The Sea Screamer creating screaming waves up the sand point. Photos: YouTube//Screenshot
A few years ago, Blair Conklin got a strange invite. It was to the Gulf Coast of Florida, where waves are not exactly plentiful. But the waves on this particular trip, put together by Warren Smith, weren’t reliant on Mother Nature’s whims. Instead, they relied on a 73-foot boat called the Sea Screamer and a sand point with a steep drop into deep water.
According to the video you see here, in order to create these waves, Smith took inspiration from Ben Gravy, who went to Panama City in 2023 and used the Sea Screamer to make waves. The Sea Screamer, usually a tourist boat for dolphin watching, drives along the edge of the white sand beach, where its wake creates a stunningly perfect, waist-high wave that goes for a very, very long time.
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Smith had been in talks to fire up a wave pool in the area using Endless Surf technology. But it’s tough to pitch a wave pool to investors with no real visual aids, and a wave pool especially, is something that needs to be seen to be believed.
“As Warren watched Ben’s Sea Screamer video,” the narrator says, “it dawned on him: what better way to create a proof of concept for the aesthetics of a wave pool than by showing these flawless, turquoise waves reeling along an immaculate white sand beach? Frame the boat out, and you’ve got some of the dreamiest visuals imaginable. Add three of the world’s most interesting surfers, and it’s a slam dunk.”
And so, Warren Smith got to planning. He pals around with some of surfing’s heaviest heavyweights, and decided to get Blair Conklin, Alex Knost, and Justin Quintal on the line and reel them in. And so, the video you see here was created. Now, a few years later, that proof of concept video intended for investors appears to have worked, because, as we learn in the edit, the Shell Point Surf Club is in the works. All it takes are a few good waves, right?
