and I’m sure you’ve all heard the cliche [ I reckon it’s TRUE!]…
"You didn’t stop surfing because you got “old” ,
you got “old” because you stopped surfing ".
case in point …Woody Brown …a LIFETIME of STOKE !!
cheers !
ben
Kokua,
Sorry the shoulder therapy didn’t work out. I know your were going to have it worked on when we were in Kauaii. I had my shoulder worked on when I was 33 (football abuse) but after about a year of therapy luckly it felt good as new. Unfortunately now that I am in my mid 40’s and my shoulder now feels like it needs a tune-up. I can’t go for the long sessions (surfing that is! I thought I would say that before anyone else jumped on it) like I use to but now I find myself enjoying filming our surf sessions almost as much as surfing. It doesn’t require the arm strength that surfing does and it gets me in the water up close to the surfing. I also enjoy the editing of the film and making the little movies like on our website. With editing I can even look good at surfing. I started with little movies of about 15 to 30 seconds and now my last movie was over 25 minutes long (2 months of editing).
As far as the final finale I already told Austin I want him to build a special board and take a little container/bottle with some of my ashes in it and sink it in the board. This way I can continue to surf with him long after I am long gone.
Troy
I’ve got a bad wing too. Football as well. One (of many) reasons I enjoy longboarding - I can knee paddle. I probably knee paddle 60% of the time, including catching waves. Much easier on the rotation when you’re using your trunk to lift your hands out of the water & not your shoulders…
But, hell, I live in California. When I can’t surf any more I can probably sell my house & buy a place for cash at a ski hill in New Mexico or Wyoming and spend the rest of my days snowboarding. Seems to work for Jerry. 
I figure all these years in 40* water are good conditioning for living in the cold…
That’s funny, now that I’m hitting the mid-stride of the 30’s I’m thinking I’d like to move away from the mountains and snowboarding and be back somewhere I can be in the ocean more…don’t delude yourself; snowboarding is WAY hard on the body…lots of sudden and abrupt impacts; they don’t come as hard in the water unless you’re surfing very consequential breaks. Damn, I could barely walk yesterday after three days on the hill. Anybody check the Whistler or Baker snow reports lately?!
Old is in your mind.
My wife and I regularly get mistaken for couple 5-10 years younger. And friends of ours (who are a couple of years younger than us) get mistaken regularly for 5-10 years older.
My “grandmother-in-law” is 82 and everyone mistakes her for 72… Or younger. The old tart acts like a schoolgirl 
So yeah, “you got old because you stopped surfing” is about it, as far as I see it.
My Gramps played golf twice a week until he was 95! Hope I got his genes! The last couple of years he’s gotten weak and says his only pleasure now is drinking gin.
Hey Lee and Kokua, I’ll catch a wave for you guys. You kind of scared me with the shoulder stories because my left shoulder does get sore (in the joint) after a long session. I’ll have to research and do some preventative maintenance.
Kokua, if I couldn’t surf I wouldn’t mind Arizona. The desert is beautiful. I have friends outside of Tucson (just under the Biosphere) and Flagstaff. A lot of special places there. It might be kind of hard for someone from Hawaii though. Pheonix is like a bit of LA drfited inland, without the beach.
…from the mouth of babes…I wish old was all in my head.
At 54, I still get my stoke tank filled every go out. It’s just not the same as when I was younger. Its not so much about wave count or maneuvers…It’s about sharing a few waves with friends, enjoying the walk in, getting out-the-back with dry hair, beating the groms by knowing the right keyhole rip to ride to the peak, marvelling at the impossibly rare combination of water depth, bottom contour, swell height and direction that creates a ridable wave.
I figure to stay at it as long as it is fun and on whatever equipment I can propel into a wave. After that, I’ll sit on the cliff with the rest of you old farts and tell you how much better it was in the olden days…
This just flashed in my head as I read this thread…
I remembered seeing Rell Sunn at Makaha near her end. Her body was beaten by cancer but her spirit still loved the ocean. Her friends and family would carry her to the ocean and allow the waves to wash up on her legs and toes. She was happy to be in the ocean surrounded by her loved ones. She seemed even more beautiful.
