Today the swell condition was rather mellow. On the days like these, I
venture out to the areas that I do not normally surf. This one was a bit
"out of the way" beach compared to the other ones I surf regularly. In these
locations when the condition is right, I really get stoked. Today was great
because the shoulder-level size sets were coming one after another and
because there was no other surfers around, I had the entire mile of the line
all to myself.
I think that my new Fish board has accepted me as a friend this week, and
especially I made very little errors in taking off at this session,
something like 4 out of 5 tries, I was up and riding the board and making.
Part of the success I am getting is because I am consciously trying to be on
the board sooner than I used to do. And because I am on the wave sooner, I
am getting a lot more fun out of turning as I am starting to realize how
quickly these boards turn so I might be back on track to master the
roundhouse cutback later this year. I now can see (and feel) the clearer
picture of how to get there compared to even how I was in January. The major
difference I realized now is that the I need to work on controlling the
board with much more frequency and intentions. To do that I should make the
knees and the board the integral part of the surfing mechanism with my feet
solidly planted on the board processing the millisecond to millisecond
feedback of the sole pressure.
The "Getting Out" technique has gotten more natural like ducking and
turtling, as they are becoming more of reflex and autonomic activities. Now
I hardly have to think hard about every step to choose and execute them.
Various separate elements I have been learning through the year are
gradually piecing together as a part of one sport.
Sounds like I made a lot of progress, but I was just watching Andy Irons
surfing on a DVD and I know I still got a lot to go to even be able to do
10% of what he does. But I know I made quite a bit of progress since May of
2002 when I started surfing when I could not even get out past the white
waters in Linda Mar.
So I give today the overall stoke of 8!
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