The Clark Foam Saga Continues

Yes, I surfed today but I want to continue a bit of the discussion about Clark Foam. I asked one of the "old guys" at the break what his take on the situation was. (Now, when I say "old guy," I don't mean he was old. I mean "old guy" as in "Old Guys Rule" t-shirts. In other words, he's older than I am and has some gray in his hair.) This guy makes his own boards. He's probably been surfing as long as I've been alive. He thinks this factory-closing is all a ruse by Grubby Clark to cause chaos in the market, thus sending prices higher. This guy also asserted that Clark already has a fully functional, ready-for-production factory in China. The old guy said Clark never did anything to help the surf industry and that Clark has only ever been in it for the money. So, as I said, the saga continues. When I posted the story about Clark Foam, I didn't comment. Something about it doesn't ring true to me. I could be wrong. Frankly, it's my instinct that tells me someone isn't being completely forthcoming with the truth. I just don't know who that someone is.

The surfing word for the day is . . . COLD! Want to hear something frightening? There was a guy out there today in nothing but trunks. Trunks! He must be on crack! I was in a rashguard, a 3/2, and a hoodie. I was still struggling to keep myself from paddling back in after about 20 minutes. The waves weren't even that good. So what was I doing out there? I don't know. Enjoying myself. Smiling a lot. Feeling at one with the world. My surfing and my approach to my surfing are changing. I'm much less concerned about what I can do on a longboard. Walking the board is at the bottom of my surfing to-do list now. Lately, my goal seems to be to develop my style. What I do now is carve and work the waves. Right now, that's all I want to do. It's all I like to do. I don't just stand there anymore. I actually feel my body language coming into its own. I can feel my arms moving into place once I'm on a wave. But it's all taking place naturally. I'm not trying to emulate anyone. I'm simply allowing myself to surf. I think I wasn't doing that too much over the summer. I was on a mission to walk the board. I wanted to be a true longboarder. Now I want to be me. The walking will come back. I can see that. Right now, I'm allowing myself to read waves and work with the waves I'm presented. Today, the waves tended to jack up. For some reason, I decided this meant I should spend some time pausing before I popped up. This meant, in turn, that I was taking steep drops from the top of the lip. Normally, I don't do that. Today, it seemed natural and I did it on at least four waves. CYT, who seems completely fearless to me, remarked that she'd be too scared to drop in as late as I was doing it. I wasn't afraid at all; I thought those drops were fun. These days, my surfing is much more instinctual. I notice that I've stopped over-thinking what I do. I just surf. As a result, I'm finally becoming the surfer I want to be.