Texas is a fickle state at best when it comes to surfing. The Gulf of Mexico is enclosed and not that large and rarely holds true groundswell. Most of the waves we surf here in Texas are caused by short-term wind swell, and the surfers here try to make the best of our situation. Texas does have its good days, you just have to be an amateur meteorologist and keep your eye on the weather so you can be at the right place at the right time. On top of all this, the continental shelf spreads out over most of the upper Gulf coast, making it even harder for any swells to reach land. So for the most part, with the lack of size and strength of the waves here, it confuses me why anyone on the upper Gulf coast wouldn’t carry a longboard in their arsenal of quivers.
I grew up in Texas and learned to surf in my early teens during the early ‘80s, with its agro styles, neon colors, bad hairdos and short shorts. My first board was a bright orange Nectar twin fin that was almost a foot shorter than I was. Before the days of wave models and checking the buoys on the Internet, one had to watch the weather on TV and hope that when you came over the ridge on 61st Street in Galveston, that there were waves waiting there for you. It was a crapshoot at best. But if there were waves, I spent most of the time frustrated at the short length of my rides and the lack of power the Gulf waves generated…
Flash forward to a decade later, after I had long given up surfing for the lust of wine and women and the belief that surfing in Texas was a lost cause. I was sitting on the beach at Galveston, enjoying the sun and surf as I noticed this guy on a huge longboard catching these little waist high mush burgers beyond the end the jetty and riding these things quite proficiently all the way in, dancing up and down the board as he went. It was as if I suddenly had a moment of clarity. The problem with me not being able to surf in Texas had nothing to do with the waves, but rather the size of my board. Size did matter! I swam out to the guy and politely spoke with him about my dilemma and asked if I may give it a shot. He obliged, and it was like riding a bike- once you learn, you never forget. My first ride I rode it all the way in until the water was ankle deep. I held my arms up to the sky in utter joy as I was hooked once again.
I immediately bought myself a used longboard that was in great shape and set out to dispel the fallacy that I couldn’t surf in Texas. I am more than happy to say that I have very successfully accomplished that goal, and then some. I now own two longboards and a funboard that I like to take out on really large days and on my trips to Mexico, and I couldn’t be happier. I even have friends that were shortboarders to the core that have switched over to the longboards and funboards because of their realization of how much fun it can be. Gone are the days of frustration and short rides in Texas. Hello to happy days.
In no way am I trying to knock shortboarders. There are still plenty of them in Texas and a lot of them have a lot of talent. It takes a lot of talent to work the mushy waves of Texas. Plus, Texas has several locations that are ideal for shortboards where the waves are fast and can be hollow. However, for the most part, Texas is all mushy beachbreak, and what better to conquer the mush burgers of Texas with, than a hefty longboard? So why someone who says he or she surfs in Texas would only own a shortboard is beyond me. There’s nothing wrong with shortboarding in Texas, but you might as well have a longboard so you can surf on those mushy small days and have even half as much fun as I’ve had in the years since my moment of clarity…