So, finally got out in the surf yesterday afternoon at
my local break. Onshore winds and choppy waters made
for a rough paddle out. I managed to get past the inside
break after about half an hour of getting pounded. I guess

the current had pushed me and I ended up right in the
impact zone of the wave before I knew it. I got smacked
a few good ones from the lip before it was all over. It
sure felt great to get past THAT!

I went out even though conditions were poor because
I had gotten up at the crack of dawn the day before and
spent the whole day driving around Santa Cruz with a
buddy looking for "the perfect place to surf". We saw a
lot of breaks that I never knew about. And , that was a
good thing! But, it was windy and cold, the waves were
small and VERY crowded with longboarders so we
never did surf.....and that was a very bad thing!

I've been looking around at different breaks and
definitely some places are better to surf than others....
but.... if it comes down to not surfing....or surfing in
less than perfect waves.... I'd rather just get out in the

water and wait for the few rideable waves to come
through. I've heard a lot of bbers say that "it's not
worth paddling out for".... I dunno about that! It's
always been worth it once I get in the water...
I don't wanna lose that feeling.

1 comments View Entry

Made a last minute run down to Pismo Beach with a bodybo
arding buddy to attend the BIA event yesterday. It was real
ly great to see some good bodyboarders and to just be aroun
d other people who bodyboard. I didn't enter the contest, j
ust watched. but I did paddled out on the other side of the
pier and even managed to ride a few pretty big waves. It f
elt really good to be able to sort of hold my own in the wa
ter.

The BIA event is a bodyboarding competitiion and it's a
lmost all guys, of course. But there WERE some girl bodyboa
rders there.... and they do have a female division. I had b
een surfing with 2 of the girls who were in the contest ear
lier. They were really nice. And even though I certainly do
n't bodyboard for the competitive aspect of it...they were
encouraging and friendly...and.... maybe one day if I learn
to do spins or a few tricks I might just go ahead and comp
ete. I'd just want to do it to prove to myself that I can.
But it also WOULD feel pretty good to be able to surf well
enough to have a little credibility in the water.

Hope you had good waves this weekend too!

2 comments View Entry

Well.... back to work tomorrow. :-(

I was lucky enough to leave the dreary, rainy weather
and polluted waters of Northern California and spend 6 glor
ious, sunny days in Southern California. I'm sorry.... ther
e's just no comparison, especially for bodyboarding! San Di
ego reminded me of South Florida, where I grew up. And I re
ally enjoyed the sunny, blue skies. Up here.. it's been rai
ning for weeks and the skies have been grey or white and gl
oomy.

And..... don't get me started on the cold water! It's a
mazing what a difference 10 degrees can make. Going from 50
degree water to 60 degree water was such a treat! It made
me not want to miss a day of surfing while I was there.....
. and... thankfully, I only had to miss one! But that one w
as torture! Sitting in a restaurant in sunny Malibu overloo
king the ocean and having to watch other people out there s
urfing... ::sigh:: But, I was spending time with my best fr
iend... so.. it was worth the sacrifice.

Honestly, I didn't surf very well down south... but I e
njoyed every moment. And that, my friends, is what it's all
about for me. Hope you all had some good waves and good ti
mes lately too!

2 comments View Entry

Even though it was dreary and rainy all day... there
were some good waves.

I checked out 5 spots today and surfed 3 of them. The
other spots looked fine... one looked really good but
I've never been there before... and there were no bodyboar
ders.
The other had a lot of surfers but has a swift current an
d a
lot of whitewash that I don't particularly enjoy dealing
with so I skipped that one as well. I really didn't plan
to
be out all day... but... the waves were pretty good!

I started early at the same new spot from last week.
After a couple of hours... I decided to head south towards

my favorite spot and that's when I took the detour to chec
k
the other spots and decided to take a shot at this place
down by the pier. I hadn't been there before... but there
were
about a dozen guys out... all surfers.. The waves were
breaking pretty clean and there were some nice peaks.

