Living, Loving and a New Year's Resolution

Oh my! The north wind this week has blown out all the waves. While most surf reports indicated either incredibly small or no waves at all, I still depend quite a bit on first-hand reports. I know that the north wind can flatten things, but I also know that if a slight east wind gets tangled in with the north wind an occasional knee- to thigh-high wave will be generated. Surf Dude B said that it was flat Friday and Saturday, but he thought there might be enough of a wind for a knee-high wave to have some fun on Sunday mid-day. However, I never saw that wave form while watching all the webcams. Another friend of mine who recently purchased a home in G-town told me that he thought it might be surf-able on Saturday. Since buying his home in Galveston, he has purchased an SUP. He took it out Saturday after a fast bike ride. His assessment of the waves confirmed that there might be a few, small surfable waves for me and my longboard. However, the cold air temp coupled with the cool water temp made it quite easy for me to excuse myself from a surf session for and occasional, small wave. In fact, even the "dude" said it wasn't worth a drive from the mainland on Saturday. His optimistic opinion for Sunday afternoon however didn't prove true, and I'm glad I didn't bother packing the wetsuit and the board to get down there. I must admit, though, that I'm missing the surfing BAD. I'm dying to get out even if it means I'm in a 3-2 wetsuit. Maybe one day this week, I can squeeze in some wave time, although I'm not sure how or when. Busy week ahead for sure! But, despite the lack of surf time, I'm certain it will be filled with lots of fun, family and laughter.

A huge Costa Rican wave at sunset

I'm still thinking quite a bit about my fabulous trip to Costa Rica. I'm not sure I offered enough positive information in my last post. Surfing in Costa Rica is wonderful! They almost always have waves and it's warm all of the time. Hotel Casa Cecilia's break was a great experience. Even though the waves were bigger than I had expected, I still had the opportunity to push to the outside and watch the really good surfers take advantage of those fast waves.  I wish I hadn't pulled out of all the big ones, and taken my chances at being pounded into the bottom. I'm glad I had the opportunity to surf the outstanding, fast re-forms, but I sure hope to be able to surf the really big waves some day. Or, at least some bigger waves. I've surfed chest-high waves in Galveston, but the waves in Galveston are also a little more gentle. Sometimes I think that the only way to really get better is to surf the bigger, stronger waves of the west coast every day. However, I don't have the luxury to do that. I think I mentioned the book "Kook" by Peter Heller. He was determined to surf the big waves and lived in a van on the beaches of Baja and central Mexico so that he could get experience surfing the waves every day. And, it made a big difference. Within six months, he was able to surf some bigger waves on a short board. I don't think he was ready to compete, but he was able to get some decent rides. I don't have the luxury that Heller had, so I will just have to make do with the G-town waves and an occasional trip to the Pacific. I just hope it's enough to take me to the next level of surfing...to get me to stop pulling out of the big waves and going for it! Maybe I should make it a 2013 New Year's Resolution. I think I will.