I think this is how I want my Last Chapter; just loving the ocean and getting as much as my body will allow and loving every moment.
Aloha,
D
Like I say, you guys can go out whatever way you want, it’s fine by me.
But I choose to windsurf, play tennis, surf a little, play a little golf, snowboard, and once in a while kitesurf.
I can do them all, and know lots of peeps doing those sports who are just as fanatical about them as you are about surfing.
Nothing special about your love of the ocean or surfing, plenty of golfers talk about nothing else but how to it the ball cleanly, what course plays how, what grass affects the ball how, and which clubs do what… your’re not unique!.
Even if surfing’s participants were not unique, the object of their desire most certainly is.
the google ad below would seem to suggest the same !
Life is not a contest …it’s too short to not enjoy it while you’re on this planet , because sooner than you realise your life will be over .
Relax and have fun , mate …life is too short to do otherwise …Rell Sun [and Woody Brown] are SHINING examples of that !
cheers !
ben
…I hope if I don’t die in my sleep of old age , that I die quickly , surfing .
I think LeeDD is right. Surfing is an important part of my life, but, as years go by, I’ve come to be a little bit more open-minded. Just like every grom, I’ve had my days where surfing was everything and I would spend 6 to 8 hours a day in the water. Now I hit the water once in a while when I really feel like it. I like the idea of surfing “through” someone else: watching a guy who rides a board that I shaped for him can be very near to the “real feeling”. And many other things in life are worth trying.
Quote:
Kokua, if I couldn't surf I wouldn't mind Arizona. The desert is beautiful.
The desert is the flip side of the ocean…water/absence of water…and you can also get into cycles of water like clouds/rain/snow/melt/creeks/streams/rivers/lakes back to the ocean…Morey’s old “surf life” trip…
Howzit doug, I know what you mean, people always tell me I don't look 57 more like in my late 40's but I tjink it's part genetics since no male in my family has ever been bald or gotten grey hair til in their late 60's. Been considering the mat thing for a while since really don't want to the boogie board thing,think the mat would be more fun.Aloha,Kokua
My response to the Clark thing was to order a mat. Go for it - they’re really fun.
I went over the falls on a what 6’ face and made it
it was like passing the driving test the first try
there were two people out it was onshore I caught it and it backed off
while I was out I saw a couple waves break way over and generated myself over there and caught one and trimmed off just what I could chew all the way accross the reef three waves to the beach and paddle out channel
the rip was so strong I had to go over the reef ,walking in stock udts aint easy
ha ha ha ha ha ha
surfin is bitchin
sitting on the cliff and waiting for a turn in the municipal toilets is bitchin.
surfing is alive in the hearts and souls of live organisms.
not unique?
allways makes me think of the guy that lives in the harem ,the eunuch
…ambrose…
three mats coulda rode that wave together…
and when I got home I sat down and wanted to share this with Y’all
the google ad below would seem to suggest the same!
Ah yes. The Google ads…
Hey kokua,
Yeah, genetics probably does. I am in a similar bucket, since every male on both sides of my family expeired with a full head of hair, etc.
But I think attitude is a massive factor too. The (non-surfing, I might add) friends I referred to have a very serious outlook and behave to match.
As for the “what to surf” question. My philosophy has always been whatever is fun and doesn’t aggrevate injuries or personal weaknesses. Couldn’treally give a fig what anyone else has to say to me about it 
What are they gonna do about it? Nothin. LOL!
the mention of Woody Brown got me to wondering, is he still with us? i met him about 6 years ( i think)ago on maui he was on this really function board having a quiet blast while i was swimming around the break sliding a few with my fins…what a neat guy and he was working part time at a retirement home for old folks!