Ugh…I Think I Cracked a Rib – September 20, 2010

Surf Safety Tip #1:  Don’t dive off your board; fall backward instead. 

I’ve heard this again and again – diving off your board when you don’t know how deep it is can be dangerous, so don't do it.  But I just can’t seem to break that habit.  Every time I miss a wave but pop up anyway (another weird pattern I’ve developed), I find it natural to dive off.  I don’t know what it is.  Maybe it’s from summers on the swim team when I had to practice diving off the block again, and again, and again…I just can’t seem to stop.

This came to a head today when we went out after work to try our new waterproof video camera.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to film because I was having a difficult time catching waves; they just kept rolling up under me and I was left standing on my board.  After a while, this really started to agitate me and Mad Mo does not make for good pictures or video, so Ted put the camera away and grabbed his board. 

To make matters worse, the rip was preventing me from holding my position in the lineup.  You see, the way a wave breaks has almost everything to do with the bottom, and bottoms are varied because of sand bars, trenches, etc.  Therefore, certain areas of the beach are good for surfing so surfers “line up” at those spots to catch the waves.   But because rips or heavy winds are frequently in play, you have to work at constantly paddling against them so you don’t get taken down the beach.  In addition to the extra energy required to constantly paddle over, you have to be continually aware of where you are on the lineup.  If you’re just looking out at the waves, you don’t realize you’ve been drifting until you’re eight beach houses over.  At this point it's too late to paddle back, you have to go back to the beach and walk back.

I’m particularly prone to this distraction and Ted had to keep telling me to paddle over.  Finally at one point this afternoon he said with a notably forceful tone, “Maureen.  The lineup is here,” as he emphatically pointed to where he was sitting.  This of course struck a cord with me (I mean, what does it matter if I’m not catching as many waves because I’m not right on the lineup?).  So I did what any good 6-year-old would do and paddled over toward him, beyond him, and then beyond that, until I was a healthy 50 yards down the beach in the other direction.

That’ll show him…I guess.

My frustration grew as I continued having trouble getting in front of the waves and I’m pretty sure my attitude showed.  After missing the next wave, and popping up anyway, it happened.  I dove off my board and because of my triumphant paddle over to the other side of the lineup, I was now, unwittingly, over the sandbar.  So when I dove in, I must have just cleared the bottom with my arms, head, and chest, but as I began to arch back up to the surface, I crashed the bottom of my rib cage into the sandbar.  This sent a shrill of pain through my body – I guess I came down with a lot of speed – and my eyes were watering up by the time I resurfaced. 

I didn’t really know what to do.  Ted and I were, ugh…taking a breaking from talking to each other, and there were tourists on the beach probably wondering why I kept popping up on a non‑moving board only to dive off of it.  So I gingerly got back on my board and slowly paddled back out. 

Each paddle stroke caused a tinge of pain and I couldn’t take a full breath.  I sat on my board for a while pretending to be looking for waves when I was really just trying to fight the tears that were desperately wanting to break out in full stream. 

“Oh please no,” I thought, I can’t be a bad surfer and a crying surfer!  In my head I heard Tom Hanks say is his talk/yell way that we all love, “There’s no crying in surfing!”

Ted, whose board is a foot longer and that much harder to get in front of waves, wasn’t having much luck either, so he put his board up and came back out to get some video footage.   I pretended not to know he was approaching me so I could continue “looking for waves” as I tried to get myself together.  He must have been able to tell that I was caging the CryBear because he immediately asked what was wrong.

“I cracked a rib on the sandbar,” I blurted out.  Concern overtook his face and he said, “Ok, let’s go home; we can start with icing it.”  When I turned down his offer, he thought one of two things: a) she’s really tough and utterly dedicated to the sport, or b) she didn’t crack a rib. 

Once he surmised it was the latter, he kindly but patronizingly asked me, “What did we learn about diving off the board?”

He must have snapped this just after he asked that question because this is not a happy face:

Solo Session - September 2, 2010

Today was my first time out by myself – Yep, my training wheels are no more!  Ted wasn't able to go with me but the waves were too pretty to pass up, so I borrowed his SUV and took my board down to the beach.

It was just past 7 a.m. when I got there, and the waves were cleanly shaped 2-footers, perfect for honing my newly attained skill of catching my own waves.  This was my fourth surf session in a row because we’ve had a great swell for the last few days that has brought in small but consistent waves.  We even did a double session on Thursday, an hour or so in the water before work and then a few hours after.  You’d think I’d be exhausted by now (which I am) and ready for a break (but I’m not). 

Yep, it’s official; I’ve totally got surf stoke.

Swell Info's Surf Forcast

Each morning, I check the local surf report and look up the charts on http://www.swellinfo.com/.  The green, blue, and red graph that depicts both the wave height and the conditions (clean/fair/choppy) has become a daily fixture on my computer screen.  I’ve even conjured my coworkers into driving by the surf each Wednesday morning.  Ok, it’s not as bad as it sounds; it’s on our way back from a meeting we have at an office that’s just a block off the beach.  It’s not like we have to go out of our way.  Still, I think I’ve got it bad.

So back to this morning.  Paddling out by myself felt so independent, so…true surfer.  Up until now, I’ve probably looked like the girl whose learning to surf because her boyfriend does – but now, I feel more legitimate.  Granted, I’ve got beginner slung across my board each time it launches into the air after being pearled into a wave, but it’s clear this is my hobby and not just something I’m doing so I can hang out with my guy.

I was out there for almost three hours and it was quite a surf session.  After so much time in the water this week, I had full-on belly rash.  Even though I was wearing a rash guard by this point, I hadn’t for the first three sessions and the skin on my stomach was rubbed raw by the combination of surfboard wax and salt water.  So each time I had to lie down on my board, it was all I could do not to yelp.

There was one other surfer and though much more advanced than I, he was still figuring out the waves as well.  We both had our share of waves that passed us by because we couldn’t get in front of them, and likewise with the waves that led to pearls – even when we made a conscious effort to pull the nose back out of the water once we saw it going in.  It’s just that he, no more than 15 years old, had far more successes.

Still, when I got my last ride and headed in, I looked back to the kid and threw him a big wave.  He immediately reciprocated and it was like there was an unspoken respect for each other.  Even though we didn’t talk when we were in the lineup, we shared a passion that connected us. 

This passion drives us surfers to jump out of bed early before work – or, even more notable, on a Saturday, our only day off – just so we can catch a few waves before we begin the day.  It makes us willing to keep gutting it out after we’ve gotten tumbled around in the waves time and again, swallowed untold amounts of salt water, or become bleary eyed from the constant glare.  This passion for surfing even enables us to ignore our belly rashes that remind us – each and every time we jump on the board – how stupid we were not to wear a rash guard during the previous three sessions.

So...when’s the surf gonna be up again?

Soul Ride - August 28, 2010

I did it!!  I FINALLY did it!!  I caught my own wave and I am BESIDE myself with glee.  The ride itself is a bit of a blur because I was just so slap happy when it was happening.  I guess it was a good ride but the whole time I was in disbelief that I finally got in front of one – under my own paddle power – and rode it into shore.  I didn’t want to admit it but I was actually beginning to wonder if I would be forever relegated to having someone push me.  It’s cute right now having the BF help me out but at some point you have to take the training wheels off.

The timing worked out quite well because soon after this personal triumph, we had several days of surf that was big enough for me to catch on my own wave…and you better believe, we hit them every day.  Starting on Wednesday after work, Ted picked me up at the office with the boards poking out of his rear window.  Wave, after wave, after wave – we surfed our hearts out.  Of course my rides were spotty, some waves I caught, many of them I didn’t, but it was great practice. 

But honestly, the coolest thing about moving to this next step is that Ted is finally able to get back out on his board.  Up until now, he’s been mostly pushing me, so this was a great breakthrough for our surfing together. 

There’s nothing like sitting on your board, next to your partner, watching the sun dip into the water before you grab your final wave of the night.

Famous Amos - August 22, 2010

I’m famous!!  Okay, maybe not that famous, but today I made it on the surf report that a local surf shop provides through their website: http://www.mrsurfs.com/surf_report.php. 

