Finally Surfing

in #life7 years ago (edited)

https://i.supload.com/ByCAet5V-.jpg

I grew up in inland San Diego county which sounds idyllic except the truth is that even though the beach was 12 miles as the crow flies I might as well have lived in Nebraska because as a kid we rarely got to the beach.   I grew up skateboarding as a proxy for surfing even though in my heart I knew surfers were the cool guys and me and my crew fell more into the skate punk category.  

When I turned 16 and I got my first car the first destination was the thrift store to buy a second hand surfboard.  I had a few requirements: 

1. Has to be under $40 because that's all the money I had

2. Has to look cool.  Doesn't matter if its impossible to ride, if you don't look cool then whats the point?

2a. One thing with a $40 surfboard is that its probably going to be old and the old ones are usually yellow instead of white so this was the real challenge.  By yellow I don't mean they used to make them yellow but they start a gleaming white and then they age like a smokers lung.

3. There wasn't a 3rd criteria

I spent a lot of my free time "surfing" in La Jolla.  The 52 freeway was brand new and made the trip a lot shorter so being a surfer was a real option.  So "surfing" often times meant driving to the beach and

1. No waves - paddle out sit there a while and try to catch a tiny wave only to paddle your arms off and realize that you need a longboard not a coolish looking $40 thrift shop board - Oh well go get a burrito and head back to the Valley.

2. Closed out - this means you walk out to the beach and the entire wave crashes at the same time rather than peeling from right to left or vice versa - Oh well go get a burrito and head back to the Valley.

3. Surfing! - This was about 1 in 4 trips to the coast for me.  Whether alone or with friends this usually resulted in several near drownings, falling on a surboard (feels as good as it sounds) and epic sinus clearing wipeouts.   In the two years of owning that junker surfboard I caught one wave.  I felt like the heavyweight champion of the world, double arm fist pumping surfer dude.   A real surfer would laugh at that moment because it was all whitewash but dammit I was standing on a board and headed for the shore so I am counting that shit!

Fast forward 21 years and they now make mini surfboards so you can surf behind a boat.  Wakesurfing is an absolute blast!  As with many things in life that you wanted so badly in your youth, time and technology provides as an adult.

Let's Go Surfing!

Sort:  

Just visited San Diego for the 1st about a month ago. It was pretty nice. I made a post about it you can check out if ya like. Stoped by the top gun house like a tourist would. Damn I'd love to surf tho man. Always wanted to learn.
Btw I'm in Arizona too. Although I don't love Facebook I created an Arizona group to try and organize some Arizonans. Take a look here. Just started it. https://m.facebook.com/groups/117044785581376

Love life stories like this. You have a real knack for organizing information into manageable parts ... again, I thank you for your reply over 7 months ago about choosing reliable news sources! :-)

We used to live right off the 52 - in University City :) loved this story!!! I have been gone for almost a year.... but have now returned. LOL and your stories were one of the ones that I was MOST looking forward to reading again. PLEASE TELL ME THAT YOU HAVEN'T STOPPED WRITING. you make me laugh harder than any other steemian!!!!! I am going to pester you, once a day, until you return.