I was anxious to get back to my home break and transfer some of my Pacific waves skills to the G-town waves. HAHAHAHA. I really just wanted to get back out in the water and practice. One of the things I realized while in Nicaragua is that I had a long way to go. Some people pick things up quickly, but I need a lot of practice in all of my sports. One of the things that I realized from looking at my pics is that I need to practice on my pop-up STILL. I explained it to my G-town Surf Dude Brian and he asked me to show it to him. I did it on the beach PERFECTLY. However, I'm not sure I always translate this perfection on the board in the waves. But, I had a chance to try it out on Friday.
 |
| Friday waves |
Dude said that the waves were nice when he called me at noon. So, I loaded up my 9' Softop "Iris" (one of the Nica Chica gals told me I needed to stick with one size until I really get my surf skills perfected) and headed down. I'm sure glad I did. I had a ball. I had to wait awhile for my waves, but when the sets came in, they were beautiful. They weren't huge, but they were well formed. I pearled once. And, it happened to be while the dude was watching, which isn't always a good thing and caused him to say things like "WOW, I haven't seen you pearl in a long time..." But, he's wrong. I have pearled. He just doesn't see it. I was in the wrong position for that wave and knew it was coming. However, once I had that out of the way, I caught just about everything else I paddled for. I had a ball! We moved from the west side of the jetty when it got crowded (and, gosh, it got crowded once people got off of work) to the east side. I was able to catch waves on both sides. Brian said I looked good except that I needed to stand up straighter. Good call! I definitely need to do that. I think I'm actually trying to mimic big wave surfers by bending at the waist and knees. It looks ridiculous in three foot waves. I'm so glad I went to surf that day!
My other regularly scheduled day is Sunday (today). So, I loaded up and headed down. The dude wanted to introduce me to a yoga instructor who is going to start offering classes in conjunction with the dude's surf classes. I'm sure it will be successful. Many people have expressed interest in taking yoga, so I think it will be a good thing for surfers and the dude's surf lessons. I'm anxious to see how it goes. The surf today, though, was nonexistent. The dude insisted that I (and my friend and surfer R) go paddle-boarding with him. I'm glad I did. It was so much fun! First of all, it was an absolutely beautiful day. Secondly, several others were out paddle-boarding, but it still felt like we had the entire Gulf to ourselves. I tried to catch a small wave in, but fell off. One of the other paddle-boarders out was successfully catching the waves. I tried to copy him, but did not do a very good job of it. I didn't transfer my weight enough and was knocked off the minute the wave caught me from behind. Oh well! I'll try again next time it is flat.
I topped off my surf session with a great lunch on the Strand, a relaxing ride on the Ferry, a cold beverage at The Tremont and an evening six-mile run. Sundays do not get much better than this!
