Surf’s Up At Bradford Beach

Early in the morning just as the sun began to crest over the eastern horizon of Lake Michigan, two black minivans marked with the UW-Milwaukee logo and laden with surf boards parked on the street next to Milwaukee’s Bradford Beach. Nearly a dozen people dressed head-to-toe in wetsuit gear jumped out of the vans, began to unpack the boards and head for the water. This task was made exceptionally more difficult due to the intense winds and rain pelting the would-be surfers’ faces.

“It’s almost hailing now, and I’m half looking out for lightning,” said Benji, one of the instructors for UWM’s Outdoor Pursuits surfing class.

The UWM student-run adventure program, “Outdoor Pursuits,” held its second fall semester session of surfing lessons through tumultuous weather and to the excitement of many students on Oct. 21.

Benji originally expected waves around one foot tall. This isn’t the first time they’ve gone surfing on the lake, but it was nothing like this before. 30 mile-per-hour winds churned up 5-foot surges or higher. The lake looked more like an angry sea.

As surfers approached the water, the high winds would catch their boards and hurl them around in all directions like sails on a ship. Most had little prior experience surfing, and none in conditions like what they now faced.

After a brief crash course less on how to surf, everyone was in the water and ready to catch some gnarly waves. For the most part, the waves caught them instead. Each round was another punch in the face of icy water. But that didn’t stop anyone from smiling and enjoying themselves.

Benji instructed each student to pick a point on the shore that they could try to remain close to. This way, everyone will always have a decent idea of where they are. Most picked a large hunk of driftwood washed up on the beach.

The problem was that the wind and waves had something else in mind. Over time the surfers would get nudged closer and closer to the rocky edge of the beach. More than once they had to exit the water and battle the winds to a more favorable spot.

The water and air were barely above freezing temperatures that day, but the wetsuits worked surprisingly well keeping the biting cold away. Some of the students even removed their hood and gloves after a time, claiming it was too hot.

“Well it’s getting too shitty to longboard and it’s not quite snowboarding season, which somehow makes it surfing season in the Midwest,” said Matt Henkes, a UWM student out hitting the waves for the second time in his life.

Henkes originally was a little hesitant to get in the water. Right before surfing, a man walking down the sidewalk called him and the others all fools for attempting to surf in such bad conditions. The stranger warned of rocks in the water and the undertow of the waves.  

For nearly two hours, the students fought the waves. And the waves didn’t always win. Some stood up on their boards and rode triumphant back to shore. Others managed to catch a wave on their knees, a victory in itself. Many didn’t do much besides get tossed about like pieces of driftwood, but that didn’t stop anyone from having fun. Henkes said he is absolutely going to attend the next classes once they’re announced.

The spectacle even drew the attention of many passers-by. Pedestrians on a stroll in the rain would stop along the beach to watch the crew of crazed students fight the storm with all they had. Many took videos on their phones and would stop the surfers to ask questions whenever they got out of the water.

Around 10 a.m., the instructors called for everyone to head back into shore. Once back, they all reattached their surf boards to the hoods of the vans and clambered inside the running vehicles with heat coming through the vents on full blast. Now out of the water, the wetsuits were no match for the biting cold of the howling wind, but nobody seemed to mind too much.

Afterwards, everybody changed into their civilian clothes and parted ways. Benji and the other instructors then prepared to take out the next group of eager volunteers for the 10 a.m. session.

Outdoor pursuits plans to hold several more surfing classes over the fall and spring semesters. Interested students may sign up online for a $20 fee here.