Walking the red carpet with sand between your toes

Okay, so I don't have red carpet anywhere except on TV while I'm watching the Oscars. I don't have much carpet in my house at all actually. However, sometimes, I walk on the little carpeted mat I have at my front door and worry about all the sand. On my Pergo floors, I can sweep the sand up easily, but in the carpeted rooms or on the mat, the sand gets embedded. It also permeates the nooks and crannies of my vehicle, even though my all-purpose car doesn't have carpet. It's hard to get out too. Everywhere I look, I see sand. Since I bring my boards into the house, I always have a little sand in the corner of my dining room. I'm willing to put up with the sand though, just so I can surf. I'm starting to appreciate the way the sand feels on my bare feet. It's the grainy carpet I must walk on to surf.

This time of year the waves are "iffy." Because the wind shifts constantly, the waves form, get blown flat, re-form, then another Norther comes in and flattens them again. So, it's hard to tell whether there will be waves or not on the days that I can surf. Last week, my waves were on Thursday. This week, thankfully, the waves were on Sunday. Well, the waves weren't fantastic, but they were just enough to surf. The small waves started peaking through the flat water on Saturday night, but at that time, it was hard to tell when they would be surf-able. I received a call from the surf dude this morning. He said that he was looking at the waves, but he wasn't sure that they were good enough for me to drive all the way into town. He said he would call back later. So, I did a quick 6-mile run and came back and waited for the phone to ring. And, it did. Because the waves were still small, I took my 9'6" "Petal," even though I really wanted to take my 8'1".  The longer the board, the better, for the small waves.

As it turned out, I was very glad I had the 9'6". The waves were quite irregular. It was hard to tell where the wave would actually break. I saw pictures of some experienced surfers catching the rough waves close to the jetty. They made it look easy, but I immediately knew that I would probably struggle because of how rough the water looked. However, once I took the "rip current" out on the west side of the jetty, I felt a little better. The current was strong and pushing everything west, which meant that once I paddled to the end of the jetty in the rip, I was immediately pushed right. By the time I sat up on my board to watch the direction of the waves, I was already halfway down the beach. Several surf lessons were taking place closer to shore, so I knew I had to be careful if the waves also pushed me in. I easily caught the first wave coming my direction and what a ride! I felt a slight drop and managed to turn sideways in the wave. The wave fizzled quite fast, but, still, the ride was enjoyable. I immediately got back down on my board and attempted to paddle back out, which was quite difficult without the help of the rip current. I managed to get part of the way back out, turn the board and catch the second wave coming my way for the day. I had another incredible ride. After that second ride, though, I had to make my way back to shore and walk back to the jetty and the rip current. I only spent a little more than an hour or so out in the water before my feet got cold (still had to wear a 5-4 suit) and, clearly, my best two rides were the first two, but I still had a fabulous day with several nice rides. I love surfing!

As I was driving down the seawall, I snapped a shot of the new pleasure pier. I only saw a couple of surfers there, probably because the waves were better around the jetties. I'm not sure how the "new" pleasure pier (formerly the popular Flagship in whose pool I first learned to swim) will affect surfing at that popular spot. We'll see.

One Thursday night in February...

Thank goodness for this past Thursday and a strange weather pattern that allowed for waves to form and last most of the day. I sent a couple of emails to my G-town contacts and found out that, yes, the waves were hanging on. One of the most fortunate attributes of my job is fitness release time. As a state employee, I'm allowed to take three hours a week to stay fit; but only if I can get my work completed. It's an innovative program offered by the state of Texas with those in power believing that if someone is fit, they are less likely to call in sick, which costs the state money. I rarely use all three hours simply because I often feel like I have MORE than 40 hours worth of work to do and I don't want to have to stay late or work over just to complete what I could have finished if I had only stayed at the office. However, many times I will take an hour or two during the work day to either run, cycle and/or surf. Thursday was one of those days. 

