Friday, August 31, 2007

Session 7115.5 and 7116, Slow Surf Day + More Stupid Competition Stories

Yesterday, I was intending to surf after work. But that competition and the super "day after" session completely exhausted me. I was almost nodding while driving to the beach. When I got to the beach it was shrouded with thick fog, and the waves looked really small as far as I could see from the cliff.

So I reclined my seat and decided to take a nap. Not much later, I heard a familiar local buddy's voice, "Hay Mano!" I was awoken, and sure enough it was my local buddy Mr. Z. And we B.S'd for a while. He asked me about getting a fish or some board of that nature, and I ended up getting my 7'2 Takayama Egg board, and explained to him about how much I started to like the board, etc. etc. It is kind of a lazy summer late afternoon thing when the waves are bad, but we still are engaged in a type of surfing activity... This is a kind of moment I would remember for a while, it is really a part of a surfing life experience.

This morning, I checked my own web site for the condition and the S swells are starting to hit, so I headed back to the same spot. Jetty wasn't happening yet.

Sure enough there were 4-5 surfers out already at the south end of the beach. I decided to join but the tide was really too low, and we all know that it is a bad news when the waves are running backwards towards ocean, and you can actually paddle into paddle out on a few of these backwards waves (back washes). But they really are bad news because when you do catch an incoming wave to ride, these would collide against the wave you are riding, and at best you can practice some floaters, but in most cases, you'd be reflected back on the colliding splash.

So I did not stay too long, especially when there was also strange current thing going on making me hard to stay where I wanted to be. It is a spooky feeling when you are all by yourself (other surfers left) and you are clearly being carried out to the ocean.

So I caught the white water and ridden it to the shore (one would never paddle to the shore!).

Anyhow, another local buddy shows up when I was changing, and I told her that I was a bit bummed about the stupid situation at the surf competition this past weekend, and she told me her stupid surf competition story.

On one competition she was in, she was so nervous that she picked up someone else's board and started to paddle out. Realizing this, she paddled back and got her own board.

Also, I almost forgot to tell you that a few years back our own surfing mama, Ren did the same stupid thing as I did, which was not realizing she had advanced, and forfeited the whole heat.

We all get so nervous about competitions, that we really start to show the stupid side of ourselves, which I think in the end, is kind of fun carrying on the surfing lifestyle, share these stories, and we all laugh about it. I am really enjoying, now that I feel being more a part of it.

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