A day off is much better than an off day! So goes the classic greeting card saying. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I've been dying to get back into the water since last Sunday. I have a couple of good "rides," and the next thing I know, it's time to get out of the water and wait until the next week. Of course, by the time this past Friday rolled around, it was flat. I think I've shared my theory already about why it is so flat this summer. In case I happen to come back and try to read this again, I'll go ahead and re-post my theory: I think that for the past four years, I've just been incredibly lucky with the waves. And, I think the reason I've been so lucky is because of El Nino. For the past few years, we've been an El Nino "dry" pattern. The waves have been strong out of the south all summer, which gave us choppy, crazy waves, but waves nonetheless. However, this year, we've had a little more rain, and it's not quite as hot. They say we are experiencing drought conditions, but I think the rain has come fairly regularly this year. I know it's not as bad as it has been for the last four or so years. (My theory may be hogwash. Haven't researched it much, just jumping to conclusions based on what I see.) And, this year, the waves have been very inconsistent...especially on the weekend. Also, this year, when we have had waves, they've been clean, consistent sets because of a strange north wind. This weekend was a fine example.
As I stated earlier, Friday was flat. However, by Saturday, the webcam showed waves building, and
 |
Strange, north winds this summer
are good for the waves.
A pic from Sunday. |
when I drove to G-town on Saturday night for a birthday dinner, the waves were nice. I wished I would have had my board with me for sure! I was hoping that they would hold out until Sunday. And they did...sort of. The nice sets were there, but they were fewer an farther between. I made my way to the island early, unloaded Roxanne and hopped in the water. I caught a wave right away and worked it down the beach. I felt proud. I caught a few more, but, for the most part, I just paddled and missed. The waves were not very strong, so only a few were surfable. Those that were "strong" enough, provided wonderful rides. But, figuring out which ones were strong enough was a chore for me. I paddled and paddled. One of the other surfers suggested that my paddling was too shallow and that more of my hand needed to go in the water. The interesting thing about that was that he wasn't catching any more than me. Of course, I believe that I was shallow with my paddling. I decided then and there that I would return on Monday if there were waves.
I had planned a day of vacation for Monday based on surf reports early last week that we would have waves because of a tropical system moving into the Gulf. By late Sunday, the forecast wasn't nearly as hopeful. And, by this morning, I thought it looked quite flat. My surf report confirmed what I was seeing on the webcam. So, I decided to go on a bike ride. By the time it was over, I had a text message that it had improved quite a bit. I loaded up Roxanne and headed down. The waves were smaller than they had been on Sunday, but if patient, a nice little set would roll in. Like Sunday, I caught a wave right off the bat. However, I had to wait a little while for another set. I practiced my paddling. I dug deep, and it seemed to pay off a couple of times. I received some more advice from another surfer. He said that I needed to look behind me on days like today so that I could see how the wave was closing out. I think he told me that because, a couple of times, I couldn't quite propel myself to the next re-form to keep riding the waves. I felt like I was doing as well as some of the others who were out, but I think this particular surfer just thought I could have gotten a longer ride if I had "swung" the board a little to the left to catch the remainder of the wave. Like the paddling advice, I will definitely do as he suggested. I have a tendency to look down or straight in front of me; I need to practice looking elsewhere. I'm hoping to get to "practice" it some more next Friday!
