Big waves in the forecast for the Great Lakes

If you've ever wanted to see people surfing on the Great Lakes, this weekend will be a great time to do it.   Lake Michigan should see waves in the 10-foot range and Lake Superior will have some 15-footers.  And while Sheboygan, WI isn't positioned to see the biggest waves, it will be hosting the Dairyland Surf Classic 2010 this weekend.  My guess is that many of the best Great Lakes surfers will be drawn to places with bigger waves, but the event should be fun to attend nevertheless.

Check out the wave-size forecast from NOAA's Great Lakes Coastal Forecasting system here:

Buying a Surfboard in Lima, Peru

UPDATE (11/29/2010): After I broke my first board, I had a new board made by a friend of a friend, Daniel Martinez.  He made me an awesome custom board (6'2") and I would highly recommend him to anyone else who wants a new board.  His shop is located in the south side of Lima in/near Barranco.  Here is a video of him making some boards.  The easiest way to contact him is probably through Facebook.

***

During my first two weeks in Lima I tried to ask as many people as I could about where I could get a decent surfboard.

Before I left, I searched on Craigslist - Lima, but found nothing surf-related.  I got the impression that Craigslist is not so popular here.  Later, I posted a 'wanted' listing for a surf board on Craigslist and about a week later, I got a response from Sebastian at nextsurftrip.com.  He had a board, but it wasn´t the size I was looking for.  He recommended I try a Derrem board, (derrem.com), made in Lima.

Piero, from my hostel in Barranco (Hostel Kaminu), who was generous to lend me his board while I searched for my own, recommended I try going to either the Wayo Whilar board shop nearby in Barranco (wayowhilar.com.pe), or to the Klimax surf shop in Miraflores (klimaxsurf.com).  Both shops sell new and used boards for very reasonable prices compared to U.S. prices.

Meanwhile, I came across vendotablasperu.com.  This is the craigslist of Lima surfboards.  The site is clunky but the content is great.  Here I found my surfboard, a 6-year old, plenty-used, 6`5`` board shaped by Peruvian Martín Jerí, for $100.  I was pretty happy about it.

Some locals tell me that my find was 'mas o menos', in terms of a deal.  I have some things to learn.  For example, today when one visitor left the hostel where I am staying in Punta Hermosa, he left his board behind with the hostel owner in exchange for a $30 discount on his hostel bill, rather than paying $150 or so to bring his board back with him on the plane.

I don't know of any websites or boardshops where you can get a deal like that, but if you hang around surfers getting ready to fly, you're sure to get a true bargain board.

If you can recommend other ways to buy a surfboard in Peru, please leave a comment below.