Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Louisiana pictures

surf on the Louisiana Gulf CoastI came back from our latest project to the Gulf Coast with a ton of content. Some of it, I simply had not considered prior to actually seeing it. This shot, for example, is of some very surfable waves breaking on the beach on the south side of Grand Isle. I was shocked how big the surf was. It just NEVER occurred to me that Louisiana had surfable waves. Even "weirder" (if that is a word) is the sight of the oil rigs only a few miles offshore. It all made for a great day in Grand Isle with Danny and Kristen Wray taking us around their stomping grounds paddling, pedaling, poling, and fishing for redfish.

Friday, January 23, 2009

NY Times article: Lake Superior surfing hits the big time

My hometown and home lake (if there is such a thing) got a nice page one writeup in the Travel section of the NY Times. The front picture accompanying the article could not be better.

Surfing Lake Superior

Mainly about surfing, but as my friend on the scene, John Abrahams, will say - there is much more to be done in Lake Superior waters.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Gulf Coast kayaking road trip

fresh snow prior to leaving on Gulf Coast trip


enjoying the boats, fish and weather in Grand Isle, LA.


even more snow upon my return from the trip


The time arrived for another movie project. The goal? More Native Watercraft boats, in use along the Upper Gulf Coast, chasing redfish and speckled trout. So we spent the first twelve days of 2009 on a road trip. From Madison, WI., it was due south down Hwy.51 for a long ways, then east to Mobile, Alabama, where I met up with Jimbo Meador again. From his place in Mobile we went to Slidell, LA., then on to Grand Isle, LA., and then finally a monster drive to Port Mansfield, TX., all the way south almost to the Mexican border, right on the coast. Lots of driving, happily all through country that I have never seen before. Eye opening and quite interesting. Not all of it was good. The boats, the fish and the people we met were great. To my great surprise there is still an enormous amount of work to be done to recover from Katrina. Something that happened almost four years ago still lays heavy on the land, the water, and especially the people living in the small towns that dot the Gulf Coast.