At about 3:30 that afternoon, I ran home (as fast I could passing through school zones during the after-school hour), loaded my 9' Softop "Iris," put on my bikini, grabbed a wetsuit and headed down. (Speaking of wetsuits, I really wanted to take just my 3-2, but got worried that I would be cold and took, and ultimately used, my 5-4.) I met one of my G-town surfing buds and went out in the rip on the east side of the jetty. Only two other surfers were out, although I heard that quite a few were taking advantage of the mid-week waves earlier in the day. I struggled catching the waves. I felt like they didn't quite have the force that I need. One of the guys already in the water caught a couple with little effort, but I paddled and paddled and the waves I chose would either diminish or close out. I'm sure a good deal had to do with my lack of skill, but some of it also had to do with timing and not being in the right place. I eventually, with the guidance of my surf buddy, decided to go to the west side of the jetty where the waves looked more consistent. I think, all in all, I caught four waves, which was okay for me. (At the end of the evening, I caught a couple of more in the whitewater only because my feet were getting cold, it was getting dark, and I was desperate to play a little more with my positioning.)  I really wanted to practice my pop-up since I only recently discovered that I might be putting my hands too close to my shoulder rather than a little above my waist, closer to my center of gravity. My Thursday night session gave me the opportunity to try different positions for my hands. I've been thinking a lot about where my hands go lately. In fact, the other day at the gym, I got into a demonstration/conversation with one of my spin class buddies who also surfs. He's a stronger cyclist than me and, I'm sure, a better surfer. I asked him to show me his pop-up and then showed him mine, which was a good one at that particular moment. We talked a little about where my hands should go, and I left feeling a little more positive about the pop-up. I've since practiced more at home, and I can't wait to get back out in the water whenever that shall be. While some choppy waves might return as early as Tuesday, strong, clean waves may not be back until sometime on Friday when a cold front passes through.

On another note, I'm already thinking about ways to get back to the California waves. I registered for The OC (half) Marathon in May. Not sure if I will actually go or not, but I like having the possibility of going luring me through some busy months leading up to May. It's not that I won't have some good surf sessions before that since I will be going to Nicaragua again soon, but I like the hint of California for pre-summer fun hanging in my future. I won't know for sure until April, but for now, I will be "California dreamin'."

Possible new surf venues and some new pics

A Mardi Gras crowd and strong, north winds made this weekend a flop for G-town surf. Although it looked on the surf reports that it might be a good weekend for waves, it didn't really develop until today (Sunday). My "live" surf report from surf dude differed slightly from what I saw on the webcam. He suggested that there might have been small but surfable waves on Saturday, but I only saw small ripples on the cam. I could see some waves starting to build, but nothing worth getting wet for, especially when it requires a 5-4 wetsuit and at least 15 minutes of bone-tingling cold when stepping out of the wetsuit. I really hate getting out of a wetsuit when the air temps are below 45 degrees. It's just not fun. I'm not sure how the California surfers can accept having to wear wetsuits all year. Granted, they don't have to get out of them in cold air temps, but the hassle of having to wear them all the time must get tiring. But, then again, they have good waves all year. They rarely have to sit out a weekend because it is flat.

Surfside exploration drive

Since Mardi Gras festivities are in full swing this weekend and the next, larger than usual crowds are parked all over. Campers and RVs line the seawall. Surf dude said campers had grills out and picnic tables set up for their dining purposes. I remember seeing that during Mardi Gras the last couple of years. It makes parking at the 43rd street pier more difficult. However, both years I was able to park on the other side of the street, with the only difficult part being carrying the board across a very busy Seawall Boulevard. I have managed it though, and I am pretty sure I can manage it again this year. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that next weekend we have some waves. I just looked at the Surfline report and it's not looking good, with a norther scheduled to cross the coast late on Thursday and still blowing through strong on Friday. Next Sunday's report hasn't been posted yet.

A bathing suit from Buc-ee's?

Today, I decided to investigate a possible alternate local surf spot. Most of the surfers in this area have at one time or another surfed at Surfside near Freeport (see photo above). It's been ages since I've been down there and I've never surfed it, but I wanted to check it out and thought a Sunday afternoon would be the perfect time to do just that.(Funny note: The Buc-ee's convenient store near Surfside was having a bathing suit sale, which tickled me. I can't imagine telling someone I got my suit at Buc-ee's.) I timed the drive out and it took approximately an hour and ten minutes. It usually only takes about 30 minutes, or less than half of the time of today's drive, to get to the 43rd Street jetty. However, I think it would be fun to try Surfside and to possibly include it as a surf destination at least once or twice a month. I texted with my surf pal A., and she said that she would be willing to try it out with me. Who knows? Maybe next weekend, if there are waves, I will include a surf excursion in my surfing schedule.