Vince Deur: “Unsalted” - 15 Years Since the Perfect Wave at Stony Point

In this episode, Derik Hyatt chats with Great Lakes surfer and filmmaker, Vince Deur from his home in Grand Haven, Michigan as he reflects on his experience directing the 2005 56-minute film, “Unsalted: A Great Lakes Experience,” which follows Vince on a road trip around the 5 Great Lakes to meet and surf with other landlocked surfers.

The film begins with videotape footage Vince recorded in November 1990, when he nearly drowned while surfing Lake Superior near Whitefish Point.  Vince had been caught in a rip current for about an hour, trying futilely to swim to shore, before being suddenly released by the current. Back on dry land, he pledged on camera that he would one day make a film about surfing the Great Lakes.  Unsalted combines home movies of lake surfing going as far back as the 1960’s with contemporary footage culled from 150 hours of filming.

The documentary ends on January 22, 2005, when Vince and several pro-surfers from the Ocean Pacific surf team reached the tip of Lake Superior, 24 kilometers northeast of Duluth, Minnesota, in Stony Point, to encounter the "biggest, cleanest ... most ocean like wave" Vince had ever seen on a lake.  The film would go on to screen at film festivals on four continents, with Vince becoming a contact person for surfers around the world who wanted to experience surfing the Great Lakes.

You can connect with Vince on Twitter @vincedeur and watch his videos on Vimeo and his YouTube channel.  Unsalted: A Great Lakes Experience is available for purchase on Amazon.

This episode was recorded on May 29, 2020.  It is family friendly with minimal swearing, but no f-bombs.

We acknowledge that this episode was recorded on the unceded, ancestral and occupied traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) and Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) Nations of the Coast Salish Peoples.  As we live, work, surf and play, we say Mahalo to the Métis, Inuit and Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island and from around the world, who have stewarded these lands and sacred surf spots for thousands of years. 

This podcast is available free for streaming and download on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.  You can also watch the Show on our Freshwater Surf Goods YouTube Channel.  Be sure to listen, rate, review and share! 

To reach Derik Hyatt for comments, questions, collaboration, sponsorship, business enquiries or bookings, including SUP and yoga, please email [email protected]. 

Permastoked is brought to you by Freshwater Surf Goods.  Your surf brand devoted to spreading the stoke across the unsalted seas and cultivating pride amongst the surf community.  We do this by providing products and apparel that celebrate the awesomeness of both Great Lakes and Canadian surf culture.

For more information, visit www.freshwatersurfgoods.com and be sure to sign up for our newsletter.  You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Mahalo for listening.  Stay stoked!

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A SPECIAL MAHALO TO:

Mark Malibu & The Wasagas for providing our intro music “Hey Chiwawa” from their 2009 album entitled Crash Monster Beach and our outro music “End of Summer” off their 2017 album Return of the Wasagas.  For more information, visit https://wasagas.com/.  Find them on iTunes or wherever you get your music.

Damajuana reggae uploaded by detroitbase on 2019-08-30 to https://archive.org/details/reggae_201908.  Public License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/legalcode.  (Original length = 2:30. Modified to 1:59.)

Ukelele Parade by Fernando Oyaguez Reyes published May 22, 2014 and uploaded to https://archive.org/details/UkeleleParade.  Public License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/legalcode.  (Original length = 2:44. Modified to 0:52.)