Three Days Straight

No leash. No problems. I don't know that I've been this comfortable and this willing to go leashless in the past. The waves today were deceiving. CYT thought she was looking at something serious and couldn't believe I was going in without a leash. I wasn't sure what we were looking at, but I knew yesterday saw me start out on a 7'3" and then run back to the car for a longboard. With this swell, spots shut down quickly. I was willing to take my chances on a bigger board to which I was not tethered. I suppose I made the right choice. (The better choice would have been to forego a session and hit the pool instead.) I caught waves and only swam once today. I didn't lose the board at all yesterday. My board control and wave judgment are improving. I'm finding that my thought processes are faster now that I've given up on the leash. I can't just haphazardly go for a wave anymore, knowing that if I don't make it my board is right there. Now I give waves serious thought. I'm always reminding myself that the board will be long gone if I'm not attentive. And, as Christian commented, going leashless forces you to end a ride with some grace. (I can't say I do it with style at this point.) Of course, once summer returns and the lineups are overly crowded, I'll probably go back to the leash. There will be too many people in the water. It's easy to control your board when it's just you and the wave. It gets difficult when other people are running into you and knocking you off your board.