Author Topic: Sup Surfing Tanker Waves In the Galveston Ship Channel (Texas)  (Read 23230 times)

Badger

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Re: Sup Surfing Tanker Waves In the Galveston Ship Channel (Texas)
« Reply #60 on: February 27, 2017, 08:50:45 PM »

A wind forecast is just that. A forecast.Nothing more. It's not infallible.

Not true. Forecasts are never wrong, no matter how far into the future they predict. It's a proven fact.

I ran into the wrong wind forecast for wind direction and wind speed many, many times so when I got those wind forecasts from the company office down at the docks, I took them with "a grain of salt".

Someone must have been playing a joke on you.

Which means with a heavy weather front coming in and if the wind forecasts panned out, fine. But if those wind forecasts didn't, I was always prepared with a Plan B and lots of times, depending on how bad the wind and water conditions "might" get, I even had a Plan C.

You should always stay with plan A and never divert from it. Having more than one plan causes confusion.

Like I've said before and you already know from my previous comments in other topics which I know you've read, "I don't follow conventional wisdom".

To reject conventional wisdom is to invite chaos and anarchy.


 ;)

.


« Last Edit: February 27, 2017, 09:13:35 PM by Badger »
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yugi

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Re: Sup Surfing Tanker Waves In the Galveston Ship Channel (Texas)
« Reply #61 on: February 28, 2017, 12:17:04 AM »
Question for night wing, how far from the shoreline are these shipping lanes? Do you need a boat to get to them or can you paddle from shore? I look forward to your progress there.

Since I'm familiar with the Galveston Ship Channel, the ship channel is quite a few miles wide. At it's narrowest point, between Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula, it is 1.5 miles wide. You can read more about it at the link below and once on the page, there is a map which you can click on to enlarge the map to give you a better view to see what I'm talking about.

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcg02

On the Bolivar Peninsula, at the ferry landing, there is old abandoned Fort Travis. One would have to take the "free" ferry ride over, from Galveston to the Bolivar Peninsula and once on the Peninsula, travel to 17th street and turn right. This street will take you down to the beach where the North Jetty is located. Turn left on the beach to Fort Travis, park your vehicle and then paddle the 1.5 miles back to the Galveston Island, wait for an outbound tanker and surf it's wave.

Then if you have the tanker info for inbound tanker traffic, catch a tanker's wave inbound and sup surf back to Fort Travis. This way a boat is not needed. Bottom line, it's doable.

When you say The Galveston Ship Channel, are you referring to the shipping lane from the Gulf to the Port of Houston?
« Last Edit: February 28, 2017, 12:20:13 AM by yugi »

Badger

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Re: Sup Surfing Tanker Waves In the Galveston Ship Channel (Texas)
« Reply #62 on: February 28, 2017, 04:48:31 AM »
An old C-4 Waterman video with Todd Bradly. They were there in 2010.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ8vf6RkftU


Port Aransas also has a tanker wave.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkkCP7N96t8
« Last Edit: February 28, 2017, 05:07:12 AM by Badger »
Kalama E3 6'1 x 23" 105L
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Sunova Flow  8'10 X 31"  119L
Me - 6'0" - 165lbs - 66yo

Night Wing

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Re: Sup Surfing Tanker Waves In the Galveston Ship Channel (Texas)
« Reply #63 on: February 28, 2017, 11:07:20 AM »
When you say The Galveston Ship Channel, are you referring to the shipping lane from the Gulf to the Port of Houston?

No. What I'm referring to is the entrance between the North and South jetties and it ends between the distance from Galveston Island over to the Bolivar Peninsula. This is what is locally known as the Galveston Ship Channel.

Instead of me typing a manuscript for the Houston Ship Channel, the link below gives a better synopsis of it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_Ship_Channel

And if you want to see how narrow the Houston Ship Channel is then have a look at a streaming video of it taken from atop the San Jacinto Monument.
BTW, the camera lens needs to be cleaned and if the wind is blowing harder at the top of the monument than at the bottom, which is the norm, then the camera might be a little "jumpy".

http://www.earthcam.com/usa/texas/laporte/?cam=sanjacinto
Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

wrybread

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Re: Sup Surfing Tanker Waves In the Galveston Ship Channel (Texas)
« Reply #64 on: March 20, 2017, 09:13:53 AM »
"Sup surfing a tanker wave near Galveston is the equivalent of "a poor man's downwind" since we don't have downwind wave and wind conditions. Once a wave is caught, there shouldn't very much paddling necessary if any."

For whatever it's worth, I'm in Northern California and can do all the downwinds I want, but that tanker surfing looks super fun! I'd say nothing poor about it!

Night Wing

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Re: Sup Surfing Tanker Waves In the Galveston Ship Channel (Texas)
« Reply #65 on: March 20, 2017, 10:29:41 AM »
"Sup surfing a tanker wave near Galveston is the equivalent of "a poor man's downwind" since we don't have downwind wave and wind conditions. Once a wave is caught, there shouldn't very much paddling necessary if any."

For whatever it's worth, I'm in Northern California and can do all the downwinds I want, but that tanker surfing looks super fun! I'd say nothing poor about it!

The "poor man's downwind" was meant as "tongue in cheek" if you get my drift. Most of the downwind boards I've seen people using are usually between 14'-17' long. And downwind sup boards are usually more expensive than shorter all around sup boards. The one person I've seen doing tanker surfing here where I sup and I actually talked with for about 15 minutes, he was using a regular surf board that was 11" long.

