My experiences trying to learn the art of surfing

I am five months through a six month journey to improve my surfing with the sole (soul?) intention of surfing waves comfortably that will get me in the green room. I've spent three months in Indonesia and have been scatting around Central America surfing the El Salvador, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. I'm travelling with my fifth board, Zak (6'3 / 18 3/4 and 2 3/8).

I thought I'd blog about my experience learning to surf as its such a tough, long journey. Somedays you get it, your timings perfect and you zip down the line, most days you don't. Surfing has been so good for my ego. I've never been so bad at something, despite trying so hard but something just keeps me out there, no matter how bad I am. The sea, the ocean, the soul.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Duck diving and New Years Resolutions

I surfed at Windmills on Cape Naturaliste the other morning. It is a really amazing spot - typically south west, isolated, desolate, windblown but truly beautiful in that real West Aussie way. Its a great spot to surf because it takes a little time to get to. Its off the main highway right on the cape and requires a little walk in. I've never surfed it by myself but I've never surfed it with more then 10-12 in the water. It breaks left and right, although the right is definitely the better quality wave.

I knew heading into the water that this was a surf that would push my buttons. It was probably only 3 - 4 foot with some bigger sets pushing through but enough to get my adrenalin pumping. It was a good day to practise my duck diving - push board down, throw leg up in the air, hold and pray. I haven't quite worked out how to bring the board back up to my chest so that I can pop up nicely on the other side.

I've only recently realised that I do a breast stroke kick to push through the bigger waves - my friend Simone let me know one day when we were surfing an out of control Scarborough. It seems to work but it doesn't let me get deep enough under the wave to clear the foam and to stop getting dragged back. It also means that I lose ground so I am in a worse position for the next wave in the set (which is often bigger, harder and faster).

So perfecting my duck diving technique will be one of my new years resolutions for 2012. To do this I'm going to keep watching you tubes showing me how, reread Taj Burrows book of hot surfing, page 30 (I really don't think I am the target market for this book) and keep putting myself in the impact zone so I can practise the damn thing.

My other resolutions for 2012 are:
1. Quit my job.
2. Take 6  - 12 months off my career to travel, study, write and most importantly surf.
3. Get barrelled (or at least be surfing well in waves that will eventually allow me to get barrelled).
4. Practise more yoga, surf as much as I can and eat as raw as possible.
5. Be a kinder, gentle, more forgiving person and a better friend.
6. Find the right balance for a good life.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Boxing Day Surf

The best five things about todays surf -

1. That fin was not a shark, it was a dolphin.
2. I was not the oldest in the water.
3. I duck dived successfully (but not properly) under some decent sized waves and held my position.
4.  I was surfing a right hander.
5. I took one half decent wave and called it.


Clearly it wasn't the best surf ever but I was out there, it was Boxing Day and I was in Margaret River. And that fin was not a shark fin. Thankfully. The movement of the water and the flicker of grey really spooked me for a second.


Sunday, December 18, 2011

The Biggest, The Best and the Worst

I have a terrible feeling that the winter swells have really, truly gone and flat will be the order of the day for the next few months. I haven't surfed for 12 whole days and there is nothing on the horizon. Ah well........
all I can do is pray that Hu'y sends us something for Christmas.

So, the biggest, the best and the worst. I think every surfer, wannabe or not, would have their list. This is mine.

The Biggest
I am not a big wave surfer by any stretch of the imagination. To surf big waves well and without fear you need to surf big waves regularly and unfortunately my access has been pretty limited recently and I get a little scared! Big to me is 6 foot plus and I certainly haven't seen that in Perth for a while if ever......anyway, my biggest.....

I surfed at Three Bears on the Cape (Yallingup / Dunsborough) in May this year. Three Bears is three reef breaks - Papa's, Mama's and Babies. It is an amazing spot that takes around 40 minutes by 4WD to access. A classic, south west landscape - heartbreakingly desolate and beautiful. I only took off on two waves this session and both were the kind where I just held my breath and prayed. I copped a flogging by a few more!

The waves would have been consistently 6 foot with a  few bigger sets coming through.  There are clear channels at Three Bears which makes avoiding the big sets easier. These channels only ever break when it gets big. They broke four times while I was out there. I stayed out for an hour before the adrenalin took over, the stress set in and I just couldn't concentrate anymore. But I was proud that I went out, prouder still that I stayed out and stoked that I managed a few waves (even though they weren't pretty).

The Best
Thinking about taking and making these waves still makes me smile. I surf as much as I can because of them.

