I didn't get to surf last weekend. Friday was flat, Saturday was busy and Sunday I left for Austin. I went to a two-and-a-half day CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) Conference. While there, I was excited to pick up a bronze award for my former co-worker Summer's story in the fall 2009 Egret magazine. But, alas, there are no waves in Austin so I didn't get to surf. I was ready for this weekend though. Although Friday was a little overcast, the south winds were causing waves to form. I took my softop board because I hadn't taken it out in a while (What a blast!). Because of it being a holiday weekend, the beach was packed. A ton of surfers were out. I went out on my own, but shortly after my first wave ride, Brian showed up and wanted me to go way on the outside with him. I had no problem with the swim out, but I felt uncomfortable in the waves, which were coming from multiple unsteady directions, so I stayed mostly on the inside, with only an occasional appearance on the outside. Brian stayed further out and had his portion of the waves to himself. The rest of us were on the outside, but not nearly as far out as Brian, who said his waves were created by a sand reef.
I'm excited that my new pop-up seems to be working for me. I am also thrilled to say that I don't get nearly as tired as I used to when paddling out. I can successfully take the rip current without getting pushed off my board or even having to fight very hard. I still have to work on timing! Although my pop-up is a good one, I'm not popping up fast enough. On Saturday, I decided to go surf instead of cycle. I knew I probably wouldn't get to surf on Sunday, so I thought, perhaps, I should surf when I could. Although Brian thought the waves were a little better on Saturday, I enjoyed Friday's waves better. The 43rd street pier saw more surfers though than I've ever seen while surfing there. At least 15-20 of us decided to surf. They were down early too. I made it down by 7:30 a.m. and the place was packed with surfers. I swam out, but immediately got intimidated by the others. I watched and listened. Several of the guys got into some altercations, with one of them yelling accusations to the other, while many just sat silently and waited their turn. One young woman surfed a couple of good waves on her short board as did a couple of the guys. However, I soon realized that I might have as much right out there as they have. They weren't that much better than me. At least their board-handling skills didn't impress me. One of the scariest things was finding out that many of them do not know the protocol on catching the waves. It definitely wasn't the same line-up I saw in Nicaragua, where everyone seemed to know the "rules" of the waves. I'm actually a little less intimidated now thinking about it than I was when I was out. I don't think I'll be as "concerned" next time in the line-up as I have been.
Another interesting thing I noticed about the people surfing this past weekend was that most of them were on short boards. I immediately lusted after their boards. I love my two boards and took them both out -- my 9' Softop and my 9'6" Senator board. (Someone actually complimented me on my Senator board; he, too, was the owner of one and had enjoyed many rides on it.) However, I would really love to give a short board a try. Of course, now I found one on sale from a local store and would love to have it. Can I justify it? I'm not consistent on the two boards I have, why would having a shorter board be any better? Oh well, we'll see.