Each day, the shop owner photographs a variety of spots along the beach so the locals know what the surf is doing.  He obviously photographs surfers when that’s an option but on days that it’s not good surf, he’ll just grab a shot or two of the beach. 

However, this morning was kind of a hybrid of the two: it was way too small for discerning surfers but, for a desperate one like me who’s lucky enough to have a boyfriend who will provide a push, it was a perfect day to get on Mr. Surf’s.  

Mr. Surf's Surf Report

I was so excited that I thought this should not only be shared with my family and close friends, but that it should also be displayed on my cube wall at work.  The same coworker who photoshopped my face on the guy with a broken board a few weeks ago decided he’d doctor up this next one with a breaching shark.  I guess it’s befitting, since Shark Week just finished up…

Duck Diving 101 - August 13, 2010

Ok.  I give.  Even a strong-willed girl like me will eventually figure out when to throw in the towel.  Maybe it's not in the cards for me to catch my own waves on this trip.  After all, I've only been surfing a month now and as I’ve been told a few times before, I may need to do a little expectation management. 

So I decided to use today’s session, the last one of the trip, to practice my duck dive.  This is the way that surfers push themselves and their boards under an oncoming wave while paddling out to the lineup.  

The duck dive is a necessity for surfing in waves that are too big to paddle up and over, and I just know this will make my getting out to the lineup significantly easier.  It’s so frustrating when I’m trying to paddle out and each oncoming wave picks me up and moves me back toward the shore.  Just as I recover from one face-smacking wave and begin making forward progress again, another one comes and I start all over again.

I did some reading online and it said to grab the nose of the board just before a wave comes and push it down at a 45-degree angle.  At the same time, push one foot down on the tail and lift the other foot up in the air, which will act as leverage to get the board down into the water.  After the wave passes overhead, allow the board to point back up so you can resurface and resume paddling immediately.  If you search images of duck dives on Google, you'll find some pretty cool shots like this one:





Seems simple enough.

Before the first wave, I get the board moving with a few quick strokes, then reach up to grab the rails (side of the board) right at the nose to push it down.  Oddly, the board barely moves. 

Let’s try this again, with a little more gusto this time.  I paddle a little harder, then really force the nose down.  Here's the result:

Now, I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure this little move isn't going to get me under 6-foot waves.

I continue to try – harder and harder I try – but I show no improvement.  Holy smokes!  How is this so hard??  I mean, my board’s not a shorty, but at 7’6”, it’s not exactly a longboard either. 

After my last attempt, I’m so frustrated I actually get off my board and try to swim to the outside, towing it behind me via the leash.  This is the most inefficient way to get to the outside, and I haven’t done it since that fateful day off the coast of Massachusetts when I had borrowed a friend’s board to “try a little something called surfing.”

When Ted saw me swimming through the waves with Greenie trailing behind me impeding any real progress, he knew I was at my wits’ end.  So he swam over and offered to push me into some waves so I could at least score a ride or two before the vacation ended.  I didn’t put up a fight this time.  I was so emotionally defeated, and the only thing that would make me feel better was a little ride, whether or not I caught it on my own.

At this point, my expectations had been efficiently curbed – if I was able to pop up and ride for even just a few feet, I’d be happy – but I guess that’s right where fate wanted me.  Since I was so focused on trying to shove an obviously too buoyant board underwater, I was unaware that the winds had been backing off that afternoon.  And without those persistent west winds, things began cleaning up.  

With the first push Ted gave me, I not only popped up quite easily, I had my first true drop in.  This is a monumental moment in a beginner surfer’s journey.  Up until now, I’ve just ridden the waves’ white water straight to the beach.  But now, for the first time, I caught the wave before it broke, dropped into position, and actually rode horizontally (or at least at an angle) down the beach a little way.  It’s this riding parallel to the beach that gives way to longer rides, and unless you can master that as a beginner surfer, there’s no advancing to the next level.

I heard Ted cheering behind me and his daughter was clapping for me near the shore.  I was thrilled; I didn’t care that I needed a push to catch the wave.  This was an achievement that I wasn’t even looking for, and as I found out today, sometimes those are the best kind.