Way back in 2011, when I first started this list endeavor, I had as an item: "
Surf... for More Than One Second." I'm not sure what I accomplished on a board counted for more than one second, but it was real surfing on the ocean, so I counted it. That was on a visit to San Diego. Now that I live here, I own a surfboard and a wetsuit. I have constant access to the ocean. I enjoy surfing despite my lack of natural talent and skill. Yet, I rarely went. I wanted to change that. So I added "Surf at Least 12 Times" to my list this year.
My list is partly about trying new things, but it's also about doing things I've always wanted to do... or at least have spent some time wanting to do. I would love to be a surfer. My next step is making actual time in my day for surfing and going regularly. Writing this goal down on my list worked swimmingly. (Yay puns!)
1 - Monday, June 28
I don't know how much time I have left in San Diego, so I decided to max out all of my San Diego activities. I put a few on this list. That wasn't good enough, so I put them on my to do lists. That worked a bit, but I still wanted to do more, so I planned my workouts, at least for the summer. Sunday:
beach volleyball; Monday: surf; Tuesday:
yoga; Wednesday:
more beach volleyball (that's my sport); Thursday: swim; Friday: hike; Saturday: run. Beach volleyball and yoga have been in the plan. I started swimming last week. This week I would start surfing and hiking once a week. I got up on Monday, dragged my board, wetsuit, and towel to the car, and headed to Ocean Beach. I suited up and headed into the water at dog beach. I waded out at low tide. My first wave, I just rode lying on my stomach to just enjoy the moment and remember just how fast a wave can take me. I headed back out and just missed a few good ones. Then I hit one and just couldn't get going. When I slowed, I looked down and saw a huge thing under my board. I inwardly panicked a bit, even though I was only 4 or so feet deep. Then I realized the thing was white. Then I realized it was part of my board. Then I realized my board was busted, the whole front bottom of the fiberglass peeled back. It had only been 10-15 minutes, so I half-heartedly tried to catch another wave, but there was so much drag there was no chance. And I stepped on something squishy that swam away from under my foot. So I went in. I'm trying to think of a way to get a new board, but I'm so broke, that I'm not sure it will happen. I'm so bummed that my board busted right after I acted on my weekly surfing plan.
2 - Monday, July 13
I was hanging out with my buddy Erin Gillespie on Friday night and told her the tragedy of my board. She offered to let me use her extra board. In fact, she said, I could just hold on to it for now because she only used it when taking a friend surfing, and they always had to at least rent a wetsuit anyways, so if I was going to use it... So kind. So Monday morning, I checked
Surfline, picked up Erin's extra board, and headed to OB to continue my Monday morning surfing "routine." I went for the dog beach again because of the proximity to the lifeguards. I rode one wave to get the feel and then headed back out again. On my way out, I stepped on something that moved from beneath my foot. I convinced myself it was just sand. I managed to kneel consistently and stand at the end of one wave. But then I stepped on something else, and I swear it was squishy. This time I convinced myself it was seaweed. Then I stepped on something else that was squishy and, I swear, swam out from under my foot. I told myself I was fine, there was no point in worrying about something that wasn't hurting me, but I decided to swim instead of walk out. Which meant I only caught small, broken waves because I was too exhausted from all of that swimming. I stayed out as long as I promised myself I would because I decided, in that moment, that I didn't want to be afraid of surfing, especially when the scariest thing so far had been squishy things, which were probably not stingrays because it's dog beach, and it would be stupid to have a dog beach in a spot with that many stingrays that I stepped on 3 in 30 minutes.... 3 that didn't sting me. However, I think I'm going to try the pier side of OB next week, just to shake that squishy fear.
3 - Monday, July 27
I missed a week due to rain. We don't surf here in San Diego after a rainstorm due to water pollution and risk of infection. I got back out there the week after though. This time I went to the pier in Ocean Beach, which is where I took my swim lesson. There are plusses and minuses to this location. I like the waves better, but there's a strong undertow, so it can be exhausting to walk in the shallows. There are also a ton of surf lessons going on, especially with kids, so I feel safer, but there are also way more people to avoid, people like me who don't know what they're doing. I managed to stand once, but I didn't have a ton of time, so I didn't get my flow going.
