This morning I went to check the surf..not bad but heavy with lots of 'close-out' sets, so it was shopping with the family, pay some bills then try a bit later.
Early evening I check in after a brain numbing shopping trip to Newquay where I sent most of my time cursing tourists under my breath and moaning about the cost of just about anything (yeah I was a bundle of joy) - something good did come out of the visit a new padded board bag on the downside it cost me the best part of £60.00!!
Okay back to topic - the evening surf. Looking good, 6ft+ and clean between large 'close-out' sets. Managed to park and the sun was shiny, what could ruin this awsome evening......well I brought only one board and it was the wrong one but hell that was going to me a challenge and I was up for it, nothing could be worse than not having this hour or so to myself. So off I trot with a solid redwood near flat roundnose 20lb beast and the certain prospect of a heavy wipeout and muscle ache.
The paddle out was fine despite the heavy breaking waves and rips I supprised myself in a trouble-free glide to the line-up. Bobbing there I caught my breath, except my modern wetsuit I looked like an extra from a 50's movie in contrast to the collection of shortboards and bodyboards around me..boy I wished I brought something a bit more nimble out with me. Then it came the first set and a big one. Looking for a shoulder to shoot for I see a left, okay I paddle, kick, spash and I'm up and it's fast with the weight and the wave I feel I'm going warp 9 without time to think I turn perl and whoosh heavy hold-down and a good crack on the arm from my soddin plank to add to the experience. After recovering I return and wait - ahh a smaller set, again I'm up, but not quite this time I decide dropknee and it works, using my backfoot for drag I lock into the face and with a grap of my outer rail I ride this one like a vintage pro - oh yeah sweet, with a narrow miss of a duck-diving bodyboarder I score a smooth ride. This was my method for the remaining few waves, not as many as I would have liked and a few heavy wipe-outs but a reasonable session.
The hike up the beach was agony my arms and legs like jelly and the board feeling more like a sack of concrete blocks with every step but I was stoked. Anyone who saw me getting out of my wetsuit must have seen the funniest moment of the day, with my fatigue it was like a drunk peeling off their own skin into a bucket.
Maybe next session I will be more prepared, check the surf and bring the right kit....or maybe I'll just leave it in the lap of the Gods for they make me smile.
