Pink Flamingo In Destin

September 12, 2008 by Steve Combs · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Hurricane Surf, Wildlife 

Hurricane Ike blew this pink flamingo off course. We are doing some research to see if anyone has seen one in Destin previously. Blue Mountain Surf, co-founder Mike Sturdivant, captured this video during a surf check at the East Pass.

Hurricane Gustav Surf

The Destin, Florida area had a lot of great surf from Hurricane Gustav. The swell hit late in the day on August, 31, 2008, peaked the next day at double overhead, and was solid overhead for the next morning. Below are pictures from the surf sessions. We have decided to not mention the names of the places to keep the locals happy and to not ruin the adventure for everyone. [Photo Credits: Steve Combs, Bob Cross; Surfer: John Cross]


 

Island Trip for Hurricane Gustav

September 4, 2008 by Steve Combs · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Adventure Blog, Hurricane Surf 

[DISCLAIMER: No clients were on this trip so we did things a little differently. No one got hurt during this adventure trip, and overall everyone had a good time. Those are the important things.]

On Sunday, August 31, 2008 a group of seven of us (3 guys; 4 ladies) tried to surf an island (name withheld) in Florida for some Hurricane Gustav waves.

The main surf break in the area when the surf gets this big had over 100 surfers there, so we tried a nearby pass break. The warning sign posted at the boat landing across from the island gave lots of different warnings regarding alligators, sharks, currents, and ended with “No Rescue Possible.” (pic) No joke.

We only had one boat, so part of our group paid another boat to drop them off at the surf break in the pass at Crooked Island about 4 miles away. The plan was for the rest of the group to follow behind in our boat. The motor would not start on our boat, and we didn’t have any way to contact the first group. I called my brother who happened to be in Mexico Beach for the weekend. He agreed to pick up the first group in his boat via the Gulf of Mexico route and take them back to his marina through the pass at Mexico Beach.  The first group later drove back to the boat landing to make another attempt at reaching the island.

Being without a boat, we decided to paddle straight across to the island and hike to the surf. Part of the group went right, instead of left, around a swamp and were not able to make it to the surf. They had to backtrack to the car. The three of us that went left (including me) made it across the island and surfed until it got dark. The surf was head high and building fast but it was getting dark. We walked back the beach route  and one person hitched a ride to the car and returned for the group.

One of the cars broke down on the dirt road leading back to the group at the beach. Somehow we were able to get a tow truck on a holiday weekend to come help us in the middle of the woods.

Crazy times.

Parade.com Photo Contest

August 26, 2008 by Steve Combs · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Events, News 
Sep ’08
8

Do you have a good photo of the Emerald Coast for Parade.com’s Oceans of Wonder Photo Contest. The deadine is September 8, 2008.

Stand Up Paddle Instructional Video

July 28, 2008 by Steve Combs · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Adventure Info, Stand Up Paddle 

Surfer Laird Hamilton rides a business wave

July 19, 2008 by Steve Combs · Leave a Comment
Filed under: News 

Stand Up Paddleboarding has officially reached the mainstream.

Check out this USA Today article.

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