The Amateur Surfing Times

I lied, the board in the thumbnail is not actually my board. Mine is the same exact model except it has about another 5000 surf sessions on it than the stock image that I pasted in above. It's an old beauty with a lot of character. Obviously I am once again not taking enough pictures to make this a more illustrative blog but ya get the gist. I've had the same routine the past few mornings and the progress I'm seeing has me thinking i'll actually be able to "surf". That routine is wake up get some coffee, check out the ocean, go grab a board and surf. It's simple living, but it's damn good living.

It's been a grind in the ocean but i've been steadily improving and some well-timed tips from the surfing professor last morning session have me riding the baby waves consistently. His main tip after watching me ride (or attempt) to ride a couple waves was that I needed to move up on the board. Did that, and then put myself through the ringer on another 40-50 waves and voila. I'm standing and steering and got the pop-up 90% down. Think i'm getting close to going for the real waves that are out a bit further.

Stay tuned, the ocean is a crazy beast and I'm still getting embarrassed by it here and there. Reading the ocean, the wind, and the waves is definitely a learned skill that you gain slowly over time only by being in it. It's something that seems impossible to articulate but you feel it when you're out there. Surfing is also an unbelievable workout if I haven't mentioned that. Some great cardio that doesn't feel like working out.

More coffee from the cool bus below. I got a fancy one. I always wanted to be on the cool bus as a kid, us walkers were a lonesome bunch. The bus looked like fun and it was whenever ya got to ride home with a friend. Even simpler times than these current simple times.....

Another sunset beach walk and many more of them to come. It's the busiest hour on the beach by a long shot for a reason. The one below has the most clouds of any yet (which is clearly a low bar). It's fun to watch the sun melt over the horizon into the water though. Is it bad luck to walk off the beach as the sun is setting but before it's gone? If it's not I feel like that should be a new superstition. Alright enough random tangents for this entry I'm going to get a burger. I'll check back in when I feel like it......