in article , peteg at
wrote on 10/7/03 11:31 PM:

Anyone have any beta on kayak surfing around Chicago. I'll be in town
through Nov. and hoping to do some lake surfing if some storms blow through
town.

thanks, pete



Pete,

You don't necessarily need a storm. A good 15 MPH wind out of the N-NE for
a whole day will create some nice surfable waves. The best area as far as I
know is in Indiana just outside of the Chicago city limits. Whihala Beach
is the spot. It's in Whiting, Indiana. Check the link below for a Map.
I'll work on getting a formal street address so you can get driving
directions.

One week ago today the waves were 6-8 feet and I heard from a buddy that it
was lots of fun. Cold but fun. I could not make it that night. Tonight
I'm free and the Lake is like glass. No fun for Dave.

http://tinyurl.com/q5mn

If you want to stay within City limits, now that the beach season is over,
you can kayak off any beach. One regular gathering spot for beach launches
on the North side is at the Wilson Avenue Boat launch at the North end of
Montrose Beach. Montrose beach is the largest beach with the most distance
between break walls so the waves have a chance to build some size and
spacing. You can park on the Wilson-Lawrence drive just steps from the
sand. At this spot you'll have a good chance of running into some locals
with sea kayaks. If it's particularly wavy, you'll have some surf kayaks
and some river runners out there too. Watch out for the kite-surfers. They
can sneak up on you.

http://tinyurl.com/q5oe

The waves in this area are most always dumpers with very little time between
them and they don't have much rythm in terms of coming in sets and you will
exerience reflecting waves from the shore walls of the city even if you are
on the beaches. When they are big, they are mean and a whole lot of fun!

For current wind and wave conditions in the Chicago/NW Indiana area, check
the following:

http://www.weatherunderground.com/MAR/LM/741.html

Cheers!

Dave