Taking life one wave at a time

Will I ever get better? I'm sure I will and I'm sure I have since first beginning my surfing journey three years ago, but some days I just feel discouraged. I had an awesome weekend. I surfed three days in a row. However, the one thing that could have made it better is if I had caught more waves. Some of the reasons I didn't catch waves had to do with the inconsistent waves. But the major reason had to do with my inability to properly read the waves. On all three days other surfers around me caught waves. Some didn't or couldn't, but a couple of them made it look easy.

Me with Bryan's cool RA Board!

On Friday, I went down to surf at my usual time. I was excited to see that Dude Brian brought surfer Bryan's board for me to try. Bryan has a 9' Robert August board that he was lending to Brian for me and my surfing pal Robin to try. Bryan was there and explained that it was an old board that had several nicks that had been patched. He also said that it was a little heavier than many boards and that it had three stringers. Sure enough! The stringers were visible. I'm always a little hesitant at first to use a strange board, but it's always fun to try something new. I had a ball on it. If I could read the waves better, I'm sure I would have had more fun. But even though I missed a lot of waves, I still had fun on the ones I caught. I think I surfed approximately four or five waves, but only one or two did I catch before it was whitewater. When the waves are so inconsistent, it is soooo hard for me to know the difference between the ones that will truly form and those that won't actually break.

Saturday's flatness

Saturday wave-catching came after my 57-mile bike ride. I certainly remembered why I loved living in Texas on Saturday. The sun was out and the temps were in the mid-70s. The water temp is still at 55 degrees though, which means that surfers are forced to wear a 5-4 wetsuit. At least, I was forced to wear one. Because the air temp was so pleasant, I opted out of wearing booties, although several of the other surfers out with me that day were wearing not only booties, but also hoods. Not sure why they had it all on since I didn't have an issue. My 5-4 keeps me nice and toasty. I took my 9' Softop because I knew I needed the length, but didn't want to take my 9'6". I had fun, but only caught about three or four waves. As usual, I was about 30 minutes too late. B and R agreed that the waves had been a little better earlier. However, there were still a few waves left.  I made the most of them. Again, I probably only caught one on the outside, but I had a couple of cool rides and managed to turn the board. I also had a couple of wipeouts. At one point, I was trying to catch a wave with my eyes closed. I thought this might help me train my eyes to look out instead of down. However, with my eyes closed, I pearled. Not sure why. I definitely need to figure out a way to force myself to look out instead of down. It seems that looking down is my natural pose. Oh no!!

By Sunday, the report from the surf dude was that there were still some surfable waves. The tide was out early in the morning, but by mid-day, it would probably be pretty nice. Ummm...I decided to go down again. This would be my third day in a row to surf, which is something that I haven't done in a very long time.  I paddled out and caught the first wave I attempted to catch, but it was downhill from there. I caught a few, but mostly they were in the whitewater. I took "Sunshine," my 8'1" McTavish. I spoke with another surfer who was out and he suggested that had I been surfing a thicker and longer board, I would catch more waves. I'm not sure. I caught a few, but I felt like my biggest problem today (in addition to looking down instead of out)  was not knowing which waves to attempt to surf. Again, it was hard to tell which waves were actually going to form and which ones were going to closeout. The other surfer that was out seemed to be doing just fine. He missed a few, but he caught several that I wouldn't have even thought were catchable. I watched in awe. I'm sure surfer dude Brian would have caught every wave. He, T and a couple of the other guys make it look easy. All in all, I had a ball. But, I sure wish I was a better surfer. I guess it will all come together one of these days. The key to my success right now is not to give up, and to always believe that I can do better tomorrow.

Surfing, alone among sports, generates laughter at its very suggestion, and this is because it turns not a skill into an art, but an inexplicable and useless urge into a vital way of life. (surfer/writer Matt Warshaw)

Out with the old, in with the new

Time flies! Seems like only yesterday, I was writing about a new year of surfing and, yet, here I am again looking forward to future waves. I was trying to tweet some resolutions last night, but struggled. It's not that I don't think I need changing, it's that I realize I have sooooo much to change. That goes for surfing too. After my trip to Costa Rica in November, I wrote about a change I needed to make in my pop-up. I'm still working on incorporating that change into my surfing sessions in Galveston. And, because the waves are so "iffy" this time of year, it's hard to surf enough to make major changes to form and to incorporate them into my surfing. The major move has to do with me bringing my hands nearer to my center of gravity to assist me in pushing up instead of leaving them on the rails lined up with my shoulders. I'm sure this small difference will help tremendously once I practice it enough.

