First Surf
Is the west coast the best coast? Well, yes it is (in my warped and perverted mind). I lived one of the things I never imagined doing a couple weekends ago- surfing. Surfing USA, in fact. Greg, a coworker of mine picked up surfing out here about a year ago. When he asked me about directions to the pickup soccer game, I told him I’d tell him if he took me surfing with him sometime. He agreed and we went that weekend…
The drive out to the coast takes about two and a half hours, so its definitely a weekend trip. We drove to Grayland, but I could be wrong - I wasn’t driving. When we got to the town, I rented a wetsuit and a board and we headed down to the beach. The beach on the weekend is basically overrun by surfers. It’s washington so there aren’t as many people just catching some sun, because you can’t really swim without a wetsuit. When I first entered the water is was damn cold but I have to thank whoever invented the wetsuit, cos it warms up right quick.
My experience overall was one of a beginner. I caught waves only after they broke because I had a really hard time getting out past the breaking point. This was due to the fact that there was a short wave period so they were always coming at you. The disadvantage of catching waves after they break is that they knock you around more on your board, making it harder to stand up, so once I did get up the wave had just about died and I sank down into the water rather quickly.
On our second outing, Greg decided to paddle out along the jetty because the tide naturally pulled you out and the waves weren’t as strong along it. Unfortunately, when I tried to follow, my arms tired and was left getting my ass kicked by waves. I floundered around trying to paddle away from the jetty until a more experienced surfer came along and pointed directly away from the jetty saying, “paddle out that way.” Close call. I probably wasnt in any danger if I had just kept paddling out but my perception that I was being knocked toward the jetty and my tiring arms put me into a frantic state. My goal next time will be to get out beyond the break whether its along the jetty or otherwise. If I can do that, I stand a chance of getting up on my board before the wave comes down around me, and maybe I’ll be able to ride it… Surfing is definitely not an easy sport. More than half of your time is spent just trying to get out to the waves. Maybe someone should invent a surf lift.
While out, I took a few photos, mostly after we had put our suits and boards away… but they’re photos nonetheless. Better luck in my next attempt. We vowed to do no more Starbucks stops along the way so maybe that will help. Until next surf…