It's ALL about SURFING.....: June 2010

The day started by an early wake up for me as organizer. Oats and tea...and off to Masiphumelele township (Kommetjies) where 10 youngsters from the Ticket to Ride Foundation where waiting for me. A couple of nartjies and banana later, we were on the road, the kids piled up in my station wagon, off to the Berg and ready for a fun day on the sun!

Tash Mentasti (Surfing SA), Stacey Guy and friends where already at the beach getting the boards off the truck. After an interesting wetsuit fitting, board waxing and fins fitting session, it was time to head to the beach.Little warm up first and then a couple of minutes of coaching from Tash...and we were good to go.The older ones went straight to the back while the youngers were splashing by the shore with water up to knee high.The kids had a lot of fun...some of them perfecting their standing, some of them trying for the first time...It was not all about surfing but more enjoying this fantastic day in the water! We finished by a little snack and familly photo and it was already time to go back to Masi.

It was such a perfect day at Muizenberg: 20 deg, sunny, no wind and glassy 1 foot waves !!!!

Perfect day, Perfect company and lots of smiles shining under the Berg sky!

I have always said that surfing for me is more about having fun than anything. Surrounded by competitive guys who just want to get the barrel of their life at each session, i was feeling a bit aside and really misunderstood. I was desperatly looking for like-minded people for whom surfing is above all sharing a moment with your friends out there. And here is what I found today:

The Fairer Surfer's Blog

Fine Tuning
14 June 2010, 08:08

So why do we surf? For fun? To live the dream, the endless search for the perfect wave, to be completely in the moment? To get away from the rat race? To find a calmer, quieter, more focused version of ourselves?

You'd think. Lately it seems like the rat race we're trying to get away from scurries after us into the water. Maybe it's because I'm a girl, but surfing for me is more about fun, about being out there and chatting at the backline meeting like-minded souls in the sunshine and enjoying this amazing sport together. But in the past few weeks I've been festering in a swirling testoterone-infested pit. And it's got to me a bit. Dare I say it, the first place in the dog show - Long beach. But I bet you saw that one coming. Out-paddling 60 other guys with something to prove is not my ideal surf. After a weekend at a crowded Vic Bay I realised the selfishness and greediness that is creeping into our community, our world, into our lifestyles. There are too many people on the planet and we're all trying to out-do each other rather than help each other out. I say this because in Vic Bay it was the same five or so guys who made the steep drop at the very backline, boiling over a treacherous rock, and then claim the wave all the way through to the beach. OK, given, they may be locals and proved themselves and are experienced enough to handle it. But what about the rest of us mere mortals? Can't you drop off the wave halfway so that we could pick it up and just have a taste of surfing a point break?! To try to advance our skills? Can you not just let one or two waves through? We all have to start somewhere. Do you have to have every single one for yourself? There are enough waves for everyone, plus the unspoken code which every surfer knows yet so many "pretend" not to, or use excuses like "I though you were going right" when the wave is clearly breaking left. C'mon guys let's not lie to ourselves.

I've been surfing just over a year now, I've already gone through a snapped mini-mal, moved onto a shortboard, pushed my limits in bigger and steeper breaks, had very scary life-threatening experiences and the change surfing has made in my life is unmeasurable. It's given me confidence to speak my mind, to believe in myself more, to pursue my passions, it's become a lifestyle, something i love so much my life would just feel empty without. It's completely obsessive and addictive, and so fulfilling. But lately I had been getting so disheartened that it had to become a fight to get onto a wave. Because boys are bigger and stronger and have more paddle-power really shouldn't be an excuse, but in reality I think it is. We'll never grow "guns" like you boys have or "take our sick puppies to the vet".

This all culminated together when I was surfing at Milnerton lighthouse a couple of weeks ago. The conditions were epic - silver-mirror glassy, 3-4 foot perfection... About an hour into the session, which had all been going smoothly and had been so much fun - I saw a perfect A-frame gleaming out from the horizon enticingly moving towards me - I paddle to get myself into the perfect position when out of the corner of my eye I see a guy who had been to my left paddle Aaaaaallllll the way around me and position himself on my inside and start going for the wave. "No way" I thought, as I paddled and kicked harder, there is no way he will ruin this wave for me... Bear in mind this is after weeks of being "walked-over" and being "too nice" in the water, this had happened one too many times. Whatever happened to manners?! I'm not a kook anymore - I know how this works. We both get up on the wave and he shouts "HEY" at me, at the same time as other guys in the water shout out at him. I'm in a perfect comfortable, crouching stance on the glittering face of the perfect wave. I calmly turn around and say to him firmly " YOU paddled around ME!", then proceeded to rip up the wave up all the way to the beach... He dropped off it as it closed out on him. It was one of the best waves of my life. I paddled back with my heart pounding in my chest from the adrenaline of that awesome ride ( I think my heart was trying to hi-five my surfboard) and the biggest grin on my face. Ironic that only through surfing had I learnt how to stand up for myself AND also got to use this new skill out there in the ocean. I'm not saying it happens all the time, but in the last month it had really built up...there are enough breaks, and enough waves for everyone, so be in the moment out there, interact with your fellow surfing homies, let a wave or two slip by you and appreciate the stoke lighting up someone else's face and let's keep these surfing vibes mmm-good... the way it's meant to be, bro! Surfing's for fun!

Kristi

The BOMB: http://www.thebombsurf.com/blog/13