4 - Monday, August 3
Back to the dog beach this week to overcome my fear of the squishy things. I have decided it's just sand moving beneath my feet with the tide and the undertow. I was a little braver this week but the waves were small. I can consistently catch a wave and kneel but by the time I get my feet under me, the wave has petered out, and I just hop off.
5 - Friday, August 14
Today I had my surfing buddy Tara Edberg back. We went to the OB pier, where it was crowded, but the waves were decent. I found myself catching faster, deeper waves, probably because I was a bit braver with a buddy to distract me. I need to get just a bit braver and faster because even though I was deeper and had longer to ride the wave, I was so concerned with balancing before standing that I still wasn't standing until the wave was dying out. Next goal: stand up quick when I catch a good one and just fall if I fall.
6 - Friday, August 21
I tried out a new spot today: South Mission Beach. It's more a spot for beach volleyballers than surfers, but since it has a huge parking lot, and I was going in the evening, I thought I'd try it out. The waves were tiny but somehow I got up consistently and had the longest rides I'd ever had.
7 - Thursday, August 27
I met Kai & Tara in Mission Beach for a late afternoon surf. The waves were rolling and tough to ride, but the dolphins playing all around us more than made up for the bad surfing. It was a beautiful afternoon, and Kai & I stayed until sunset, chatting and having photo shoots. She even made a collage of all the sweet shots of the day.
8 - Thursday, September 2
Waves weren't great today. I floated around and got up a couple times, but dog beach was a choppy mess.
9 - Friday, September 18
Things started well at South Mission Beach, but then the ocean got ROUGH. I tried to stay where I could still touch, but the undertows kept changing the depth of the sand, and the waves were coming from multiple directions and were at multiple heights, so every now and then I'd be walking in waist deep water, hit a deep spot where I couldn't touch, and, hanging onto my surfboard tightly, would brace for a 3-4 foot wave to come crashing down on me. I still managed to get up a few times, but the waves were so scattered and there were so many swimmers now that summer is over and there aren't as many surfing-only-area regulations, so I had a rough go today. Still, any day getting beat up by the ocean is a good day.
10 - Thursday, October 1
Today was my best day of surfing yet. I stood up at least 10 times. I probably would have fit in more rides but there was a line of even-more-beginner surfers just a bit shallower than me, who, I swear, were doing their best to block me from any waves. It felt like every time a good wave would come, I'd check to see if there was anyone in my way, and there were like 4 people in my way, with boards parallel to the shore, like a defensive line. I immediately felt guilty for every surfer I've blocked because, dang, it's so hard to get out of the way when you don't know how.
Then, sadly, I had to return the board I've been using because it's owner moved back to the coast and wants to use it. I've grown to love my weekly surfing excursions, and I still have 2 more rides to complete this item, so I hope I can figure something out!
11 - Thursday, October 8
It hasn't even been a week, and 2 nights ago, after finding nothing on Craig's List, I was on
Yelp, searching for surf shops that had high ratings and mentions of used boards. I found quite a few. But then yesterday, I was in Linda Vista for a meeting at USD with my dissertation chair, so I stopped in
Bird's Surf Shed.
The owner's son, Jackson, listened to my experience and heard that I was looking for something a step up from a foam board but still inexpensive. He showed me a few boards but told me that a
Torq would be a good next step for me. They were in the $400 range, which is very reasonable for a surfboard; they increase in price with size, and the bigger the board, the easier it is. The foam board I'd be using was an 8'. He then showed me a 6'10" "used" Torq that was only $350 and didn't look used at all. I told him I'd picked up some extra shifts at work, and I'd mull it over. Before I left, he brought me to the back, pulled up a beat-up, foam-top, 6'6" Torq. He told me it was a demo board and that I could take it out to see how I liked the style. Like, could just try it before buying anything. AWESOME.