As for me, I was really looking forward to trying out my "Plan B" (in the video below which was filmed at the ship channel at Port Aransas) tanker surfing this Spring in the Galveston Ship Channel and I wanted to purchase another board to do it with (a custom 10'6" length one which I would also use for flat water leisurely cruising), but I found out March 8th I have a torn (three-quarters of the way through) rotator cuff in my right shoulder which will be operated (and repaired) on March 29th.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6bskUBzZu8

This was an unexpected expense I didn't plan on. Also, I hear a repaired rotator takes a long time to heal. To sum up, my plans for tanker surfing this Spring got upended by "Murphy's Law" and it may also affect my plans for this Summer's supping with my 8'11" Hammer.  :(

If things pan out with my right shoulder, I'm hoping to try tanker surfing this upcoming Fall and if I don't have my new board by then, my short Hammer will be the one I will use for "Plan B".

Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

surfcowboy

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Re: Sup Surfing Tanker Waves In the Galveston Ship Channel (Texas)
« Reply #66 on: March 20, 2017, 11:10:26 PM »
Man, sad to hear about that. I was hoping you'd have this all dialed for me by the time I came down for my next visit. :)

Get well man and do the PT, you'll be back in no time.

Night Wing

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Re: Sup Surfing Tanker Waves In the Galveston Ship Channel (Texas)
« Reply #67 on: March 21, 2017, 05:25:43 AM »
We've had a warm winter where I live. With the start of Spring yesterday, the air temperature reached 85 degrees F. What is really chapping me is the water temperatures where I live for fresh and salt water. It is warm enough for me to go supping now wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans.

The water temperature this morning at Lake Conroe is 66 degrees F and that water temperature is my minimum personal water comfort zone. The water temperature at the private lake in our subdivision is at 71 degrees F this morning. Down on the upper Texas coast, the water temperature for the North Jetty at the entrance to Galveston Bay is at 70 degrees this morning.

I've got my Hammer sup and I can't use it because of my right shoulder. All I can do is watch the prone and sup surfers on their boards on the webcam down at Galveston Island surfing the small waves at the 43rd Street Jetty. It is frustrating for me to say the least. Right now, I feel like "I'm a boat in dry dock waiting on repairs to my hull".

Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

ninja tuna

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Re: Sup Surfing Tanker Waves In the Galveston Ship Channel (Texas)
« Reply #68 on: August 09, 2017, 06:12:44 AM »
ok, so I was looking around at foil stuff and stumbled upon Houston Kiteboarding's page. **** I have no affiliation with them****
Apparently they are doing tanker sup surf/ foiling charters now. I just saw this on their facebook page.

"Hi everyone we are going to start doing Tanker Surfing Excursions in Texas City. The video below is an idea of what to expect in terms of waves and rides. We will be offering foil surfing and regular tanker surfing. Clients can choose to do a mix of both during the same session as an instructional/introduction into Hydrofoil Surfing. All equipment is provided. Video footage upon request. Email us or call if you're interested. We are booking morning slots 3-4 hours. First slot will be Friday 7am. sales@houstonkiteboarding.com 281-508-6485"

It was posted about 3 weeks ago. So any of you Texas locals wnat to get the scoop and post it would be cool.   

Night Wing

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Re: Sup Surfing Tanker Waves In the Galveston Ship Channel (Texas)
« Reply #69 on: August 09, 2017, 09:11:37 AM »
The Houston Kiteboarding Center is expanding their business. I eventually thought they might offer "tanker surfing" and it looks like they have.

A little off topic for this thread, but the Houston Kiteboarding Center has a levee webcam where you can watch the kiteboarders if they're on the water. The link for it is below for anyone interested. Once on their site page, scroll on down for the streaming webcam. I had to enlarge the page to see the kiteboarders. And their camera isn't the best. But beggars can't be choosers.  ;)

http://www.houstonkiteboarding.com/
Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

robcasey

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Re: Sup Surfing Tanker Waves In the Galveston Ship Channel (Texas)
« Reply #70 on: August 11, 2017, 09:11:45 AM »
As SeaDart said, we do surf great waves on Puget Sound in Seattle. On a good day we can get chest high sets lasting one set to 45 minutes on the bow wave, then waist high for the rest. Peeling and A-frames, and up to 2 minute long rides. Happens Jan - Nov per lower tides in daytime. I do have a freighter wave class to help you figure it out. These are beach break waves. Check out my youtube channel, tug wave surfer or rob casey. 

Tug waves occur in deep water with no beach, just a boat wake that when the tug captain speeds up for us can give us 5' faces that on a 14' or longer board gives rides up to a half mile. This is all year, glassy days. 

Footage here, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYS01iUtNvfNW07a5npyJpPHzzIfYwb8N
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robcasey

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Re: Sup Surfing Tanker Waves In the Galveston Ship Channel (Texas)
« Reply #71 on: August 11, 2017, 04:22:44 PM »
More freighter wave pics from Seattle..
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Night Wing

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Re: Sup Surfing Tanker Waves In the Galveston Ship Channel (Texas)
« Reply #72 on: August 11, 2017, 04:39:41 PM »
@robcasey

Nice videos in your link.  8)

Thanks for sharing them.  :)
Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

 


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