This is where things started to get a little sketchy!
Back at the first place.... one reason that I left was tha
t
it gets REALLY deep.... REALLY close to shore. This place
seemed to have the same sort of drop off. Now... there's
something about that kind of a shoreline that I clearly am

unaware of.... because... today I was tossed about like a
ragdoll for most of the morning and well into the afternoo
n.

It got sort of frustrating... and a little scary. As I
basically got bitch slapped repeatedly just getting into
the
water. And when I had an error in judgement and rode in
too close to shore.. it was a pretty tough paddle back
out. It seems like when the wave breaks on/near shore...
it kind of... sucks up all the water leaving just sand and

gravel and then just crashes down with a really powerful w
ave.
I was unfortunate enough.. or.. maybe just stupid enough..
.
to be caught in that position more than a few times today
.
It was quite unpleasant. A few times i was trying to go
sit on the shore to rest a bit.... and I couldn't even get

out of the water. I'd get as far as the shore... but then
the
water would rush back so fast that I'd get knocked down
and not be able to stand up. And then of course.... as soo
n
as I DID stand up... the next wave coming in would just
bitch slap me down again. If somebody had a camera...
they're probably sitting at home watching and laughing
their asses off. I'm sure it looked pretty funny... but...
it
was actually a little scary.

Due to my lame performance, I banished myself to the
kiddie waves for the rest of the day and drove over to my
favorite spot. And lucky me! It was actually firing pretty
good!
So.. I was happy! I got to end the day with some nice ride
s...
and I got to shower out all the gravel before going home.< >/P

ps... if someone can fill me in about these sucking wav
es.
..I'd appreciate it. I'm not sure if I'm just not ready fo
r
that kind of a break.. or if there's something I just nee
d
to learn to be able to manage better.

2 comments View Entry

Today was beautiful here in the Bay Area! Finally!!! No
rain, blue skies, warm sun and not too much wind. I woke up
early without even using my alarm clock because the surf f
orecast looked pretty good considering what we've had latel
y. And... it was right!

There was this bodyboarding video premiere in SoCal las
t night... and... I was sort of bummed that I wasn't able t
o go down. There seems to be a lot of cameraderie in southe
rn california between the bodyboarders. Even when I visited
a few months back, I was struck by how friendly people wer
e and how they were more than willing to invite me to come
surf their spots with them. They all seem to surf together
regularly at various spots and that has been something that
I've been looking for up here in northern california. but,
so far... I haven't really stumbled across it... it if doe
s in fact exist. So... today I decided to just make my own
bodyboarding party! (woo-hoo!)

So, I called a few people... some came... some didn't..
.. some I need to find phone numbers for again.. yikes! (so
rry Bill) And guess what! There just so happened to be like
6 or 7 other bodyboarders in and out of the surf at variou
s times! (yea... spongers!) Now.. I'm sure they would have
been there with or without me (lol). But, I'm just so happy
to have been able to paddle out.. and give a little wave t
o another sponger... and strike up a little chit chat in th
e water between sets. Pretty much everyone was better than
me.... but... it was great to have some other bodyboarders
around to watch and learn from.

Hmmm.. so.... what did I learn today? Well.... aside fr
om the reminder to envision what you want to achieve... in
your mind.... and it will be made so! I was reminded that t
he ocean is more powerful than we sometimes remember. This
new beach that I went to has a very steep drop off from the
shore and the inside waves come crashing down on this litt
le.... hmm.. shelf of gravel I suppose you could call it. W
ell... when the inside wave breaks.. it sucks all the water
back out and it's like... just the gravel left! So.... I m
ade the mistake of catching a wave too close to the shore..
. and WHAM!!! I was smashed face down to the gravel.... wit
h my board somehow landing on top of my head.... and.... th
e big wave just smashing my board onto my head... which jus
t smashed my face into the gravel even more. ;-) I was okay
.... but I was thinking to myself as I was being pummeled..
.. "gravel sand kinda hurts". Luckily... I was able to craw
l up on the shore and get my wits about me. I looked down t
he shore and one of my buddies was sprawled out at the shor
eline as well. There were some people and a dog looking at
him. We both had to sit down for a while after THAT one!

Later, I found gravel in all sorts of interesting place
s.

