south side session...

this morning as I sipped coffee, the south swell rolled in so I prepared my brain for surf and thought back to the beginning of my relationship with this difficult sport. I'm glad to say that I've improved (a friend even agrees but maybe she's just being nice) I'm grateful there's a break named "grandma's". yes, your grandma ripped by me...

a few years back, I experienced my first maui no-wind spell. it lasted longer than my inner athlete could tolerate and as my love handles got lovelier, I weighed my options (only figuratively). buy a road bike and take my chances on the small and windy roads up to haleakala's summit, move back to the mountains, or learn to surf.

grandma's tree

knowing zero about surfboards I asked friends then shopped for a beginner board that I wouldn't 'outgrow' (optimistic, I know). I decided on a 9 footer, took a few lessons and went at it. my shoulders hurt, my ribcage suffered, I was regular then goofy until I finally had to commit and always fearful of running over the keiki. the smallest of waves made my heart pound until I stood, proud of my accomplishment only to see it wasn't even knee high. I have plenty of life experience to know that it's rare to be good at something the 1st or 2nd time though with a bit of perseverance I might succeed.

my friends surfed around me, rolled their eyes and followed with "at your age? it takes a lifetime to learn to surf." am I really THAT old? when did that happen? I admit there are a few unmentionable things I have noticed about my body as it changes but it was either put my fabulous bikini collection into storage or paddle into the line-up.

my surf learning curve has been long but a few 'ahaaaaa' moments have given me enough joy to keep going back for more. well, there was that one time at lowers when I was held under then finally bobbed to the surface sputtering and wondering wtf am I doing? this stupid sport! my surfing partner asked if I was injured. I shook my head 'no'. was I scared? I shook my head the other way. did I want to go in? I shook my head 'no' because if I paddled in I would never surf again. after a few more heart pounding moments in the smaller, friendlier re-form I faced my fears and caught a wave. yes, surfing will take me a lifetime and I am willing to put in the effort.

so, this morning with coffee and wax in hand, I rolled up to kalama park where the sets were knee to head high. perfect except it was already windy. yes, I admit 'dawn patrol' is not the best way to describe my style of surfing, it's more like 'high noon'. must be the cowgirl in me.

instead of the surf diva I pulled out the 68 twinser and was excited as I set the perfect amount of downhaul, checked my ropes, felt the side-off shore gusts and enjoyed a solo session (until a kiter showed up). it was a bit tricky wave sailing in side-off winds because the acceleration of the bottom turn and going for the lip powered me up so much it was easy to get spit out. I caught smooth wave after wave until I was too overpowered to hang on and left the waves to the kiters.

the sun has set and who knows what tomorrow will bring but hopefully, I'll have the right board to get the job done.

where I found this pic

ps - a very very happy birthday to you!!! I'm looking forward to sailing with you soon.


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