Surf lingo and more

Since I decided to make a trip to Louisiana this weekend, I knew my surfing time was limited. I wouldn't have time to surf on Friday, and I knew I wouldn't be home in time on Sunday morning to meet up with the usual gang. So, when I made it home from my trip today, I made my way down to the 43rd street jetty alone. And, I sure was alone. I made it down about 3:30. The waves were rough and small, but manageable. A couple of people were playing the water near the shore, and only one other surfer was out. I, basically, had a large portion of the beach to myself. I could practice all I wanted. I took the rip out on my first trip to the outside. I was quickly pulled in and caught the first wave I went for, which was definitely on the inside. I decided that pushing my way through the rough rip wasn't any easier than just making my way out in the middle. And, that's what I did for the rest of the afternoon. I caught mostly whitewater, which was okay since the small waves allowed me to practice my pop-up, stance and turns. I'm not sure I improved any, but I sure had fun playing. I stayed about an hour and outlasted everyone at the beach except for the lifeguard. It was as if I had my own surf spot, and it was a great way to end the weekend. And helped me sort out some of the thoughts I was having about a particular situation.

Lately, I've been thinking about some of the surf lingo I hear or read. I'll either hear someone on the beach use the term or read it in something about surfing. Part of me wants to use the term(s) myself so that I can sound like a surfer; however, I feel silly doing it. Not sure what I will do about that. For now, though, here are a few of the terms I will concentrate on either using correctly or not using at all.

1.) Dude -- I've decided that I will only use this term with the king surf DUDE Brian. I never used the word before I started surfing. I would hear others use it and even see it written sometimes, but it never felt "right" coming from my mouth. Lately, I've been slipping it more often into my vocabulary, but it still leaves a funny taste unless I'm talking about Brian. So, I will probably only use it with him.

2.) Sesh -- One of the websites I frequent is Billy Blues' G-Town Surf site (http://www.g-townsurf.com), which not only provides a webcam of the 43rd street jetty, but also gives Billy's forecast on what is to come wave-wise and offers a daily array of pictures from the beach. He often speaks of the day's surf sesh, which is an abbreviation of session. I've heard a couple of other people use it, and I've seen it in print when speaking of a specific time on the beach. However, I just can't use it. It doesn't roll off my tongue. I want to use it, but when I do I finish the word: "Sesh...ion." The "ion" part just comes out. Maybe one of these days...

3.) Cowabunga -- This term is an odd one. I never even realized it was a surfing term. I remember it from approximately 20 years ago when my then young nephews were watching the Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles cartoon. One of the turtles always used the term "Cowabunga." However, for the past four years, DUDE Brian has been using that term to talk about waves or a particular ride or even one of his lessons. I just looked it up in the online urban dictionary and found a listing for it that stated it was a surfing term from the '60s. Go figure. I don't think I'll ever use it, but it makes me smile when I hear others say it.

Those are the only three that have been bothering me lately. I'm sure I'll think of more, but that will be in another post. For now, I'll just go to bed and dream about a yelling "cowabunga" had a local surfer dude during my next sesh.

*photo above taken at the 43rd street lifeguard station last week. It will probably be moved out soon when the beach patrol quits staffing lifeguards for the winter months. I don't remember that happening last year or the year before, but Brian says it will. Ummm...I'll be curious to see when it does.

Pretty little waves in October

Lately, the 43rd street jetty has either provided choppy waves or no waves at all. Forecasts predicted the latter for today, so I was ready to either use a SUP or just sit on the beach. I was planning to go down because Brian had specifically requested that Robin and I come down to pose in photos for a possible new ad; a winter ad that would show us in wetsuits. Robin suggest we shoot early so that the sun wouldn't be quite as harsh, so at 7:30 this morning, I found myself at my Sunday morning surf spot with Robin, Brian and Neil...the usual Sunday crew.  Neil came early to help take photos and, also, to surf. We all were ready to get in the water since we could see nice, little, surfable waves waiting for us. And, we were ready for them.

We went to the west side of the jetty. The waves looked a little more organized on that side. And, they were. All four of us went out, and we all caught waves and SURFED! I can't speak for the others, but I had a blast. I'm pretty sure they had fun too. I practiced paddling out, but realized that on days like this, it was always easy to do. It's on the rougher days when I'm trying to use my 8'1" that I struggle to get out. AARGH! This should be getting easier. Days like today make it seem like it is. I caught just about every wave I tried to catch. I practiced turning and riding the wave down the line. I even took a few steps and walked on the moving board. I experienced one small hiccup, however, when I tried to use Neil's board. I slid all over the place. I pearled and slipped. Neil's board is pretty, but instead of using wax, he uses some spray on substance for grip. I find it difficult to use. Of course, part of the problem could have been that it was at the end of three hours of surfing. All in all, though, it was a great day. I got in a good workout surfing.

I've added a photo of the waves.  Note: The surfers in this photo are not me since I'm the one taking the photos.

Thursday night surf, but no good weekend waves

Since Thursday was surfer dude Brian's birthday, surfergal Robin and I decided to surf on Thursday afternoon and then take Brian and his main "dudette" out for supper. The evening was a blast despite the crappy waves. Of course, at least we had waves! Brian had warned us that the surf was really rough, but we decided to head down anyway. Once there, I understood exactly what he was talking about since high winds and a strong current made conditions difficult to manage. Several surfers were out. In fact, so many surfers descended on the 43rd street pier after Billy's G-townsurf.com's recommendation to surf despite strong currents that we decided to find another place to surf. We hopped in Brian's surfmobile and moved to the 39th street pier. Although a few surfers were already out there too, we chose to stay. I didn't feel like fighting to get to the outside (IT WAS SOOOOOO ROUGH), so I opted for whitewater waves on the inside close to the jetty. I struggled some, but I also had some good, although short, rides and managed to practice turning the board. Robin took a few pictures, and I was happy when I saw them since she caught me in the start of a pop-up. I finally saw that my pop-up was done properly. In the pic, you can clearly see that I have air between my knees and the board!!! I'm not sure I get it right every time, but it was refreshing to see it this time. Unfortunately, I still need to work on where I'm looking. I should be looking out in the direction I want my board to take but, instead, I'm looking down at the board.

I was ready to go surfing again on Friday, but Brian warned that the conditions were as bad, if not worse than Thursday, so I opted not to go down, thinking that I would go to G-town Sunday/today after my race. However, heavy rain and lightening squelched that idea. I'll just have to go next weekend.

On another note, I did get to run my race during a brief reprieve of heavy rain this morning. I decided to participate in the USA 10-mile race this week, and I'm glad I did. I haven't really found proof in writing yet, but I can't help but believe that strengthening my cardiovascular system through running and cycling will boost my surfing and, in particular, my paddling. I meant to look it up on some surfing sites, but haven't yet. But, how could it hurt? I had a great run. I finished in approximately 1:28 with an 8:54 pace (I think...I'm relying on my memory and the results haven't been posted yet, AND I forgot my Garmin this morning.) I believe I placed 13 in my age group out of 32 or 33 other runners in the category. I was pleased. I don't run often, and I haven't run more than seven miles since the end of July, so this 10-miler was nice addition to my weekly running schedule.