Takin' a stab

Current State: zombie mode
Time: late at night
Tunes: Ingrid Michaelson - You and I


Okay so I made a blog. I've been motivated, inspired, and become very antsy reading all the blogs of the DRC :) So what better to do on a Saturday night than create a blog dedicated to the trials and tribulations of my lovely life. Yea, nothing better than to do just that.

So let's see, SURF! Surf was on the up and up for the past couple of days. There was a solid WNW swell that pushed through the cruz on Thurs/Fri. I hadn't surfed for almost 2.5 weeks. Yea....eek. It had been far too long since I had tasted the salt water. Although within those couple of weeks, especially the latter half, I had been messing around with my indo board and attempting to figure out how to cross step on it without cracking my head open. I watched this old school video and then went to work.

I think the best tip that I took away from this vid was balancing on one foot was key to a solid cross step. Took me a little while to figure out how to balance on one foot. Some things I learned:

1. It's much easier to balance on one foot on my front leg of my stance. This is almost my dominant foot I think. But the better I got at balancing on my non-dominant foot the better I got at cross stepping.
2. Hinging from my hips. So essentially everything from my hips up was in the same spot the whole time when I did anything successful on my indo board. My torso was ALWAYS centered over the roller.
3. Engaging different core muscles helps with balance. I found that I had more successful and perhaps 'stylish' cross steps when I engaged my lower abdominal muscles, which essentially tucked my butt in a little so I wasn't in much of a bent over squatted position. Instead I was in more of an upright erect position (insert dirty jokes here...)

Now after a week or so of playing around with my indo board I'm definitely not pro or anything, but I am much better than I was last week and got a couple of successful cross steps.

upclose and personal: probably right before I ate sh-t

THURSDAY SURF.

Condtions: awesome

Wave height: awesome

State of being: limited amount of time in between coaching.

Surfline had estimated that the day would be Good and that wave height would be from 8-12ft at least. I couldn't get out in the morning because I was running a jump rope performance. I finished my performance at around 1030am, had a quick dim sum lunch with my mom, ran a couple of errands and wasn't really planning on making he trek to SC, but then said 'eff it, I'm goin' surfing'. So I ran home really quick, got some work done on my computer meanwhile am drooling over the pleasure point cam. Waves were goin' off but the paddle out looked brutal. I decided I'd go out at my fave go-to spot 'sharks' which is right next to a popular short board spot called the Hook. So I drive down to Santa Cruz and don't even look at the surf and change into my suit as quick as I can. But, ho man, I don't see the waves, but I can hear 'em! The parking lot was packed which is a sign that there's got to be some decent surf. I ask some guys how it was and they said it was fun out and that I'd have a good time. One of them teasing me for taking my log out on a bigger day. But, hey, if any board can be ridden on big waves my board can handle it.

So I tip toe my way to the top of the stairs and watch the waves for a moment. Ahhh...beautiful day, and beautiful waves. Many of them were connecting all the way from second peak and some even from first peak of the hook all the way to sharks! This was a day where you had to definitely be a little more aggressive to get waves. Have fun, but still have yo game face on.

Every time I paddle out I try not to get my hair wet in hopes of staying warmer longer. That definitely did not happen this day. The waves were big and the white water big too. Trying to hop my way over the white water was out of the question. Once I got out to the line up I sat and watched for a little bit. many of the waves were connecting and the sand that had filled into the little cove had definitely created a small shift in the wave. It was peaking in a slightly different spot.

I caught a couple of good waves that day. Most sets were rolling in the head high slightly overhead height which was super fun. But I also had fun playing on the inside with some of the waist high waves.

Right off the bat, I had decided that I wanted to work on my steps today. I had been able to manage a couple cross steps here and there, but I wanted toes to the nose status. Figuring out how many steps and placement on my board has been a definite process and I'm still figuring it out. But, this day, after taking my first wave, I can honestly say that cross stepping felt the most fluid and natural that it had even been thus far. Which means....yay!! Indo board training is working!!!

