I Stood Up! - Surfing

Yesterday I went surfing right after work again.  When we first got there the wave conditions were not that great… But I am a beginner so I really didn’t care.  The waves were about 2 to 3 foot and it was blown out.  Blown out means there is a lot of wind that collapses the face of the wave which causes it to close out.  This is ok for me because I decided to focus on catching the mushy white water instead of trying to paddle out to the point break.  My co-worker let me borrow his 9’ 0’’ longboard and man what a difference that made!  I actually caught a wave and stood up for about half a second!  This was the first time I have ever been able to stand on a surf board with a wave behind me.

I did have a few scary moments this session however.  While I was paddling out to the point break a set of waves came in and began to crash pretty much right on top of me.  2-3 foot waves look small when you are standing on shore but look freakin HUGE when you are paddling on a surf board laying on your chest.  I ended up “going over the falls” on one wave which was not fun.  That means the wave face picked me up and turned me over then crashed on top of me pushing me under water for a few seconds.  I was determined to keep going though so I pulled the board back over to me with the leash, hopped back on, and kept paddling out trying to make it past the area where the larger waves were breaking.

Another thing I was focusing on was something called turtling.  This is what some longboarders do instead of duck diving to make it out past the break.  It basically means rolling off the board and holding it on top of you letting the wave wash over top of the board.  I didn’t do it very well to start but I think I started to get the hang of it after a few waves.  I have to say that turtling takes a lot of energy though because you have to climb back on the board after the wave passes you.  This was definitely a good session though and I hope some of this info helps you out.

Posted in: Surfing