Surfing

[Prince Planet]

My long overdue thread, prompted in part by the recent Beach Boys v. Beatles poll. Probably won't garner a lot of attention, except perhaps from those fortunate enough to live on or near the coast. Anyway, here goes.

I took up surfing a little over 2 years ago at the tender age of 35. At that time I had lived in California (LA) for 13 years and figured that since I was always interested in surfing, I had better get about learning this quintessential California sport before it passed into nothing more than a wistful longing. So I did.

I'll skip the saga of my intial exploits. Suffice it to say that I'm pretty athletic, and picked it up fairly quickly (yes, I had still had my share of righteous wipeouts). I now head out almost every week without fail, despite the pressures of my job and my familial responsibilities.

Here's the point. I find it to be perhaps the most exhilarating activity in which I've ever engaged. Moreso than skiing; moreso than martial arts, moreso than anything I can think of. The feeling of being propelled by nothing more or less than the ocean itself, traversing a swell that has traveled thousands of miles, is almost indescribable.

I can now see why some people have "thrown away" their normal lives and made what ever sacrifices necessary to adopt the so-called surf lifestyle (yep, that would be being a bum). I don't advocate that, but for anyone who ever dreamed of riding a wave alone in the sun, don't wait. Get out there, make it happen, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

[sggg]

Neat topic. I used to surf. There were some things I loved about it and other things that were annoying, but truth be told they were mainly peripheral aspects of it.

What I loved about surfing was that it was great exercise. I was in the best shape of my life when I was surfing and spending all day in the water paddling and battling waves. Plus, being out there in the water can be so peaceful and nice. You're in the nature and it's fun. That was the best.

What I didn't like was the "scene". I lived 5m from the ocean in New Jersey (NJ is not famous for it's waves but it's not too bad either). The problem was that the number of good places to go was limited so many times you were around the ultra-competitve "radical xtreme loser" types (for lack of a better description). That totally killed the tranquillity and fun of it for me and was probably the main reason I lost interest. Most of my best surfing memories were from when I'd go on vacation to a place in called Long Beach Island where my family would rent a house for a week and be out surfing by myself at 6am. |)

My best "surfing story" was the time I brilliantly decided to go out in a hurricane. Myself and 2 stupid friends went down to the beach because there were 10'+ waves. I was still a relative beginner - and I was never that good at it to begin with... but we gave it a shot. Well, I must say that I think I spent two full hours just trying to paddle out past the huge wavebreaks! It was so exhausting. When I finally did get out there and caught a wave it was unreal. I only managed to stand up once.. and one time I ate it hard and I hit my head on the board and probably suffered concussion. I don't know because I didn't see a doctor, but I was definitely a bit "off" for a week or so.

My sister is really into surfing now. This summer she took my old surfboard and had it refurbished. It sparked some good memories. I'd definitely like to do it again one day.

[skelly]

My boss / friend is just starting lessons and wanted people to accompany him. I declined -- it looks too skill-intensive for me. I'm pretty curious about it, though.