So, events have been a regular thing in the surf community for quite some time. Since I started surfing 20 plus years ago surf video premieres have been going on. There has been some down-time on that with the changing dynamics of the surf economy and regular changes to the way people do things. A premiere is coming to fruition yet again here on our beautiful gulf coast. Mo Lelii has put together some good surf footage. The video also boasts some pro kiteboarders, but let’s be honest, who really cares about kiteboarding? It’s a video about what we’ve got. Any attention to our little yet large surf community is welcomed by many, while still shunned by others(we’ll call them the purists). This video is a video about Saint Petersburg more specifically. While certainly not exclusively Saint Pete. So, just to poke a little fun at the hosts, and to bring attention to North Pinellas, I wanted to bring up the fact that this video will have footage from the northern part of the county that Saint Pete is located in, not technically Saint Pete, not even close (40 minutes away). I also want to tell you the story from that day like no one else probably can (writing this at 3am I’m sure I’ll leave stuff out, so bear with me).
Many years ago an epic hurricane rolled through the Gulf of Mexico. There’s a super secret spot that only breaks once every 5 years or so. On this fine summer day some of our visiting pros Cory and Shea Lopez even showed up for the event. I showed up late to the party. These guys had been on it scoring through the morning. I’m not a morning person. I remember there being a handful of photographers out that day until it started raining. Then, only the one die hard photographer with the plastic bag and umbrella to protect the camera were out when it started to rain heavy.
The spot in Mo’s trailer is very fickle, and was only possible through what the gulf coast does to create beaches from sand on the gulf floor. They transport sand through tubes under water and in boats to the beaches (called dredging). On this day at the beach the dredging company left dredge equipment on the beach at the waterline. The dredge was almost completed for that segment of beach. Fortunately for us, a storm interrupted their progress. This left us a sandy ledge and a large hard angle south swell pouring through that strip of beach. Big barrels were rolling through. I pulled into a handful of waves that put me on my ass, pummeled into the sandy bottom. One wave comes to mind when Shea was a little further up the beach in the water from me. He drops into this thing; it’s a massive stand up barrel. The wave was one of the most legit barrels I’ve ever seen on the gulf. Shea’s getting shacked out of his mind right in front of me. It was a wave that puts a very large smile, one of shock even, on a pro surfer’s face. Of course, I had to throw some hype at him and give him the two hands in the air salute to his epic gulf barrel. It was insane. I’ve only ever seen Bradenton break so hollow. For sure one of the best days on the gulf in my lifetime.
Preach Productions aka Steve Yancar captured some epic clips(<—click that link) from Hurricane Michael. I’m uncertain if this was the same day I was out or if it was the same day Mo was shooting. Over the past 5 years there were only a handful of days it broke. This video has the waves a bit smaller from when it was the rainy day I was there. The clips from Mo’s video in the upcoming Interia premiere is this spot (maybe this same day). I’m wondering if Mo snagged clips of some of the bigger barrels. He may just be pulling some unseen footage of arguably best gulf ever from the vault to share with the community free of charge. If you cruise over to the Lopez’s surf shop you might still find a gnarly picture from this day on their wall. When I was a kid spending time at the beach they didn’t do a very good job of keeping up with dredging along some segments of our North Pinellas beaches. There’s a seawall many of the condo’s boast. The water was right up to those condos seawall and there was absolutely no beach. Dare I say that this spot is the same spot from the original Decline of Surfing Civilization videos (22 minutes in) by Lost Surfboards where there actually was no beach. The legend himself Cory enlightened me to this North Pinellas spot many years ago. The gulf is a truly epic spot at times.
My recommendation is that you go support the surf scene, surf photography, the Lopez family, Mo Lelii, Saint Pete, and go check out the video sponsored through the Inertia (a reasonably well known surf publication). Get a friend and go check out the free event down in Saint Pete.
Get your free tickets here!
From the credits of Hometown Hype:
