Session 8046 Surfing with Legendary Locals

WavLOG

Day 46
Surfing with Legendary Locals

Another interesting aspect of surfing is that you get to do this with some legendary people. A couple of years ago, I wrote about competing in a local competition and regardless of your skill level you get to share the same wave with people who would be on a cover of a national surfing magazine.

Or like this morning, I know this surfer who has been at it for more than 40 years and he is surfing just like any other people in the lineup. Of course, he's got a style that you know its his... Seemingly (tell me about it) effortless take off and riding like a dancer on a stage, again with a style that's his own.

May be there are other sports. You could appear in a marathon, you could be on a bike race, but I would say that you'd not in the same pack as the top people. In surfing, that's not the case, you will have to share the same heat, basically the same waves with even the best local legendary surfers.

Sure, back in my ski days, I have been to a mountain in Utah where we "shared" the same slope with a very famous movie star, but he is not a pro skier, right?

What does it do for me?

First, it is a really inspirational experience, but a lot of us also take this more or less granted, and so we don't often realize this, and so sometimes, I hear about I was surfing right next to someone who is a real pro. That's also kind of nice because in surfing, to a great extent, "who cares about the fame." From other perspective of it, I also surf with other people who are not pro surfers but they are multi-millionaires, doctors and such. But on the wave, we tend to be rather equal, leaving all these bad things beyond the line on the sand. So what it does to me is, basically nothing. It is nothing to the point that whole thing is enjoyable without really requiring to be thinking about the fame, money and so forth.

I think from that stand-point surfing really brings a level of lifestyle that's not like most, and I'd dare to say almost all other sports.