Surfing Lessons

Before the lessons:



Today was our first day to try out the waves here in Hawaii! We signed up with the Air Force base rec. center for lessons. This was our first mistake... Air Force, what can you expect (=)!! j/k dad!). After all of 5 mins of "lessons" they loaded us up in a boat and we headed out to sea to try out what we had "learned". At this point, I had learned to make sure my right foot was on the back of the board and my left foot forward. That was pretty much it.

They parked the boat about 10 miles off shore, near this beautiful rock arch that was randomly in the ocean, and we jumped ship from there. The waves were intimidating at first as we paddled along with our bodies slowly moving up and over giant waves, but for the most part, even though they were large, they weren't breaking and so we were safe. Or so we thought.

Then came the point where they told us to paddle... "paddle, paddle, paddle, paddle"... they would scream and we would lay on our board and act as if we were swimming an Olympic race without moving our legs until the wave reached us and pulled us forward with all of its furry.

My first wave was a nightmare, a ginormous wave, that looked to be about 5 foot tall. In all actuality, it was probably only 2-3 feet, but to me, it seemed life threatening. When that first wave hits you, it's almost as if you go from 0-80mph, in two seconds flat. Your board is no longer viewed as your safety net, but your death trap, and it viciously spins out of control as the waves slowly devour it. This is exactly what happened to me. I attempted to stand, and made it to a crouched position before the board was enveloped, and then... the fall.

Falling face first into a crashing wave is one of those life revealing experiences. It reveals if you are mice or men, if you are bigger than the wave or the wave bigger than you. As i fell backward, staring straight into a monster wave, salt water pouring into my mouth and nose, the torrent of the water pulling me down deeper and deeper, I realized i am smaller than a mouse and terrified of drowning in a deep ocean.

After my second wave, and actually standing for all of 30 seconds until the wave behind me engulfed my board once again and i took in another gallon of sea water, I called it quits. I paddled my way to the boat and took my place next to the eleven year old who had quit a few minutes before me. I spent the next half hour sun bathing and watching sea turtles swim around our boat, and of course watching Tim excel at everything he does.

Some days I wish i was fearless, but most days i'm very content in the safety of my own little boat sun bathing and playing with sea turtles. Unfortunately, Tim is normally not content with this way of life, so we'll probably try our surfing skills out once again... tomorrow.