Galveston Surfers Ride Alex's Wake

GALVESTON, Tx - Hurricane Alex is far away enough to spare Galveston the destruction, but close enough to kick up the swells.

For surfers, it's a perfect storm.

"We're getting the fringe benefits, here," said surfer John Benson. "This is the way to go."

Benson was born on the island and remembers all too well the good, the bad and the ugly of Hurricane Ike in 2008.

He said Alex's approach resembled Ike's.

"Sort of like a washing machine," he added, looking out over the churning surf off the seawall. "Like it is now, you know. But you've just got to pile in there and do it. You're going to get hammered down but that's the deal. That's the only way you're going to get the big waves on the outside."

Surfer Steve Kuchta can tell you, big waves are both a blessing and a curse. One of them left him with a painful gash under his left eye.

"It was a big wave," Kuchta recalled, "board took off and when I come up, board come up and found me."

Call it a badge of honor, a cost of doing business.

After all, this is Galveston, not Maui or the California coast. And usually in Galveston, the best time to bring out your board is when everyone else is boarding up.

"It's the biggest waves we ever get," said Kuchta, "sometimes the best conditions we ever get."