At the end of October, when the remnants of the devastating winds of Hurricane Sandy began churning the Great Lakes, a handful of men—a 45-year-old high school teacher, a 26-year-old engineering student, a 27-year-old union plumber, a 45-year-old concrete mason—suited up and made a beeline for the lakefront. Shrugging off weather warnings, they aimed to seize the opportunity provided by howling winds that would eventually beget 21-foot buoy readings in the middle of the lake and eight-foot surfable waves.
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The shoreline that stretches from Chicago’s south side at 57th Street Beach down to Gary, Indiana, doesn’t quite inspire visions of bleached-blond dudes coasting on foamy white crests under majestic blue skies. But the collective of hard-core surfers who paddle out into the lake year-round aren’t concerned with friendly weather and postcard-perfect backdrops. They just want good surf—an agreeable swell with big, clean waves they can comfortably roll in on.
Great waves, Great Lakes
Die-hard surfers shreded Lake Michigan when high winds from Hurricane Sandy brought 6 to 8-foot waves.
“Here, though, we’re always so close to where the waves are made that we pretty much have the same weather overhead.” —Eric Mayer, 26, engineering student at University of Chicago
