This Thing Called "Surfing"

One of my goals during this "Adventure" was to try and learn to surf. I had tried on a number of trips down here and a few on the Oregon coast without much success and never was all that good at it. It frustrated the hell out of me. My buddy John says that he is "addicted" to surfing. More specifically, addicted to SUP or Stand Up Paddle surfing. He is pretty damn good at it which motivated me to learn even more. Why couldn't I get the hang of this or even like it all that much? Having lived and skied all my life on "frozen water", my growing up and adult life certainly did NOT prepare me for this thing called "Surfing". Moving water? WTF? Waves, breaks, sets, close outs, rights, lefts...? Mumbo jumbo for sure. Well, we came to Mexico with our new shiny new oZoboards and for the first few months I got in the water once in a while. There were other things to do, work to be done and the ocean still didn't have my attention yet other than a place to let the kids burn up some energy.

When January came around, Ashley was back from working the holidays in the States. This was a good excuse to go out on the water together while the kids were at school and really try something new. She wanted to paddle for exercise and I wanted to surf to try and accomplish my pre-adventure goal. I got some advice and went out on the small waves. A big board, paddle and no brakes! Sayulita is great for learning since it has soft sand when things get shallow and a wave that grows progressively larger from one end of the bay to the main break where the "real" surfers go. I spent my time at what I called the "Kiddie Pool". Shallow, small waves and fewer people to run over. A place for real beginners like myself.

Day after day I paddled back and forth, going in and out, getting knocked down, getting beat up, going straight, learning to turn right and then left. I was a beginner again. I began to meet other beginners in the water and would see these people out each morning. Some of them were only here for a few days and others were like me, living down here for the winter season and learning something new. All we could do was to try hard, cheer each other on and laugh at ourselves. I slowly began to build some skills and that's when Ashley started to take notice. She saw how much fun I was having riding waves so she also started to spend time in the surf rather than out touring around on the flat water. We hardly spoke to each other while out trying to find the next wave but we would both be looking for the other like little kids after catching a good one. As if to say, "Hey, did you see me"?, "Did you see what I did"?. Fists pumping into the air applauding.

I always kept an eye on the main break to pickup visual cues from some of the fantastic local surfing talent but I knew where I belonged...in the "Kiddie Pool", practicing. Slowly I move farther and farther along the surf to finally I started to really look at the main break, especially when the conditions were not all that great and the local surfers may have decided to take a day off. Fortunately, by this time, I knew a lot of faces in the lineup. Welcome smiles and a shout of "Ozzy!!" from some friends in the water helped ease my anxiety.

Before coming down here, I read and heard less than great things about being in the Sayulita main break. Yelling, arguing, bullying, fighting are all things that I was ready to face. As I spent more and more time in the main break I saw these things happen. How have I fared in the main break thus far? I never have tried to necessarily be "liked" in the main break. Only wanting to be recognized as someone who is not passing through and has some skill. Hopefully, with that comes a small amount of respect. I try to play by the rules to be sure myself and others stay safe. I don't try to catch every wave I can and let good waves go by to other surfers since a SUP surfer has a small advantage at times. I always look for faster surfers coming down the line that have right away and get out of the way.. I almost always give a local the right to the wave if we are both paddling for it. Vision. You have to have vision. I've seen people who can surf but only see what's in front of them and don't see others around them who have the right to the wave. Then they wonder why they get yelled at. I don't think it is because of someone missing the wave so much as the increased probability of getting really creamed when someone who should be getting out of the way doesn't. Since Sayulita has a huge number of folks new to surfing they are very often in the lineup when they shouldn't be and that doesn't make people comfortable. I spent months working on my skills before I came even close to the main break and some show up after a few days on vacation. Not a good way to be welcome in any break. I stay clear of the main break on days where conditions are above my skill level. If the surf is too big...don't be there. If you can't turn both ways...don't be there. If you can't get out of the way... don't be there. Some may not agree with how I've decided to handle being out there but I know I am an outsider and new surfer and I believe this is a process developing skills on my SUP and acceptance to be out paddling with some of Mexico's best SUP and surf talent.

Mother Nature. What really is surfing when you get down to it? I feel it's a very temporary agreement between you and Mother Nature. You don't really control anything about surfing. Mother Nature only lets you tag along until your ride is over or until she changes the rules and sends you crashing into the ocean. Every single ride is different as tide, wind, currents change by the second. In skiing I could ski the same run over and over and it would be the virtually the same condition every time. Never the case with surfing. One is constantly adapting from one wave the next as the element around you continues to morph.

So, now what? Can I surf? Am I good at it? Hmmmm. I'll just say that I am always learning and have a long ways to go to feel really good out there but from the passer by it probably looks like I can surf. I've recently upgraded my "tabla" to a real surf model from Starboard SUP and am enjoying that now as I learn to adapt learned skills to new equipment. I try to stick my nose into more aggressive spots to catch waves where they should be caught and ridden vs catching things a bit outside and grabbing waves that come my way. Traveling to different surf breaks has been fun so I visit a number of breaks that are close by for a change of pace once in a while. Let me just say that finding surfing this past year has been a blast. See you out there.