I took it out today (the next day) and had a blast. I only got up once, but after 30 or so minutes, I was getting the feel of it. I kept riding too far back because I was used to seeing a lot more board in front of me, but I knew that's what I was doing and was adjusting well.
I lied in the sun for a bit then went back to Bird's. Jackson chatted with me a little longer, and then, on request, left me along in the aisle to think. I mulled over a few options, but my choice eventually came down to 1) working a lot of extra shifts at my 2nd and 3rd jobs and coming back to buy a new board over 7' or 2) buying the 6'10" used board for $150 less. I decided the used board would be a smarter grad-student decision, though buying a board at all was a stupid grad-student decision.
As Jackson took me to check out, someone told him to check on the status of the board, and I was nervous for a hot second that the board had already been sold. It turns out someone had called about it 10 minutes prior to come look at it. But, since I was there ready to buy, the board was mine. One of the staff put on the fins and polished it up for me while Jackson helped me pick a leash, got me some wax and a t-shirt, and rung me up.
I have a new board.
12 - Sunday, October 11
Friday and Saturday were so packed with work that I had to wait until today to take out my new board. I drove down the coast after a Torrey Pines hike and lunch in Encinitas with camp friends. I stopped at South Mission Beach because there's easy parking there, even on a weekend.
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| And we lived happily ever after |
The waves were huge. The board (nickname: Bae) was fantastic. I had a great time. It's definitely going to take some getting used to, but I was already getting up. I stuck to the white water because the waves were around 5 feet, which is a bit above my experience, but with waves that big, I got some decent rides.
It's funny. I wrote this list item to get myself to surf more often, and somehow this 12-installment story had some twists and turns and has a happy ending.
13 - Monday, October 12 (Epilogue)
I don't know that I'll update every time I get out to surf, but this is the first time I've ever done 2 days in a row. I love my new board, and my arms are exhausted.
?? - Friday, November 21
I have surfed several times in between these posts (with a break because of my tattoo), but I wanted to give credit to my family for going to the "beach" I wanted to visit so I could attempt to surf in Hawaii. The surfing itself didn't go so well. The surf report only had 1-2 foot waves, but I figured I'd catch a few baby ones just to say I
surf in Hawaii. My dad rented me a board at a friendly shop near Kahalu'u Beach Park. There, I learned that the bottom is incredibly rocky, full of coral, and swarming with creatures, not all friendly. Getting to the break requires walking carefully (read: awkwardly stumbling over lava rock of deceptively varying heights) out until at least consistently waist-deep water so as not to damage the board on the rocks, then swimming a good 250 yards to the break against the waves. I was instructed to belly flop whenever falling off in order to avoid the dangerous bottom. Slightly different conditions than wading into the soft, beachy sands that I'm used to and taking breaks in waist deep water whenever I feel like it. By the time I got out there, I was exhausted. Then, the break was itty bitty. Being a novice surfer, when the waves are small, I stay shallow and then jump into them to catch them around low tide when they're still semi-rideable. 250 yards out in who-knows-how-deep water, that strategy wasn't going to work. The break was so tiny I just couldn't catch anything. I was too tired to paddle fast enough to catch any break that wasn't right on me, which none of them were. So I floated for a bit.
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| "Surfing" in Hawaii |
The water was incredibly clear, so I could see a ton of brightly-colored fish under me in the rocks and coral, definitely a different scene from cloudy San Diego beach water. The other surfers there seemed pretty experienced, but even they weren't catching much. They were just messing around on foam boards, which may have been the only way to get up in those conditions. They did give me a shaka and an "Aloha" as I paddled up and were friendly and fun, so even though I couldn't catch a wave, I enjoyed visiting the Hawaiian surfing community. My brother had much better luck with snorkeling in the area, seeing a barracuda, a sea turtle, and several other creatures. I would have taken a turn but by the time I got back in, I was nauseous from riding the swells and staring down or back. It was still worth a try though! Thanks for renting me a board, Dad, and to the rest of the Krones for coming with me!
