Me In The Making: September 1, 2007 Learning to surf; Avila Beach in CA

Sue and Vince's Excellent Adventures:

Saturday morning the 1st of September, Vince took me surfing. I have never surfed before, and I have wanted to try it. You never know unless you try, right?

Anyways, the swell wasn't really doing anything at Shell beach, so we headed to the touristy Pismo. Vince didn't want to take me there, but we really had no choice. Any other place probably would not have been too great for a beginner!

I was so stoked about going out there! haha

We get to Pismo and we suited up. Vince let me use this awesome wetsuit. It had long sleeves and a turtle neck. I put my hair up in pig tails! (as always) We started walking toward the beach surf boards in hand! It was heavier than I thought it was going to be. He started running with the board. So I begin to run with mine to catch up.

He yelled out to me, "Hey, Sue, turn your board around so the wax is on the other side. You're a surfer now." I laughed. I couldn't believe I had the board turned the wrong way! The wax was getting all over my wet suit, etc. lol It had already began to heat up. He found a spot for us to practice getting up on the board. It was really fast paced.

My concentration wasn't really good that morning. I kept looking at all the surfers! Vince was like, "Sue, focus. It's really hot, and I'm burning up in this wet suit. I've got to get in the water soon." lol Anyways, I laid on the board and practiced getting up. My right foot naturally just came out in front. So he put the leash on my left. We got up and started running towards the ocean. I was so nervous! I was yelling out to him, "how will i know what to do?" He says, "You'll just feel it." Great!!! Um, yeah, whatever you say there! haha

As I'm running after him, my right leg keeps getting caught in the leash cord or tangled in it rather. Jeez! I'm a faller. I always fall, so I was so scared I was going to fall down with this surf board and everyone on the beach was going to laugh! (Just like at happy hour after work the other night. I decided to wear heels that day. I walk inside from the deck area at Liberty, and I slipped on the hard-wood floor and almost busted my ass in front of everybody in the bar!) (I have more falling stories but I'll save those for another time...usually involving high heels)

Anyway, we finally got in the water. Getting out there really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I mean, it was hard, but just not the way I thought.

Every time a wave would come at me, I would put my hands on the surf board and push down and jump the wave. Just like as a kid when we used to swim with floats or rafts in the ocean. Not that bad.

Then we got to deeper water. So, I had to lay on top of my board. Vince yells out, "Start paddling", and I start doing this stupid breast stroke looking maneuver. (I don't swim. I doggy paddle and I'm a good under water swimmer) I was basically doggy paddling on the board! lol Hilarious!!! Vince yells, "Sue, paddle." I yelled back, "I am paddling." He says, "No, like this." and he starts to paddle with arms...I'm like "Duh!" I felt like a complete idiot! hahaha Too funny! I finally start paddling correctly.

I got hit by so many freakin' waves! Head bashed! They kept knocking me off the board. After like 10 times, it gets kinda hard and tiring to keep getting back up on the board and paddling out with no upper body strength.

Anyways, we finally get out to the nice part where it felt calm. That's where we waited for a swell. Vince told me I could sit on the board instead of laying on it. It was so nice out there and peaceful sitting there like that. Vince got out farther then me. I tried to watch how he maneuvered, etc. The hard part was getting myself turned around in time to catch the swell at the right moment.

One time, I got up on my knees but in like a mad second, I was turned over! lol

I just kept getting hit and knocked off by the waves. Frustrating! But it made me laugh for some reason. It's hard to swim when you're laughing at the same time.

Finally, I caught a small swell. I wasn't able to get up again on the board, however, it didn't knock me off either. I got to ride the wave in on my belly. It was so much fun! I felt like a kid. I was laughing hysterically.

Anyways, when I hit the shallow end, i decided to come on out. I was so tired after struggling in the water like that for almost an hour. I considered it dangerous for me to go back out. So, I sat on shore and watched Vince surf. It was pretty cool. I definitely would like to try again. It seems everything I want to do right now involves so much core body strength! And a lot of upper body.

The rest of the day we just hung out on the beach. It was so nice out there.

Then we went to Avila to the San Luis Obispo Harbour.