Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

Okay, it's not that big a deal. All I mean is I couldn't stand it any longer and got in a session in less than ideal conditions. I needed to get wet. The wind was nice enough to be up, slowly turning a little bit of nothing into a lot of "Victory at Sea". I didn't even care. I didn't want to skate again. I don't like riding much anymore. It wasn't a day to lift. And I refuse to get on the rowing machine on a sunny day. There was nothing left to do but surf. What I got out there was good enough. I ended doing a lot of paddling. That was fine. I need to do more paddling and get back some of my long-lost surfing fitness. I only got a handful of short rides, the first of which was extremely short as my leash was lodged between my toes. By the time I reached down—while riding the wave—to move the leash and prevent a possible dislocated toe, the ride was over. My next wave was a good one if only for the drop-in. I've been seeing a lot of surfing at Pipeline of late. I think some of what I saw must have rubbed off on me. I'm always amazed by the steep drops those guys will take to make that wave. We've got nothing like that here, at least nothing like that at any of our local breaks. Still, I was at the home break. I've not surfed there in what seems like forever. I'd forgotten how much faster you have to move (as compared to someplace like RPB and Malibu) to get into the wave. The waves at the home break are fast. They also don't seem to want to deliver many corners. So when you see one, you've got to make the best of it. On my second wave, I paddled for a wave that jacked up. I knew it was over my head. I saw the bottom drop out, watched the nose of my board hover in mid-air, and told myself to pull back. Then I stood up . . . and made the drop. I did a little hand drag to slow myself down and went to set up for a bottom turn, only to have the wave closeout. Oh well. That one drop was worth the session. That was fun . . . and surprising. It's not that I think I'm killing it out there. I'm just surprised at my newfound willingness to do things that scare me. I used to watch people at Pipeline and believe I'd never want to do that. But the more I watch this stuff, the more my interest in piqued. I don't think I'll ever surf that well or that fearlessly. I can dream, can't I? Maybe in my next life I'll be a hard charger.