Some day, I'll get there... Right? Some day...

Today, I went to Zuma beach to surf. Sunny and small surf. Perrrrrrfect for beginners. Nevertheless, I still managed to suck bad. There were too many people for me to be able to catch as many waves as I wanted. My Japanese surfer friends, Keisukei, Shinji, Ikkei, and Mizuno, and I went to Sunset (flat!), then Topanga (flat!), then Malibu (flat!), and finally saw some ridable surf at Zuma beach where we decided to surf that day. My Japanese surfer friends have all been surfing for 10+ years - all except Mizuno who has been surfing for only 1 year. He gets up on his feet on the small waves pretty easy, and is getting better at hitting the bigger waves. I just plain suck. But I did manage to catch one where I was able to drop in. Woohoo! But I think I got up too late. The rest - I couldn't get on. Ikkei took his 9 footer and caught many waves. There was this one old dude who was a wave hog. :-\ He was on the outside and caught the right each time he got back into the line up. So we all had to pull out. Eh, o well. He was having fun. But BOY, I WISH I could longboard like him. :-( ... Some day...

One thing I learned today though. Angling my take-off. If the wave has a punch, take off at an angle so that you don't pearl. If the wave doesn't have much power, you can take off almost perpendicular to the wave. But if the wave has some speed to it, take off at an angle and drop in at an angle, otherwise, you'll pearl. The more speed the wave has, the more angle your takeoff should be. So many things to remember.... And also, am I supposed to be looking at the wave as I take off too? And when do you decide whether to go right or left if you're not looking at the wave? Sigh...

Tomorrow is Monday. Another week! I haven't decided whether to go out tomorrow morning before work. I'll see how I feel when I go to sleep. By the way, I bought a new wetsuit today. Cost me two hundie. But I looooove it. 3/2 Bodyglove Matrix - triple glued/blindstitched throughout the whole suit. I hope I don't find it cheaper onlne... Otherwise, I'm going to be kicking myself in the butt. :-P

Month 2...First entry...

So, I've decided to keep a blog of my newfound addiction - surfing. Well, not completely new... More like "new-found-again" addiction.

The very first time I got on a surfboard was in September of 2002. I continued to go almost every weekend, getting better and more comfortable with being in the 55 degree ocean water each weekend, until one day in February of 2003, I pearled, subsequently doing the usual washing machine underwater which I had grown quite used to at that point. What I wasn't expecting was the big "KUNGK!" to my eye. I stood up immediately, thinking that I had lost an eye. Fortunately for me, I had only "scratched my cornea," as the doctor put it. After that, I went on a surfing hiatus for almost 2 years... until last month. My poor 8-6 Becker had been sitting against my living room wall for the last 2 years ever since that pearling incident. With the new year, I decided to put my surfboard back into the ocean again. Why? I don't know. Probably because I wanted a new hobby to throw myself into. I thought about Kitesurfing - which will probably come in a few months when the wind starts to pick up (that will be another blog... if I do decide to take up the sport). Surf during the morning, and kite during the afternoon. That would be the perfect life, right? Who needs work? :-P

Since the second week of January, I've been going out almost every morning (except for the rainy days). The first time I went out last month was painful. My paddling had deteriorated into less than pathetic, my balance was off, I couldn't get onto my feet, AND I was scared of my board to even try for a wave. Every time I tried, the thought of pearling came back into my head. I needed serious help here. Nevertheless, I decided to keep going out to at least paddle and improve that so that I can be ready to get on my feet. (I've been practicing my pop-ups at home before going to bed - yes, call me a dork).

So now, it's month 2... my paddling has significantly improved, but I still can't seem to paddle into a wave. What's wrong with me? My pop-ups seem to be okay. I even took a private surf lesson 3 weeks ago. That was a memorable session, by the way. My first drop-in into a wave. Of course, he pushed me into the wave and angled me perfectly so that all I had to do was pop up and drop in, but still, what a high... I got the tingles down my legs. Nowadays, when I try to paddle for a wave and pop up, I always seem to stand up too early and end up eventually missing the wave. Or, I'm pearling and doing the washing machine. Frustrating, I tell you... Maybe I'm too old for this? NAAAAH! At least now, I'm not scared to paddle for a wave... well, not completely scared. I still get the butterflies in my stomach and the urge to go pee, but I just say, "F!@# it, I'm going." I usually end up washing machining it or missing the wave but Oh well, there's always another wave.

Today was a wash! I went to Sunset to try surfing there for the first time. I got there at 7:30am and there were only 2 guys out. Both beginners, I think. I remember Nick, the surf instructor from 3 weeks ago, telling me that you can always spot beginner surfers by the way they paddle and their posture. "Keep those feet and legs together when you paddle!" he kept saying. And I won't forget it! And these guys had their legs far apart when they paddled. Anyways, there was a definite reason for there being only 2 guys out. It was glassy like a lake. But I saw some occassional small sets come in, so I decided to go in. Big mistake. I sat there for 25 minutes waiting for a wave. Finally, I gave up and decided to go to Bay Street. Same scenario at Bay street but with more people and no parking... I hate it when there's too many people. Competing for a wave sucks especially since I can miss the wave or pearl, and take away someone else's chance at riding the wave. Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow. I'll try sunset earlier tomorrow morning.