The start of fall often coincides with powerful northeast winds and huge waves on Lake Michigan and Robin Mattheus made the most of it.
PHOTOS: THOMAS CORRAO

Capturing Kenosha: Surf’s up on Lake Michigan

Hearty surfer takes advantage of some righteous waves

By Thomas CorraoKENOSHA.COM

After retiring in 2021 with 38 years in public service, Corrao brings a passion for photography with his popular local sunrise and nature photos (available for personal use only). Corrao can be found on Instagram (@straycompasslifeguy) and YouTube (Stray Compass Life Channel).

Robin Mattheus, a marine coastal geologist with the Illinois State Geological Survey, spends his days studying Lake Michigan and the affects its sand and sediment has on the area’s shoreline.

In his free time, he enjoys shredding gnarly waves.

While Simmons Island will never be confused with Huntington Beach, the start of fall often coincides with powerful northeast winds and huge waves on Lake Michigan.

Robin Mattheus had some fun on his board in Lake Michigan recently.

Mattheus, sporting a full wetsuit in 66-degree water, started his Friday (Sept. 23) like few others with a sunrise surf in Kenosha.

The North Carolina transplant said surfing in Lake Michigan can be quite a challenge. He tries to set himself up in a position to see the wave’s trough, a good indicator of the size of the incoming wave.

I suppose if you have the right gear and you’re a hearty soul, fall is probably a great time to surf the Kenosha shores because just about every day since the fall equinox the shoreline has had some impressive waves. 

I hope you enjoy the photos and they have inspired some of you to don your wetsuits and grab your boards. 

Who knows? Maybe I’ll be taking your picture in the coming weeks. Well, that’s it for now. I’ll see you again in the next edition of Kenosha.com‘s Capturing Kenosha. 

Have a great week everyone!

The beauty of Kenosha.

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