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Sports

Hanging Ten in Shorewood

Nationally-recognized local surfer, Blake Meisinger, will share Aloha on Malibu waves after creating a following in the Great Lakes.

Blake Meisinger does something most Shorewood teens have only dreamed of.

He surfs — at Shorewood's Atwater Beach.

And, all over the Great Lakes, or wherever the waves take him.

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After two years of longboarding on the Great Lakes, Mexico and New Hampshire, the 14-year-old Shorewood sophomore will be part of a team from the Third Coast Surf Club of New Buffalo, MI, invited to the annual Malibu Surfing Association's 3-Day MSA Classic in September in California.

Blake's surf season is less rigorous in Summer because it’s “too flat,” he said, referring to the lack of waves on Lake Michigan.

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So, he does most of his surfing during Wisconsin's winter months.

Blake says wearing the wetsuit protects against the cold, even when winter storms are making life on land hazardous.

"It lets you stay out there for up to seven hours before you cramp up from the cold," he said. 

His father, Dave Meisinger, also picked up the sport when neighbor, Glen Vuyck, turned him onto it. He says, however, winter conditions out on the water can limit time on the waves. 

"It gets dark early, and when it is windy and cold, ice builds up on your suit and you can't move your arms to paddle anymore," he said.

Blake prefers to surf for pleasure and not competition, often going after school or whenever conditions are favorable. He will sometimes go out of his way to find the best waves, making the trip up the coast to Sheboygan or across the lake over to New Buffalo, MI, the location of the surf shop called Third Coast Surf Shop.

"He has become very skilled at identifying really optimal surfing locations and times, using online tools for predicting waves in different parts of the area," Dave said.

“When there’s a North wind, we go to McKinley or Big Bay," Blake added. "If it’s a South wind, then Atwater, or further up, like Sheboygan or Door County."

They generally surf as a team, and wear wet suits in all seasons, except rare occasions in summer.

"If it's nice and warm, you can just trunk it, but that's really rare to have waves then," Blake said.

Blake’s favorite local spot to surf is Atwater Beach, and with the hours he has spent out on the water, he learned first-hand that Lake Michigan was the only lake that has an actual tide from the moon's gravitational pull.

“It affects the waves by about four inches,” he said. 

His friend, Andy Wallus from Milwaukee, inadvertently caught a carp with his hand while surfing in the winter at Atwater.

“It’s really fun,” Blake said. “Everyone should try it. Get a wet suit and an extra long board if you’ve never surfed before.”

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