared the whole time," he recalls while taking a break in his Grand Haven production studio.
While paddling on his board, he became caught in a rip current. After spending about an hour stroking futilely toward the shore — "I know now you need to swim parallel to it," he says — Deur found himself suddenly and inexplicably released from the current's grip.
When he was safely back on dry land, he breathlessly pledged on camera that he would someday make a film touting the wonders of surfing the Great Lakes.
"Unsalted" segues into a history of Great Lakes surfing, incorporating home movies and other film shot as far back as the 1960s that Deur culled from various sources.
As the film continues into the present day, it depicts professional surfers as well as local amateurs riding waves at various sites throughout the lakes. Deur shot this footage himself — nearly 150 hours of it — over the course of several years, often bringing in pros from California who knew little, if anything, about Great Lakes surfing.
Deur says people surf all five of the big lakes. His movie not only captures these enthusiasts in action but also explores why they do it.
Surfing the lakes isn't new. It's just that most people — including many who live near the water — aren't aware that it has been going on. Surfers have gotten together and formed groups and held tournaments for years. There are books and Web sites devoted to the subject.
"You just don't see people doing it, mostly because when the weather is good for surfing, there's no one at the beach," says Chicago author P.L. Strazz, who has surfed Lake Michigan for about 10 years and has written a book titled "Surfing the Great Lakes."
He estimates that between 500 and 750 people surf the lakes at least once per year, with most of the activity about equally divided between Lakes Michigan and Erie, followed in order by Ontario, Superior and Huron.
It's a solitary pursuit, not only because few people do it but also because the waves are at their best when the weather is at its worst.
"It's conceivable that you could be the only person surfing on a lake at any given time," says Strazz, 38.
Although most summers have a few days that are well-suited to surfing the Great Lakes, the conditions greatly improve during the fall and early winter. That's when storms and strong winds churn the lakes and create dangerous waves that sometimes reach heights of 10 feet or more near the shore.
Water temperatures dip into the 30s and 40s at these times of the year, so insulated wet suits are a necessity.
Generally, the longer a weather front travels along a lake, the larger the waves it will generate at the far end, Deur says. Some of the best waves he has seen have been near Manistique, on the northern side of Lake Michigan in the Upper Peninsula, and in Ontario's Alona Bay, along the southeastern shore of Lake Superior.
While shooting his film, he often monitored lake and weather conditions by way of the Internet. If he felt the conditions were right, he'd jump into his van with his Betacam and head for Sheboygan, Wis., or Buffalo, N.Y., or wherever the waves were likely to be cresting.
David Vanderveen, 36, a childhood friend of Deur and fellow surfer who now lives in Laguna Beach, Calif., says the film, which he helped finance, is creating a buzz in surfing circles.
"What's cool and fun is freshwater surfing near cornfields," says Vanderveen, who owns a beverage company called XS Energy Drink. "It's the new, new thing."
After receiving its world premiere this week in Newport Beach, Calif., "Unsalted" will appear at theaters in other parts of California, Texas, Florida and along the East Coast.
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On the Net: Vince Deur Productions LLC: http://www.vdpllc.com
If you want to see tinsel and stars just go to LA-Eric
To ride a subway car try New York way
Well you can go to Philly amytime
If the Liberty Bell rings your chime
But we're all here in Cleveland, Ohio
And that ain't bad brother don't you know
Cause there's a party every night
And dancing till the morning light
There's such a lot to doREFRAIN
Well we can cruise through the drive ins all day long
(day long day long day long)
And we can dance to the music all night long
(night long night long night long)
Now we can't shine down our woody
Or drive a board around all day
And man we can't impress the girls on the beach
The way they do out in LA
Cause there's no surf in Cleveland
There's just no surf in Cleveland U.S.A.>From east and west and all around the town
We're a-ok don't let them put you down
The buzzard's singing with the chip up and down
So clap your hands to the radio sound
Come on and sing alongREFRAIN sung twice
Fade out singing "no surf no surf we don't care" over and over
Who funded the film?
The next big secret will be snowboarding in Key West, FL.
It would take days of rewarming to get the turtle to poke his head out enough to pee. Major shrivellage! Unnngh.
I think wearing a proper wetsuit would keep the surfer (and all his parts) sufficiently warm. I have a female friend who is learning to surf. She surfed throughout the winter on the Jersey shore. In her wetsuit, she said she often felt warm simply from the all the physical exertion - surfing is an extremely strenuous activity.
Yeah, right. I was a rescue swimmer. They help. You still shrivel.
Dozens will be pleased.
If they really have guts.....how about surfing in Lake Superior.....
...and I'm in it btw. :--)
Our family was at a reunion in NE Ohio a # of yrs ago and we decided to all go to the beach. It was a hot, sunny August day. I was standing in about 2&1/2 feet of water in Lake Erie trying to duck under the waves as they came in; the next thing I knew I was in at least 15 feet of water. No one was surfing, but they probably could have been. It was a bit too dangerous to swim!
At least there aren't any sharks to worry about!
Used to hang with guys who surfed Manasquan Inlet...sometimes in February. They would down a few beers so they could "warm" themselves later, if you get my meaning. A few I keep in touch with were out in the water two months ago between the piers at Seaside.You still need a 3mm wetsuit around this time of year. It must take a special version of nuttiness to get out there in mid winter. I can't imagine that the Jersey shore in the dead of winter is all that much warmer than the Great Lakes.
RE: The film opens with dramatic footage that he videotaped in November 1990, when he nearly drowned while surfing Lake Superior near Whitefish Point.
".... boys it's been good to know ye ...."
Gitchigumi .... when the gales of November blow early ...
My wife's from Muskegon and we get to Grand Haven every couple of years. Once, in early October, a storm was coming in and the waves were up. We stood there watching a half dozen guys with boogie boards and wetsuits run out on the pier, then dive in and surf in to the beach, being careful not to collide with the wall of the pier. Then they'd get out and run back to do it again.
Manasquan is where my friend goes to surf too! I agree that those who surf in the winter do need a bit of insanity to go through with it. My friend insists she loves doing it, but is usually so sore after each surfing lesson that she can barely move for days.
http://www.lakesurf.com/
Never would have thought to surf the Great Lakes.
A wetsuit means you still have to let that cold water in before your body can warm it. Wooooooooooooohooooo, here boy, oops, where did you go fella?! Come out, come out, wherever you aaaaaare!
lightfoot rice acoustic BUMP
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