Bright & Early

Shot down to Ogunquit first thing to get some winter gear. The guy was a half hour late opening--typical surfer. Technology is amazing!!! I was actually hot out in the water today (warmer than in my apartment). Downside to the winter gear is it's a chest zip. Getting out of this thing is like pulling a Houdini act. Getting in isn't much easier. For my next trick, I will escape from a straight jacket.

I caught 11 of the 15 waves I went after. One wave I thought was gonna break right but it broke left. I had to change my angle midstream to go left. Putting Ru Hill's advice to practice. I was also hunting the waves today and competing with other surfers for them. We were so far outside I could actually see Scarborough Beach from the lineup. !!!


I got the winter gear at Black Friday prices. I also picked up "Pipeline Masters" and "Billabong Trilogy" so tonight's agenda is set. Oh, on Black Friday I hit a hot yoga class with Deena (tough stuff). Then goofy Deena and goofy Dave hit a double feature. We are experts at choosing bad movies.

Never Fails

Whenever there is a nice offshore wind, there a no waves!

Googins

When it's tough getting out to the break, I'm the only one out there. The surfers must know something I don't. Maybe they're looking at the time between waves?

After lugging my stuff back up from Higgins and looking out my window, I decided I had to hit it--so out I went. I'm thinkin' they should rename Googins Rocks to Dave's Rocks. I'm the only one who surfs between the rocks and it truly is my home break.

Well gotta get ready to go do some headstands. Hey Ken, you better have that video camera juiced up next time your at Dave's Rocks.

Wants & Needs

I want to surf and I need to surf. While picking up my morning Monster, a weathered old man said to me, "Surf's Up." Granted, I'm still sporting the boardshorts and checkerboard Vans.

Oh no, here we go again. I started out slow mostly avoiding those who were catching waves. Then things started to take shape (caught about a dozen rides today). After a long lull, three of us went after and caught the same "party wave". We all did the bottom turn at the same time--it was pretty cool. It reminded me of party waves at the 'bu.

I hit two waves where I dropped down and did a sweeping bottom turn to climb back up the face and then pulled a top turn.

Oh yeah, I know how I caught the waves yesterday. It's my new mantra. "Don't Fear the Wave--Catch the Wave".

Back In Business Again

I actually caught some real waves today. Go figure. How did I catch them? No clue. What I do know and what I had forgotten is the incredible feeling when catching a wave. I'm telling you there is nothing like it. My last ride was real dope. I was considering going back out, but decided to end on a high note.

Funk

There were 30 of us in the water. 29 were catching waves. I had to go play on the inside. I'm in a major funk. So much so that I'm considering putting my board up on Craig's List.

Surfing 101

There was a lot of white water rolling in so I couldn't get out past the break. Perfect opportunity to get back to basics. I worked on the paddle, pop-up, proper stance and keeping my arms outside the rails.

Optimistic

I've been watching some instructional videos on You Tube called, Big Whiteboard Wednesday. I've been doing everything wrong. This guy is really great at explaining how to surf. Every correction that you would assume and make is counterintuitive in surfing. I've been trying to have no thoughts, be one, etc. No, no, no--you have to be thinking all the time. Surfing is a very territorial sport and other surfers don't tell you how to surf 'cause they don't want you taking their waves. I'm optimistic as I hope to kill it out there tomorrow.

UPDATE: It's now 11:52 p.m. and I have just re-watched the videos. Wow, my mind is in overdrive. Let's see, these are the things I have been doing wrong: the turtle roll, the push up, the way I get back on the board, the approach to getting past the break, where I setup for waves, being hunted by the waves as opposed to hunting them, the paddle to catch the wave, not fully utilizing my peripheral vision, body positioning on the board, hand placement during the pop-up, the stance (shifting weight), and the arm placement once up. The only thing in my favor is that I do have the right attitude!!! Again, wow...so much to be conscious of.

I just e-mailed the guy, thanking him for sharing his wealth of surfing knowledge.

Making Progress

I caught one wave today. On another try, I was up on a steep wave and both me and my board torpedoed straight down into the water.

While sitting on my board beyond the break, I was watching the waves (from behind). As soon as they started to break, a rainbow would appear.

I don't know what's up. I've been fearful of the oncoming waves. I've even tried some Ujjayi breathing with no luck. I'm calling it bad karma.

Diminishing Skills

Well let's look at the bright side! While I only caught two waves, they were nice rides. My first one was the fastest yet.

I've been having a real fear of popping up lately. The wave grabs me, but I'm hesitant and just stay on my stomach.

I guess at this stage in the game, I'll take quality over quantity. That's a good spin.

California All Over Again

Man, I can't catch anything right now. Ken came out again today to try and catch some video. You've gotta catch a wave first. This Standard Time is a killer. I think I'm just out there at the wrong tides but have no choice 'cause of lighting.

That's all right--low tide tomorrow at 6:41 a.m. Take that Standard Time--see you bright and early!

This is all I've got, a pic from a few days ago--paddling for a wave.

A Dollar Late And A Day Short

First off--reverting back to Standard Time is not cool for surfing!!! Yesterday afternoon, Ken came out with me to get some video. Unfortunately, nothing made it past the cutting room floor. I had one sweet wipeout while trying to catch a good-sized wave but we didn't get it on film.

Today, I was going after a wave with four other people. Usually I would yield to better surfers--also the wave belongs to whoever catches it deepest (or closest to the peak). I was the only one who caught the wave.

Andrew in Hawaii told me "the water gonna be cold brahda." The water is not bad with the wetsuit, but it sure is cold getting out with a lot of heavy, chilling breathing.

Nearly Shutout

My bed is setup right at the window so when I wake up the first thing I see is the waves. And believe me, my eyes were wide open when I woke up this morning. The waves were and are still off the hook.

I was missing everything (maybe a little scared). This would be the third day in a row without catching a wave and then the next thing I know...I'm riding backside high on the face of a mean wave. I was hummin' down the line.

From an article in last Sunday's newspaper,"And I learned that life can begin at 40. All you have to do is go surfing."

Juiced for an afternoon session!

Slight Problem

Today the waves were like those in my dreams. They were awesome. Only problem was that I couldn't get out past the break. So close but yet so far. I tried for an hour and couldn't there--always just beyond reach.

This pic does not do justice to the difficulties faced today.

Fool In The Rain

The sky was crying and she had a somber gray face. There were no sets to speak of, just endless rows of white wash pouring in. If you ever want a sense of how small you really are, strap on a board and paddle in the fury with no visual sense of direction. The Ocean had a violent sweep pushing an eighth of a mile in a matter of seconds. Like a fool in the rain (with no one around), I continued in vain.

Tongue In Cheek

There's no need to vote. I saw two separate networks declare a winner with 0 precincts closed and each candidate having 0 official votes. In the future, the networks will vote for us, or just simply tell us who they put in office.

Good news...waves coming Thursday-Sunday. I hope this prediction is right.