ARCHIVED PAGES (1) -2007-South Padre Island

Memorial Expression Session

-Some of April's Swell Photo Gallery

-Check out Photos from Australia by Calvin Best.
Calvin grew up in SPI during the 70 - 90s and is now living in Australia (going on 12 years). Check out his pics!

-March 31-April 1 Photo Gallery

-March 27-29 Photo Gallery

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Joe Garza gives new meaning to spring showers

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Paul tossing buckets with style.

-Mid March
Already halfway through March and the surf has been a bummer. A young windswell finally shows up after an unseasonable flat spell and some surfers are starting to shed their wetsuits. The waves were mixed up the first day, but they cleaned up nicely in less than 24 hours.

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Micah Steph, cranking it hard off the top

-February 24
A warming trend is already upon us. A few sunny days, lots of south wind. and a Saturday with clogged line-ups at the park reveal slight frustrations and lots of shredding. Spring is here!

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Paul throws a gaf on this small insider.

-February 20-21
Jonesing is the word! Big enough to paddle out, but too small to write about.

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Carlos hitting hard and fast.

-February 12
More swell pumping across the Gulf from a long fetched east wind. It seems that this El Nino Winter has produced a combination of windier than normal cold fronts that blast from the north, and also some lazier fronts that develop over the upper gulf and pass toward Florida without actually hitting south Texas. After the front moves through the Gulf, the winds begin clocking around to the SE. It takes about two days and that's just enough time to send some chilled deep water with long period characteristics straight into the south Texas coast.

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Arthur Bourban, from Hossegor France, stretching the limits of Gulf Coast surf!

-February 6
Three days of swell and three French rippers mingle with the locals, deep in the south of Texas! What started as a typical low-key, slightly obscure afternoon on the small Tex-Mex sandspit would suddenly change when three young travellers entered the water. Arthur Bourban(19) from Hossegor, Rudy Marechal(17) from Capbreton, and Marc Milienne(21) from Martinique all hail from France and all hell broke loose when these guys hit the waves.

The trio of surfers are traveling with professional photographer, Antoine Quinquis and working on a story to appear in Surf Session Magazine, published in France. It should be released between May and September, says Antoine. Based on the photos that were sent to help identify the riders, you should definitely look into getting a copy of that mag! Let's hope all goes well and the story makes it to the final cut.

The group was based out of Corpus and within a day and a half they had surfed Bob Hall Pier, Boca Chica, South Padre and back to Bob Hall again. One guy had to fly out early and missed the best size of the swell. It turned out to be very fun during the peak of the swell on the outside here in S.P.I., and some photos surfacing from Corpus that day also show some thumpin' waves. Between all those surf spots and a rising swell, the group is bound to have some gems.

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Small, but kind. The cove pulsed with life...

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Chuck Allan, helping to burn off the fog

-January 14
Is that a foghorn in your wetsuit? After watching the Coast Guard on Saturday miss the offshore jetties and come way too close to the surfers on the outside, it might be a good idea to pack a whistle or something. The fog has been very dense lately and it only disappears for brief moments as south winds move rapidly along the coast. This is the typical pattern for coastal-south Texas and it will continue until March. Surf pics this time of year, at this beach are gonna look crappy. But at least it captures the moment, yeah?

Speaking of moments, there were a few of them this weekend. During high tide on Saturday, about 3pm, the outside managed to produce clean headhigh waves. It turned on real strong for a couple hours out there but fizzled out before anyone could bag more than a dozen rides. It definitely didn't last long enough for me to paddle in and get behind the camera. So, since I missed that one, I went ahead and stayed behind the lens on Sunday all day. Even throughout the spanking good session that happened late afternoon and evening. After waiting for three days throughout a mixed up swell, the inside finally got hollow. Joe snagged a killer barrel and an unidentified rider scored another. Everyone was blowing up! The action was great, but the weather was dreary.

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Smiley Cranking up the R.P.M.'s

-January 4
The New Year is up and running with several days of rideable waves. In between the frequent cold fronts, the waves on the southern coast have been predominantly a chilled east-swell. Local winds have been soft, unless it's in the middle of the front of course. The relaxed winds allow the onset of fog and drizzle, creating a classic winter setting on the Texas Gulf Coast. But if you don't like that weather, just wait a moment because a change is bound to happen.

The lineup has been sparse lately, as a few local surfers have gone into Mexico for some Pacific Winter bombs. As well, the shorter days keep many inlanders from making that late afternoon run to the beach. Spring will change all that in a short time, but for now it's time for some chilly winter days on the beach with a few friends.

-2007-

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screaming offshores served for lunch.

November 28-30
The last few days of November end with some fun waist-chest high waves. At noon on the last day of the month, a cold front blew us into December with gale force winds. The temperature dropped almost twenty degrees in two hours, which could put a serious dent in local water temp. With waters measuring 72 degrees before the front, unless December holds a fair share of sunny days, it looks like it's time to cover with some rubber.

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Rod parks it in a dredging curl during a September session.

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Joe Garza, boosting during a punchy October session.

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Larry Trevino snags one of the nicest waves of the day, Sat. 10/7.

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Paul swacks some inside vert.

September 18
After one of the flattest summers in recent history, and nearly a complete let down of seasonal tropical activity, things are looking better as Fall starts with back to back cool fronts.

So far the south wind suck-up from each front has produced two surfable weekends in a row. While the later one (Sept. 23rd) produced a larger swell, the ENE wind blasted shortly after dawn and blew away any hopes of a grooming wind, unlike the first cool front the weekend prior (Sept. 18th).

That one only produced a waist high swell, but gentle NW winds wandered in on a monday and made for an awesome lunch at the beach with overcast skies. Even at waist and occasional chest high, the dredgers dumped over a knee deep sandbar and managed to snap two boards in a few hours. Both boards were ridden by Mark Scott, who said he's never snapped a board until now. Ouch!