I skipped posting last week partially because I was busy and partially because I didn't get to surf last weekend. However, I had gotten to surf during the week, including a fabulous Tuesday night session with incredible waves. I'm back in a strange pattern with the waves. When the waves are around, I can't go; and, when I can go, there are no waves. According to my surfing buddy, the waves were good this past Friday morning. However, by the time I got off at noon, they were weak and messy. I didn't care. I decided to load up Roxanne and take her down. Surf dude didn't like the looks of 43rd because so many surfers were out at that jetty. (The webcam makes 43rd a popular place, and, for some reason, the waves are the best there.) He suggested we go down to Flagship, which used to be the most popular surf spot on the island before the Galveston Island History Pleasure Pier opened up with games and rides. I thought the waves looked weak there, but I was willing to give it a try. I only caught a couple of waves, while a couple of the more experienced guys caught wave after wave. The break was unusually quiet though; possibly because the waves were better at 43rd and the parking is so difficult at 25th because of the Pleasure Pier. After the first 45 minutes, I was ready to leave, but it wasn't until surf dude saw a 6' shark that we got out of the water. He paddled up to me and said, "Get out of the water, now." I thought he was joking, but when he looked at me and said it again, I knew it was time to get out of the water. By that time, he and I were the only ones out there, but he warned the lifeguards anyway just so that they could warn any other swimmers or surfers who wanted to paddle out on the east side of the 26th St. jetty. We ended up at 51st Street, where I had a ball with only a couple of other surfers out. The waves weren't any stronger, but they seemed a little easier for me to paddle into and to surf.
This morning (Sunday), I received a text early that the waves were good. However, since I had already
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Thunderstorms moved in and cut
my Sunday surf session short |
planned a 5:30 a.m. run, I wasn't ready to head down until about 9:30. Of course, according to a couple of the guys I surf with, the waves turned to mush before I got there. I paddled out anyway and caught a couple of waves before a thunderstorm appeared, and I was forced to get out of the water because of lightning. I hate it when that happens! I would have loved to surf more waves, but it didn't look as though it would let up any time soon. I went with a couple of the guys to a garage where the surf dude and one of his instructors mend boards. It was fun to see their place and to see T, one of the owners of the surf repair shop, hard at work mending what looked like a little board. What an artistic endeavor creating and fixing boards seem. Hmmm...
Looking at possibly taking a surf trip to Bali sometime in the spring. I really want to go, but I need to check into the safety of such a trip, especially if I have to go alone. I read the book "Eat Pray Love," but I'm not sure I will have the financial backing that the author of the book had. But, I can't wait to discover more about it.
