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Epilogue....
Well this was fun.
I never got back as frequently as I said I would. Life and the responsibilities of a real adult caught up with me. That's great though. I like being one...my parents did an excellent job. I do have the sensation of how it is to pick up a wave fixed within my consciousness though. That'll get me by for a long while. Maybe I'll be back next summer when things in my life have calmed down. I can still see the nose of my board starting to work it's way into the rising water, the water wrapping around it and can sense the energy picking it up and sliding it forward at a compound angle. Good stuff....just like back when. Who says you can't go back? Wouldn't want to stay back there though. If the past is any indicator I'm destined to stick my nose into a lot more stuff in the future. Too bad I don't live closer to the beach so I would know when the surf is good. Living mid-Island makes it difficult to know when it's right. I haven't found any beachcams for Long Beach. I guess LI isn't there yet.
8.18.99 North winds....I knew it would be better. Sure enough there were well defined lines of waves being held up by that wind. On the down side it was crowded. I counted 28 guys out there. I held off from going in for about a half hour. The guys with the short boards were just ripping the waves apart. I got to study technique. They have no fear of those large swells....two strokes and they were in it and up. I may just ask John-Boy to bring down his short board next time he comes down. There is a difference though from longboarding. The short boards get right in there since they don't support flotation as well and can turn immediately. I will be concentrating on the quiet rides for now though. That what's this is to be about. When I went in I found a spot which wasn't too busy where an acceptable wave would roll in every 8 minutes or so. Practiced some however I think the events of the past days have caught up with me and I got tired so paddled in and practiced my tan. My shoulder & stomach muscles are tightening nicely but they do ache. I guess that within the next week all will be healed. By then I'll be back to work and doing the afterwork surf-run...this was a good start.
I am also analyzing how the winds and waves work while I sit out on the ocean. Generally the mornings have calm winds and by afternoon the wind picks up. I figure that overnight the land cools off to something close to the ocean temperature so there is no pressure gradient. As the sun heats up the earth, the ocean can distribute the heat better (actually acting like a "heat sink") but the land heats up more causing the air above it to rise. That means air has to be replaced and it is taken in from over the ocean. Hence a south to north wind....a South wind. Doing this during high school we always tried to get there early in the morning for the dead winds. If there happened to be a swell at least it wouldn't be blown out. Those 4:30am surf-runs aren't going to wash anymore so I'll just have to be content with north wind days. The end of summer sees those becoming more prevalent since the earth is not heating up as radically from morning to evening. It works out well with a warm ocean too. I'll just have to dig out my wet suit should it get a little too nippy. Summer fun!
8.17.99 The second day went well also. I actually stood up and turned a couple of times although most of my rides for the day were on my knees. Still have to develop the quick standup technique but the muscles are still trying to get used to the weight coming out of the water. The wind was strong and again there weren't many others there so I got to practice my balancing act. I have to overcome the fear of picking up a well defined wave though. The trick is to allow the wave to pick you up and move you rather than have to paddle to catch it. I'm working on that fear of the larger swells . I'm also working on a nice tan. Real surfing is infinitely better than the web kind....it's nice to be able to use that energy too. As Jesse L. wrote on the yearbook picture....it is all about physics. Seeing the bottom drop out from in front of me is going to have to be overcome. That is where the power is derived and I will get there in the weeks to come. The ocean is extremely warm so it's nice to be in.
8.16.99 First contact. Rubber legs & wet noodle arms. It was all I could do to get out there. This man made it though. Luckily there weren't many others as the surf was bad. That gave me the opportunity to acclimate. When I got home though my brain was correcting for each step I made....balance is everything in this and my body was working overtime to maintain it...even on dry land. Day one went as well as expected though. A fellow surfer did offer to buy the board so I could have bailed out however I'm in this for the fun and it is. The Performer is a nice piece of hardware...wide nose with a big kick and stable as an aircraft carrier. It was the top of the line for it's generation. For now it's wasted on me but at least I can't blame my flubbering on bad equipment. Saw some of my own generation on longboards doing nice rides so I want to get there too. Told the guy I'm gonna keep it. He understood. These guys are out there for the fun of it and it's nice to get back to something which is fun and be aroung people who enjoy peaceful things.
I'm back to the surf.....33 summers later. I actually got some rides in. More to follow.