Four foot day

I've been going out in bigger waves lately, I guess. I really don't do any better or worse on them, so what the hell. Today's were maybe four feet.

I am tired from so many straight days of surfing! But determined to go as many days as there as waves.

It was a bitch of a paddle out. I made the mistake of paddling out initially right in front of my house. I started out by one set of the wooden jetty spikes. I wasn't making it anywhere, but all the time I was trying I got swept further and further down to the next set of spikes. Yikes. Once I realized I was nearly on top of them there was nothing to do but get out, walk down the beach and start all over again. I finally got out. That was pretty much my accomplishment of the day, getting out in bigger waves than usual. There is nothing fun about getting hit by wave after wave after wave. Once I was out I just wanted to stay there rather than get in and have to paddle out again.

I got a wave, and managed to get up on it when it was about halfway over. I can't tell you how, but I think I used my knee.

The next time I asked myself, "What would D. do?" D. is the senior surfer at our beach, and he had told me to paddle out by the jetty. Most days it doesn't make any difference because the waves are so small. But today I should have taken D.'s advice from the outset. I paddled out by the jetty, and it was easy. I didn't stay there because the surf mafia was out in full force, three or four of them taking off on and riding the same waves.

I got one more wave, couldn't get up, and decided to call today a success because of getting out and trying on the bigger waves. I sure couldn't use the f-word to describe it.