It's hard not to fear this once it happens to you on the wrong day. Like when the dream of showing up to school nekked ACTUALLY happens. You get the willies when you hear a bell after that.
I went leashless tonight. That's sans leash for you avant garde types. Ahmeen it was 1.5ft swell but no leash is liberating. Keeps you honest. In other news, it was a really good thing that grom paddled out minutes before dark with his GoPro in the bombing surf. Made about as much sense as the guy with lobster claws on when the water is still 60.
I came to the harsh realization one afternoon last winter at the age of 58 that I could not take a beating like I could in my younger, body surfing days. That was humbling and initially troubling for me to accept.
Dos, what did your wife say though when you told her to untie you and that you'd straight up had it with her BDSM antics?
We don't do that sort of thing anymore. ***** After that sobering experience last winter, I've tended to be more careful, perhaps overly so at times, about the conditions I go out in. Getting on a bit of a tangent here, but last year, I related an experience I had with my Dad back in 1980. We were body surfing off Daytona or Ormand Beach, FL. He was 50. I had been in the Navy for less than a year. It was late afternoon, the wind had picked up, and the surf had gotten choppy. He was beginning to struggle and asked that I help him get back to shore. That incident made an impact on me. Prior to that and while growing up, I saw my Dad as a big, strong, active guy. He loved the water, fishing, skin diving, sailing. He'll be 85 next month. It's tough watching your parents age. I'm 9 years older than he was then, and it's not always easy coming to the realization that one can't do (at least not as well) all the things one did while younger. The best thing you you can do for this is to stay healthy, keep fit, remain active, and don't be afraid to challenge yourself and try new things.
I don't even try to do the crazy schitt that I used to do in my 20's and 30's. My current motto: "If it's small, give me a call."
Ragdoll (or ball up and protect the head/neck if I think I'm gonna bounce off the bottom) and conserve air until the wave releases. Then follow the board to the surface. If the leash broke, find the bottom to know which way to the top. It sucks. I don't like the long hold-downs when it's DOH or bigger. I've had to hold my breath so long that I came up gagging and choking. Then you've got a second or two to gasp in some before you get freight trained by the next wave. I've come up in soup so aereated that I couldn't get my face clear to take a breath. Just a lung full of foam and no traction in that thin bubbly water. Not fun. When I'm at big wave spots like *a**o*, and I see it stacking up, I hyperventilate to get extra oxygen in the blood, in case I either get caught inside or get tossed and rolled while making the drop.
And just like that I am down one more comp leash. Head high colorados takes it's toll on my comp leash.
i charge waves the size of f350s and when i get held down i think of jesus and fried chicken and magically drift to the surface...no but honestly ball up and try to stay calm like other dude said doh hold downs can suck. we dont really get much of a hold down around the east coast though on a typical day. id be more worried about losing teeth to shore pound or trying to do a air and getting hit in the nuts.
yea I know other spots outside of the eastcoast beach breaks u will have to climb ur leash,but in nj its usually pretty shallow.like on a 3-4ft day u can literally walk to the lineup lol,and its waist deep water.ofcourse the water gets deeper when swells roll through,which I think is the coolest thing about the ocean.long before I surfed my favorite thing was just walking out til ur neck deep and when the swells roll in u jump off the floor and get lifted up and brought back down. the worst thing is when ur going over the falls,and u can stick ur head above water and u get pulled back down and thrashed around.it also happens after the wave dissipates,u can take the underwater ride,then when u think its over u pop ur head up just in time to get sucked back under.its just the natural physics of the sea,I think its cool but its scary when the waves are over 5ft.I don't think I ever had a 2 wave holdown.iv been held under for the brief 4 seconds it normally lasts lol,then pop up and have another break right on top of me.that's scary. it seems the closer u are to the top of the wave is where u want to fall,never want to fall at the bottom of the wave,that's where the beatings come in.I always study the hold downs in contests like pipe and the mavs contest,and most of the time they usually pop up pretty fast.shawn dollar fell on a 60footer and popped up in like 3 seconds.that's what I do when I watch contests,I don't care for the rides,I want to see where they sit,where they take off,how they fall and make it back to the lineup,or if they lose their board how do they make it in.
Damn son. Glad you're safe. Thanks for letting us know from the lineup via the iphone 7 in lifeproof case.
