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.