As April 2011 came to an end, history will reflect the windiest April on record. Fishing guides were pulling their hair out and tankersurfcharters.com was dead in the water, since windless days are the call. We ran the new boat in the back bayous to break it in and work out the kinks. The new 23′ Gulf Coast is the ultimate tanker surf boat, with an 8′ beam and a tunnel hull that will nearly run on dry land it runs so skinny!

May arrived with more wind, but May usually produces a fair amount of wind right before the doldrums of summer. Surf along the beachfront has been plentiful, but again, canceled charters continued. The 1st forecasted day of calm winds saw Capt. Fulbright and John Benson finally making their 2011 debut tanker run. Glassy conditions remained until about 2pm, but by then both surfers had caught their fair share of waves and opted to take it back to the launch when an 8-10 knot wind quickly began to chop up the bay.

After another week of onshore flow and ridable beachfront surf, the 2nd day forecasting light/variable winds arrived, and this time Peter Davis and Don “DK” Kenney joined Capt. Fulbright for some tanker love. Even though winds were less than 10 knots, surfing against the grain can and was the main challenge. It’s called a “rodeo ride” and let’s just say it can buck you at any time. A 3 mile wave feels like 6 miles. Peter Davis answered the call with a wave that lasted for 5 channel markers! The distance between channel markers is roughly 3/4 of a nautical mile, so you do the math. Brutal!