I thought I would have time to practice it this past week, but I was wrong. Since I get the week off between Christmas and New Year's, I try to do as much as I can. Last year, I took a short trip to Louisiana and still managed to make it back in time to surf a couple of times. We had small, but surf-able waves last year. This year was a different story. I didn't take a trip and, although I had big plans for myself that included organizing part of my house, cycling and surfing, I ended up spending time in bed with a stomach virus. I was only sick for a about two-and-a-half days, but it was smack-dab in the middle of the week, which sort of ruined my plans. I didn't really miss much surfing since it was so flat, but I also didn't feel like cleaning or cycling. By Friday, I was much better and managed to get in a 9.3-mile run, and, thankfully, a little surfing. My first surfing report early that morning was that the waves were building, but not quite surf-able. By the time I finished my run at 10:15, my messages included two from different people who said to get to G-town fast 'cause they weren't sure how long the waves would last. I made it down by about 11:15 a.m. They were weak and mushy, but still ride-able. Of course, the joke always is that if only I had been there 30 minutes earlier... Only this time, it was no joke. Apparently the waves had been a little better before I got there. I still managed to get in an hour of surf time, which included about four short rides. The problem with the waves were that they were hard to read. They were closing out fast so that when I finally could catch one, the ride was only about three seconds. Toward the end of the hour, I was definitely having to catch them on the inside close to the jetty and to the shore. And, on top of everything else, the water was cold!! Fortunately the air temperature was not. It doesn't help much, though, when I have to struggle into and out of the 5-4, which is so thick that it makes movement difficult. Sometimes, I even have to ask for help to get out of it when I wear it. On my first paddle out, I got caught trying to move out past the end of the jetty and tumbled over, bumping my chin on the board and hitting my upper thigh on the fin as I tumbled off. I didn't realize it until later that my chin was actually cut and bleeding. It's probably a good thing I didn't know, though, since I would have wanted to stop to doctor it. This way, I just kept surfing until the waves didn't want me in them any longer, which was about an hour and 20 minutes later.

All in all, Friday was a great day even though I wished the waves would have held out a little longer. I ran and I surfed! The gang was out on the beach also including Surf Dude Brian, N, R and my friend S who happened to be in town. (I texted her on my way to Galveston to see if she was around. She was visiting her family.) I even got an afternoon giggle. As I was leaving the beach, I happened to see a person dressed as a panda bear walking on the Seawall. I had my camera and while I was sitting at a red light, I was able to snap a picture. Who couldn't smile if they saw a panda bear walking down the street?

Christmas and a cute 'surf' present

I received an email this evening from a surf friend who said that he had been surfing today and that the waves were wonderful. It wasn't just sent to me. The message was sent to several of the surfers who usually hang out in G-town near the 43rd Street jetty. I'm not sure about the motivation behind the email other than to just let us know that he was having fun on this special holiday. He had great waves and the beach to himself. It's Christmas, and I'm sure that most, if not all, in the "to" field had other non-surf commitments related to the holiday. I did. I don't even remember having looked at the webcam on the G-townsurf site, but I can't imagine skipping it either since it is a daily ritual. So, I'm sure I must have looked at it and missed the "fabulousness" of the waves. That happens sometimes. What doesn't necessarily look good on the cam, can look pretty awesome sometimes when standing on the beach. I'm actually glad my friend got to surf, and was also thrilled to hear that on this special holiday, he was able to do what he loves to do and relax. A sharp, north wind, drizzle and gray skies made the day definitely feel like winter, and might have actually kept me from attempting to go surfing even if it hadn't been a holiday. If I had decided to go surfing, I would have been miserably cold; and, I would have had to wear my 5-4, which would have kept me warm for a little while, but not warm enough. Being miserably cold doesn't ALWAYS deter me from wanting to surf, but it might have today. Sometimes, I just feel like I have to get in the water; especially when I haven't surfed in a while. It's only been a little over a week now since I got to surf, and I am missing it, but not enough to leave my family gathering, get into a thick wetsuit and surf in the winter weather. Luckily, I have the week off. I am hoping for waves tomorrow, but the forecast is not looking good for tomorrow or any other day this week. Too bad. Sure wish I could pack up and go surf some place warm this week!  Ummmm....maybe it's something to think about and plan for next year.

Family gatherings are wonderful. Today was no different, except for a little family drama. We successfully struggled through the drama though and, all in all, had a fabulous Christmas celebration. Gifts were exchanged and games were played. We ate and laughed. I was pleasantly surprised by a little gift from my sister. (We siblings aren't supposed to exchange gifts.) Picture attached. This cute little board with a magnet will be great for a photo or even a note. She had noticed a photo of a Robert August surfboard in my vacation photos and had decided to decorate my board (she made one for all of the women in the family and included special designs that reflected our interests) with a miniature picture of the RA board. It was an incredibly thoughtful gift and one that I will cherish always. Now, I just have to decide where to put it so that I can see it often.

Merry Christmas!