Today was smaller than I expected and it looked bigger with more power yesterday. However, even with the NE wind it was surprisingly clean!!! Had family in town yesterday so wan not able to get out. Been surfing for about 8 years and 5 years ago moved within 20 min of the ocean. I had too, being in the ocean is one of the only places that I am at peace. My normal spots are always crouded so I went exploring today. Found some nice peaks but the fishermen already had their lines in so I went to my crouded spot. Its ok, when there is size there are two or so spots that break and yet mostly everyone still crowds the usual peak. LOL, more rides for me. I have been out in size and power had always seemed to have hessitation due to fear of being pounded into the beach below. I had decided that it was time to put that aside and truely ride for myself today. I paddled out and waited, just relaxing smiling at the ocean before me and just being at my place in my mind. I look up and just see this wall coming at me. I turn paddle a few strokes and just drop, digging my edge in this wall just seems to never end, I turn go back up, and just carve up and down. I look over my shoulder and see nothing but wave, I look ahead of me and see nothing but wave. It was getting ready to close out on me and there was just a wall of wave and no where to pop out. I wait till the last possible second and pull in front to prevent getting smashed. It was the best feeling in my life and the feeling that I know that I have been searching for everytime I am in the water. Till next time I smile. Mabe tomorrow I will find it again.
Awesome, man sounds like you had a good day...it was big chop yesterday, dropping 90 degrees straight into big closeouts, but today was great, definitely 1 to 2 foot OH @ my spot...one of the best days all year so far, besides Earl...they were super clean today, caught some great rides, got barreled, what more can you ask for...I got da stoke!
i know the feeling man, you forget about all your problems when you paddle out its just you and the ocean. my first wave today was just a perfect big clean long right and i couldnt help but let out a good ol yell when i came out of it. let the stoke live on...
Thanks for sharing. I take my wisdom from Jeff Bridges in Surf's Up..."what could be better than this?"
Yeah, I think everyone on both east and west coasts has a full tank of stoke right about now. Finally. The sessions Ive had this past week rank up there for me. I have been grinning since tuesday... Im happy as a pig in sh** right now. Great stuff.
Yeah I will never forget that first feeling I had after riding my first wall of water. Where all you have is a tiny edge of your board in the face of the wave and it feels like your screaming down the line. That is real surfing...welcome!
yep... I've been able to go down the line on the small waves and have made some drops on bigger stuff, but this weekend was my first time going down the line on a 5 foot wall. Screaming down the line sounds about right. Awesome sauce.
iv been surfing for a decade and I still get that feeling almost every session. Keep pushing yourself- and your surfing.
I still feel the same way everytime I get in the water .Allan C. Weisbecker says it best that the best feeling in the world is when one is riding on the nose and both feet are hanging off the end its the closet to walking on water one can get
While most people are cool to me about surfing their breaks... being white and living here 3 months means I sit at the bottom the pecking order (EVERYONE has priority over me!!). I ride about every day... good and hollow or onshore and small... I say hi to the kingpins...maybe get a nod of approval back. I can usually garbage pick waves at the end of the reef at a few spots pretty successfully until I catch too many and the locals fill in. I can paddle out at a few of the more localized spots and catch a few leftovers maybe even get thrown a set wave if I'm lucky. All things I'm thankful for as I slowly try to earn a spot in the waves around here. Anyways... This week we have been getting typhoon swell... first real swell in months. All of the already localized spots are full of said locals jonesing for some good waves. Got some good ones this week but the situation makes it tough for me. I have had my eye on a spot on the Navy base where I live for some time. A long left point breaking on a shallow reef. A no brainer right? A must surf? But no one surfs it... military or not. To access it requires a boat or scaling a 30 meter cliff with a surfboard. Finally, yesterday evening as the swell was peaking decided if I was to score something epic that I had to surf this spot. Scary! Some mountain goat style hiking on a cliff with my 6'4...a short walk through a jungle.. a totally unknown paddle out to a reeling & spitting head high wave. It had long point break walls and a point break current but with reef consequences...in about 2 ft of water. What makes it so heavy is if something goes wrong ...shallow or sharky (generous description), it is a mile+ paddle or crawling back up the cliff. After surfing for years.. haven't been scared in a while. I was scared ...not because I thought it was a bad idea.. just it was the great unknown with some consequences. AWESOME!!! Nabbed some good ones. The session was short due to the fading light but it was one of those sessions were you really learn something about yourself. Pro surfer I am not... but like someone else posted we all need to remember that feeling and continue to push ourselves. feeling good is good enough
