I've been having those dreams my whole life. They never go away. And I think you nailed it... They say dreams are about your hopes or fears. It's that haunting feeling of missing surf that plagues us all to our soul. And not being able to get you suit on... does it feel like you're moving in clay? Punch a ball of clay and it doesn't make a deep dent. Poke it slowly wit your finger and it goes way deep. In my dreams the harder I try to move, the slower I get. So... what do you thing that means? I think it means... "don't try too hard. Just let it be what it is. You can't make there be waves... they come when they come."
That's a solid interpretation man. I definitely have the same problem where the more I fight and try to hurry to get out there, the harder it gets and the slower I go. It's like I'm literally chasing the swell, running around like mad to find my suit or board. I think, as East coast surfers, we fear missing that one rare, perfect day and that fear is being portrayed through our dreams. Instead of fighting it we need to embrace the fact that we can't force it, we will miss good days and we just have to accept it. We need to enjoy the days we do get to surf rather than dwell on those swells we miss.
Exactly the way it is in my dreams. I always get stuck putting my suit on or i constantly make stops before getting to the beach and then it goes dark... Good comment RobG. That's some heavy stuff.
To continue with the same theme... I have the same plight as the rest of you. I dream about surfing, but it never comes together where I actually surf in the dream. Something either gets in the way, the waves keep moving around, the sun sets, etc... I figured it was because I spend a lot of time thinking about surfing, but only get out once or twice a month (living inland and all). Interesting that some of you that - as far as I know - surf much more often have the same issue. Also, the locations are always weird - rivers, waves coming down a hill, a city street, indoors.
I have these horrid nightmares where I'm paddling in a lineup all. trying to mind my business, but everyone is staring at me, giving me these dirty looks, and eying me down with the looks to kill. i feel their tension and anger, then i look down and realize I'm on a boogyboard. thats when i wake up.
I Don't dream about surfing, just some old dude telling me where the gold is, I always wake up and forget where it is. I'm the one that should be cursed, just bought a custom 9'6".
To the guys that are having the vivid dreams. Do you get to sleep in on the reg or wake up with an alarm clock. I wake up with an alarm clock before 6 each morning and I think I'm missing the dream state I could experience if I slept in more. Anyone try lucid dreaming? Supposedly you can understand you're in a dream and take control.
That's crazy I often have a dream like that too, where there are waves where there shouldn't be but it's always such a struggle to get there and never happens. I remember specifically before Irene came I must have been stressing the river rising in the back yard and been stoked about the waves coming because in the dream I "woke up" to find a huge perfect pointbreak wave reeling off the bend in the river. The same, exact geography that is really out there. That's about 10 miles inland. The brain is crazy.
I can't believe so many people have the same dream as I do. Super perfect surf, I'm on the beach and everytime for some reason, I don't actually surf. I've been having that same dream for at least 20 years. Fustrating for sure.
It is definitely interesting to hear that this is a common dream! Its like the surfer's version of going to school in your underwear! or something along those lines.
Ditto for me with the same dream. Only in mine, it's not my suit that slows me down, in mine I can't find my boards! I'm in slow motion trying to run through my house and yard looking for my boards, then the waves are gone... This is insane, it's like a group sub-conscious
Since this has gone psychological, I'd say the surf dream of not getting the epic conditions right in front of you is pretty common among surfers. I've had discussions with people about this before. For me the dream has always been checking the cams in the morning and it looks epic, but by the time you pack up and get to the beach, the epic surf is gone, its still fun but not epic. Maybe its because the epic surf on EC is always fleeting, never wants to hang around. The other common dream, which is far less pleasant is drowning in killer surf. It's always the same sequence of going over the falls, getting held down, and the leash gets caught on something on bottom. You try to be calm and untangle it, but panic takes over. The irony is that you're only a few paddles from daylight. This always seems odd to me because with reefless beach breaks getting caught on something doesn't seem like it should be much of an issue. And for those that will say its a fear of reefs, my leash isn't always caught on a reef in the dreams, sometimes its a rocky bottom that you might find at a NE point break.
If your leash gets caught like that, wouldn't you just detach it from your leg and swim up, catch your breath, and then swim back down to untangle it? Although, in the dream i'm sure you have no control of this, but in real life I would hope you'd think of that...
obviously, in big surf you can't just "detach it" b/c there is a huge rush of water flowing over you..........that's how Sion and Foo probably died.........
I have the same dreams as well, but has anyone ever been sitting in the line up and a macking set comes.....you turn around and your board turns in cardboard or gets really flimsy???? Almost like trying to sit on an inflatable pool toy and you miss the set....sooooo frustrating. Or you see an epic lineup and conditions are perfect, you can't find your leash, your fins, wax, etc.....had one the other night. Hate it. I have also had the dreams where the waves are perfect and you go outside to catch a bomb set, the further you paddle out you end up coming to a body of land or an object and its not breaking anymore?? it seems like the waves were just rising up out of no where.....
If it's seriously big surf then i could see how you may have an issue with that. Never really know till you are in the situation, but it just seems logical to just simply grab your leg and rip the thing off and sprint to the surface, who cares about the board if it means your life, i'd rather save myself and worry about the board after, but it doesn't always happen that way like you said.
i had a dream last night that i was surfing J.O.B in the volcom pipe finals except it was maybe waist high he and i were riding our wavestorms. and then my alarm went off to wake me up to go to school.
I have had this dream several times, with my board got wet and kept folding over and I had to wait until it "dried" so that I can use it again.
No, typically in the dream you have on full winter gear including the mitts and the leash is on real tight. Its hard to grip the velcro with all the gear on even though it seems easy to rip off, but you're losing air and the conditions are rough. The more you struggle the more you panic. It's a vicious cycle kind of thing. You know what you need to do, but in the moment you can't.
"I have the same dreams as well, but has anyone ever been sitting in the line up and a macking set comes.....you turn around and your board turns in cardboard or gets really flimsy???? Almost like trying to sit on an inflatable pool toy and you miss the set....sooooo frustrating." +1, its like someone let the air out of it or something. I have all the same dreams: waves where they shouldn't be, epic surf but I can't get to the waves. weird its all the same stuff for everyone. Anyone ever been on a surf trip and come home but dreamt they're back in the place from their trip? happens to me a lot but I also never surf in them.
