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On the Beach with K-Hop
A Good Stir of Energy

Not even a month into the hurricane season and the Gulf of Mexico was stirred up and churning with Hurricane Alex in the southern Gulf. After Alex went inland, there was more activity on the horizon.

When a surfer hears of a tropical system in the Gulf, they first look to see the projected path and begin making plans to chase a swell or create time to surf locally. This was definitely the case for Hurricane Alex.

Since the storm was heading for south Texas or Mexico, it made no sense to zip down to South Padre, which is usually the “go to” spot. All of Texas got caught on the dirty side of the storm, so the best bet was to stay local and deal with the wind, rain and ever changing conditions. The surf ranged from knee to overhead, the wind was blowing out of the northeast, east and southeast all week, making the surf very bumpy, current strong and challenging surf. Despite all of these factors, the water was packed!

It felt really good to surf a wave with some decent push and power behind it, enabling us to catch waves easier and maintain speed. Although the chop on the face of the wave made it difficult to surf, we know that it's summer and any surf is better than no surf. Sometimes I laugh at the conditions Texas surfers paddle out in, while I'm actually paddling out; but we are surfers and this is what we do, no matter the size and perfection.

Hurricane season is probably the most exciting time of year because of the thrill of the unknown, swirling clouds in the ocean moving near, chasing surf and crazy winds. Alex brought all of that with most of us dodging heavy downpours and rising tides.

As I write this, there is more action in the Gulf and the surf is building, squalls are coming ashore, winds are gusting and I'm getting ready for a surf. Yes, I think we are free from this one's path so I'm taking to the water.

As for oil on the beach, ever since I was a child I've found tar balls on the bottom of my feet. No, not every summer, but it's nothing out of the ordinary. With tar balls now finding their way on our shore, don't freak out. The water is just fine. If sheets start to show up, then we have a problem, but in the mean time I wouldn't think twice about going to the beach. I'm in the water year-round just like a lot of people and none of us are scared about taking to the surf.