The Right
There is a surf spot in Playgrounds, Mentawais called Spankers or Four Bob (depending which resort or boat you stay on). The name Spankers is much more appropriate because despite being a relatively easy take off, the wave breaks along a really shallow, sharp coral reef. There is also two large coral heads that pop out of the water just as the wave breaks. I landed on them so many times and they really hurt - hence the name......but this one wave..........this one wave where it all came together. I headed down the line, tucked up against the wall, thinking ho-ly I'm surfing, properly. I swear it got a little dark as the wave stood up and started throwing a little water over my head. I managed to lock eyes and smile at one of the guys paddling back out to the line up. I don't think I wiped that smile off my face for the rest of the week.

The Left
I took my best left at a break called Inner Ekas on Lombok last year. I went there after my trip to the Mentawais, so I was feeling more comfortable with the bigger waves. Ekas is on the inside of a sandy, windy peninsula to the east of the island. It is a really fun A frame wave with a very playable, fun wall.

Why I remember this wave in particular is that it stood up nicely and ran for so long. I was easily moving up and down the face playing with little bottom and top turns. I had been surfing the wave for three days and was feeling more and more confident, moving further out the back taking off on bigger and bigger waves. I had just started really looking down the wave (not at my feet) and was enjoying the fact that I could start to respond to different sections of the wave because I knew they were faster or slower or broke early. Good times and a great wave!

The Worst
I can still recall every detail of my worst hold down ever, that blind panic the moment I realised I really needed to breath and that I had no idea which direction the surface was. The white fear as the stress set in and I started fighting instead of trying to relax. The release when I found the surface and gulped as much oxygen as I could. I remember dragging my feet up the beach and sitting on the sand, looking out to sea, trying to recover.

Gunnamatta, Mornington Peninsula. A beautiful wave at 3 - 4 foot, downright nasty at 6 foot plus. It is one of the most schizophrenic waves I have ever surfed - I love it and hate it in equal measure. I had surfed it the week before and had an amazing session - beautiful, glassy conditions on a gorgeous summer day when my friend, Ivan and I had skived off work early.

I remember looking at the waves just before paddling out thinking hmmm, its a little bit bigger then last time. As soon as I got out the back I realised I was so far out of my depth - it was big, fast and powerful. I just kept paddling further and further out to sea trying to avoid getting dragged in, I managed to duck dive under a couple but I could feel the power in the water and I knew that getting in was not going to be pretty.

In hindsight, I should have just caught a wave but I was too scared too move. I  remember looking out to the horizon and seeing a set coming in and thinking, oh dear. I made it under the first one but the second was even bigger and I was right in the impact zone. I took it straight on the head and got dragged under, so far under and down, down, down.  I'm sure I was only under for a few seconds but the water was so cold and dark it felt like a lifetime.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

My kind of local

I surfed at Lights Beach, Denmark several times this past week. I have been on a week long uni intensive studying Denmark and its surrounds as a sustainable, resilient region. It is s a pretty spectacular place - amazing trees, a gorgeous coastline and a really beautiful small town with very strong green values! I like it. A lot. I think its one of my favourite places in the world.

I like the local surfers just as much.

Lights is a pretty fun right hand beach break, a good break for someone like me.......pretty cruisey, very south coastal, sitting around a 15 minute walk from the car park below a spectacular cliff line........I surfed it with 8 others on Sunday (and that was crowded!) and traded waves with just one other (and three dolphins) on Monday morning. I scoped it out on the Friday before and chatted to a couple of locals as they headed out, a couple of young guys - they gave me enough information about the local conditions and the type of wave that I felt comfortable heading back by myself several days later when the wind had dropped. What locals do that?

On Sunday, I surfed for a couple of hours and chatted to several others including Pete who and I quote said 'don't worry about looking down the line, I've had enough waves, I'm happy to share'. Pete has spent his life surfing this wave and living in Denmark. Usually this breeds a real parochialism and a level of aggression and ownership but not in this place.

I ran into Pete the next morning at the look out. I drove down early knowing the wind was a little wrong and the swell had dropped but kind of hoping that maybe something would roll through. We chatted for a bit about life in Denmark and life in general before tossing up whether to head out.....I really thought I'd just jump back in my car as the waves looked pretty small and no one else was surfing......but Pete offered to be my shark bait and laid a convincing argument, 'this will be better then what you'll get in Perth for the next 6 months'. Sad but true.

We surfed for about 90 minutes..............trading waves, just the two of us. It wasn't amazing and I wasn't surfing so well but when two dolphins and their babe surfed a wave next to me, I could not wipe the smile off my face........

This is why I surf.