That's More Like It!!!

Finally! A wax job I can live with. See, here's the thing: if you can get small bumps on there and you pile the wax on the bumps, the wax is less slippery as it starts to wear away. It's hard to explain. I've found that a wax job like this one can stay on the board for possibly months. All you do is keep adding to the bumps. I switched back to a harder wax so that I don't get wax holes as easily. Besides, it's not as cold out there as it was, say, last year.

And speaking of last year, what happened to the waves this winter? It was last December that I finally started charging what I considered big waves, waves that were easily 20 feet. Okay, they weren't 20 feet, but they seemed like they were to a neophyte like me. I'm not even sure how big the waves were. I just remember them being way over my head. I was on the 7'10" at that point. So, I'm out there, watching these big waves roll through. But they didn't close out like our break usually does. Every once in awhile, we get an epic day there, a glassy day when the waves will have size but will keep their shape. It doesn't happen often. But when it does, I start to remember why I like surfing there. Anyway, I'm sitting there watching these big waves. Normally, I would have been scared to death. However, this day was different. My grown stepson had died a few days earlier. I had shut down emotionally. I didn't have any fear at all. But, I didn't know what to do. I'd never surfed waved that size before. The next thing I knew, a couple of people started talking to me, telling me I could make these waves, etc. I only remember one of them. In fact, I don't remember the wave. I remember it being the first one because I clearly remember Joey, upon seeing me paddle into the wave, screaming at me from behind, "Stand up now!!!!!!!" And I did. And I made it. I must have made it. I don't remember pearling or getting worked. That was one of those turning point days. It took my surfing to a new level. Had I had all of my wits about me, I probably wouldn't even have paddled out. I would have assumed I couldn't handle those waves. I was in too much shock to think about that. Now, over a year later, I'm still waiting for a day like that. My confidence is such that I would happily paddle into waves that big. I saw a day like that at Sunset, but I haven't seen it more than once at our break since then. Oh well. That's the story of the day I finally started charging the bigger waves.