Friday, March 25, 2005

Session 5055: Choppy but Fun!

First, I should make an occasional note to those who are joining in reading my WavLOG. The name WavLOG is a kind of pun on Web Log, but I know, I know, it does not sound like to any native speaker.

I have been basically keeping a log of every surf session since May of 2002, and that's when I started to surf as an adult. The first number in my session number, which is 5055 for this session, denotes the 55th session of 2005. I am hoping to get to at least session 5250 this year like last year. This is hosted on Blogger.COM and it is syndicated by several sites through the RSS feed, so you might be reading this at one of the syndicated sites.

Why am I keeping a log of it? The main reason I do this is because actually there are a several devoted readers of this work, and I do get some nice feedback to basically "How am I surfing today?" Also, it would be fun to reflect back on all the discoveries I make along the way from knowing nothing about surfing to the day when I catch my last wave though I hope that day never comes.

The format of the writing is rather free and also I did not grow up speaking English. Editorially, you will find a lot of flaw in my log because, number one, English is not my first language in my life, and second, I produce these logs rather quickly without taking much time in reviewing. While I have no intention of publishing any part of this as a book, should that happen, should that happen, I am sure that there are people who edit works for food, and I would out source that.

So there.

Well, back to my WavLOG for Friday AM session.

I did a morning session on the way to work at Linda Mar beach, and the swell was already getting smaller, and to make it worse there was 15 to 20 knots of onshore wind going. It looked really choppy, but I had to get in the water, as this is the form of exercise I do. Many of my other friends go to gyms or run during the lunch time, or participate in Aikido or Yoga, but the Ocean is my Dojo and that's where I get exercise both physically and spiritually, so one of my goals is if it is not dangerous, I get out, and if I don't catch waves, I paddle the entire length of the Linda Mar beach from the cliff to the boat house. But in reality that only happened a few times, there always is something to catch, and they are still fun regardless of the size.

When the condition is poor, people don't get out but there always are a select few die-hards, and it is always a pleasure to get out and share the waves with them because I don't like being totally alone out in the ocean. This morning looked like a paddle only day, then when I went in, there were some sets started to come in. I actually like riding these sets waves with chops on top, because they let me turn a lot more like mogul skiing and that's a challenge. To keep riding, I must make turns, sometimes need to be pumped and even go over a hump. Going over a hump is a lot of fun. First I need a speed enough to get over it, or I stall and that's the end of a ride. Getting over it is like mogul skiing, I just bend the knees and absorb the bump a bit. Then when that works there often is a reward. The hump turn into a break and I can pick up the speed and set another line. I am up on the board already, so it is like taking off all over again but without flicking up, so can utilize the whole wave.

So it was a choppy day, but less crowd and I was able to get a lot of fun out. I was going back for more in rapid succession so it was a rather tiring session.

STOKE=7.5

No comments: