I get paranoid…by the way, who wants to know?
Quote:
Even if i miss bad surf i cry.
every morning at 5:00am I run out the door grab a board and surf before anyone is awake. then i go surf in the afternoon too. everyday.
That virtually wipes out the chances of missing good surf.
I’m with you Josh. I surf just about every day of my life. At least once, twice if possible. Small, big choppy, clean doesn’t matter.
Wednesday mornings are the only day that is difficult for me. That morning is set aside for paying bills and other assorted things related to owning a business.
If the waves are good on a wed, morning I can usually skip out but on occasion I have missed some good surf.
When that happens I get really bitter. It affects the rest of my day. My wife and daughter just give me space and make me a good dinner. I don’t mean to give the impression that I’m violent or they are afraid of me but they know how much surfing means to me.
I go to the library and research words I don’t know - like bathos…
ba·thos [bey-thos, -thaws, -thohs] Pronunciation Key
–noun
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a ludicrous descent from the exalted or lofty to the commonplace; anticlimax.
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insincere pathos; sentimentality; mawkishness.
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triteness or triviality in style.
and litotes…
li·to·tes [lahy-tuh-teez, lit-uh-, lahy-toh-teez] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun, plural -tes. Rhetoric.
understatement, esp. that in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary, as in “not bad at all.”
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I die inside just a little bit. I don’t get to surf good waves very often, and I definitely haven’t had my share yet.
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If I’m not actively working on a board, I think about boards, draw up ideas, and obsessively check Sways.
1 i get really really depressed then angry at the frist person i talk to if they say anything like how do you surf when its cold or man you really missed some good wave today or anything having to do with the ocean or surfing
2 i good work on a new board or skateboard with my freinds to try to get my mind on something else and then after i get passed the facted that i missed a good swell i look at the movies or pictures on sureline and magicseaweed then i dream about surfing it
well living 3hrs from the beach i mmiss about 9-10 months of swell a year, so normally it’s like fnck but ohwell i can’t do anything, but when i am lifeguarding and the waves are good i am ready to quit, and i am antzy all day long
After surfing for 4 decades, there’s always another clean day around the corner.
You know, the run out between commitments to find it still glassy, tide dropping and everyone left cause the wind was coming up but backed off kinda days. If I hadn’t run down to the beach, I wouldn’t know how good it was.
The driving home from work, swing by, unexpected swell, wind died, 4 guys out.
Or, November 23, my middle son (21) Navy Corpsman, graduates FMSS (Field Medical Service School) on Camp Pendleton, first in his class! Missing a new west swell, but some things are too important, and I wouldn’t miss it for anything. Ceremony was outside, wind was building, 11:00am it was over and he had to report to Twentynine Palms. The oldest son (25) and I went to Oceanside Harbor, wind died, glassy 3-5 tapered walls, fast, beautiful day, another father and son we met in the water, surfing with us, a woman on a pink board sliding on the next peak north, smooth as silk, smiles all around, hooting at each other, pointing out set waves, 2 hours later, arms tired, face tanned. And thanksgiving was the following day.
Everyday is a clean day, in your mind, and the best part, there will be another tomorrow.
Living in the Southern Santa Monica Bay the problem I find is when it’s good, it’s crowded, and when it’s crowded, that’s not good. Because of my age (57) I just shrug and find solace in my shaping room. I must say, though, I don’t miss a good surf because when I surf there’s always something good.
Ride on,
Tom
As a kid having lived at the beach I hardly missed a swell. Now that adulthood and responsibilities have set in it does get a bit depressing. I now work 80 miles from my home break, but luckely I still maintain a home at the beach. I don’t get to surf as much as I would like, but Im thankful for any wave that I get. I keep telling everyone that I could live in the desert and surf Costa Rica two weeks out of the year and be way ahead of the game. When Im in the line up I think of friends that don’t surf any more and how much fun we had as kids. Every session I dedicate a wave or two to friends that have passed on knowing that they are surfing in a better place. The memory of waves, and friends from the past is what gets me through.
What I really hate is when I miss a good wave.
LIke this morning- 5-8 foot faces, a pretty stiff offshore. I was sitting too far out for a couple good ones, got blown out of a big one, pulled out of a couple because they were being ridden (and on one, the guy blows it- that really makes me growl).
What do I do? Paddle back out and wait for another.
I don’t miss it…after 40 years+ of surfing all conditions w/ the history of the sport changing dramatically thru my life,and pulling off some of the most impossible impossibles,that includes wipeouts…
…I’m happy…
…Happy that I got the opportunity to surf and skateboard as long as I have and still be able to do what I can do w/ a second nature sense.
There will always be enough waves…
…Time…
Never enough time,my friends,never.Herb
i get bummed but quickly focus or engage in something else that creates just as much of a "high"eg, go swim laps, ride a horse, run, etc. if i miss it i can “mind surf” it based on passed years of waves and experiences.anymore, though, it just gets too damn crowded to even be able to REALLY enjoy the good days.today, for example, the surf is shit, but due to hype it’s absolutley packed at all the local spots.i.ve kinda written off the “good” or “hype” days and engage in other activities. i derive more fun and satisfaction from those “off” days when few, if anyone else is around…
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- No problem…there will be more and better days…weekdays…with offshore winds…without any crowds…
Like yesterday…
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- Take relief that I’m in this for the rest of my life…The best days are still ahead…!!!..
I take it like a man, as befits the mature, intelligent, educated individual I am (TOO!)…the initial, primal reaction passes in less than 10 minutes.
This is a timely Q, given the Christmas season parties my wife’s been surprising me with that keep me from heading up to Cent. Fl for the weekends. I gain much favor, currency and face for my well-handled sacrifices which I will cash in when appropriate.
now Paul-are you rubbing it in a tad or is this an invitation??? glad you scored my friend!
Surfing is always on the back of my mind whether it is good surf or not. I realize that this is going to be an ongoing passion for me for a long time if not for the rest of my life. Although I get bummed out when I can’t surf, I realize that the fact that I have enjoyed the act of surfing makes me one of the few people in this world that has felt the oneness with the ocean that we all feel when we are out there riding mother nature’s gifts. When I say “one of the few”, I mean it in relative terms to the majority that are unfortunate enough to experience the bliss and luxury that this pastime affords us. There are some people out there right now that are in the middle of a hail of bullets or rumaging through the bottoms of garbage cans for their dinner.
Whatever the reason for me not being able to surf, I just shrug it off thinking that riding just one wave in my life is already more than what I am worthy of and to complain about deserving surf makes me put into perspective my cushy life and smacks me back down to the reality that I am just another miniscule organic matter floating around this universe and my existence is quite negligible…
Enjoy,
Rio
Really good surf is relative only if you get really good rides. The size of the swell, the size of the crowd, the size of the board, it doesn’t matter if you get the ride that means something to you. If it was big and you missed it, well maybe you also missed that gaping hatchet-wound of a fin cut also; who can say? In 40 years of the life aquatic, I have only a couple of big wave rides that are memorable but much more in normal conditions. I met a guy in the water today who was undergoing chemo, he was coughing, and having a hard time taking off, but he didn’t complain. He told me that he doesn’t know if he’ll ever be back, so this session was obviously more important to him than big swells he’s rode in the past. A couple of months ago I surfed with a marine who was leaving for Iraq in a few days, he got a long, smooth ride on the last one he took in, about 2’.
Now for the bitter old man stuff - You guys who act like jerks when you miss a big swell aren’t much different than many of the morons that are out there in it. I’m talking about those who think that the ocean owes them big waves and at every big swell they’re going to collect their due. For those of you that go into such depression when you miss a big swell, well how about the one you just missed a hemisphere away? You’re probably always missing a swell somewhere so stay out of the water and get more medication and therapy.
…I think the biggest thing for me , anyway , is the ability to laugh at myself when I miss a wave I have paddled for .
It IS amusing watching the swearing and temper tantrums some people perform , just because inability , bad timing , the wrong equipment , or whatever else , caused them to miss a wave .
as the Duke said …
“waves will always come , just be patient” (a good attitude I need to remind myself of occassionally .)
cheers
ben
I asked my Dad once (on the P.O.P. in Venice,Ca. early 70s), how come we have so many flat, crappy, dry spells…?
My dad’s answer: It’s nature’s way of weeding out the weak.Herb
When you miss really good surf:
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How does it effect you?
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How do you handle it?
I have the vision of the nice barreling double up that I chickened out of 20 years ago still stuck in my mind.
Missing perfect days makes me feel like the kid that doesn’t get picked for the sand lot ball game.
How do I handle missing good days? Poorly.