Alaska surfers?

[tgray]

I was curious if there were any surfers / kiteboarders in SE alaska following this forum,
Sitka , Yakutat and points between?

[Crystal_Mt_Dreamin]

Not me, but have been wanting to get up there for years to check it. A buddy went a few years back for a few weeks and loved it

[ak_powder_monkey]

might try to learn some in Yakutat this spring

[Alaskan Rover]

Borrowed a friend's 6'9 board and put on my Viking dry suit and tried out the surf at Homer Spit a few years ago during a fairly decent blow. Wasn't the greatest break, but was rideable.

The friend I borrowed the board from surfs Kodiak. I've never tried there, but there are a few hard-cores that surf out there.

People have been known to surf a few places on the Aleutian Chain.

I've heard decent things about the Yakutat breaks.

Alaska's not really known for its surfing.....one of the best places in the world for 'surfin' the pow', though.

[Chugachjed]

Kodiak is way easier to access and cheaper than Yakutat and depending on the waves there's quite a few spots to hit. Pasagshak and fossil beach come to mind if they're coming the right way and there's a big tide I've seen some seriously impressive surf at whitesands/ Monashka bay, there's also a surfable break at Ft. Abercrombie.

[BS720]

^^^Can you elaborate a little? Are you saying coastal access is easier, or city access? My flight to Kodiak would be twice the flight to Juneau. I would imagine car rentals are cheaper, along with the fact that there are hotel options in Juneau. With the coast facing southeast in Kodiak, I can't imagine you're getting big, long interval swells. Not trying to argue, just trying to git learnt!

[tgray]

the general impression I have about Alaska surf is that its a mixed bag, the downsides
expensive travel, inconsistent conditions , not to mention harsh weather and cold water.
Kodiak- I've heard good things about the breaks ,the last time I checked airfare
Alaska Air RT Juneau to Kodiak $1600, my last trip to Tahiti $1400 RT Juneau to
Papeete . Except for a few camping/surf excursions to Yakutat my explorations
of SE alaska have been mostly from the view point of the work deck on commercial
fishing boats on the coast from Sitka to Yakutat, and to a lesser degree skiff travel
and diving on reefs north of sitka in the areas around north Chichigoff Island , my
recent interest is the stretch of coast between Lituya bay and Yakutat most of the
coast is sand or cobble with occasional river mouths. check it on Google earth.
Homer- check out Alaskasurf.net , These guys seem to have the area dialed, they have access to a steel fishing boat that they use to charter trips to reefs in the homer
area, you can sign up for trip invites. so If you are coming from out of state, it simplifies things, Just invest in Quality Rubber , I bought a new Matuse hooded 5/4/3
and its worth every penney, super pliable and warm in cold water.
BS720- I can't speak for the conditions around Kodiak but here in SE AK the best swell come as SW and W They seem to have the longest interval. The most common weather we seem to get are the SE
low pressure systems which tend to bring high energy waves but are short interval and comes with
lots of rain and wind. so blown out, choppy and nasty stay in the bunk and read a book kind of weather. but as far as surf destinations , Sitka and Yakutat are the most accessible in SE AK
with Yakutat being the spot with more options. Just a few observations.

[Chugachjed]

Cheaper is relative depending on where your first stop is. If Anchorage then Kodiak is way cheaper, if Juneau then the ferry to Yakutat is probably cheaper. You'd have more options out of Anchorage though. Drive to Homer surf if it's happening, ferry to Kodiak, surf. If not happening there's a couple charter operators out of Seward that cater to Seward and know where there are good breaks, around Gore Point there's a break and a couple other places in the Seward vicinity.
I know nothing of interval or any of the other minutia of surfing. I've surfed twice both times in Kodiak.

[Alaskan Rover]

To BS720:
Yakutat is hell and gone from Juneau. I'd assume you're not going to be flying to Ak all ther way from San Fran just for the surfing, right?

But if you're serious about coming out to Ak for some surf-time, may i suggest you try Unalaska Island? Unalaska Island is basically the "parent island" of Dutch Harbor.

The southwest side of the island fronts the North Pacific and thus has consistent sea swell coming in all the time. Nice big rollers. The downside is that the beaches are very rocky and dangerous...so you have to know what you're doing.

Most of the locals surf the gentler breaks on the Bering Sea side of the island. #1, it is far easier to get to...and some of the beaches actually have sand...okay....large pebbles, but close enough. The breaks on this side of the island are less dependable than the more remote southwest side.

Here is a shot of the Bering Sea side of things....I'm pretty sure this is Summer Bay:



Getting to Dutch from Anch isn't hard. I think Peninsula Airways still flies regularly and Alaska Airlines has daily service.

