I almost named this The Way It Makes Me Feel (part 2). During this past summer, I would drive occasionally to Galveston after work to surf in the evening. Well, now that it's September, I thought I should do it a few more times before it gets dark too early. The waves had been pretty good during the past week, even a little rough early in the week, but they were calming a little; possibly calming a little too fast. I kept studying my swellinfo app on the phone, and the forecasters were suggesting completely flat water (zero surf) for the weekend. Thursday was going to be my last hope. Since I was going to be attending an Egret magazine photo shoot in Pearland, there was a good chance that I would be on the road by 5 p.m. or shortly thereafter. I would actually make it there faster than if I was going from work. It was a straight shot. So I loaded my Softop, did the work and headed to Galveston. It was a gorgeous evening to be on the island. I made it by 6 p.m. and noticed several surfers already out at the 43rd street pier. Now, here's the downside to all of this: Brian, my surfing guru/dude, called me earlier in the day to tell me that, yes, surfable waves did exist, but that the sea lice were awful. I had experienced them a little a few weeks earlier, but Brian said that Thursday was the worst he had seen them in a long while. One of his instructors, Travis, had also told him that they were bad for him on Thursday. So, here I was on a Thursday night ready to surf, actually needing to surf, and almost a little hesitant to get in the water because of the sea lice. The thing about the sea lice is that they wash off easily, but they can leave little rash-like bites. I decided to throw caution to the wind because, after all, we had waves.
The waves were much smaller by the time I had made it, but I still had some great rides. Two other females were out surfing, which is something I don't see often. They were good and fun to watch. One of the guys surfing chose to stay close to the gals, and he, too, was magic to watch. Amazing! I aspire to surf like they did. Catching the waves and popping up looked effortless to them, while I had trouble catching waves and even pearled a couple of times when I did. But, I just need to keep practicing. I had several great rides that gave me that fabulous feeling that is indescribable. I need to work on looking out instead of down, and to start paddling a little sooner. Practice makes perfect. Now, all I need are some good consistent waves!
(Friday, Saturday and Sunday look as though they will be FLAT.)
