Surf lingo and more

Since I decided to make a trip to Louisiana this weekend, I knew my surfing time was limited. I wouldn't have time to surf on Friday, and I knew I wouldn't be home in time on Sunday morning to meet up with the usual gang. So, when I made it home from my trip today, I made my way down to the 43rd street jetty alone. And, I sure was alone. I made it down about 3:30. The waves were rough and small, but manageable. A couple of people were playing the water near the shore, and only one other surfer was out. I, basically, had a large portion of the beach to myself. I could practice all I wanted. I took the rip out on my first trip to the outside. I was quickly pulled in and caught the first wave I went for, which was definitely on the inside. I decided that pushing my way through the rough rip wasn't any easier than just making my way out in the middle. And, that's what I did for the rest of the afternoon. I caught mostly whitewater, which was okay since the small waves allowed me to practice my pop-up, stance and turns. I'm not sure I improved any, but I sure had fun playing. I stayed about an hour and outlasted everyone at the beach except for the lifeguard. It was as if I had my own surf spot, and it was a great way to end the weekend. And helped me sort out some of the thoughts I was having about a particular situation.

Lately, I've been thinking about some of the surf lingo I hear or read. I'll either hear someone on the beach use the term or read it in something about surfing. Part of me wants to use the term(s) myself so that I can sound like a surfer; however, I feel silly doing it. Not sure what I will do about that. For now, though, here are a few of the terms I will concentrate on either using correctly or not using at all.

1.) Dude -- I've decided that I will only use this term with the king surf DUDE Brian. I never used the word before I started surfing. I would hear others use it and even see it written sometimes, but it never felt "right" coming from my mouth. Lately, I've been slipping it more often into my vocabulary, but it still leaves a funny taste unless I'm talking about Brian. So, I will probably only use it with him.

2.) Sesh -- One of the websites I frequent is Billy Blues' G-Town Surf site (http://www.g-townsurf.com), which not only provides a webcam of the 43rd street jetty, but also gives Billy's forecast on what is to come wave-wise and offers a daily array of pictures from the beach. He often speaks of the day's surf sesh, which is an abbreviation of session. I've heard a couple of other people use it, and I've seen it in print when speaking of a specific time on the beach. However, I just can't use it. It doesn't roll off my tongue. I want to use it, but when I do I finish the word: "Sesh...ion." The "ion" part just comes out. Maybe one of these days...

3.) Cowabunga -- This term is an odd one. I never even realized it was a surfing term. I remember it from approximately 20 years ago when my then young nephews were watching the Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles cartoon. One of the turtles always used the term "Cowabunga." However, for the past four years, DUDE Brian has been using that term to talk about waves or a particular ride or even one of his lessons. I just looked it up in the online urban dictionary and found a listing for it that stated it was a surfing term from the '60s. Go figure. I don't think I'll ever use it, but it makes me smile when I hear others say it.

Those are the only three that have been bothering me lately. I'm sure I'll think of more, but that will be in another post. For now, I'll just go to bed and dream about a yelling "cowabunga" had a local surfer dude during my next sesh.

*photo above taken at the 43rd street lifeguard station last week. It will probably be moved out soon when the beach patrol quits staffing lifeguards for the winter months. I don't remember that happening last year or the year before, but Brian says it will. Ummm...I'll be curious to see when it does.