Reconnecting with Roxanne

Friday waves were a little
disorganized, but at least we
had enough wind for them.

What a spectacular weekend! I had the opportunity to participate in all of my sports. The Gulf is still pretty flat, but, on Friday, rumor had it there were a few waves. Actually, the "surf dude" called me early on Friday and said that the waves were not bad, verifying the rumor as fact. Of course, by the time I made it down at around 2:15 p.m., the wind had shifted and it was kind of mess. But, hey, I can't complain: WE STILL HAD SURFABLE WAVES! I loaded Roxanne as soon as I got home from work and headed to the island. I drove down the Seawall looking for the best spot, and the waves were better around 36th Street, but because of summer crowds, there was no place to park. So, I drove back to 45th.

I paddled out in the rip current and immediately caught a wave. My timing was good and the ride was spectacular. Of course, I struggled after that. The waves were small and weak AND a little jumbled, so reading which waves to go for was difficult. The "dude" came out to surf with me about 3 p.m., and he made it look easy. It had been a little over two weeks since I had been out, and although that doesn't seem like a long time, when a person is still figuring out the intricacies of a new sport and on a new board, practices means everything. The "dude" caught three waves to my every one. At one point, he said that I wasn't paddling for waves soon enough. I know he's right. I almost always wait a little too late. Part of the problem on Friday was that a few of the times I paddled for a wave, the wave would fizzle out before it made it to me, leaving me worn out and deflated. So, I would wait until I could tell that the wave would make it almost all the way to me, which is way too late. I saw B lose waves, but I could also tell that he had a sixth sense about which waves would stay together until they made it to him. I caught several more waves, but missed several too. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I know I still need to practice; in particular, I'm still looking down rather than out when I surf. I HATE THAT! Also, about every third ride I have an awkward pop-up that leaves me feeling like a bird with peg legs struggling to find my balance. I'm able to salvage the ride, but I hate that it happens. I'm very successful turning my board to the left because I'm a goofy-foot, but I also need to practice going right. Oh, there's just so much for me to learn and practice! I hate it that this summer has been so flat.

I heard the waves returned briefly on Saturday, but Saturday is my run/ride day. And, since I have a half marathon coming up soon, I need the cardio. I was hoping to surf again today (Sunday), but it was too flat. In fact, B had to cancel his lessons. The forecast is dismal for the rest of the week, but I'm hoping that changes soon.

Books! I'm looking for a new surfing book to read. The hardest part about choosing surfing books is making sure that you choose one that actually shares valuable information and isn't just a lame story. One of the best I read so far was "The Wave" by Susan Casey, which I read about two years ago. I haven't found another really good one since. But, who knows... I'll just keep looking.  I'll have a little bit of time to do just that. I've been spending a lot of the evening hours watching the Tour de France. It finished today (a Brit won!), so I'll have some spare evening time once again.