Surfing

This waterproof video camera is CRAZY cool!  We’ve used it quite a bit in the last month and Ted has put together a little montage of my surfing. 

It’s super melodramatic – you gotta do something to spice it up when the surfing isn’t exactly a Wow Fest – and he went for a Spike Lee thing with his entry.

The first couple of frames are from my cracked rib incident, and the rest are from the weeks that proceeded. You can see, I’m still trying to figure out where to be on the wave (as I’m riding a lot of whitewater).

When he was looking for a good song to use for the soundtrack, I think he was inspired by my Irish dancer-esque dismounts (you’ll see what I mean).  Some people think river dance when they hear this kind of music.  Ted, evidently, thinks surf video.

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.
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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 Fj and took my board down to the beach.

It was just past 7am when I got there, and the waves were cleanly shaped 2-footers, perfect now that I can catch my own waves.
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I did it!!  I FINALLY did it!!  I caught my own wave and I am BESIDE myself with glee.

The ride itself is 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 a wave – under my own paddle power – and rode it into shore.
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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.

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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.

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We’re a few days into our vacation now and this place is an absolute paradise.  We’ve been playing tennis, catching up on summer reading, and of course surfing every chance we get.

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Before breakfast, Ted’s daughter and I were going to go for a jog but we decided to check out the waves before we began our trod through the muggy morning air.  According to the surf report, not much of anything was forecasted for the entire week, but a stiff southeast wind began blowing during the night so we were hoping that would push up some waves by the next afternoon.

What we saw when we got to the top of a beach access was almost magical.  There were waves: clean, pretty, and most importantly, big enough to catch without a push from someone.  We couldn’t believe our luck!  While the run would have been good, we decided to can it in favor of grabbing our rash guards and boards. A short time later we were paddling out.
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Today we arrived at what will be our home for the next seven days: St. George Island

Ted’s family spent a week here a few years ago and they have wanted to come back ever since.  So this morning, his youngest daughter came over from Pensacola; his mom, sister, brother‑in‑law, and their girls drove over from Jacksonville; and his brother-in-law’s sister flew up from Miami.  It’s a house full of people completely stoked about the week ahead.
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Okay, so ever since I got my new board, I’ve had this weird fear of breaking it.  I believe it began after I excitedly told my ex-surfer coworker that I was the proud owner of my very own board and his response was, “Good for you; don’t break it.”

It’s just, the board is really nice, and it was a gift.  How horrible would that be to break most definitely the coolest gift I’ve ever gotten?!

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