Yep. We’ve got it pretty awesome. Not a wave goes by that we don’t appreciate.

This 4 day jaunt into the Gulf of Alaska to visit a few of our favorite waves was much appreciated when it suddenly arrived. It was a trip so last minute that we couldn’t even get our best surfing buddies to join us. Lucky for us Josh Skoglund of JGS Concepts rallied to come along to document. Mike and Scott were so busy surfing all by themselves there would have been no evidence otherwise!

Check out the video and don’t forget to sign up for updates for at Ocean Swell Ventures so you can join us when we have time to give you a heads up!

We know many of you more local types are still itching to see the movie but be patient. It’s going to run the festival circuit a while longer but we will keep you posted and we think it will be worth the wait.

In the meantime, check out this trailer/scene:

And if you can, join us in sunny San Diego for the movie and perhaps a few waves and some good times.

The forecast looked good. Strong west winds should send a little swell across Cook Inlet to hit the beaches within our reach from the road system on the Kenai Peninsula. Our friend Matt Wild made the often treacherous 4.5 hr drive down from Anchorage to meet up with us in Homer to film some Alaskan winter surfing.

As it turned out, we had the swell, but the wind also blew all the way across the inlet right onto the beaches here on the east side. For a brief moment it actually stopped, gusted offshore for a few minutes and got us all amped up. A few minutes later it turned back onshore stronger than ever. The daylight was not going to last much longer. Mike decided to check one other spot that has been known to produce waves on occasion. Score. Matt got some nice little surfing action shots to edit with his Homer vignettes. Love the edit and track.

Not everyone is trying to avoid onshore winds though. Homer has had a pretty solid crew of kitesurfers for several years now, but this was the first day I’ve witnessed a kiter making the most of a winter storm. Obadiah Jenkins was in town and the cold didn’t slow him down. I have to admit, it was pretty frigid even by my standards. Combine that with about 20-30mph wind… he lasted at least 20 minutes slashing some waves and doing some nice stylish airs.

All I had with me was a little pocket point and shoot but I managed a few shots to tell the story.

This hockey team from Wisconsin couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

Obadiah Jenkins post session. I think his face might be frozen in that grin.

It’s been a pretty slow winter for surfing close to home here in Homer, Alaska. The gulf has been lit up with nearly endless storms it seems, but as usual, access to the waves has been limited. Darkness, storms, freezing spray, strong winds and a tendency for hibernation all playing their part. I’m sure the surfers in Yakutat, Kodiak and Sitka have been getting their share this winter.

Gart Curtis looking for a backdoor?

For myself and much of the local crew it’s been a winter of waiting for the wind to blow some short period swell across Cook Inlet onto the beaches in our little hometown of Homer. This little phenomenon did happen a few times in January and I managed to miss a few waves and make a few photos on a couple of those days.

Mike McCune back from a session at Rincon wondering where the crowd went.

We are excited to be able to share a video and a few photos from fellow Alaskan surfer Freddie Munoz.  As I’m sure you’ll agree, Freddie’s video provides a nice, intimate view of the surf culture in a place that even waves have trouble reaching!

From Freddie:

In the spring of 2012 I enrolled in the Ethnographic Film Methods class offered at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau. In the class we were required to create a 10 minute film that would highlight a ritual process and illuminate a cultural world. After hearing this I knew that I wanted to try and film the passionate surfers of Juneau.  I wanted to try and convey why one would want to surf in 70mph winds in the winter! Here is my attempt of trying to capture this small yet avid surfing community.

Without further ado:

Freddie did a great job ‘illuminating the cultural world’ of this unique Alaskan surf scene.  Check out a few more of his still photos below.

Following up on a sold out show for the world premier, the surf film Alaska Sessions will be available for your viewing pleasure again on Saturday, December 1st at 1pm at the Homer Theatre in Homer, Alaska.

If you missed it the first time, or where one of the poor folks who we had to turn away at the door, I hope you can join us this time.

In other news, the Bear Tooth Theatrepub in Anchorage, Alaska is trying to fit the film into their busy schedule. Stay tuned and we hope to be able to share that date asap. The  surf has been flat in Homer lately, there has been some nice swells rolling around in the gulf lighting up Kodiak and Yakutat I’m sure. The Milo has been taking a break after a very successful fall and early winter of scoring waves around Alaska.

Mike and Wendy McCune relax at the premiere pre-party with friend and fan Ginny Benson.

It was a family affair – Fred & Scott’s mom Ruth, myself and the smallest Dickerson, Elijah, sold tickets at the door. Ruth, btw, got the biggest applause at her appearance in the movie.

Of course there have been lots of requests for more showings and dvds for sale…and of course we’ll keep you posted. Stay tuned!

Trick or Treat? Did Iceman make it out of this one in his black ninja costume?

Iceman surfing a barreling river mouth last weekend. We are heading back out after this one again on Friday if you want to join us. Hopefully it will be twice as big and blowing offshore!

Just a little glimpse at a recent sunrise in the gulf of Alaska. You can see a selection of photos from this surf session in a post from last week.

Now that all my still cameras shoot video, I occasionally stuff the memory cards after getting the photos that I want. Finding time to edit photos is difficult. Finding time to edit video is next level.

Fortunately there’s some people that take the whole video thing pretty seriously, my brother and his friend Matt McNeil for instance. They joined us for a 4 week epic surf mission on the m/v Milo a couple years ago and have put together a feature length film about it. If you missed my post announcing the world premier of their movie, Alaska Sessions, check it out now! The first showing is in Homer, Alaska on Thursday, November 1st 7pm. We’ll all be there to enjoy the show and I hope you’ll join us.

Drumroll please…

The WORLD PREMIERE of the ‘Alaska Sessions‘ film is happening in the little town of Homer, Alaska in less than a week. Don’t miss it on the big screen! We don’t know when it will be available online or as a dvd so this could be your only chance this year to see us surf our way from Sitka to Homer in the month of November.

What: ‘Alaska Sessions‘ film world premier
When: Thursday, November 1st 2012
Where: Homer Theatre – Homer, Alaska
Who: Frederick Dickerson (co-director) and the cast.

For those of you who have been following Surf Alaska for a while this film might sound a little familiar -it’s about our trip in 2010 when we brought the, then new to us, m/v Milo up from Sitka to Homer over the course of four weeks. We surfed everywhere we could along the way of course. Frederick Dickerson and his filming partner Matthew McNeill came all the way from Australia to film the trip with the plan of producing a movie about the adventure. This was two years ago, almost to the day, and I can assure you they have been working hard on this project steadily ever since.

Based on the rough cuts of the film I’ve seen this is going to be a very entertaining night. It’s true, I may be somewhat biased, but I’m sure it won’t disappoint.  Frederick and Matthew have been working hard on this, from hand drawn animations to a soundtrack with  original compositions, they spared no expense to make the best surf adventure film they could (on a surf filmer’s budget).

A brief description of the film from the poster reads:

Alaska Sessions (NR)/ 87 minutes. Mr. McCune sells his house and buys and old fishing boat to embark on an epic surf adventure. He and his eclectic crew travel up the isolated Alaskan coastline in the dead of winter. It’s cold, it’s dark, and these guys aren’t exactly pro-surfers, but in the words of one crew-member, “when your stoke is hot, you can endure a lot.”

You may remember this little video clip I posted a while back. It includes a couple waves from the Alaska Sessions film.

Below are a couple of photos taken on the trip – one from an incredible thanksgiving session in Yakutat and another great wave we discovered on the trip.

I hope you’ll come join is in Homer on Thursday, November 1st for a fun evening.