So my wave of the day: I had shifted down a little bit in order to get waves that weren't being torn apart by the shorties. But when the sets rolled through in the right angle, I was in the right spot. I really forget how I caught the wave, but I distinctly remember taking a couple steps forward then backwards. Then took 2 steps forwards again. I knew my position on the wave was where the wave speeds up, this meant I needed to speed up too in order to stay with the section. My usual first instinct is to just keep my feet planted and to step on the pedal. And, I was so surprised that my first 2 cross steps were so solid that I almost forgot to think about taking 2 more steps to the nose. But, this time I remembered. And I acted. Toes to the Nose!! Hangin 5, a little wobbly, but I had a solid 3-4 second nose ride before I kicked out! Feels like you're on the edge of the world.

Probably not my most graceful moment of the day, but definitely a moment to remember. There's something very special about nose riding that I don't know if I could experience on a short board. It's nothing but you and the wave. Nothing else is in front, or in your periphery but ocean curl. It's pretty amazing.

FRIDAY SURF.

conditions: awesome again

wave height: smaller but still awesome

state of being: much less rushed but still had work in the afternoon

I have been limiting my time in the water because I have some pretty important tests in school coming up, but I made an exception for this day. Surf was good, it was a beautiful day, and I needed a break from life. It's been a busy couple of months.

So I had a late start and when driving over the hill a huge curtain of fog appeared. The closer I got to the hook, the foggier it got. I got to the parking lot and it was packed and it seemed nobody was leaving. Good sign perhaps. Surf must be good. So I parked on the street and ran over to the ledge to take a peak. Couldn't seen one thing because it was so foggy. Most of the guys were joking around about how you'd just have to paddle out to see what the surf looked like. And even then you can't even really tell if there's a set coming until it's about to break on you. Yes, it was THAT foggy.

not sure if you can tell...but this was DENSE fog.

So I paddle out, and yea it's foggy. Everyone was pretty much guessing where the waves were going to break. But when the sets came in, ho bah, they were fun! The height had dropped off a little bit from Thursday but still had some size to it.

I saw quite a few friends out that day and spent some time catching up and chillin'. But, I definitely got my fare share of waves. I was paddling around second bowl at the hook for a while pickin off some of the smaller waves that the shorties couldn't catch and practicing my steps. But, I saw a few larger sets roll over to sharks and decided that's where I wanted to be. So I paddled over there and waited with some other long boarders. It was still pretty foggy but I picked off a few nugs by just waitin' further on the outside so I could see them coming before some of the other guys. But, the fog eventually cleared.

Waves of the day: I don't think that I'm that great of a surfer compared to some guys out there, but I definitely surfed well for myself that day. I caught a handful of waves and all of them I took around 6-10 steps on my board on each wave. I had a rhythm going that I've never had before. Step forward. Step back. Cut back. Reposition. Step forward. Step back.

I got one decent nose ride which I rode down the face and was crouched low. My back foot ended up slipping out and I tried to counteract it by putting more weight on my front foot which was at the nose. I let my back foot drag in the wave for a second, but the wave was so powerful that it spun me around on top of my board. Hahaha. I started laughing because I was now riding this chest high wave sitting down backwards still in the pocket of the wave. I also passed another fellow surfer whom was just as amused as I was, watching me spin around to my bottom and butt ride down the line. I spread my arms out in aloha and rode it for a while until I rolled out of it.

I have to say the most fun part of this day besides the rhythm I created for myself, were the kick outs I had. I dropped in on a couple of big wave close outs but did it just for the drop and the kick out launch. I was having a lot of fun seeing how many different flips I could do exiting the wave. Hahaha. I managed to get a lot of water up my nose and in my ears after this though. Oh well. Twas worth it.

Okay, this brings me to an end of my surf for the week. We'll see if I get wet next week or not. I'm not sure if every blog that I do will always be about surf. As I was creating myself an account I was asking myself what exactly I was creating this for. Well, I'm not quite sure, but perhaps in hopes to continue to motivate, inspire, innovate, and grow within. And in turn, hopefully make a positive difference throughout. So join me, in my blogger journey and I will in yours as well :)

Time for bed, gnite DRC.