I'm Over It

I'm a person who believes you leave the past in the past. In other words, I try not to dwell on things. So, I'm over this whole Malibu thing but I've been enjoying the comments flying back and forth. I surfed Sunset today. I just wanted to enjoy the sun and relax. There were a few waves, but they were incredibly weak. I think there were about seven people at the point and maybe eight of us in the bay. It was not a session worth talking about. I used today's session as what my coach used to call "active recovery". You do a workout, but you do it at minimal effort. My friend, who I've now nicknamed CYT (for "cute young thing"—a description I came up with because I think that's the immediate impression people have of her) told me to go back to Malibu. Nope. Not today. I can only take so much frenetic energy at this point in my life and I get enough of that from my three year old. I'll be going back though. My question for you Malibu locals is this: is there a way to school non-locals about how to behave in Malibu so that they can still catch waves while not infringing on the rules established by the locals? This is not necessarily for me. It's for anyone who plans to surf Malibu. I have to admit that I was treated pretty well out there. People were quite nice to me. When I was on my last wave, I heard someone yell, "Yeah, girl!!!" I know that was directed at me. After that wave, a local paddled by and complimented me on the ride. I appreciated that, especially since I didn't expect it. Now, look, I want to go back and I don't want to have a bad reputation. Since I'm one of only a handful of black women in the lineup—and I only know of one other who surfs Malibu and now it occurs to me that people may have thought I was she—it's not like I can do something stupid and remain anonymous. People always remember me. This was also the case when I raced bikes. It was also the case when I played varsity soccer in college. So I go out of my way to make a good impression. If I fuck up, I own up to it. Mind you, I didn't say the guy who ran me over was wrong. Nor did I say I was wrong. Frankly, I think we both shared in the blame. Will it happen again when I go to Malibu? Probably not. I know what to look for. I also have a better idea of how to get my ass out of the way!

I'll probably be back at my home break tomorrow. Now that the SW is fading, our waves should be pretty good. I miss my crew too. But from what I can tell, most of us have been at other places searching for waves until our break comes to its senses. The Slick will be ready on Friday. I think it's become my main board now. It really impressed me at Malibu. I'm tempted to get another one . . . but I won't.