Worth it or not?

I sometimes wish that the weekend could be just a little longer ... more like last weekend. MLK Day was celebrated last Monday, which gave a more time to do everything I wanted to do to make the weekend complete. Waves had been nonexistent most of last weekend, so when I heard that Monday had some small, surfable waves, I loaded my 9'6" Senator board "Petal" and got down to the jetty early. I think I was there before 8 a.m. A few other surfers were in the water, but none that I knew. Surf Dude Brian made it down a little later, but I was already in the water. Getting out in the rip current was a little difficult and required patience, timing and tenacity for a beginner like me, while those more experienced like Dude, made it look easy. The waves were small and very difficult to read. I had a hard time to telling which waves were really going to form and which ones were going to collapse. I had several good rides, but, ultimately, only stayed out about two hours before calling it quits. All in all, it was a pretty good surf session even though I didn't really catch one before it broke. I noticed that the others didn't either. Occasionally, one would catch it at just the right moment, but, for the most part, they, too, were catching them after the broke, just as they became whitewater.

By Friday, I was back on my regular surf schedule. However, all the reports indicated that it was flat. And, it was! So, rather than having a fun afternoon in the waves, I used the time to clean my house. All in all, I had a successful Friday, but I would have rather been surfing. I had plans to cycle and run on Saturday morning and attend a workshop on Sunday, so I was going to have to squeeze in surfing on Saturday afternoon. And, that's exactly what I did. I experienced a rather wet and rainy 46-mile bicycle ride and a humid and warm (mid-70s)10-mile run before driving down to G-town. Although the sun was starting to peak through on the mainland, and even a little on the island, the beach was blanketed with sea fog (see photo right). Waves were rough and hard to read, but, at least, some of them were surfable. I made my way out on the 9' Softop. I chose "Goldie" since it was going to be locked in my hot car during my bike ride and run. The heat would have made the wax melt off of my other boards. Rather than having a puddle of waxy goo on my seats, I opted on the safe side. Besides, my Softop is a more sporty Softop -- a little narrower with a kick at the nose -- and offers me fun rides. Gtownsurf.com had predicted that high tide, which was at 3 p.m., would be the best time to get out, so when I got there at 2 p.m., several surfers were heading out so that they, too, could benefit from the high tide. I judged the incoming waves correctly on my first try and was able to successfully take the rip out without getting pummeled by incoming waves. I also managed to catch the first wave I went for, but it was downhill after that.  On my second attempt out, I made it only to the end of the jetty before a wave tossed me off the board. I managed to ride through the next few by straddling the board, but I was worn out by the time I made it to the outside. The current caught me however, and I was almost to the next jetty before I realized it. I stumbled into shore on a small wave. I decided to stay on the inside, but even that was difficult, and after a few more waves (I might have caught one), I decided that I might be just too worn out from the morning's activities to do any good in the washing machine.  It was time to call it a day.

After all, I always have next weekend, right?