I'd like to go back to this beach... but it's definitel
y not a beginner's beach.... so... I better get a lot bette
r quick!

Thanks to all the spongers who made today so fun! (John
ny, Airto, Monroe and the friendly guys who gave a little w
ave). It just makes it so much better when there are other
people around to share the fun with. At least... that's my
opinion for now! I can see how sometimes when it's crowded
and there are a bunch of people all trying to ride a small
area.... it could make people get a little territorial.

0 comments View Entry

It was really great to be out in the surf again! It's
beenbad weather for a couple of weeks now and last
weekend wewent out and it was so awful we didn't
even get in the water. Bodyboarding is sooooo much
fun! I wish the weather would get better soon!

Had my first real run in with a surfboard today.....
OUCH! Big bruise on my ankle from us both going after
a wave. I got the wave... but I hit my ankle on his
board as he wipedout and his board flew over next
to me. Ouwie!

Before that....I spent all morning driving around
SF scoping out local spot that I haven't actually surfed
yet. Probably should have just stayed at the first place
I went to.... a little spot underneath the Golden Gate
Bridge. But... it breaks onto rocks as soon as the wave
crests. It looks like you have to be able to cut left
quickly. I'm not that good yet, and... there were only
2 standups in the water...and the road was blocked off
because they were having some sort of a marathon so...
I figured I'd go over to Ocean Beach and see what it
looked like over there.

I checked out Rockaway and Pacifica as well.. but
ended up back at Ocean Beach for the morning session.
I knowpeople always say that Ocean Beach is so great....
But honestly, every time I go there I just end up
spending like 99% of the time paddling out through
big foamy pounders and getting pushed like a half a
mile south from wherever you start by the strong
currents as the ocean pushes into SF Bay. Maybe it's
me... but... I have never had an enjoyable session
there.

For the afternoon... I thought maybe I'd be brave and
try that spot under the bridge. But by then it was high
tide and the waves were breaking way up close to the
seawall. I decided to go for a sure bet (I thought) and
drive down to Santa Cruz. I'd surfed down at Pleasure
Point before and people always seem to say that Santa
Cruz is usually consistent even when everywhere else
is blown out. So, I was pretty surprised to arrive and
find little tiny baby waves and only a handful of
surfers even out.

I still paddled out. I figured I could practice even
though there didn't seem to be much power in the waves.
They did look pretty clean though.... just really small. I
was a little concerned that the standups would be none to
happy to have a sponger in the mix considering the
scarcity of good sized waves. But, people were friendly
and nice. We all took turns and played nice. What a
concept!

0 comments View Entry

So... I just got back from a nice afternoon of good surf
and good company. Met a new friend on another message
board and he lives just a few miles away. We surfed Linda
Mar from about noon to 3pm. The sky was clear blue, the
water temperature was bearable, offshore winds with 3-6
foot swells and a few nice corner spots with clean lefts
and a few spunky rights from time to time. All in all, a
great day... and I have nothing to be complaining about.

But I am frustrated and pissed at myself. Yeah.... I'm
still learning. And.. I got a few sloshy rides. And, I eve
n
managed to catch one nice ride where I was able to trim
across the face for a bit. Yep... I learned to steer! I
should be happy!

But I'm pissed at myself because I am a hardheaded you-
know-what. My inability to catch good rides today... and m
y
extraordinarily weak paddling out was a direct result
of "the black & tan effect". My arms and legs felt like
lead pipes as i tried to get through the first break. I ha
d
no strength and the sea knew it! At one point... I was
paddling and paddling through some big surf and I was
so slow and so tired. I just gave up and watched helpless
ly
as this giant wave literally "spanked me". It just crashed
right
on my bum and gave me a right smart whack.

I deserved it. You see.... I'm a diabetic.... and....
the "black & tan" is a great big ice cream sundae that I
ordered at Fenton's Ice Cream Parlour here in Oakland,
California yesterday. And... even though I didn't eat the
whole thing.... (as Marco pointed out... I'm a big, fat la
dy)
and I had no business having ANY of it. Yeah,...it tasted
alright. But all that sugar running through my blood
just bogged me down and cost me the energy to be
able to surf well today.

