Waves were a little difficult to catch, but that didn't stop me from trying. I caught several, and the dude B. caught twice as many, making it look easy to be a surfer. I watched and was amazed. I turned the board a couple of times, but only to the left when heading toward shore. Turning left is the natural way for a goofy-footer to turn. But because the waves in Galveston usually break left to right, I almost always turn the wrong direction. I still sometimes get long rides, but I think it might be better if the waves were breaking the other direction. I've attempted to ride the wave the other way, with my back to the wave and face to the shore, but that never lasts long. I'm not completely sure, but I think that would look funny also. Nevertheless, I had fun on Friday and had a few pretty little rides. I will definitely have to explore and practice the direction I go on the waves.
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| Dude Brian gave me the coolest gift. An original Glen Campbell album for his hit "Galveston." |
I was a little hesitant to make my usual trek to Galveston on Friday because of all the news during the past few weeks about Red tide, which was depriving the fish of oxygen and causing shorelines to be littered with the carcasses of hundreds of fish. The worst of the Red tide was occurring on the west end of Galveston and in Surfside, but my surf pal, Robin, said that she could see washed-up fish bones in the water near the 43rd St. jetty on Wednesday. By Friday, though, they must have already been washed back out in the ocean. I never saw anything. Of course, the water is quite brown in Galveston, especially when the wind is blowing out of the west like it had been, but I never felt any as I was stepping into the water either. Brian gave me a cartoon on top of my awesome birthday gift (see pic). He said he had printed it last year, but with the "Red tide" in the news lately he brought it out and gave it to me. It is a picture of two surfers and a guy on the beach says that if he were them, he wouldn't surf because of Red tide and a sewage spill. One of the surfers says to the other: "Good thing he's not us!" And the other replies, "Good surf is good surf no matter what color it is." I'm not sure I agree, but I had checked some of the environmental sites and found out that the water was safe for humans. I sure hope so!
On Sunday, I had been planning to make it down to surf early. However, a 6:30 a.m. report from Brian and a quick glance at the 43rd St. webcam, indicated that it was flat in G-town. The tide was in, and, on top of everything else, it was raining. So, I went to the gym and spin class. After spin, though, (around noon) I took a quick glance of the webcam on my phone and couldn't believe what I saw. Tons of surfers were taking advantage of some waves that had developed. I called Brian who decided he would go down and take a look at the waves. He called back from the beach a few minutes later and confirmed that the waves were, in fact, pretty. He thought it might have to do with a tropical system in the most southern section of the Gulf. However, I'm not too sure it wasn't some sort of strange North wind, which is really odd in August in south Texas. It doesn't matter. I just pretended it was a special birthday gift to wrap up my birthday week. I loaded Roxanne, drove to 36th (43rd was too crowded), made my way out and surfed. The waves were incredible, and my surf session was marvelous. Happy birthday to me!
