Awesome Surf on Lake Erie

[cladtub]

Nothing like an 80 degree day with 80 degree water in Erie, PA with 5 foot waves!

[Chris F]

"awesome"

[cladtub]

Yes we make the best with what we got. Many don't even know you can surf the lakes, and many find it fascinating that you can.

[mal-nourished]

i get regular postings on my fb from some great lake surfers lake superior has some tasty set ups..

[manbearpig]

"awesome"

hey hold on a minute... that looks better and warmer than our local!

[Philshoz]

lake superior has some tasty set ups..

Unlike this.....................

Look up the meaning of awesome cladtub............. or is it a synonym of awesome: awful, dreadful?

[Black]

That probably is awsome for Erie, the guy is stoked.
As an aside, I stayed by Superior for a few weeks back in the day and never saw any waves over 6 inches. Was summer.

[cladtub]

lake superior has some tasty set ups..

Unlike this.....................

Look up the meaning of awesome cladtub............. or is it a synonym of awesome: awful, dreadful?

I have surfed in great places besides America's 'Third Coast'. Awesome is a relative term when you define the geographic location. So many things must come together oceanographically and meteorologically for surf to be present on the lakes. If you really appreciate the science of it, then you would hold the smart-alec response.

[Philshoz]

then you would hold the smart-alec response.

Sorry, I just can't help myself..............if you think it's awesome, good on ya....

[Chris F]

Awesome is a relative term when you define the geographic location.

Probably. One man's awesome is another man's shite.

[Poo Stance]

Cheers for posting that. How awesome is that on a Lake Erie scale? I know if I'd been starved of waves for more than a month then I'd be all over that. And being in boardshorts would be orgasmic. Can't remember when I last surfed in shorts.

What the crowds and vibe like in the water? Is there more or less hassling than ocean coast spots, considering that you must get hell flat spells?

[cladtub]

Cheers for posting that. How awesome is that on a Lake Erie scale? I know if I'd been starved of waves for more than a month then I'd be all over that. And being in boardshorts would be orgasmic. Can't remember when I last surfed in shorts.

What the crowds and vibe like in the water? Is there more or less hassling than ocean coast spots, considering that you must get hell flat spells?

There are no crowds. Most of the flat spells occur in the summer. During the fall...you can surf several days a week with 4-5 foot waves most of the time. During the fall it gets huge 6-9 foot faces at times. And a few times during the fall it gets clean with offshore winds. The magic thing about Erie, PA is that Presque Isle (the state park adjacent to the city) receives almost very single wind swell on the lake because it's a peninsula that juts out. We have gotten 8-10 second periods before. And when it gets big enough it's always clean at one point on the peninsula as there is always one area that's offshore. Here is video I took last November of hard off shores at one of the best spots on the peninsula: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_alhM6O7Jc

[mal-nourished]

a wave is a wave regardless of location if you saw some of the setups i have seen posted of some of the lake waves you would pretty stoked i will source some pics...on par if not superior [ no pun ] to anything the sth coast offers porthleven excluded,..

[mal-nourished]

here ya go...

[swiggy]

I would definitely surf the original photos posted.

And mals photos would have me frothing. But I'm easily excited by waves..

[ATTMFKH]

^^ x 2

[cladtub]

here ya go...

That looks like the Stony Point, MN break. Cool pics thanks for sharing!

[mal-nourished]

yes you got the area right MN it is....

[Leven]

It can't be that good though surely? Must be weak! A lake = short fetch = short period swell = lack of power no? Unless the lake is the size of the Atlantic of course....

[Poo Stance]

Lake Erie (42.2° N, 81.2° W) has a mean elevation of 571 feet (174 m) above sea level. It has a surface area of 9,940 square miles (25,745 km²) with a length of 241 miles (388 km) and breadth of 57 miles (92 km) at its widest points.

It is the shallowest of the Great Lakes with an average depth of 62 feet (19 m) and a maximum depth of 210 feet (64 m). For comparison, Lake Superior has an average depth of 483 feet (147 m), a volume of 2,900 cubic miles (12,100 km³) and shoreline of 2,726 miles (4,385 km).

Because it is the shallowest, it is also the warmest of the Great Lakes,and in 1999 this almost became a problem for two nuclear power plants which require cool lake water to keep their reactors cool. The warm summer of 1999 caused lake temperatures to come close to the 85-degree-Fahrenheit (29°C) limit necessary to keep the plants cool.

The shallowest section of Lake Erie is the western basin where depths average only 25 to 30 feet (7.6 to 9.1 m); as a result, "the slightest breeze can kick up lively waves," according to a New York Times reporter in 2004.The "waves build very quickly", according to other accounts. Sometimes fierce waves springing up unexpectedly have led to dramatic rescues

I hear ya, but surely even a low period wave can jack up on a shallow ledge and hand your ass to you. Those waves are throwing a wee lip so something right is happening. I think I'd be more stoked on the surf in the 1st pics having been on Lake Erie in boardshorts than a 2-3ft clean summers day at Croyde. But then if I surfed Erie like that lots and came to Croyde I'm sure the reverse would be true. Life can be so complicated

See wave, surf wave, smile

[cladtub]

It can't be that good though surely? Must be weak! A lake = short fetch = short period swell = lack of power no? Unless the lake is the size of the Atlantic of course....

During the Fall the waves have huge amounts of power when air 25 degrees colder (thus denser) than the lake digs into the warm waters of the Lake. The waves move faster too since freshwater is not as dense. Also during the right setups, especially a west swell, the period can get up to 10 seconds...most of the time though it usually doesn't get above 7. I have been thrown off waves here just because some move so fast and the take off is extremely steep.

[maxsurfer]

I once surfed on Lake Malawi in Africa. Fun times apart from the malaria

[c-lad fantastic]

Is there much of a tidal range at these spots?

[ATTMFKH]

scale is relative ................... 2 to 4 inches

[Chris F]

Those later photos do actually fit the "awesome" description.