It wasn't worth it. I missed out on some really
nice waves today! And for my stupidity......and
unreasonable belief that I am indestructible.... I am
truly pissed off at myself. But.. I also know that...
tomorrow is another day... so... I'll just have to start n
ow....
and.... do my best to make better choices. I just have to
remember that for me.... sugar is just like alcohol
to an alcoholicand my body isn't going to tolerate it.

One day at a time..... ::sigh::

0 comments View Entry

So.... Friday was my birthday. 44.

All in all..... it was a very nice day. I took off from
work early and finally connected with a new friend from he
re. (Hi Sam. ::wave::) I was really looking forward to catc
hing another one of those perfect rides like the other day.
But alas.... it was not to be.

When I reached the beach.... it was so foggy that I cou
ld barely make out anybody in the water from the shore. I m
ean... it is the Bay Area... and.. we DO get fog. But it wa
s supposed to be 67 degrees (F) and sunny today. Somebody g
et a hold of that weatherman!!!!

By the time Sam arrived, the fog was starting to burn o
ff. And later... it actually turned out to be quite a lovel
y day... sunny and clear as promised. The waves were on the
small side... and the water was sort of.... mushy. (I dunn
o all the terms yet.... I think that would be a fair descri
ption) But... people were out in the water... and they were
catching rides .... so... I was still hopeful.

Sam turned out to be a very nice young man! And... quit
e a good sport considering he told me he grew up in Hawaii
and had never really needed a wetsuit before. I think he wa
s cold already.... and we hadn't even gotten into the water
yet! The water up here is hardly EVER above 60 degrees (F)
even on the hottest days of summer. It's generally about 5
0-55 degrees (f)and really quite a jolt to the system upon
entry. (see my post from last sunday when I forgot my gear!
lol)

I guess I'm used to the cold water now.... or... maybe
it's just the benefits of extra padding since I'm pretty fa
t! But... I wear a 3mm wetsuit, gloves, booties and a cap..
.. and I usually stay out in the surf for like... 3 hours a
t a time. I usually stop surfing because I'm just too tired
...... not because I'm cold. We lasted about an hour before
poor Sam, with a light wetsuit and no gloves or cap was tu
rning into a human popsicle before my eyes. I felt pretty b
ad because I didn't bring my extra gear for him and I had a
nother pair of gloves at home. (still yours for the next se
ss, my friend!)

Anyways.... we chatted for a bit while we warmed up. An
d I must say... it's really refreshing to meet a young adul
t who is articulate and goal oriented and just a delightful
human being with nice friends as well (::wave to Adrienne:
:). As a teacher.... in an urban area..... I come into cont
act with a great many young "ladies and gentleman" who simp
ly make you wish their parents had used a better form of bi
rth control. Sam's great energy and his positive outlook wa
s really inspiring and I sooooo appreciate what a good spor
t he was about surfing with an old fat lady in freezing col
d water. I didn't really ride very well that day... but I h
ad fun.. and I watched him DK and learned a bit more about
how to watch for a good wave... and about surfing etiquette
.

We went back out for a while.....and we ran into this g
uy Ricardo who is a pretty good surfer. His brother Allain
is the bodyboarder who first gave me some tips and advised
me to buy my current board. It felt really great to introdu
ce them to each other and to feel like.. "hey.... I have so
me buddies to surf with!".

When it just got too cold for Sam... he and Adrienne le
ft and I stayed out with Ricardo and kept trying. I rode so
me more foam.....but I just couldn't get things to work on
this day. I was too slow on my take offs... and it was roug
h paddling out... ::sigh:: but still fun. By the time Ricar
do said he had to leave for work.... it was like... 4:30 in
the afternoon and I had arrived at the beach about 11:30 i
n the morning. Even with the breaks to warm up... I guess i
t was understandable that I was tired.

I had a great time.... great company....and... I love b
odyboarding just as much now as ever... maybe more! Yeah..
. I know I'm a fat chick... and I'm older than most bodyboa
rders.... but... so what! it's fun!!! And when I catch anot
her one of those perfect rides..... it will be even better!
I'm not giving up.

0 comments View Entry