Friday surfed by without a single wave, so for the first Friday afternoon in awhile, I didn't make my weekly trek to the 43rd Street pier. It looked flat on g-townsurf.com, but I thought there was a chance that some waves might be kicking up on the other side of the pier away from the g-townsurf.com wavecam. My surfing buddy, Brian, called and confirmed what I was already seeing. NO WAVES! Earlier in the week on Tuesday, Galveston had experienced great waves because of a norther. However, that had already settled and without very much wind, seas had flattened. This morning (Saturday), Brian called to say that while they weren't very big, waves were back. So, after a quick 42-mile ride (I decided to not take the 60-mile route), I loaded my board and headed to Galveston. While there were indeed waves, they were mushy at best, sometimes dying out and reforming once or twice before making it all the way to shore. I caught one right away after swimming out past the end of the jetty, but I soon realized that moving in was the only way I was going to get any consistent surf and even that was questionable. I caught a few waves, but I also crashed into the water several times when the waves folded over on me. Although I was feeling discouraged, Brian, who let me use his dream board, said that I was surfing like someone "who had been surfing a year." I laughed. I've actually been surfing seven months, so a year isn't quite the compliment that I wanted it to be. But, oh well, I'm still enjoying myself. I'm going back tomorrow morning with my surfing friend Andrea. My other surfing friend, Robin, won't be surfing for awhile since her toe will need six weeks recovery before the pin is removed. OUCH!
While looking for waves on g-townsurf.com yesterday, I did manage to find out about a surfing movie premiere at a Galveston bar called the Melrose Pub. Rob and I looked like "parents" in the place even though there were some old surfers there. We looked rather conservative with our combed hair, blue jeans and shirts compared to the other surfers who showed up for this movie. Although the Web post I saw clearly stated "Jazz the Glass" started at 8 p.m., we quickly found out that surfer time was different than regular time. The filmmaker and surfing writer Jon Steele, who made the one-hour flick, announced that he had decided not to charge for the film but that he wished everyone would make a goodwill offering to help him and his comrades pay for the gas it cost them to drive to Galveston. The movie was...well...interesting and fun. Steele had taken an old pirate film and dubbed his own script over the film, so it was like watching a film that was out of sync with the sound; words didn't match the mouth movements. However, every 10 or so minutes, the movie jumped to the beach scenes and I saw some great surfing taking place with several of the guys walking to the front of the board and "Hangin' Ten." Wow! It was amazing what some of those surfers could do, and they made it look so effortless.To drink while watching the film, I ordered a diet coke and Rob ordered a beer. I had decided not to order alcohol simply because I had a big ride Saturday morning and didn't want to be dehydrated from the alcohol. However, since I was obviously the first person who had bought a diet coke in about six years, I decided only after a few swallows that I probably wanted something with alcohol in it so I ordered a glass of Cabernet. The young girl looked puzzled and pulled out the only two bottles of opened wine from the refrigerator. Purple or yellow? Merlot or Chardonnay? I took a glass of Chardonnay, again believing that I must have been the first person in years to order it. The crowd was a motley crew with a group of very blonde surfing kids up in the front with their blonde girlfriends, older more seasoned looking surfers in the middle of the room and some college kid-surfing types in the back of the room. I had a ball watching, while Rob wished he was anywhere but there. (He was a good sport though!)The highlight of the night for me was when local boardmaker and surf shop owner James Fulbright and his wife Debbie walked in with their two children. It became very obvious they were surfing royalty on the island. I think they were friends with Steele, who was also a contributing writer in a recent issue of The Surfer's Journal. Steele had copies that could be purchased and autographed by him. (Although we made a goodwill offering for the film, I chose not to buy the magazine and to save my $15 for the wax I owe Brian after using his board so long, as well as the wax I will need for mine.) I spoke briefly with both James and Debbie! They were very nice and also said that my new board should be back from the glasser any day now. (I can't wait!)
UPDATE: Sunday's surfing wasn't as good as I thought it would be. The waves were "mushy," and timing was very important and getting back out passed the breaks was tiring and rough. I met Brian at the 43rd Street pier, as well as my surfing bud Andrea, but my heart/mind just wasn't in the game today. I had one or two good runs, and Brian definitely wanted me to keep working on my board stance, but after about an hour-and-a-half, I decided that while physically I was still ready, mentally I was not. I threw in the towel, but at least I had two decent runs.
