Boogie Boarding
I've been hanging around Santa Cruz a bit. Suits me so much better than Monterey. Studying the surfing at Pleasure Point. Made some friends that surf there, dating one of them, very cool scene. So I'm telling them I want to move to Hawaii next summer and devote.
And they are saying I should spend my first season with a boogie board and fins and just staying in the foam, like a little kid. When they were little they just played in the white water and got their wave sense. Surfing "closeouts". What is a closeout?
I grew up playing in the surf on the gulf coast, but with no gear whatsoever, so I can kinda see where they're coming from. Be able to ride a lot of little waves easily, close enough to a good break to watch and learn every day, get to know people but stay the fack out of their way, etc.
There's no rush for me to get on a big wave, if ever. I want to enjoy every step of the journey, wherever it leads. So I wanted to hear maggoty thoughts on the subject. Sounds like a reasonable plan?
I was planning to get in the water here starting in August, but I have a case of poison oak right now from riding singletrack. Or maybe from looking for my lost disc. Anyway, it's pretty brutal and there's no way I'm putting on a wetsuit right now.
Oh yeah, one thing I think I've noticed that I wanted to ask about. It seems like the best of the surfers hardly paddle and hardly pop. One or two little strokes and they're in the perfect spot on the wave and the board just seems to drop from under them making room for their legs to stand up. Looks completely effortless if you're clever enough. Not a lot of muscling through the water. Am I seeing that right? What is going on there?
Thanks, guys.
Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.
Henry David Thoreau
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