Surf Competitions are Overrated . . .

until you see the trophies and realize you will surf your happy ass off to get one!

Once I saw the trophies, I was done. I had to have one. Since I couldn't exactly steal one or bribe someone for one, that meant I had to sign up for the contest. And surf! In front of a whole bunch of people!

I did a terrible job of keeping count of my waves. We were told something about a 10 wave max and something else about the top three waves counting. Well, I've never been good about remembering where I am when counting things. I thought I'd gotten my 10 waves, heard them announce that we had two minutes left in the heat and promptly exited the water when I got a wave that took me most of the way in. I thought that by the time I braved the shorepound and paddled back out to the lineup, the two minutes would have been up. Paddling back out and catching another wave or two, since that two minutes seemed to last for at least five, might have given me the win. Who knows? A lot of people thought I'd won. Many others were certain I'd won. It doesn't matter.

While I stood on the shore waiting for the heat to end, I cheered on my competitors. Hell, we'd been cheering for one another the entire time we were in the water. It was hardly a day of stinkeye or bad attitudes. We all just paddled out and had fun.

I don't plan to do the contest next year. Then again, if the trophies look as good as they did this year, I will probably change my tune.