Old Surfers and Big Waves

Hope you dont have to eat those words young gun. If i had to chase a monkey to feed my family i could and would do it too. I thought in ny 20s and 30s i too was indestructible. it took a six foot speedy barrel w no water in front of it to modify my spine for life. Come back in 20 years and tell us how your temple is holding up. Im 48 now and i wanna charge big waves and do. I just hate the paddling involved and that will be the factor that keeps me on the beach some times. That and the temp

 

Hold up... I'm not old and I'm doing everything I can to stay that way.

 

#finjuries

 

I see what you did there

 

I'm 52 so I'll offer some personal perspective. (this also ties in with the desk job thread)
Personally, with bigger surf, I feel like I'm coming full circle. When I was young, I would take off on anything anywhere. Not just waves. But women, drink, drugs, Harleys, etc. Then came incarceration, marriage, kids, redemption. By some miracle, I became the voice of reason. "Put on a jacket, it's cold outside." "Don't eat that, you'll get fat." 'Don't surf today, it may thunderstorm." "Oh no, those waves are too big and it's low tide." You get my drift.
Now kids are older and I'm still working (mostly) outside in this cold weather. Why? Because people are telling me I'm too old to be still out digging. Same with surfing. I hear this: "Your too old to be out there, it's cold and big and you could get hurt.
But it's not just to prove the naysayers wrong, I need to prove to myself that I can still give 100% when it's brutally cold, with currents dragging you mercilessly away from your peak, while trying to find that walled up section amongst the overhead close-outs detonating on your sand bar at low tide, all the while fighting off the cold and fatigue. Block it out! Flow with the energy.
Just like when you were younger and had to prove your self...

 

True, but if you want to live life to the fullest, you *will* pick up some bumps and bruises along the way, which have a way to come back to haunt you.

To wit, I was involved in a gnarly car accident when I was 16 on the way to surf, the kind a lot of people don't survive. I lived in the Rockies for a while, and had some spectacular ski wrecks jumping off things as young men are wont to do. I've had mountain bike wrecks that involved blood and broken bits. I've snapped 8 bones along the way, and nursed all kinds of different injuries. I am very lucky to be in good shape at 50, but very easily I could have had a lifetime debilitating injury. So I guess the moral of your post should, be 'stay fit, stay lucky'.

 

I'm starting to realize now that at 52 you cannot eat and drink whatever you want and then paddle out into conditions like we may have here in SNJ on Sunday afternoon. Even with swimming when it's flat and exercising and working out side, my eating habits are starting to catch up. (Disclaimer; I'm eating a box of girl scout cookies as I type this. Caramel Delights formerly known as Samoans)

 

Yup, but never forget....DNA can be a biatch!!!

 

Charge DOH might end up shacked for Eternity. Can't think of a better way to go!
57 Last birthday

 

If there are groms reading this, they would have to be ghey.
When I was a grom, I was busy, too busy banging gromettes!!

 

Them small metal holes on the corners of tarps? You must be hung like a squirrel.

 

we have a winner ladies and gentlebouys

 

next time reef goes off want to show a young buck around? show me how to deal with the massive crowd of 30 people do i need to get my aggro alpha male self on and do some crystal meth like the the da hui?

 

Don't need a bigger board. But a different shape. Instead of a 6'6"x18 1/2"x2 1/4 rounded pin thruster. I'm on a 6'3"x19 3/4x 2 3/8" diamond tail bonzer. Glassed heavy. It paddles well but I can still duck dive it. It surfs fast without needing to much input. I can take off deep and late and be confident that it will hold. Good down the line but can surf top to bottom too. The wide points moved up giving more drive. What the Campbell's say about them is true.

 

Zing! HAHAHA

 

the most challenging aspect of surfing reef road is by far finding a place to park.....

because there aren't any....

within miles of the break....

and parking tickets are $500.

 

I did not. I said its a drag. You'll see.

 

velcro shoes are for young kids and old men. Not there yet, just sayin'.

 

[video=youtube;Wjtxo6gmns0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjtxo6gmns0[/video]