Once you get there, there is a place near the AC store that will rent cars, trucks and vans. There are not a whole lot of roads on Unalaska, but the few they have go to some pretty trippy places. Most of the locals get a round by ATV...you'll see them buzzing around everywhere.

I've never personally surfed on Unalaska (the only place I've ever surfed in Ak is Homer), but have spent plenty of time in the remoter regions of Unalaska Island and have always been enchanted by the surf possibilities on the island and have always wished I had access to a board while there.

I was sorta joking when I said: "where the locals surf", as there might be three surfers on the whole island...and that is on the high side. So, you'll probably get some quizzical looks when you walk around town with your surfboard.

You'll no doubt be followed around by a gaggle of Aleut kids...although ever since they started filming that TV show there, the locals have gotten used to out-of-towners and their strange equipment.

Far as I'm concerned....the Aleutians have a mystical beauty to them that is every bit as awesome as Hawaii....just a nip cooler.

[ski godess]

Yes! There is this particularly hot kiteboarder in Juneau!!!

[tgray]

Prove up, with pics...

[skideeppow]

Great article in the new surfing magazine about cold water surfing, cover shot is somewhere cold, either PNW or AK.

[ski goddess]

Too hot to photo...

[ALPENTOLIC]

My friend surfs Sitka...looks pretty sick. I was thinking about bringing my board up when I go fishing this summer.

[tgray]

Alpentolic, what fishery are you working in ? I may be out to Sitka and Yakutat this
summer, after 2nd week of july anyway. give a shout if you are in the neighborhood.

[whitekingsalmon]

like the guys above said kkkkkodiak, surfing is starting to be the cool thing to do, must be like 15 people now getting after it. fossil beach seems to be the place to be with wild horses and buffalo roaming the beach. again like said above take the ferry.,,, bummer for me cuz I dont surf cold water and even if I did I have no time when working there,, and yes its a very beautiful island.

[carpathian]

Surprised no one has mentioned Bear Glacier out of Seward.

90 min drive


Hour boat ride at 20knots.





Home made boat and home made boards there on the left and little one

It was 2 foot swell in these pics. Barely surf able. Prime is 4- 8 foot with swell from due south and period 10 seconds plus. Surf is prime hour after low as tide flows in. Was out in 10ft swell once caught a few mostly got destroyed. Ive heard people out there at 28 foot. The wave holds over 30 apparently. Pics are hard to come by when it is big as once you are on the beach you are stuck. How to get cam to each in first place?

I would not have even been in the water when it was 10 foot if there was a parking lot and you could see the wave. Nothing scarier then jumping out of the boat from the backside as spray is exploding and you don't know what you are getting into.

[carpathian]

The river busted out a new way through the moraine sometime in september out at Bear glacier. Created this brand new wave.



My buddy went out with Scott Dickerson last month. Out of Seward towards Montague.

[whitekingsalmon]

Cool... Crazy they stuck a top house on the back deck of that boat.

[Tectonically_Neglected]

Beautiful (expert?) wave, awesome scenery...

[Thatguysaccount]

Seen your boat out a few times carpathian. I spend some time down in Seward every now and then. I have photos but I'm too new and can't post them yet.

[Chugachjed]

Funny that I'm in the water in seward every day all summer and I somehow missed Carpathian.

[Thatguysaccount]

This fall we had a good time at a new spot at bear dubbed blowout. It was almost always pumping there for a bit.

[WaistDeepGroomers]

The river busted out a new way through the moraine sometime in september out at Bear glacier. Created this brand new wave.



My buddy went out with Scott Dickerson last month. Out of Seward towards Montague.

Fuckin' SICK!!

[pulverhunt]

Surfed Montague w/ Scott Liska and a crew for the Montague Cup a dozen years ago. The Cup is on Labor Day, and has competitions in deer hunting, salmon fishing (usually height of the silver run), skeet shooting and surfing.

Camp at the river mouth. It broke from 2-8 feet every day we were there. Second largest tidal change in Northern hemisphere behind Bay of Fundy, something like 20' changes the break from right in the river mouth to 1/4 mile out depending on tide. Nice break, with some 100 yard peelers. Best part of all was that Alaskan current keeps water temp warm - I trunked it a couple of afternoons in 60 deg + water temps.

Only sketchy parts are 300# salmon shark caught 1/2 mi. offshore (but with all of the silver salmon around, I don't know if they'd bother you) and getting full on charged by a "juvenile" Steller sea lion that had to go 400#. He'd leave a group of 3 or 4 alone, but when I went for solo dawn patrol, he was on me every time, like stink on shit, literally barking at me, then charging, swimming right under my board, grazing my feet. The Alaskans had a good laugh at me and called me a pussy for getting out, but that shit was scary. Those teeth will rip a big hole in your ass and I'm sure give you a nasty infection, especially when you're a 2 hour boat ride out of Seward.