Matuli Freshwater Surfing

Joe Matulis surfing Lake Michigan in Fall 2010

Joe Matulis got hooked on surfing while lifegaurding in Southern California, and moving back to Michigan for the school year wasn't going to stop him from fueling his new addiction. 

"Waves are more common in Michigan then you might think," Joe said. "You just need to know where to look."

Joe's favorite place to surf back home is on the lake. Lake Michigan is surrounded by private beaches and secret surf breaks. 

"The lake is best to surf in the fall. The water is warm and the wind brings in the best surf," Joe said. 

The falling air temperature over the warm lake water makes a strong wind the blows across the lake to form waves. Most of the waves on Lake Michigan are 1 to 2 feet, but Joe has surfed it as big as 6 feet.

"When you surf Michigan, you aren't looking for the biggest waves, but for the cleanest. It's an adventure to find where to go. It takes a long time to learn all the breaks and what conditions make them good," he said. 

Joe Matulis surfing Lake Michigan in the winter

After years of exploring the Michigan coastline, Joe has finally gotten a good feeling for where the best surf is. The breaks are kept a secret within the surfing community to keep the crowds down. Once you prove yourself in the water, local surfers will to share their secrets. 

The best waves might be in the fall, but winter storms can bring surfable waves from time to time. When they do, Joe is there. Not even the chunks of ice floating on the lakes surface stop him from getting in a surf session. 

The spring showers might not bring waves on the lake, but it doesn't leave surfers stranded. The heavy rain combined with snow melt floods the Red Cedar River to make a secret spot. Right in the middle of Michigan State University, a few days a year, the river forms a standing wave against the rocks. 

Joe learned about the standing wave by Pat Caldwell, a national champion body boarder. 

"I didn't believe Pat at first but after looking at it [the river] every day before class I finally saw it!" Joe said. 

Joe spent the next few days studying the wave before trying it out. The fast moving water and rocky bottom make the wave tricky and dangerous to surf. It would be easy to get wedged underwater against a rock and drown.

"One time my board purled and got caught against the rocks. I had to dive into the water and pull as hard as I could before it freed itself."

After studying the wave, Joe grabbed his board and became the first person ever to surf the Red Cedar River. People had kayaked and even body boarded the standing wave before, but never had anyone attempted to surf it.

Joe Matulis and Remi Hamel wake surfing

When the wind is dead and the rainy season is over surf a boat wake. As long as the lake isn't frozen, a boat wake can make for a fun workable ride. 

Keep checking the local surf because the season is coming up fast and if you see the Matuli paddling out you know you came to the right spot. 

How to Spot a Drowning

Lifeguard rescues a girl from a rip current
Photo by David McErlean

This is a story from the National Sea Rescue Institute on what a person looks like when they are drowning. It is written by a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer in the Coast Guard's On Scene Magazine.

"The new captain jumped from the deck, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the couple swimming between their anchored sport fisher and the beach. "I think he thinks you're drowning," the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, next-deep on the sand bar. "We're fine, what is he doing?" she asked, a little annoyed. "We're fine!" the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. "Move!" he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not four meters away, their nine-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, "Daddy!"

How did this captain know - from 20 meters away - what the father couldn't recognize from just four? Drowning is not the violent, splashing, call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. If you spend time on or near the water (hind: that's all of us) then you should make sure that you and your crew knows what to look for whenever people enter the water. Until she cried a tearful, "Daddy," she hadn't made a sound. As a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, I wasn't surprised at all by this story. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for, is rarely seen in real life.
Click Here to read more of the story

Lifesaving for Surfers

Third Coast Ocean Force practice rescue techniques
Photo by Cindy Matulis

Many surfers in the Great Lakes are unsung heroes who have saved many lives because they have spotted swimmers in trouble while catching waves. Surfers have a strong knowledge of the dangers the water presents, and they are often in a good position to spot and make a rescue.

Surf Lifesaving has deep roots in the Midwest. Tom Blake was a pioneer waterman from Wisconsin, and has been the lead designer for surfing and lifeguard gear. Blake invented the surfboard fin, hollow paddle board and the lifeguard buoy. Following in the tradition of connecting surfing to lifesaving, a group of Great Lake surfers have formed an organization called the Third Coast Ocean Force designed to educate the public on the dangers of water currents generated from waves.

Eight year Ocean lifeguard Joe Matulis was one of the speakers at the Third Coast Ocean Force Rip Currents conference and workshop held in St. Joseph, Michigan on June 5, 2011. Matulis was asked to share his professional knowledge about spotting potential rescues.

"If you are seeing someone climbing the ladder, you are already too late," Matulis said. "You are not going to have enough time to get out there."

There are many earlier signs that can be seen from shore or from the water.

"When I am at the beach I look for swimmers that are not in swim attire, swimmers facing the beach and swimmers that are in large groups." he said.

Classroom discussion by Third Coast Ocean Force
Photo by Cindy Matulis

There are many differences between the Pacific Ocean and Lake Michigan. The beach goers in the Midwest usually don't experience surf because waves are uncommon in the crowded season. However, a few times every summer, wind generates waves and rip currents are formed on the crowded Midwest beaches. When these unusually large waves occur, the majority of the beach goers are not aware of the dangers that are created. Today, very few Great Lakes beaches have lifeguards on duty. Great Lakes surfers, however, can make a difference for victims of rip currents. Surfers have the ability to navigate through surf and when there are waves in the lakes there are plenty of surfers. It only makes sense that surfers need to be trained to identify possible drowning victims.

Bob Pratt, a former lifeguard and a Great Lakes surfer explained how rip currents can flow out along the concrete piers in Lake Michigan. Compounding the problem of rip currents in the Great Lakes is the fact that these currents are more difficult to spot in the Great Lakes than the ocean. The reason rips are harder to see in the Great Lakes is because rip currents only form when there is surf. The surf is normally only big when the weather is stormy and cloudy. Stormy weather makes it harder to see the differences of water color because of the overcast skies.

The waves in the lakes also have a much shorter interval period and therefore there are twice as many waves that swimmers have to contend with. The waves on the Great Lakes may break every seven seconds compared to a south swell in Southern California that would have about a twenty second wave interval.

After the classroom training session the class went to the beach to practice rescue techniques. In addition to Great Lakes surfers, area water rescue teams also attended the training session to learn about using a surfboard to assist a drowning victim. The class practiced these techniques and discussed how to triangulate a submerged swimmer, how to handle a possible spinal cord injury victim and where to enter the water in different possible swell situations.

This is an important step forward for protecting swimmers in the Great Lakes.


Backboarding from MatuliSurfboards on Vimeo.

Matuli History Part 1

Matuli started out as a plural nickname for the twin Matulis brothers. During high school the Matuli worked, as lifeguards, at a small lake in Midland, Michigan. After watching A Day in the Life of a California Surf Lifeguard, the brothers knew where they wanted to work. After calling every west coast lifeguard department they could find, it was apparent that the Matuli would need to learn more about waves and currents if they were going to have any chance of making the cut in lifeguard tryouts. At this point, the Matuli did not know how they were going to gain vital surf experience. 

A few weeks later, at a beach at the lake, they got their answer. During a run swim run workout at Lake Michigan, the brothers found waves. With the excitement of seeing real life waves on the lake, the Matuli thought the the same thing, “We can surf these waves." The only step left was for the twins to make their first surfboard.

After several sessions of battling Lake Michigan, the brothers decided they were ready to prove themselves in California. Flying to San Diego with nothing more than a tent, backpack, pair of swim fins, and just enough money to get by, the bothers started their training to become ocean lifeguards. It would turn out to be a summer that changed their lives forever.