The line-up

I didn't get to surf last weekend. Friday was flat, Saturday was busy and Sunday I left for Austin. I went to a two-and-a-half day CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) Conference. While there, I was excited to pick up a bronze award for my former co-worker Summer's story in the fall 2009 Egret magazine. But, alas, there are no waves in Austin so I didn't get to surf. I was ready for this weekend though. Although Friday was a little overcast, the south winds were causing waves to form. I took my softop board because I hadn't taken it out in a while (What a blast!). Because of it being a holiday weekend, the beach was packed. A ton of surfers were out. I went out on my own, but shortly after my first wave ride, Brian showed up and wanted me to go way on the outside with him. I had no problem with the swim out, but I felt uncomfortable in the waves, which were coming from multiple unsteady directions, so I stayed mostly on the inside, with only an occasional appearance on the outside. Brian stayed further out and had his portion of the waves to himself. The rest of us were on the outside, but not nearly as far out as Brian, who said his waves were created by a sand reef.

I'm excited that my new pop-up seems to be working for me. I am also thrilled to say that I don't get nearly as tired as I used to when paddling out. I can successfully take the rip current without getting pushed off my board or even having to fight very hard. I still have to work on timing! Although my pop-up is a good one, I'm not popping up fast enough. On Saturday, I decided to go surf instead of cycle. I knew I probably wouldn't get to surf on Sunday, so I thought, perhaps, I should surf when I could. Although Brian thought the waves were a little better on Saturday, I enjoyed Friday's waves better. The 43rd street pier saw more surfers though than I've ever seen while surfing there. At least 15-20 of us decided to surf. They were down early too. I made it down by 7:30 a.m. and the place was packed with surfers. I swam out, but immediately got intimidated by the others. I watched and listened. Several of the guys got into some altercations, with one of them yelling accusations to the other, while many just sat silently and waited their turn. One young woman surfed a couple of good waves on her short board as did a couple of the guys. However, I soon realized that I might have as much right out there as they have. They weren't that much better than me. At least their board-handling skills didn't impress me. One of the scariest things was finding out that many of them do not know the protocol on catching the waves. It definitely wasn't the same line-up I saw in Nicaragua, where everyone seemed to know the "rules" of the waves. I'm actually a little less intimidated now thinking about it than I was when I was out. I don't think I'll be as "concerned" next time in the line-up as I have been.

Another interesting thing I noticed about the people surfing this past weekend was that most of them were on short boards. I immediately lusted after their boards. I love my two boards and took them both out -- my 9' Softop and my 9'6" Senator board. (Someone actually complimented me on my Senator board; he, too, was the owner of one and had enjoyed many rides on it.) However, I would really love to give a short board a try. Of course, now I found one on sale from a local store and would love to have it. Can I justify it? I'm not consistent on the two boards I have, why would having a shorter board be any better? Oh well, we'll see.

Chica Brava 2010

I'm having a blast in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua! For the second year, I treated myself to the Chica Brava Surf Camp, and it is fantastic. Not only do we have warm weather and sunny skies, but we have great surfers sharing their expertise with us. This year, our instructors are Anna from Holland and Candace from California. Both can surf long boards or short boards, and each offer a little something that the other may not.

Although I have stood many times on the board while here, I still haven't conquered the complete surfing experience, which includes catching a wave on the outside and riding it down the line. Some may have the ability to catch them on the outside within the first year of surfing, but I haven't been able to do so yet. Maybe I should feel worse about it, but I don't. I know that when it all starts to click for me, I'll be successful. I won't give up. I'm getting really close. I just need to master the pop-up. I'm not getting up quickly enough. I watched many of the more experienced surfers today, and came away with some great techniques. One of the women in our group is from Hawaii and is very quick, fluid and smooth with her pop-up. It's what I aspire to as I surf. Oh well...only practice will help.

Today we went out on the boat, which requires us to swim into shore, then surf and, then, a couple of hours later, requires us to swim back out to the boat. We didn't have as far to go to get back to the boat as last year. And, I was able to do it rather easily. Most of the girls got tired out and opted out of the next beach, but I decided that I needed as much practice in the waves as possible and jumped back in when we got to our new destination. The waves weren't as good there, and after I wiped out a couple of times, our two instructors and our wonderful surfer from Hawaii decided that the waves were closing out. So, we just swam back out to the boat.

Pictured above are my fabulous surf instructors Anna and Candace.

Sea urchin spines and the podiatrist

My foot started swelling about two weeks ago...one month after I stepped on the sea urchin down in Mexico. It doesn't hurt badly, but it hurts just enough for me to wonder how it will do once I start surfing in Nicaragua. I finally decided I needed to see a doctor, which resulted in a visit to my primary care physician, an x-ray at the Memorial Hermann Imaging Center and a visit to a podiatrist. My doctor recommended Dr. G as my podiatrist. Amazingly, after I made the appointment, I got a text message from a friend of mine who insisted I visit her boyfriend podiatrist. As it turns out, Dr. G was her boyfriend. So I packed up my x-rays and headed to Dr. G's office. He explained that the sea urchin spine has little thorns on them. Sure enough, once we looked closely at the x-rays we could see where it had come off. He explained that it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack if he were to go in looking for it. So, the best we can do is treat it with super-strong antibiotics. I asked if he thought I'd be able to make it on my trip to Nicaragua and he said that as long as I don't feel pain in my groin muscle and that my foot was not swollen to the size of a grapefruit, I should be okay. Of course, immediately I thought my foot was bigger and the pains started shooting up to my groin muscle. :-) I started the medicine immediately, and after four days, the swelling has gone down considerably. I am, however, still having some pain. I sure hope it goes away soon. I'm on my final countdown to the big "Surf Nicaragua" dream trip. Four, three...