Session 5150: Competition Jitter, The Night Before The Day

I called the HMB Board shop in the afternoon so that we can update my web site as to where tomorrow's contest will be held at. Up to that moment, I was not going to participate, but just watch the contest tomorrow. But on the phone, the participation sounded like on a thin side, so I should at least pay to enter, and on the other line of the phone I was really encouraged to enter. So I threw the 9'0 Takayama in the car, drove over, cut a $40 check to Park and Rec. and now I am officially participant to the Long Board division!

The mood of the day changed from this point on. First, I have not been practicing long boarding extensively in the recent months, and in Santa Cruz waves, there is some chance of catching waves, but here in Half Moon Bay, it can be like telling it is going to be even or odd by throwing a dice, plus we don't know yet where it is going to be, most likely the Jetty or the Francis (we call this the Kelly Beach though).

Well, since if I had to do it, I'd better practice for it with a mellower condition, so I decided to choose the Jetty, but it was actually not a good idea. I ended up not catching a single damn wave and it would have been more fun with a short board.

The waves were the kind that broke really shallow and close to the shore and also closed rather fast. This is the kind that I would regard them as "won't fit" kind of the wave. This is to mean that I can take off but as soon as I take off I cannot do anything but to jump off the board before I find the space between the sand and the wave to make a turn. If I had a short board on, I would have turned and ridden through even though the rides would be shorter. Of course, this is a lame excuse, there are others who can do this.

Occasionally some larger sets did come near the break water, but I was still not ready to fight the crowd and get in. I am still waiting for the day that I would be extremely confident in taking off on the long board because if I screw up in that packed situation, either I or other surfers would inflict some damage. I know I would because I have done that earlier on in my experience, others have done that to me, and I now know at least how to avoid that situation. I guess that is part of paying the dues. Surfing is something it is not a good idea to do on a credit, but should be done on a hard honest learned skill set.

Well, I ended up not catching any satisfactory rides and it was really frustrating since I would be in a competition tomorrow after all. This really has started to add some additional jitter in my mind, and the feel would max out when I hear that horn sound in the morning. It is going to be a tough night getting a sleep.