Scuba Diving

Weekend surfing and more

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 14:28:50 +0000

Instead of cycling on Saturday, I decided to go surfing. Actually, Saturday was very windy and was threatening to rain, so I loaded my boards (I took my long board and my new funboard) and headed to the island. Once I got to the beach, I realized I probably would be just using my longboard. The waves were mushy, but rideable. I took the board and headed out. I had a fairly decent day, and was glad I had chosen surfing over cycling. It would have been a miserable, windy ride. (On a side note, even Rob decided not to ride; he opted for spin class.)

The next day, I headed to the island again for surfing. This time, I only took my new “used” funboard. I had it waxed and ready to go. I had a blast! I didn’t ride waves for very long, but I was able to get up, which is more than I thought I would be able to do. I successfully paddled out (I mistakenly say “swim out” often and get chastised by Brian, who insists I say “paddle out.”) Anyway, I paddled out, sat on the board, turned the board and caught a wave. I was awkward and only stood for a few seconds, but it was phenomenal. I caught two or three, but eventually got so worn out from trying (and falling) that I had to give up after a couple of hours. I sure had fun though.

Brian told me that he bought new boards for his school and named them after his wife (Karen), me(the other Karen), Andrea and Robin. How fun!

Winter Surfing Sucks

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 08:17:28 +0000

Wetsuits keep you warm when the water is cold, but they sure are cumbersome, not to mention, difficult to get out of when they are wet. They imply winter because they exist. I’ve been wearing a 5-4 since November, and I’m definitely ready to revert back to a 3-2 or a springsuit. I’ve been hearing how great the waves can be if you are in the water just as a norther goes through. I haven’t been there at the right time though. I’m either surfing just before it comes through or just after it starts to calm down. I only got to surf one day last weekend, and I didnt’ get to surf today (Friday). Last Sunday’s surf was odd. I wasn’t mentally in the game, and my new pop-up prevented me from getting a good ride. However, I think in the long run that my new pop-up will pay off. One mishap with Brian’s board, though, left me badly bruised. He let it go to tell me something just as a wave pushed it into me. He felt bad about it, but not as bad as I felt when it pounded me in the kidney. The purple bruise covers part of my lower back and feels sore, but I know it will heal.

I should have listened to my heart last week and stayed out of the water. I think another kind of workout would have been better for me. I debated whether to go down today or not. Waves were rough most of the morning, but when the north wind came through, the waves were good…or so I heard. In the end, though, I’m glad I didn’t go. I had to work later than usual, and I had errands to run. I wish I had some great philosophy to share about knowing in one’s heart when timing is off, but I don’t. However, I guess “to thine ownself be true” works. I need to always remember to listen to myself.

SUNDAY (2/28) update — No surf today! The south winds didn’t kick up enough surf. So, I rode my bike instead. It was a great ride.

Tides, waves, wind and more

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 09:13:31 +0000

I’m trying to learn about waves. Just when I think I have it figured out though, I look at swellinfo.com and I’m completely wrong. Or, worse yet, I go to the g-townsurf webcam and I see the exact opposite of what I think I will see. Sometimes, I listen to the weather forecast and based on the wind direction and speeds they give, I predict what the waves will be. Occasionally I’m right, but many times I’m wrong. Of course, I shouldn’t feel too bad since most weathermen/weatherwomen can’t always predict the weather and they’ve gone to school for years. My surf buddy/guru Brian has the best record for waves so far. Sometimes, when I look at swellinfo or g-townsurf, Brian will call and say to come down even though I don’t think things look good. He’s often right. Of course, that’s when he is standing and looking at the beach. So, I guess that doesn’t take much prediction. However, there are times when he’ll say something like, “I think the high pressure is going to move west Saturday, and that’ll make the waves nice Sunday.” He says this after the others predict lousy waves. I trust him though, and he’s right 90 percent of the time. After all, he’s been surfing Galveston for a very long time.

I’ve started watching the weather forecasts differently. For instance, I know that southwest winds are messy for the waves usually depending on how hard they are blowing. If they’re over 15 mph, it will definitely be a mess. A north wind (like one that most times comes in the winter) that comes in gently can bring some of the most beautiful waves. If they’re too strong, it’ll flatten the waves. The same with a straight south wind. Southeast winds can bring waves that aren’t completely consistent, but are at least surfable. But, like I said, all of this can be wrong on any given day for no reason. Go figure.

I think I’ll just wait until I get a call from Brian, or any of my other surfing friends, who happen to be looking at the waves.

Winter in Texas — yippee

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:08:00 +0000

Sometimes beautiful February weather can make a person grateful for where they live! Although it was quite cool this morning (high 30s, low 40s), the weather forecaster predicted the mid-60s during the afternoon. I decided to take my bike to work. If it truly did warm to the 60s I thought I would ride during lunch. And, it did! I was able to get in a good 13.5-mile ride. I started thinking about my core strength while riding. It truly can be the force behind the exercise. In addition to using it in yoga, I’m starting to use it while swimming and spinning. In fact, tonight’s spin instructor even talked about it. She reminded us to remember our strength came from our core muscles and that it was the only way to follow her exercises and not hurt our backs. The only way to really use it though, is to remember to focus on it. It’s amazing that when I do remember to focus, I ride stronger, whether on the road or in a gym. I’m certain that this same core strength will help me in my surfing. In fact, this core strength can help in just about anything.

Forecast for Friday and Saturday: partly cloudy/mostly sunny, lows in the mid-50s, highs in the mid-70s.
IT JUST DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT! I’ll be surfing the roads to Liverpool, TX on Saturday.

BARBADOS JUNIOR SURFERS DOMINATE AT NKF SURF FESTIVAL IN COCOA BEACH

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:15:52 +0000

6th SEPTEMBER 2010 – COCOA BEACH, FLORIDA

The final leg for the Barbados Junior Surf Club’s summer events was the 25th National Kidney Foundation Pro-Am Surf Festival held at Cocoa Beach, Florida, from September 4th- 6th, 2010. A nine member contingent of BJSC junior surfers including Chelsea Tuach in the Women’s Pro; Jordan Heaselgrave in Pro Men and Pro Junior Men; Chelsea Roett in the Girls 13-17; Dane Mackie and Josh Burke in the 12-14 Boys, Isabella Venezia in Girls 10-12; Evan Moll in Boys 10-12; Zander Venezia in Super Menehune Boys and Jacob Burke in Menehune, travelled to the birthplace of 9 Time World Champion, Kelly Slater to take on any and all contenders. By the end of the event the majority of the team staked their claim on the famous sands of Cocoa Beach with finals placing and impressive performances in front of the captivated throngs on hand. The Barbados Junior Surf Club assisted its travelling juniors with funding for this event.

The opening day of the event saw some anticipated swell from the passing hurricane Earl but this quickly disappeared as the system moved north presenting challenging conditions with waves in the knee to thigh high range. With the contest running 15 minute heats and beach starts time was critical and wave selection imperative in order to advance to the next round.

Both sides of the famous Cocoa Beach pier were packed with spectators who witnessed some of the finest pros and up-and-coming amateurs on the East Coast. In addition to surfing, the event featured stand-up paddle boarding, tandem exhibitions, karate displays and a bikini contest for the landlubbers.

Chelsea Tuach would take the premiere prize and a mammoth trophy with a first place finish in the Angel Eyewear Women’s Pro. The 14 year old Chelsea would arrive in Cocoa Beach on the heels of a Rip Curl Grom Search victory in the Outer Banks of North Carolina with an aura of confidence, previously entered in the Women’s Amateur division she took the next step in her surfing career and decided to take on the Pro. “I know some of the girls are older and they’re really good, but I figure I’m at that level now,” Tuach said. According to BJSC President, Alan Burke, “When we were signing her up, I had almost given the lady the money for her to enter as an amateur,” he said. “But I looked at Chelsea and told her, ‘It’s time to take that next step. You’re ready.’ And true to her word Chelsea would win the coveted first place trophy taking down Team USA surfers Jasset Umbel of Melbourne Beach and Nikki Viesins of Indialantic, along with Hawaii’s Leah Dawson in the process.

Not to be outdone Chelsea Roett and Dane Mackie also provided outstanding performances in the quickly fading surf. Roett would take that coveted 1st place in the Women’s Amateur division and Mackie would take 1st place in the Boys 12-14 age division. Bothe have seen outstanding results this summer with Roett placing second in the women’s division of the Rip Curl Grom Search in the Outer Banks as well as a 1st place finish in the U16 & U18 girls division at the BSA Caribbean Junior Surf Festival in Barbados. Mackie also placed 2nd in the Boys U12 Division at the Rip Curl Grom Search in New Smyrna Beach and 3rd in the Boys Under 14 at the same event. He would go on the a semi final finish in the Boys 12-14 age group at the US East Coast Surf Championships in Virginia Beach.

Josh Burke would also put on an impressive display of aerial and carving antics to a 2nd place finish in the Boys 12-14 division providing Barbados with the one-two punch in that division. Isabella Venezia would finish 3rd in the girls 10-12. Evan Moll and Zander Venezia placed 4th in their respective divisions, boys 10-12 and Menehune.

Out of our nine surfers seven of the Barbadian competitors made it to their respective finals which was an outstanding achievement. BJSC President and Coach, Alan Burke was impressed with the contingent’s performance. All in all an exceptional summer has been had by all BJSC juniors in the international arena and the Club is looking forward to the next international showing and another showcase of our incredible growing field of talent in the surf.

Final Placing

Chelsea Tuach 1st – Women’s Pro Division
Jordan Heaselgrave – =5th Junior Pro Men
Jordan Heaselgrave – =11th Pro Men
Chelsea Roett – 1st Girls 13-17
Dane Mackie – 1st Boys 12-14
Joshua Burke – 2nd Boys 12-14
Isabella Venezia – 3rd Girls 10-12
Evan Moll – 4th Boys 10-12
Jacob Burke – =7th Menehune
Zander Venezia – 4th Super Menehune

About Us

The Barbados Junior Surfing Club was established in 2010 with a mission to develop junior surfing in Barbados. The Club assists its members in developing their surfing skills through structured surfing events, advice and training on matters such as surfing competition, judging and all other areas particular to the development of our sport in Barbados. The junior divisions that the Club runs at its surfing events are 10& Under, 12& Under, 14& Under, Under 16 and Under 18, as well as a division specifically for the 12& Under Girls and Under 18 Girls in our quest for our future Barbadian girls champions.

For further information please visit our website at http://www.bdosjuniorsurfing.org or our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/bdosjuniorsurfing .

Navigating the waves

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:12:54 +0000

Every once in awhile, it feels good to do something out of the ordinary. Tonight was one of those nights. While Tuesday evenings are usually spent at a late afternoon/early evening spin class, on this particular Tuesday evening I went to eat with old friends. We met many years ago while cycling, but since that time we have shared other interests. They are artists. They are always optimistic. And, most importantly they are fun. Sometimes, I need a change to get through the day-to-day monotony of life. Fortunately, most of the time, I’m able to make just minor changes on my own. I can ride my bike at lunch or, simply, read and go to faraway places in my mind. Change is good. Change is necessary.

On Sunday, while at Trader’s Village, I found a magazine called “We Like To Surf.” The cover states that the pub follows one particular surfer on Aug. 1, 2008 — Dane Reynolds. Although I don’t know about him, I’m fascinated by the mag. The book has tons of wonderful photos and five random quotes from surfer Dane Reynolds, none of which can be reprinted on this blog because of obscenity “rules” on blogs. The mag includes interviews with other surfers discussing Reynolds, as well as a fabulous article about the books Reynolds reads. They include several I’ve read and one, in particular, that I consider a favorite. According to the article, his lit list includes “On the Road” (Reynolds think this book is boring. What???), Kundera’s fabulous “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” “Wait Until Spring Bandini,” “The Wine of Youth,” “Elliot Smith and the Big Nothing,” “Ragtime,” “Brave New World,” “Women” (Reynolds said this would be the last Bukowski book he read), “Hot Water Music,” “Post Office,” “The Bell Jar” (one of my faves), “The Sun Also Rises” (“It’s pretty to think so.”), and “Schrodinger’s Rabbits” (a book about quantum physics that Reynolds said he couldn’t finish). Ummm … quantum physics??? Could be helpful knowledge for navigating waves.

Holiday surfing

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 19:31:38 +0000

Fortunately, I get the week off between Christmas and New Year’s. Unfortunately, the weather doesn’t always cooperate ’cause it is usually just cold and rainy during week 52. This week was no different, but that didn’t stop me from going surfing on Wednesday and Thursday. With my 5-4 wetsuit, surfing in the cold isn’t a problem. The only issue is the strip-down after we finish surfing because, by then, my hands are so cold that doing anything that requires finger dexterity is nearly impossible. That 10 minutes could, quite possibly, be the coldest 10 minutes of my life. As ridiculous as that may sound, it is exactly how I feel. And, because I’m wet, my booties are suctioned to my feet and require a lot of pulling and tugging. My wetsuit literally fits me like a glove so that removing it is like peeling off a layer of skin. It’s definitely a two-person job, and I’m lucky to have my surfing dudettes Andrea and/or Robin, as well as Brian to come to my rescue when I, literally, get into a pinch.

This week, while Andrea and I were out surfing, Andrea’s husband, James, showed up and shot some photos. He got some fabulous photos of Andrea catching waves!! She was even able to successfully post one as her Facebook photo. She looks great. He caught a couple of me also; especially one of me doing the pop up completely wrong. Instead of popping up on both feet, I’m moving to one knee first, which is a complete waste of time and downright goofy-looking, and it has nothing to do with my anchor foot (I’m a goofy-footer, so that last sentence was my attempt at humorous sarcasm). Brian wants me to call him so we can critique the photos, but I haven’t had the time to do that yet. Although, I really don’t need a critique as I can see my positioning issue. I’m practicing my pop up now on the living room floor, but even though I can do it in the comfort of my home doesn’t mean I will naturally do it right out on the board. Not sure what to do about that one, but I’m willing to take any suggestions!

Colder weather and a quiet beach

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 07:11:46 +0000

A cool front moved through this week, and the residents of southeast Texas experienced some of the coolest weather so far this year. Although I heard that the waves were the best on Thursday just as the front moved through, I didn’t make it down until Friday afternoon. I met Brian at the beach who I’ve decided is such a good surfer he could take a door off its hinges and surf it in a swimming pool without any problem. He can surf anything! When I got there on Friday around 1:30, I noticed that the waves weren’t huge, but they were well-defined and a little bigger than what I’d seen in a few weeks. The air temperature was pretty cool, but I put on a rashguard and then my springsuit before traipsing down to the water. Brian let me use his amazing board again, and I was thrilled. No one else was out; I’m guessing most of the diehard surfers had been out in the rough, big waves the day before. Brian talked to me about turning and positioning myself on the board to get the most effective ride possible. I had a blast. I caught approximately eight or nine really good waves right off. They were spectacular! I moved around on the board and practiced turning. I caught one going left and right. Brian pushed me several times, something I probably should ask him to stop since timing is so important and still an issue for me. Nevertheless it was a great day. I went down twice–I kept referring to them as crashes; Brian says the surfing term is wipeout. Of course, it just so happened that it was when my husband, Rob, happened to ride his bike up to the pier to watch. (It was the only two times he watched me, and I didn’t get up either time. oh well!) Overall, I felt great about the day! I had many fabulous rides, with Brian telling me that he thought I was getting better every time I went out. (Compliments don’t come often from him, so I felt good about that remark.) I just need to keep practicing. I’ll be going out again Sunday! Hope I have as good a day as I did on Friday.

(I didn’t surf today. The waves were flat, so I rode my bike. It felt good. I rode 55 miles with a great group of cyclists. Hope my cycling friends have a good ride tomorrow. I’ll be looking for waves.)

channel surfing and 6-ft blondes

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 21:38:32 +0000

Channel surfing? Yeah, there are those who will do just that behind big ships and surfing in their wakes. However, I’m really referring to channel surfing, as in television channels. I visit a nursing home once, sometimes twice, a week. I visit several of the residents regularly, but, occasionally, I meet someone new. This past week, though, was a little different. Although I arrived during what should have been dinner, most in the main dining room had finished. I was greeted by my three favorite guys. Mr. R. approached me quickly. He was obviously upset. A victim of a stroke, Mr. R. can’t speak. Neither can his tablemate (another Mr. R.). The third at the table, Ray, can talk. They are all sitting in the circle around the nurses’ station. Mr. R. tries to tell me something, but I’m not sure what he is saying. At one point, he raises his index finger to his cheek. Although he’s never asked for a kiss on the cheek, I think that is what he wants and, so, I bend down and kiss his cheek. He disgustedly shakes his head no. This is not what he wants. He grabs his newspaper and points down at something. Oh, I think, he wants to watch the homerun derby on ESPN. I ask him why he isn’t watching it. An avid baseball fan, Mr. R. always has a game on the big screen TV he has in his rather small, shared room. He shakes his head and points at the newspaper listing again. I can’t figure out what he wants. Finally, I think he wants me to go to his room; so we do. Once inside, he draws something in the air with his index finger. It’s the number “37.” So, I turn the channel to 37. It’s a Spanish channel, which makes him very upset. I realize he is looking for ESPN. He’s trying to tell me it should be channel 37. I scroll through the other channels and find ESPN News and ESPN2. He points out the difference in the bottom, right-hand corner of the screen. He can’t figure out what happened to his ESPN. He tries to tell me two guys had come into his room earlier. Ray, who has rolled in behind us, tries to translate and says two guys took some chips out of the TV. I’m not sure what to believe at this point. Eventually, Mr. R. gets frustrated and rolls down the hall where he bursts into tears. I walk out and put my hand on his shoulder, but there’s nothing I can do. I can’t fix it. I asked the nurse for the maintenance man, Paul, so that I could figure out what happened, but, as luck would have it, Paul is gone for the day. I lean down and gently kiss his forehead and walk away. I put my hand on Ray’s shoulder and tell him thanks for his help. Ray just shrugs. He hates to see his friend so upset. I don’t want to believe that they would do something to his TV. When I eventually get a hold of Paul the next day, he tells me that the channels changed more than six months ago and that they got rid of ESPN so that they could add Fox sports, which offers more Astros games. I want to believe him, but I am perplexed that Mr. R. knew what channel ESPN would be. If, in fact, it had been six months, he wouldn’t have remembered ESPN’s channel number. I wish there was something I could do. I’m using my surfing blog to speak out about this because I fear it will remain on my mind and, possibly, slow down my own surfing this weekend. But, sadly, I can watch ESPN if I want. Getting old can suck sometimes. Hang in there Mr. R.

In other surfing news, I met a 6-ft. blonde female surfer last Sunday. She definitely caught everyone’s eye. I walked over and introduced myself. I asked her if she had trouble popping up; since several people have told me that being tall is detrimental for the pop up. It’s definitely something I need work on because of my height. She said no, it just takes practice. She told me she had been surfing for three years. I told her I wanted to watch her surf as she smiled, put on her rash guard and paddled out. She had beautiful form. It all looked so easy for her. Practice…that’s all I need. I hope to be as good as her in three years!

Even colder weather, but very nice waves

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 05:10:04 +0000

Well, southeast Texas is experiencing its fall cycle. Every year, the weather changes at a moment’s notice. Just as we all start grumbling about 85-degree weather in October, the next cold front pushes through and drops the temps to more seasonable degree expectations. While I admit to liking the first cold snap, by the time the second or third front makes an appearance, I’m ready for summer again. I’ve always been a fan of hot, sticky weather (I think I’ve written that before) so it’s probably a good thing I live where I live. However, I must admit that if a strong “norther” blows through like it did on Thursday evening, the north wind creates phenomenal waves. So, Friday afternoon I definitely made my weekly afternoon jaunt to Galveston. This time, instead of a spring suit, I had to wear my 3-2 wetsuit. I met Super Brian at the 43rd Street pier and we surfed. I probably caught three or four waves and this week, Brian wanted to surf himself so he didn’t offer to push me at all, which is good ’cause I had told him I needed the practice. I had to time the waves myself. I missed several of the waves because I stopped paddling before they made it to me (this timing thing is hard for me), but I also caught a few. I had two or three phenomenal rides that I took all the way down the shore by turning and riding in the wave. We were eventually joined by four or five other surfers and it was good to see that they also had timing issues. Brian is the only one who knew when the wave was right. It made me feel better to know that timing must be an issue for everyone. In fact, other than Brian, I probably caught more waves than the others. I wiped out a few times too. I have no idea why; well, I do know why I wiped out a couple of times. Even though I was on Brian’s phenomenal fiberglass board, I didn’t get in trim. I was way too far forward and the wave just pushed me over. We outlasted most of the surfers. They usually only stay 30 minutes to an hour, but Brian and I were out a little over two hours. I got a little tired once or twice paddling back out. The strong waves, even while in the rip current, can make the paddle out past the breaks tiring. I seem to still get pushed around alot, and I try to be extra careful because I’m on Brian’s board and I don’t want it to get pushed into the jetty.(I had a jetty encounter last week and while protecting Brian’s board, I shredded the top of my foot on the barnacles.) All in all, it was a fantastic afternoon! I hope tomorrow’s surfing experience will be just as good, but I fear that it will be like last Sunday when the waves were inconsistent and hard to read and get through.

As part of my usual weekend workout, today (Saturday) I rode my bike and had an outstanding 60-mile ride with the 21+ mph group. It was quite cool at the start. In fact, I was colder at the start of the ride despite having on leggings, a vest, arm warmers and a jacket, than I was in the water yesterday. The only bad thing so far about surfing in the winter isn’t the water, but the walk from the water back to the car with wet hair and then having to take the wetsuit off to put on sweats, while cycling in the winter requires me to get through the first 20 miles of freezing and sucking in cold air. Brrrr!

(P.S. This morning — Sunday — was a bust. NO WAVES. So, I had to ride again. Beautiful day for a ride, but I sure wish I could have surfed.)

Gabriel Medina Wins ASP WQS 6-Star Maresia Surf International

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 11:37:09 +0000

FLORIANOPOLIS, Santa Catarina (Sunday, July 12, 2009) – The young Brazilian Gabriel Medina (15) has taken out the win at the ASP WQS 6-Star Maresia Surf International at Mole Beach in Florianopolis today, defeating Brazilian veteran Neco Padaratz (32) after putting on an amazing display of frontside surfing and big aerials.

The young Brazilian, only 15-years of age, walked away with US$ 20,000 in prize money and 2,500 ASP WQS ratings points for the win, becoming the youngest surfer ever to win an ASP WQS event. With a heat score of 15.83 out of a possible 20, Medina proved the surfer of the event and deservedly took the title of Maresia Surf International.
In a beatiful sunny day with messy three-to-four foot conditions waves, the Brazilian goofy-footer was in amazing form, blasting some vertical maneuvers and big aerials on his way to victory. Medina officially announced his intentions when he logged a 7.50 to take early lead. Neco quickly answered back with a 5.50 and a 6.50 with solid backhand attack.
With five minutes to go, Medina arrived back in the lineup he found himself sitting directly in the path of a long left. Medina squared up and went vertically up the face to smash a huge re-entry, racing down the line and with two additional turns secure a high score of 8.33 points out of a possible 10 and leave Neco needing a 9.33 score to win.
With no waves coming, Neco was unable to found a high score, and Medina was crowned the 2009 Maresia Surf International Champion.

www.brazilsurfingadventure.com

The Way it Makes Me Feel

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:48:21 +0000

So, I’m not surfing this weekend. I’m going to relax in Tuscon. And, I’m going to visit old friends. My friend, Robin, has a dear friend named Dick and we both have a good friend named Simone who live in Tuscon. I’ve been to Tucson before about two years ago. I hope to do some hiking while I’m there. However, I know that I will miss some outstanding surf this weekend. A light cold front has moved through, which usually causes some great waves. Although I will miss them, I can imagine how much fun it would have been to be there.

Here’s one description of what it’s like to catch a wave.

I’m sitting on my board, looking for a wave. I see one coming so I get down into position. I start to paddle when it gets to be a couple of boards away, increasing my stroke as the wave gets closer. I paddle hard and the wave gets closer. Just as it lifts the back of the board, I pop up — right foot forward. It’s that second that is magic. It’s as if I’m floating on air. That moment is almost impossible to describe, and is one of the greatest feelings ever experienced. I don’t think that magic airborne feeling is something that can’t be replicated in any other sport. It’s nice to ride the wave for a few seconds after that, but the initial feeling of catching the wave remains the most incredible adventure ever. I recommend it to everyone!

Somewhere over the rainbow…

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 03:54:55 +0000

Spinning can be great exercise and certainly helps me keep in shape during the cold and rainy times. Tuesday night’s class was a good one. Our instructor, Kelly, took us through a number of climbing routines with the appropriate music and then the song began. Yes, she had chosen a contemporary version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Everyone remembers the first time they saw The Wizard of Oz and heard Judy Garland sing the song the way only she could. While the song may seem sad, one can’t help but feel hopeful about things when they hear it. I’m not sure who was singing the contemporary version of the song Kelly had on her spin track, but it took me over the next climb Kelly had chosen for us.

I’ve been thinking about taking another surfing trip. However, I probably just need to take some lessons in Galveston and renew my “oneness” with the board before taking a trip to some exotic locale. I’ve been doing some research and have a few names to call. In addition to an instructor, like most things worth accomplishing, a little hard work, some water “time,” and diehard determination go a long way.

“…and the dreams that you dare to dream really can come true.”

Chica Brava Surf Camp Rocks!

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 19:49:01 +0000

I have had the privilege of attending Chica Brava Surf Camp for the third year in a row. I am having a ball. (I have been trying to type this post during my trip, but I haven’t been able to because of technical difficulties. I will try not to switch tense, since I’m typing from notes in my head and on paper and, now, it’s almost two weeks later.) I have fallen in love with Nicaragua. San Juan del Sur is the perfect surfing town. It’s small, convenient and, basically, dedicated to surfers.

A great group of gals went this time with me. Once again, I knew many of them. My cycling friends Cyndi and Marie, not to mention Cyndi’s sister and my spin class buddy Michele. Of course, my friend Robin came as well as Steph (surfin’ sistah from last year) and Marcia (surfin’ sistah from two years ago and one of my surfing role models). Steph and Marcia each brought a friend — two marvelous gals named Lori and Leslie.

I had the pleasure of tagging along with Marcia, Ashley and Robin for a couple of surf sessions. Robin and I watched the skilled surfing styles of Marcia and Ashley, and I can’t speak for Robin, but I longed to have surf sessions like theirs.

Beaches I visited included the following:

1.) Madeiras

2.) Romanzo

3.)Hermosa

4.)Popoyo — incredible waves — How fun it was to watch the real surfers take those waves!

5.) Hermosa

6.) Romanzo

Each beach had its good and bad points, but, let’s face it, they are all better beaches for surfing than Galveston. I love Galveston, but it will never be a surfing mecca. It’s okay for beginners like me…and maybe even really good surfers who know what they are doing…but for consistent, fun surf, it, basically, sucks.

All in all, Ashley and her 2011 crew including the lovely and dynamic Anne, dynamo Stephanie, and pragmatic and yet very skillful Jessica, made this trip incredible, and, once again, left me wanting more.

I want to be better on the board! I had hoped to have an impressive trip. It was fun, but I was less than impressive. I was intimidated by some of the waves; however, I did manage at least once to ride down a wave (even if it was mostly whitewater). I probably only caught a couple on the outside, but the two I caught felt good! I just need to keep practicing.

Oh, and I fell in love…with a 8’4″ Robert August board!

(I do not need another board. I do not need another board. I do not need another board…)

board rash, freshly shaved legs and cycling

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 16:02:20 +0000

Ouch! My legs hurt. For the first time since I started surfing I have a nasty board rash. Although it could have come from me swimming out, sitting up, rotating my direction before getting in trim, I think now it’s because I shaved my legs this morning before I went surfing. I usually don’t shave right before I go out, but I did this morning for some bizarre reason. Ouch! The waves were flat and Brian tried several times to reach me and/or Robin, but we never got the messages or heard the calls. We were determined to go surfing no matter what. So, we took our boards down even if it meant we would be just floating around on the water. We were glad for the practice. I was particularly glad because I got to practice swimming out and sitting up and then trying to quickly rotate when a wave is coming in. This last part is particularly hard for me. I can’t get turned fast enough and often end up being knocked off my board by the wave ’cause I’m not in trim. Brian came out, but really just offered a few tips and waited for his private lesson clients to show up. Robin and I have decided to not take as many lessons from now on and just keep practicing. We think that is what we need…practice and, maybe, a few more waves.

I’m hoping the board rash doesn’t hinder my cycling. I plan to ride a long ride tomorrow and I definitely don’t need the added problems of sore legs from board rash. (Oh, and the Tour de France starts this weekend!) Viva le Tour

Great sets and Saturday surfing

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 22:02:15 +0000

Another weekend skids halfway by. It’s been a busy one so far, and I’m sure that Sunday will wear me out too. Friday’s waves were wonderful. The sets were well-defined and kept that definition all the way to shore. Needless to say, by the time I made it down to the 43rd street pier, many other surfers had decided to surf their afternoon away. Surfing buddy Brian had a lesson, and although I had brought my Softop (still waiting to hear on my new board) because I hadn’t had much time on it lately, he insisted I use his 10′ Robert August board with the beautiful blue paint job. He had actually brought it for my surfing pal Robin who has been away for a month visiting lands far away. (She did manage to work in a surf lesson in Cornwall, England.) However, a lingering toe injury from before her trip is forcing her to keep her foot up. So, she decided not to go to Galveston with me, which left me as the person Brian wanted to use the board. I used mine for a short while and found that I really noticed the missing six inches from the board I have been using (who says size doesn’t matter?). I got pretty beat up on my 9′ and struggled the whole time. I must have been having an off day ’cause I also struggled with the 10′ Robert August, which seemed way too long to me. I couldn’t catch a wave even if it had been handed to me on a platter — they practically were. I was a little nervous being out with so many other surfers and constantly felt like we were in each other’s way. And the time change made it seem like 6 p.m. when I finished rather than only 4 p.m. even if the time change was only one hour! I guess some days are like that. I definitely have “off” days with cycling so why should surfing be different?

Today (Saturday) was a little better, but I still struggled. So, it must just be an “off” weekend for me. I chose to surf instead of cycle, hoping for some redemption from Friday. Because there was a short board surf contest taking place at the 43rd street pier, Brian suggested that we go to the 21st street pier across from The Galvez. The waves were still pretty good, but not as well-defined as Friday’s waves. I swam out and Bryan (different from Brian and another surfing pal) said I definitely looked more confident than Friday. I was using Brian’s special fiberglass Hurricane board and caught the first wave coming my way. It was a great ride. I had a few other pretty good rides, but nothing to brag about. I still have a timing issue. I really have to work on catching those waves at just the right moment.

I didn’t give up on cycling all together. I took my mountain bike and rode around the island a bit. But, I will have to get a good road ride in either tomorrow or one day this week during lunch!

Girls having fun down south

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 07:42:04 +0000

A lot of girls are coming lately. And they are having good time here!
I can say that Floripa is not just a surfing or kitesurfing destination for guys.
brazilsurfingadventure.com

No surfing this week..

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:19:46 +0000

The cold snap this past week made it impossible to surf; not just because it is so darn cold that I don’t want to even think about getting in the water, wetsuit or not, but also because it flattened out the surf. No waves, so, naturally, no surfing. I visited with my friend Robin this week. We are planning a short trip to Mexico. While I was at her house, she showed me a new yoga for surfers video that she recently ordered online from Netflix. Yoga…I definitely need more of that. Right now, my training for surfing is a a lot of spinning, some weight-bearing exercise and as much cycling as I can get. I used to swim several mornings, but I have found that the swimming exercise isn’t as good for me, believe it or not, as the weights. The weights are increasing my swimming on the board. I think yoga will help me overcome the severe muscle memory I have from riding bikes in a slightly, hunched position for so long. I need to be able to arch my back more for the swim out. When I watch the really good surfers, they all have great form on their swim out. They arch their backs and make it look effortless. Just got to keep on practicing!

Small AND difficult waves

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 10:21:04 +0000

Just because the waves are small doesn’t mean they’re easier to catch; at least, not for me. The waves were small on Thursday and Friday, but they were also unpredictable and closed out quickly. Thursday evening was fun, and rather exciting. Brian suggested that we paddle to the east side of the jetty to see if waves were any better. While sitting on the board waiting for the waves, I notice some of the fish swimming around (the water was a little clearer than usual because of a front). Of course, it wasn’t long before I noticed a rather large fish, which I’m quite certain was a shark. I didn’t panic. I knew that the water was a little too rough for me to lift my feet or I would have definitely fallen into the water, so I just sat still. While sharks have good eyesight (they can see in color), because of the placement of the eyes an object has to be directly in front of them. I believe if I turn the nose of the board toward them, they won’t see me at all. I also know better than to wear bright toenail polish or rings on my toes. Definitely a “no-no” since the sun reflecting off the the polish or other shiny objects causes the shark to notice a person. That night, I had neither the polish or the ring, so I just turned the nose and watched him swim away. (I’ve heard that on Sunday — although this is dated for Saturday I’m only just now finishing my write-up Tuesday, 8/31 — a shark was caught at the end of the 43rd Street Pier.)

Friday (8/28) waves weren’t much better; however, I was glad there was something to play around in. I hit the beach and fount myself eventually moving to the 39th Street Pier because of crowds that got much bigger as the afternoon progressed. But, even at 39th, I dealt with several younger, better and more aggressive surfers. I still had fun. I’m still not sure how to describe what it feels like to catch a wave and ride it in. It’s euphoric in a way I could never have imagined. It’s like a small miracle. I especially love the way it feels when I first catch a wave and the board seems to be floating on air.

By Sunday, the waves were small, but better formed. It was incredible. I made it to the beach by 7 a.m. and surfed with Brian for the first hour-and-a-half. As the morning progressed, the waves got a little bigger. I caught waves until close to noon, with just a few breaks. I took photos of a surfer named Sven who was taking an advanced lesson. I still need work on catching the action at just the right moment, but I did manage to improve my photography just a bit. With the bicycle ride on Saturday, all in all it was a fantastic weekend, and one that I look forward to repeating.

Socrates once said that “Happiness is unrepentant pleasure.” If that is true, then I can honestly say that I experience happiness quite often!

Barbados Junior Surfing Club – 2010 Burkie Junior Surf Series Awards Party

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 11:01:08 +0000

“No man is lonely eating spaghetti…”

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 10:44:30 +0000

Approximately 15 or so years ago, I decided that I was a vegetarian. I had never really been a big meat eater, but I had grown up with smothered steak, pork chops and hamburger meat in many forms. I didn’t eat a lot of it, but at least every meal at my family’s house had a meat portion. It wasn’t until my early 30s that I decided to stop eating meat as much. I wasn’t a true vegetarian though, because I had the occasional meat product as long as it was well-done. I ate salads, just about all vegetables, lots of pasta, quite a bit of bread and way too much chocolate. I thought pasta, vegetables and salads were the best things for me. When I took up cycling, this idea that carbohydrates were best was validated by the carbo-loading dinners offered by organizers of big bike rides. So, before every big ride, I ate what I thought I was supposed to eat — spaghetti. And, it worked. Or, at least I thought so. In preparing for my upcoming surfing trip, I searched through “The Complete Guide to Surfing” to find out what I should be eating. There were not dietary suggestions listed. It’s not even a topic in the index. However, I know from reading about how to get flat abs, I need to eat protein. Now, instead of just a potato or salad with pasta, I’m adding meat. I feel better and healthier than ever. After years of not eating much hamburger meat or steak, I’ve reintroduced them whole-heartedly back into my diet. I hope the flat abs follow. I know it takes more than just diet, but it’s a start. Every once in awhile, though, I revert back to my old self and just want a big plate of spaghetti.

“No man is lonely eating spaghetti; it requires so much attention.”
Christopher Morley
American Writer (1890-1957)

Fujitsu Awards Sponsorship to Barbados Top Female Surfer Chelsea Roett

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 18:56:51 +0000

Bridgetown, Barbados, May 12th, 2010 – Fujitsu Caribbean today announced its support of the growing international Surfing sport through a sponsorship deal which the company awarded to Barbados’s top female surfer Chelsea Roett. The sponsorship will go towards Chelsea’s preparation for participation in international events by defraying expenses related to equipment and related travel costs. The initial Sponsorship will be for the 2010 Season with an option for renewal in 2011. It is Fujitsu’s intent to consider other Surfers to join their sponsorship program for 2011Season along with Chelsea.

Chelsea’s extraordinary talent first captured the attention of Fujitsu through it’s Executive Vice President – Caribbean, Ian Galt, who recognized Chelsea as an exceptional individual and highly focused young female surfer who has the drive and potential to make it at the highest level in world class surfing. Immediately, he expressed the desire for Fujitsu to be associated with such a remarkably talented young lady by assisting her in attaining her goals on her way to the top. “Chelsea’s dedication and commitment to continuous improvement, mirrors the same principles we apply in our business to serve our customers every day. She is supported by a dedicated team of people, not least of which is her family. Fujitsu is delighted to be associated with Chelsea. Our aim is to assist her attain her goal of competing and winning at the highest levels of her sport”, commented Ian Galt, Executive Vice President of Fujitsu Caribbean.

Chelsea is currently leading the local standings in every division she competes in, which includes the Barbados Surfing Association’s Open Ladies and Under 18 Girls, and the Barbados Junior Surfing Club Under 18 Girls and Under 16 Juniors (boys and girls together).

On August 16th, 2009 Chelsea won the Rip Curl GromSearch 16 & Under Girl’s Division in New Symrna, Florida. She is the first Female Barbadian surfer to achieve 1st place in a US competition. With that win she received an automatic qualification to the Rip Curl GromSearch US National Finals in California where she again surpassed any female Barbadian surfer and placed 3rd in the finals. Chelsea already has a good start to her overseas contest schedule for 2010 as she placed 3rd in the Women’s open division at the Ron Jon Easter Surf Festival held in Cocoa Beach, Florida in April.

With the sponsorship package from Fujitsu Caribbean, Chelsea can now further her plans to compete in a series of contests on the United States East Coast during summer including, this years Rip Curl GromSearch.

About Fujitsu Caribbean
Fujitsu Caribbean is a wholly owned subsidiary of the US$ 47-billion Fujitsu Group and a part of Fujitsu America Inc. Fujitsu integrates the core expertise of our skilled resources and Business Partners to deliver IT Infrastructure Solutions and Managed Services that continuously evolve to respond to our customer’s complex business and technology issues. Focused on the Financial Services, Telecommunications and Government sectors we simplify IT for our customers and build more value into their IT investments. Fujitsu is the world’s third largest IT Services Company and has been operating in the Caribbean for over 50 years. Managed by a regional executive team, we have offices in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad; including business agents in the Bahamas, St. Vincent, Haiti, Anguilla, Antigua, Dominican Republic and Grenada, to serve the entire region. Fujitsu has delivered and currently supports mission critical ICT solutions and networks across the English-speaking islands of the Caribbean. For more information on Fujitsu Caribbean, visit www.fujitsu.com/caribbean/ .

my own board and first surf

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 05:44:30 +0000

Well, just as with every new hobby, eventually you have to make the commitment to get the equipment or get out of the game. I decided last weekend to get my own equipment — a surf board. Since I had already gone window shopping the week before, I knew exactly what board I wanted to buy. A 9′ Softops board at Soundwaves on Montrose waited for me to come buy it. Bright orange with a purple flower made this board stand out over all of the others. Blue flowers pepper the epoxy underside of the board. A momentary fear of sharks finding me because of the flowers on the bottom of the board (they look for bright things) almost caused me to put it back on the rack. But, it was just so darn pretty, I couldn’t resist it. I know it seems odd to refer to a surf board as pretty, but I can’t help it.

I went out today on my new board. Waves were pretty flat, but there were enough little ones close to shore to practice popping up, sitting on the board, turning it, etc. I had some good pop-ups and could stand and turn the board. I also got a chance to practice loading and unloading it from the rack on top of my car. The sun was bright and the air was warm. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Ibiraquera Wave Contest

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:19:43 +0000

Pictures from the Ibiraquera Wave Contest that happened on the beach of Ibiraquera to 75 kilometers of Florianopolis.In excellent conditions that this beach presents contestants competed in categories kite surfing, windsurfing and SUP
http://www.brazilsurfingadventure.com

Exciting weekend!

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 18:02:53 +0000

Surf’s up…well kind of. That’s the report I received on Friday. It was music to my ears since Memorial Day weekend had been a bust. Rob and I, as well as several of our friends including my surfing buddy Robin, stayed at the Tremont House, which put us much closer to the beach. I shouldn’t say it was all bad. We had some surf early on Sunday, and a little on Monday early, but the waves were very small. So, when I heard things were better on Friday, I couldn’t wait to head down. I finished work and stopped by the house for Petal. It was definitely the right conditions for Petal, rather than Lil’ Sis. Since I can’t leave Petal in the car all morning because of the heat, I had to leave her at home. I loaded her up as I usually do, packed my things and headed down. I took my usual course, which means I drove down FM1266 to 517 to Hwy 3 before turning on 2004 to make my way to I45. Just after I turned on to 2004 and built my speed back up to about 50 mph, I heard a loud bump. Just as I was thinking, “Wow, I wonder what that was,” I noticed my surf board in the rearview mirror bouncing down the road. This was my custom-made Senator board. I pulled over. A truck was behind me, but it was a little ways back and didn’t seem to notice the board, which, thankfully, was lying in the other lane. I u-turned and made my way back to the board. I parked on the shoulder and ran to my board. I pulled it over to the shoulder before running to the lane I had been driving in to retrieve the strap. I felt the board through the bag, but decided I WOULD NOT look at it until I got to the beach. I put down the seats of my car, stuck the board inside, and I drove with a heavy heart the rest of the way.

However, imagine my surprise when I pulled the board out of the bag and I didn’t see a scratch! The fin had been razored from dragging on the road, but even that is fixable. Psheww! That was a relief. I just knew it had broken in to three big fiberglass pieces. Brian thinks the board bag saved it. At the time, I almost didn’t buy the bag, but I sure am glad that I did.

I had a great day surfing, especially once I realized the board was okay. The waves weren’t big, but they were enough to play around on and to practice. And, gosh, do I need practice! Brian, Robin and I eventually moved to 25th/Flagship, but the waves were dying as the day progressed. I didn’t make it down on Saturday, but I did on Sunday. I made it down early and got in a couple of good hours surfing before I stopped to help Brian with a lesson. Yep, that’s right. Brian asked me to help. I mostly just listened and pushed one of the two men taking the lesson into waves, but I still had fun. I need to study up, though, ’cause there’s still a lot more to learn. Brian said he would type up some notes for me. That would be good. I know I’m a long way from being able to give a lesson on my own, but acting as an assistant might just be possible. HOW ABOUT THAT??? A part-time surfing instructor assistant? Who would have ever thought?

BJSC MEMBER JOSHUA BURKE SIGNS TWO YEAR SURF DEAL

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:17:45 +0000

JOSHUA BURKE, Barbados most improved surfer and 2009 Barbados U-12 National Champion, surfed his way into the hearts of the Americans at the 46th Ron Jon Easter Surf Festival in Cocoa Beach Florida three weekends ago,throwing airs and tailslides and shooting the pier with style, landing a two year deal with traction pad giant X-TRAK and MAGMA surf wax.

Surf Legend, Four times Women’s World Surfing Champion Frieda Zamba Shaw and team Manager for X-TRAK & MAGMA surf wax was equally impressed with the Cocoa Beach crowd of 13 year old Burke’s potential !,

“As team manager for X-Trak surf traction and Magma wax I have been looking for that “under the radar kid” to represent X-Trak and Magma wax in the Caribbean. I’m confident I found him in Barbados..Joshua Burke! Joshua surfed his way into the finals of the Ron Jon Easter fest causing quite a buzz on the beach with his progressive surfing at such a young age. One look at this kid and I knew he was exactly what we needed. From his mature surfing talent to being coached by a former international surf star in his dad Alan Burke to the pure surf stoke look in his smile. We are stoked to have Joshua on our team!”

August 2009, Burke competed in the Rip Curl Gromsearch New Smyrna beach regional’s,narrowly qualifying for the November Nationals in Salt Creek California, then was dealt with a first round elimination due to an interference call,”After these two events something clicked in Josh” states Coach Alan Burke,” I think the realization of the talent internationally hit a nerve causing his competitive jean that runs through out the entire Burke family to activate”says coach Burke.

X-TRAK/MAGMA team rider Burke has a very busy 2010 ahead,besides competing in the next local (Burkie Junior Surfing championship Series)BJSCS/Ashford Dairies event on June 12th at Longbeach,he will be competing in three international events from Aug 19th- Sept 8th, Rip Curl gromsearch in New Smyrna beach, 48th East Coast Surfing Championships Virginia beach and Ron Jon/National Kidney Foundation Cocoa beach Pier Florida.

69Slam and Dragon Shades are now backing Chelsea Tuach

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:13:09 +0000

69 Slam/Dragon Shades are pleased to announce their sponsorship of fourteen year old surf phenomenon, Chelsea Tuach, who ended 2009 as the BSA’s Surfer of the Year Champion in both the Ladies’ and the Under 18 Girls’ Divisions and is the reigning Under 18 Girls’ National Champion and Caribbean Ladies’ Champion. Based on these incredible results in 2009, Chelsea was also awarded the National Sports’ Council Award as Junior Female Outstanding Athlete for Barbados, the first female surfer in Barbados to be recognized in this way.

69Slam has been following Chelsea for some time now and has chosen her to be the face of its new product line because of her awesome potential and commitment to her sport. This amazing line of underwear and swimsuits is available exclusively at Lazy Days Surf Shop.

To see more of 69Slam please visit their website: www.69Slam.com

Great weekend for all my sports!

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 01:25:50 +0000

Surfing Friday, cycling Saturday and surfing again on Sunday. It just doesn’t get much better than that. The weather was absolutely beautiful; with temps in the mid to upper 60s and lots of sunshine. I had some decent waves on Friday and there were quite a few people out, including several short boarders. I try to just stay out of their way. Texas experienced some warm weather for the whole weekend, which made my sports even more pleasant. Don’t misunderstand: I still needed my 5-4 wetsuit because the water is so darn chilly; but at least the air temps were in the 60s and low 70s, which made it a lot more pleasant to change out of the wetsuit while standing on the seawall.

Saturday proved to be fantastic on the bike. Many cyclists were out and, because the wind was out of the south, we were able to cycle our summer route to Wee Mart in Liverpool. It was a great ride! I rode with the 21 mph group and got a good workout.

Sunday brought me back to the beach and into what was left of the waves. They were fading fast, but Brian, Bryan and I were able to get some surfing in. I only had a couple of rides, but Brian said I was definitely becoming an intermediate surfer. Not sure if I believe that yet. I still have alot of work to do on catching waves. I seem to miss them. I notice other surfers do the same thing; just not as often. What happens is that I see the wave coming; get into position; start paddling; and then, just as I think the wave is going to catch me, I fizzle out. I’m not sure why. I don’t think I’m paddling hard enough, which has now made me decide I need to add some more machine activities into my workouts at the gym. I need more lat strengthening (at least that’s what I think the muscles are called behind my shoulder). And, more practice, practice, practice.

Barbados Junior Surfing Club – 2011 Events Calendar

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 10:59:29 +0000

Please note the following dates for our events for 2011.

January 29th – BJSC Annual Awards Ceremony for 2010

February 12th – BJSC Burkie Junior Surf Series Event #1 – Branden’s Beach

March 26th – BJSC Burkie Junior Surf Series Event #2 – North Point

May 7th – BJSC Family Fun Day – Surfer’s Point

June 18th – BJSC Burkie Junior Surf Series Event #3 – South Point

October 22nd – Family Fun Day – Surfer’s Point

November 12th – BJSC Burkie Junior Surf Series Event#4 – Parlour

December 10th – BJSC Burkie Junior Surf Series Event#5 – Long Beach

BJSC Exec

Jordan Heaselgrave and Evan Moll notch finals time in Volcom’s Catfish Series in Puerto Rico

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 16:19:09 +0000

March 19th -20th, 2011 Aviones, Puerto Rico Two of our young local shredders, Jordan Heaselgrave and Evan Moll, made their way to Puerto Rico for the Volcom Catfish Series event on March 19th – 20th. Jordan would slash his way through the Junior Division to a 6th place overall finals finish. Young grom Evan Moll would maul Aviones to place 4th in the Groms division and be invited to the finals in California in May. Congrats guys!! As taken from the Volcom site …”we arrived early Saturday morning to the sound of pouring rain and howling wind. So we zipped our raincoats, had a little pep talk and got to work. As the rain passed it was time to kick-off the Catfish surf series at Aviones in beautiful San Juan, Puerto Rico with fun 3-5 foot surf. The competitors mobbed the sign up tent and when it was all said and done we were left with about 150 competitors ready to battle it out for the prizes, cash, and valuable VQS Champs qualifying spots. The first day went off without a hitch with warm weather and great surf. The kids made it rain ketchup and mayonnaise all over the beach as the competitors chewed their way through the first rounds in all divisions. Here are some of day one standouts: In the Pro-am division Nick Rupp made quick work with a couple of 8’s and some crazy man-child turns. Lief Engstrom all the way from Long Island, NY was going huge and with big frontside air reverse early and looked to be in the running for the Electric Volt Thrower Move of the event. Day two was epic, but with conditions a little more challenging, the competitors had their work cut out for them. Here are some of the standouts from the finals. The Squids division was amazing, these little dudes were all about the fun and didn’t even care that they were competing. Jorge Martinez proved worthy of the victory getting up on his own and cruising with style and grace. The Girls division had three first round heats jam packed with talent. When the fat lady sang it was Maria Kusmovich who beat out the competition and sealed her spot at VQS champs. The Groms in PR are at another level. This was easily one of the closest finals to go down this season. Billy Mcgarry and Mauricio Diaz battled like no other and in the end Billy couldn’t find the back-up he needed and left the door open for Mauricio, who would grab the win and a grip of goodies. The Juniors division was a one man show from the mini human Noah Schwiezer. He took the early lead and never looked back as he scooped up the $ 250.00 provided by Muscle Milk in the process. The Pro-Am division was loaded with talent from all over the East Coast, having 12 first round heats of competition. However, local hero Brian Toth stepped up in the final and left the beach $ 2,000.00 richer. ” For further info pictures and a video of the event please visit http://www.volcom.com/crusty/EventArticle.asp?EventiD=782&SeasonID=28 Photos compliments of Kelly Puma!! BJSC

The line-up

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 11:39:57 +0000

I didn’t get to surf last weekend. Friday was flat, Saturday was busy and Sunday I left for Austin. I went to a two-and-a-half day CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) Conference. While there, I was excited to pick up a bronze award for my former co-worker Summer’s story in the fall 2009 Egret magazine. But, alas, there are no waves in Austin so I didn’t get to surf. I was ready for this weekend though. Although Friday was a little overcast, the south winds were causing waves to form. I took my softop board because I hadn’t taken it out in a while (What a blast!). Because of it being a holiday weekend, the beach was packed. A ton of surfers were out. I went out on my own, but shortly after my first wave ride, Brian showed up and wanted me to go way on the outside with him. I had no problem with the swim out, but I felt uncomfortable in the waves, which were coming from multiple unsteady directions, so I stayed mostly on the inside, with only an occasional appearance on the outside. Brian stayed further out and had his portion of the waves to himself. The rest of us were on the outside, but not nearly as far out as Brian, who said his waves were created by a sand reef.

I’m excited that my new pop-up seems to be working for me. I am also thrilled to say that I don’t get nearly as tired as I used to when paddling out. I can successfully take the rip current without getting pushed off my board or even having to fight very hard. I still have to work on timing! Although my pop-up is a good one, I’m not popping up fast enough. On Saturday, I decided to go surf instead of cycle. I knew I probably wouldn’t get to surf on Sunday, so I thought, perhaps, I should surf when I could. Although Brian thought the waves were a little better on Saturday, I enjoyed Friday’s waves better. The 43rd street pier saw more surfers though than I’ve ever seen while surfing there. At least 15-20 of us decided to surf. They were down early too. I made it down by 7:30 a.m. and the place was packed with surfers. I swam out, but immediately got intimidated by the others. I watched and listened. Several of the guys got into some altercations, with one of them yelling accusations to the other, while many just sat silently and waited their turn. One young woman surfed a couple of good waves on her short board as did a couple of the guys. However, I soon realized that I might have as much right out there as they have. They weren’t that much better than me. At least their board-handling skills didn’t impress me. One of the scariest things was finding out that many of them do not know the protocol on catching the waves. It definitely wasn’t the same line-up I saw in Nicaragua, where everyone seemed to know the “rules” of the waves. I’m actually a little less intimidated now thinking about it than I was when I was out. I don’t think I’ll be as “concerned” next time in the line-up as I have been.

Another interesting thing I noticed about the people surfing this past weekend was that most of them were on short boards. I immediately lusted after their boards. I love my two boards and took them both out — my 9′ Softop and my 9’6″ Senator board. (Someone actually complimented me on my Senator board; he, too, was the owner of one and had enjoyed many rides on it.) However, I would really love to give a short board a try. Of course, now I found one on sale from a local store and would love to have it. Can I justify it? I’m not consistent on the two boards I have, why would having a shorter board be any better? Oh well, we’ll see.

Rough winds and seas

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:20:51 +0000

Finally, the waves return with a vengeance only the wind is blowing so hard that they are a mess! Even taking the rip out was tough. Because of the horrendous road construction taking place on Seawall Blvd., I decided to surf at 36th street. A handful of other surfers had found their way to 36th also. I had some great rides though; enough for me to think the trip was very worthwhile on Friday (10/22). Friday afternoons are the times I really look forward to for surfing. I can often get to the beach before many people are off of work and get in a couple of good hours of surfing. I took my 9’6″, which was good for me in the rough stuff, but not so good for hauling the surfboard in and out of the water. When the wind is blowing so strong, I’m forced to carry my board parallel to the ground, which really stretches out my arm and eventually makes it seem much heavier. If I carry it perpendicular to the ground, which is much more manageable to control, the wind will catch it and blow me around on the seawall. It’s almost like having a sail except that I can’t use the wind to propel me forward. All in all, Friday was a good surf day — good rides and, finally, some waves.

By Sunday, the winds had calmed a little and the waves were big enough for me to use my 7’2″. However, although the winds had calmed, it was still rough and what was left of the prevailing winds sent us east. This meant that I had to surf on the east side of the 37th street pier, my new surfing hangout since the road resurfacing project is still taking place near 43rd. (I hate parking near 43rd when the lines have been eliminated. I feel vulnerable parking without the lines.) I only had a couple of rides on Sunday, but I got a lot of practice paddling thourgh strong currents on my shorter board, which is a good thing. I still need a lot of practice though!

No waves, Dude

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 21:01:36 +0000

Well, I’ve got the board and I’ve got the thicker wetsuit, but I don’t have any waves!! According to my surfing friend, Brian, the flat waters are usually more likely to happen in the summer, not the winter. He’s teasing me that the surf Gods are plotting against me since I have a new board. I laugh at this. After all, it’s a very busy time, so having to ride my bike or go to the gym is not such a bad thing. Don’t get me wrong, I wish I could surf, but if I can’t, I’m sure I can find something fun to do. I probably won’t be cycling either, since winter riding is actually more difficult than winter surfing. On my bike, I’m miserable for the first 45 minutes, unlike surfing, where I’m only miserable for the first few seconds after getting in the water. Rumor has it that it will be even colder next weekend. Will that mean that the waves are gone again? I hope not, but if that’s the case, I’ll just try to have a Merry Christmas!

I’m dying to get out on my new board again though! Not sure when that will happen, but if it doesn’t happen this week, I hope I get plenty of surfing opportunities during my week off between Christmas and New Year’s.

Downward facing dog

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:00:37 +0000

Fortunately, yoga has started again. After almost two months off, my illustrious instructor Amy is back to offer lunchtime yoga classes. While the classes should continue until mid-April, I know that after that time, we will all probably have to find a new yoga instructor. Amy is getting married to a Brit and moving across the ocean. So, us regular lunchtime yogis will be without an instructor. Today’s class reminded me about how much I need yoga to stay flexible. I also need it to keep my core muscles strong — the muscles that are used in every form of exercise, but never really understood until one takes a yoga class. We had two new people in today’s class to add to the six “regulars.” They didn’t seem to have any problem keeping up. I didn’t feel the usual aches and pains that I sometimes feel at the beginning of a new semester of yoga classes, except for downward facing dog. Amy had us do three in a row and each time we had to hold the position, which, for some reason today, was causing my wrists to hurt. I can’t explain it. My wrists should be in great shape, and should certainly be able to hold half of my body weight. I also definitely need to remember to focus on my core in all of the poses. In fact, by concentrating on my core, I’ll probably never have to worry about my wrists again. If only I can remember…

ohmmmmmm…ohmmmmmm…

BARBADOS JUNIOR CLUB HOSTS 1ST ANNUAL FAMILY FUN DAY – FEATURES NEW GENERATION OF SURFING TALENT – SPONSORED BY HOUGH CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 20:36:22 +0000

16TH OCTOBER 2010 – SURFERS POINT, CHRIST CHURCH

The Barbados Junior Surfing Club held its 1st annual BJSC Family Fun Day surf event –sponsored by Hough Capital Management (Barbados) Ltd. on October 16th 2010. The event was held in 1-2 foot waves at Surfers Point, Inch Marlow in Christ Church.

The event was a first of its kind in Barbados catering to a new generation of Super Groms. By eliminating the top 6 ranked surfers from each division, the Club was looking for new talent to showcase their surfing skills in each division and the event delivered just that. According to BJSC President, Alan Burke “ It was great to see the sparkle on the kids faces whilst surfing a contest for the very first time and kids whom have been surfing only for a mere 4-6 hours of their life, competing and making it to the finals! This brought back very fond memories, personally, of why you surf contests, the opportunity to speed up the learning process and most of all for the fun and camaraderie that was involved!”

The fun day did not omit the Club’s ranked surfers as they actively participated in helping run the event for the members of the Club. The juniors were involved in learning judging, timekeeping, tabulation of heat score among other tasks on the day. The Club works to teach its juniors not only competitive surfing skills in the water but provides the opportunity for these surfers to learn and appreciate what it takes to run a surf event, especially the amount of concentration and pressure involved when judging and time keeping accurately.

The Club put the task to their junior members to design the event T-Shirts, the winning design was selected by the Club and for this event Jacob Burke’s design featured on all the Club’s shirts. Such a success was the art contest that the Club will now use their junior’s art for all future Club events.

The event also featured new divisions in which all could participate running a junior Longboard, Kids Expression Session where the best single maneuver wins and Parent/Child Tag Team event where the both the parent and child had to count one scoring ride within a 20 minute timeframe. According to Burke “It was also the first time a Junior Longboard division was ever contested in Barbados and by the looks of it, we have some very talented long boarders on the rise.”

The wave conditions were idyllic for a number of the up and coming surfers and coupled with a variety of beach games for prizes their was food, sun and fun for all the families that attended. The BJSC thanks their sponsors especially Hough Capital Management (Barbados) Ltd. for their vision in supporting the event and Lynch Insurance Brokers and Barrels & Bearings for the Beach Games prizes. The Club anticipates that following on the success of the day many more similar events will be featured in the future. Further details on the Barbados Junior Surfing Club and its activities can be found at http://www.bdosjuniorsurfing.org or its Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/bdosjuniorsurfing .

Complete results from the finals of the BJSC Hough Capital Management – Family Fun Day are as follows:

12&Under
1. Dylan Downie
2. Joshua Tempro
3. Joshua Mayers
4. Darian Pitcher
5. Cameron Bell
6. Adam Gibbs

14&Under
1. Andrew Rose
2. Zander Venezia
3. Nick O’Neal
4. Dylan Downie
5. Darian Pitcher
6. Joshua Mayers

Under 18 Boys
1. Jacob Burke
2. Che Allan
3. Dylan Downie
4. Evan Moll
5. Daniel Soto
6. Yuri Scutt

Under 18 Girls
1. Jodie Burke
2. Chelsie Grant
3. Giselle Allan
4. Alyssa Bryan

Longboard
1. Dane Mackie
2. Josh Burke
3. Evan Moll
4. Che Allan
5. Jacob Burke
6. Josh Galt

Expression Session
1. Josh Burke – Front side Slash

Parent Child
1. Alan/Jacob Burke
2. Nick Mackie/Joshua Burke
3. Melanie/Darrian Pitcher
4. Gregory/Andrew Rose
5. Simon/Cameron Moll

About Us

Chica Brava 2010

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 04:04:05 +0000

I’m having a blast in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua! For the second year, I treated myself to the Chica Brava Surf Camp, and it is fantastic. Not only do we have warm weather and sunny skies, but we have great surfers sharing their expertise with us. This year, our instructors are Anna from Holland and Candace from California. Both can surf long boards or short boards, and each offer a little something that the other may not.

Although I have stood many times on the board while here, I still haven’t conquered the complete surfing experience, which includes catching a wave on the outside and riding it down the line. Some may have the ability to catch them on the outside within the first year of surfing, but I haven’t been able to do so yet. Maybe I should feel worse about it, but I don’t. I know that when it all starts to click for me, I’ll be successful. I won’t give up. I’m getting really close. I just need to master the pop-up. I’m not getting up quickly enough. I watched many of the more experienced surfers today, and came away with some great techniques. One of the women in our group is from Hawaii and is very quick, fluid and smooth with her pop-up. It’s what I aspire to as I surf. Oh well…only practice will help.

Today we went out on the boat, which requires us to swim into shore, then surf and, then, a couple of hours later, requires us to swim back out to the boat. We didn’t have as far to go to get back to the boat as last year. And, I was able to do it rather easily. Most of the girls got tired out and opted out of the next beach, but I decided that I needed as much practice in the waves as possible and jumped back in when we got to our new destination. The waves weren’t as good there, and after I wiped out a couple of times, our two instructors and our wonderful surfer from Hawaii decided that the waves were closing out. So, we just swam back out to the boat.

Pictured above are my fabulous surf instructors Anna and Candace.

Rio Tavares Mother Fucker e Independent Bowl Pro 2009

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 20:34:22 +0000

The first Rio Tavares Mother Fucker e Independent Bowl Pro happened last week in this new bowl in the midle of the jungle with unbelivable sea and jungle view!!!!
Some of the best bowl riders in Brazil joined the contest and the skateboarding level was outstanding!

http://www.brazilsurfingadventure.com

Choppy wave Thursday

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 15:21:34 +0000

Since I was leaving town for a couple days and was going to miss my weekend surf time, I decided to surf early on Thursday before I caught my flight. I made it to Galveston at 7:15 a.m. to find what looked like decent waves. However, once I made my way to the water, I realized that “decent” was definitely the wrong word. Choppy would have been a better description. Although it was quite a fight to get out, I managed to do it a couple of times. Eventually, I decided I would just practice my pop ups in the white water. Even that proved troublesome because I would jump on my board when a wave was coming my way, only to find that the waves were coming from two different directions, making it impossible to keep straight on the board. I was able to ride waves in three or four times, but another three or four times, I was knocked off balance on the board face first into the water because of the inconsistency of the wave. Although my surfing mentor Brian came out to watch me, he said the waves were too inconsistent for him to try to get out in the water and, besides, he was going to be surfing really “fine” waves tomorrow. Yes, at least three other times during the week, Brian had either called or e-mailed to let me know that because of the cold front coming in on Friday, the waves were going to be 4- to 6-ft and that it might be the best waves we’ve seen since last winter. I, of course, was going to miss it because I was going out town. My surfing buddy Robin broke her toe during our last outing and was probably going to miss it too, although she said she was definitely going to the beach to watch. Fortunately, this is just the beginning of the fall season and we should have many more 4- to 6-ft waves in weekends to come. Hooray! Although, I might have surfed those size waves a few times in Nicaragua last March (not sure if they were even that big, but I think they might have been), I haven’t surfed them since and I am dying to know what it’s like. Since it is only the beginning of fall, I’m sure I have many more weekends like this in my future. Ummm…can’t wait!

P.S. While I might be missing the waves this weekend, I’m still having fun. I’m in Jonesborough, Tennessee at the National Storytelling Festival. Maybe I’ll hear a story or two about surfing! Probably not, but who knows? Several great storytellers are in the lineup this year.

Ode to a Surfing Blog

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 18:34:37 +0000

My favorite magazine, Oxford American, publishes a special summer issue every year inviting writers to submit their Best of the South stories for publication. The pieces are witty, charming and usually titled “Ode to a …” (fill in the blank: this year’s issue had such titles as “Ode to a Soda Fountain” and “Ode to Screaming.” I decided to write my own. I’ve titled it:

Ode to a Surfing Blog

Words and waves. Waves by words crashing into the computer screen, each word meaning something more than just its original intent. Soaring, sailing words give action to the surf, the rip-tide, the cross current. Riding a curl brings the words back full circle to the origin of the wave … the idea … back to when it was just water washing away the sand, lapping up against the shore where kids play in waist-deep water with bright-colored floaties around each arm while being watched by nervous mothers nearby discussing their sons’ behaviors in school and listening to seagulls cry, beg for pieces of pb&j sandwiches that could be compared to words in a blog that may or may have meaning to the sunglassed reader who is sitting on the striped Banana Tropic, yellow and orange beach towel. Words, waves remain important to the surfing reader and writer who shares the intensity of loading a bright, yellow and purple surfboard on top of her car, driving to the beach, unloading the board to place it in the wave’s ending and swimming, stroke by stroke, out to where waves begin so that, later, she can, stroke by stroke, pull words together to express the exhilaration of riding the wave into the shore where it will start again.

Another board?

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 06:50:10 +0000

After my trip to Nicaragua, I decided that I wanted a shorter board. While visiting there, I had the amazing opportunity to go watch and “hang out” with real, experienced surfers at beaches with consistent, incredible surf. They made surfing the shortboards look easy and appealing. The shortboarders seemed to dance on the waves, moving back and forth so quickly. I knew then that I wanted to be able to do that one of these days. Ashley, ChicaBrava owner and surfer extraordinaire, said that she actually started her surfing experience on a shortboard. She mentioned that it took her almost a year to stand up for the first time. She was patient though and has certainly conquered the sport. Don’t get me wrong, I still love surfing my 9′ Softop and my marvelous 9’6″ Senator board and I have in no way conquered surfing those boards yet. I’m still such a beginner! However, the shorter board just looks like so much fun.

When I decided to buy a shorter board, I wasn’t sure what to look for in a shortboard, or in my case, a funboard. (Funboards are between 7-9 ft., while shortboards are anything under 7 feet.) I noticed on one store’s website that they had a 7’2″ board on sale for $ 199. The board was pretty too, not that it should matter what it looks like. But, pretty is definitely an advantage in my book. It was really thin though and considerably underpriced compared to the other ones. So, what’s the big deal you might ask? Well, I couldn’t get the you salesman to explain why it was so cheap. In fact, I couldn’t get the young salesman to answer any questions about the boards. Since I was making a pretty big leap by trimming two feet off the length of the boards I already had, I wanted to know what the advantages were in all the different smaller boards. I came to a couple of conclusions on my own, despite the salesman’s vain attempt to just sell a board. First of all, I thought for sure that if the board was too thin, I’d definitely have trouble with it. I also realized that if the nose was too pointed, the board would probably “move” too fast for me. (Not sure if I can adequately explain what I mean, but even the “mute” saleskid seem to agree with me about that.) I opted not to buy the board, which I think was a “Surf Betty” (aka NSP) make. It sure was pretty. What was odd about it, was that the board was $ 200 cheaper than most of the other 7’2″ boards in the store. The salesman couldn’t explain why other than to say that only that one board was going for the cheaper price and that it would probably sell fast. (As of this writing, it’s been over a week and the board has not sold yet.) I left the store that day trying to decide what I really wanted in a board.

Almost a week later, I went by the store again to look at the boards. (I was only going to that store because it is the only one on the mainland near me that sells surfboards.) I had pretty much decided that I would probably not buy one from them because of their poor customer service. However, I just wanted to look at the different boards again. The same inept sales kid was working there and his demeanor indicated that he didn’t want to help “some old broad” with her surfboard questions. He and one of the other young salespeople made some sort of inside joke that caused some laughter, but I wasn’t deterred. I just needed a question answered about the boards again. Once I got a half answer, I was gone. I decided to call my surfing friend, Robin, to discuss my adventures in surfboard shopping. She reminded me of a board her niece had and might want to sell. She wasn’t sure of the size so the two of us went by to look at it. I was sold. It was a 7’2″, which was just like the one I was considering at the store. I wrote a check and so began my funboard experience. I hope the board helps propel me to the next level. We’ll see.

UPDATE: On Sunday, I took Petal (my 9’6″ Senator board) and my new board, “Lil’ Sis” to the beach. Of course, on Saturday, I had to strip the wax off, as well as some stickers. I found a few dings, including one that took the epoxy off all the way to the styrofoam. I added extra wax to protect it and off we went. My first discovery with the new board was that getting out in the surf would be different. My board was under the water so that when I swam out, the arch in my back had to be more pronounced. After one short ride in, though, I was sold. I popped up right away, but it wasn’t pretty. I definitely need a lot of practice. I changed my profile photo to include “Lil’ Sis.” What fun!

Post-Nica surfing

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 02:15:08 +0000

Well, I’ve had the opportunity to go surfing at least four or five times since returning from Nicaragua, including a couple of my Friday afternoons, a Monday evening or two and Sunday mornings. Now that I see it written out, it’s possible I’ve surfed six or seven times. I’ve had good days and bad days. On one of the evenings, a cool front had just passed so the wave were a little bigger than usual. Unfortunately, the front was more WNW rather than just a norther, so the waves were closing out fast. However, that evening, I had the ride of my life. It was short, but oh-so sweet! I was near the end of the jetty and, when I saw the wave, I started to paddle. I popped up at just the right moment, which means I had a free fall. At least, that’s what it feels like. I’ve only had it happen a couple of times, but it’s those few seconds when you catch a wave and you are right at the peak and when you pop up, the board drops down the wave. It’s amazing! I was able to turn it, but the ride was shortlived; probably only a couple of seconds. However, it was such an amazing feeling and it made me realize why I love to surf. I can only imagine how fun it would be to catch the waves like that every time.

Yesterday, I made it down to find that two of my friends (friends that went to Nica with me) were taking a lesson from Brian. How exciting to see them out again! They really seemed to have fun. The water was unusually choppy. I managed to take the rip out when I first got there, and even caught one on the outside. The rest of the afternoon, though, I fought the current and was even unable to take the rip out. A lot of surfers were out because of the Good Friday holiday, but not many of them were able to catch waves. I even witnessed one many struggling to get out in the rip like me. Pshewww! I felt a little better knowing that I wasn’t the only one struggling. I practiced in the whitewater some, but mostly just got beat up by the waves and current. I thought it was wonderful that I got to see Cyndi and Michele, though, and I look forward to surfing with them in the future.

surfing in the Atlantic

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 14:48:09 +0000

A long holiday weekend trip to Amelia Island, Florida, gave me the opportunity to take my surfing to a new set of waves. The Atlantic Ocean proved to be a great place to surf and offered a different set of surfing circumstances. After calling a local surf shop and setting up lessons with local surfer Vince, my friend Robin and I were all set to learn from someone new.

Although Sunday proved too rough according to Vince, Monday looked better and, by Monday evening at 7ish, we were meeting Vince at the beach access #6. He immediately launched into the pop-up portion of instruction. He was the third person to teach us the pop-up, with each one offering slightly different techniques. Robin could still do the pop-up perfect on the beach, but would she return to her old habits of going to her knees out in the ocean (yes, she did…but it works for her). I had my usual balance issues, but my form wasn’t too bad. Vince didn’t try to get us to stand the first night; he had us practice getting comfortable on the board in the water. On Tuesday morning at 8 a.m., we were at it again. He told us to give him five good pop-ups on the beach before going out on the water, which we did. Then he took us both out. Robin was first and, although she went to her knees first, she rode a wave in. I was second. He had me get comfortable on the board again, insisting that I use my feet to turn myself around. He also showed me a second way to turn, which turned out to be much more comfortable for me. Then came my moment of truth. I caught my wave and managed to pop-up and stand. I lost my balance eventually, but I surfed for a short while and it was magnificent. We surfed a little longer before Vince had to call it quits for the morning. (His day job was calling!) I had a blast though, and I can’t wait to surf again. I’ll definitely need my own board soon, probably this week.

“Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.”

One is the loneliest number…

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 22:46:02 +0000

So goes the Three Dog Night song I remember from the ’70s and ’80s. I have always hated doing things alone, but have forced myself in recent years to do so. I sometimes go to the mall alone or go out to eat alone. Eating at home alone isn’t the same since mail, TVs, phone calls and even computers can help distract a person from being alone. I read in a surfing book that no one should ever surf alone for safety reasons. However, today, that’s what I decided to do. My surfing buddy, Robin, couldn’t go with me today to surf. After a discussion with my surfing instructor and friend Brian, I also found out that he wasn’t going to be able to surf today either. Ummm…I really wanted to surf, so I decided to go alone. I had asked Brian his opinion about it and he said that he loved surfing alone. The only time a person shouldn’t surf alone is if he/she is on a deserted beach or in water known for having sharks. He told me to drive up and down the Seawall to see where the waves were. And, that’s what I did. Although surfers can be territorial, I decided to surf near the 25th street pier, an area I wasn’t familiar with because I usually surf at the 43rd street pier. I made the right decision. The other surfers were nice, as was the lifeguard who came out to chat me up. He gave me some pointers and pushed me into a wave. The waves were shallow but, for the first time in awhile, the sets were well-defined. I had 10-12 successful runs. I was quite proud that I didn’t even get the top of my head wet. I never fell. It was amazing! And, I did it alone. Maybe this “alone” stuff isn’t so bad.

Whirlwind, but no wind really

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 04:52:40 +0000

What a whirlwind the last three weeks have been. Things have just been crazy! I tried to blame it on a full moon a few weeks ago, but I can’t do that really. Sometimes, life is like the waves I try to surf…just so unpredictable. I know that often the waves look perfect from shore, but once I paddle out, I just can’t seem to find them. I mean I’ll sit on my board, look back, think I know when it’s coming only to get into position and, somehow, miss the wave. And, such is life. All the planning in the world can’t prepare a person for what’s just beyond the next corner.

I started surfing at 37th street pier a couple of weeks ago for a change. Of course, I should say that I’ve only surfed there once because during the past couple of weeks, the waves have disappeared. I enjoyed surfing there though, and met some of the surfers who routinely surf at that pier. Not sure why the waves are so bad this fall. Last year, I surfed just about every weekend. When looking back at posts, I noticed that I also started to wear a springsuit by this time. When I surfed at the 37th street pier, I wore my 2m short-sleeved rash guard with just a bathing suit. I was fine in the water, but was quite chilly sitting outside of the water. I noticed on g-townsurf.com that the water temperature is in the 70s, which means fall is definitely upon us.

I’m bummed that I didn’t have any waves to surf this weekend, but I think that, maybe, the lack of waves offers me an opportunity to re-assess life and to realize that I don’t really know what’s happening next even if I do plan.

BJSC Family Fun Day & Surf Fiesta – Sposnored by Hough Capital Management (Barbados) Ltd.

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 13:06:56 +0000

October 16th 2010 – The Barbados Junior Surfing Club is hosting our Family Fun Day event sponsored by Hough Capital Management (Barbados) Ltd. which will run a Super Grom surf series catering to the surfers in our membership who have not placed higher than 6th in any of our other events this year, as well as other fun surf activities for all members including Long boarding, an Expression Session, Family Team events and beach activities for all family members. The event is scheduled to take place on Oc…tober 16th 2010.

Surfing Divisions to be run are Super Grom Surf series, Long boarding and Family Team events as follows:

(1) Super Grom Surf Series
Divisions to be run: Surfers in the following age classes 12-U, 14-U and U-18 Boys and U-18 girls that have not placed 6th or higher in any BJSC Event/Division for 2010.

(2) Long boarding Contest
Long boarding division/all ages up to U18 welcome.

(3) Family Team fun events
a. Parent/Child. Fifteen/twenty minute heats. One wave each to count for two wave team score. Competitor child first in water must claim wave they wish to keep and come to beach tag the parent who then must go out and claim what they think to be their best scoring wave. Overall two waves scored, highest team total wins.

b. Kids Expression session. Choose your move, best move wins

c. Assorted Beach Activities – To be Determined

Come out for a fun filled day of activities, food and music.

For further info see our Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=142615745781294&ref=ts

See you on the Beach
BJSC

Zero Tolerance

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:42:34 +0000

After nine long months, the time has finally arrived for my surfing adventure. The flight left early for those of us attending the camp from Houston — 9 a.m. — which I guess isn’t that early unless you start counting backward on when we need to leave to get to the airport two hours early. I was driving up with my friend Robin, and that meant that I would be leaving my house at 5:30 a.m. We allowed for plenty of time at the airport, which was a good thing, because the airport was a zoo. Everyone was going somewhere for spring break. Our plane was completely full and included several church mission groups and one medical student group who were all traveling to make Nicaragua a better place to live. At least five of us on our flight, though, were here for our own selfish reasons of learning to surf. We were met at the airport by one of our surf instructors. Melissa is delightful and just what you might want and expect from a surf instructor. Down-to-earth, fun and adventurous Melissa has been with Chica Brava for only a short time, but she had loads of stories about learning to surf and teaching surfing. We waited in Nicaragua for the others who were coming in on later flights. Our group includes Robin, Barbara, Britt, Leah, Mona, Olga and Marcia. We loaded in our van and headed to the “farm,” as Ashley (surfing diva) calls it. Surfing instructor Maite is also wonderful. After a brief stop in Granada, our van traversed the crowded roadways and headed to San Juan del Sur. We were stopped twice by police, apparently something that is common in Nicaragua. Olga, who speaks fluent Spanish, asked our driver about it and found out that it is not uncommon for cars to be pulled over because of the “zero tolerance” rule — the catch phrase these days around the world for all occasions like sports, schools, etc. The driver was very polite with the police and received only one ticket; apparently, for the way our bags were loaded on top of the van. When we got to the farm though, I could tell that “zero tolerance” was not going to be a part of my vocabulary this week. The gals are fun and interesting, and the farm is spectacular. This is going to be a fun adventure!

Kelly Slater Rebounds to Claim Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro Over Adriano De Souza

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:41:10 +0000

Friday, July 3, 2009: Kelly Slater (USA), 37, reigning nine-time ASP World Champion, has claimed the 2009 Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro over an in-form Adriano de Souza (BRA), 22, in clean three-to-four foot (1 metre) waves at the main site of Praia Vila.

Event No. 4 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour, the Hang Loose culminated in a dramatic finale with perennial ASP World Title threats all pushing one other towards the finish line.

www.brazilsurfingadventure.com

Three steps forward, two steps back?

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 19:40:57 +0000

I checked today’s waves online first thing this morning. The Gulf was flat. The only waves visible were those breaking really close to shore. I was going surfing when I got off of work at noon no matter what. Brian called last night to see if Robin and I were coming down, and I answered with a “definitely.” He offered to call this morning to let me know how the waves were, but I said it really didn’t matter because I basically needed the practice of swimming out on the board anyway. He seemed to like that answer and said that he would meet us at our usual spot at the 43rd street pier. He also mentioned he had a board he wanted to show me. (He keeps insisting my board is too narrow for a tall girl like me surfing on the small surf in Galveston. I believe it’s an optical illusion. Because the trim is purple, I think it makes the board look narrower than it actually is.) He said this board had been made especially for him. He wanted me to see it because it was 24 inches wide, therefore making it easier to use in Galveston because it had hips. Mine is actually 23 1/2 inches, and I can’t believe an extra half inch would give me that much support. But, who knows? His board was a great looking board. And he has surfed a lot longer than me.

Once we made it down to the waves, Brian started lecturing us. He insisted the only reason he cares about how we are doing is because he likes us “dudes.” It’s actually kind of nice to know that he wants us to succeed. He initially claimed that I had slipped into some bad habits and was not doing the pop up correctly. He said I was dragging my left foot forward before I was putting my right foot forward. As a goofy-footer, I should definitely be moving the right foot first. He suggested I practice on the shore, and I did it perfectly. However, the next time I went out, I noticed that I was doing exactly as he said I was. My left foot was sliding up part way first. I apologized for telling him that I wasn’t doing what he said I was doing. He said, “I know what I’m talking about.” And he does. I just need to keep practicing. I decided that I would also rehearse the pop up some more in my living room just as I had done several months ago. I can’t slip back into sloppy habits! No way, “dude.”

Come on into the water!

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 11:35:16 +0000

While in Jamaica, I decided I needed to put in some serious swim time. The resort offered several activities to get their guests into the water. One was a short snorkeling trip. Although I’m not completely confident in my swimming abilities, I decided the snorkeling trip was the one for me. I signed up for the 1 p.m. excursion. Ummm…what should I take? Will I be forced to leave my towel behind? Will my bathing suit cover-up get wet if I take it on the boat? I decided to only take myself in a bathing suit sans cover-up but wearing thongs on my feet. I can only imagine that the deck by the boat would be hot. At the assigned time, our guide greeted us – a local who worked for the resort. You could tell he’d done this a few times before. His instructions were straightforward. He told us to remove our shoes and get on the boat. I noticed he was not wearing a bathing suit, which meant he didn’t intend to get wet. After a quick trip across rough waters, we stopped at a reef. He said the tide was too rough to take us to the usual place, but that we should still see quite a few fish near this reef. He explained where Cuba was (we could see it I think) and told us to “not swim that direction.” ”Who can’t swim?” he asked. I raised my hand. “I don’t swim well,” I said. “Who’s never snorkeled before?” I raise my hand. “I’ve snorkeled once or twice.” “What are you doing on this boat? Why did you come out this afternoon rather than this morning? The water is always rougher in the afternoon,” he said rather disgustedly. After being reprimanded, I agreed to wear a life vest, which he put around my waist. I counted 11 of us in the boat – five couples and me. I told the lady next to me, “Make sure there are 11 when we head back.” She laughed. All in all, I had a great time. Most of the other swimmers wore life vests too after they saw me with one. I probably could have snorkeled without it. I noticed that a couple of the “stronger” swimmers had to get back in the boat early. I stayed out until the horn signaled us back. It was wonderful seeing all of the fish, and I really gained confidence in the water. Now, if only I could do that a few more times before March. I doubt I’ll get the opportunity. I’ll have to just keep swimming in my gym pool and pretending like it’s the Caribbean.

“Come on into the water!”
Chrissie Watkins
“Jaws” (1975)

Eeewwwww…SEAWEED

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 14:24:13 +0000

Yuck!!! The seaweed is taking over Galveston beaches. It seems like twice a year, the seaweed becomes a real problem. It’s everywhere. When I take the rip out by the 43rd street pier, the seaweed gets in the way. When I finally make it to the end, the seaweed gets tangled in my leash. As a matter of fact, just making sure that the seaweed doesn’t pull me off the board becomes a full-time job. Surfer king Brian told me to put the leash up underneath me, but that is much easier said than done. He also told me to make sure that my leash is cleaned off once I get ready to catch a wave. But, again, that is easier said than done. While I have done a fairly decent job of keeping off the leash, every once in awhile, I feel the tug of the seaweed. It fact, it has pulled me off the board on more than one occasion. One might ask, “How can seaweed pull you off the board.” But, my answer would be that it is really much easier than you think. Any little thing tugging on the leash can cause me to fall. The attached photo gives some indication how much seaweed is around. I went surfing on Friday and Saturday this week, rather than Sunday. Because I had already planned to cycle in an organized ride — the Tour de Braz — on Sunday, I knew that my only time to surf other than Friday would be Saturday. So, after a 40-mile bike ride on Saturday, I loaded up the longboard and went down to Galveston. Like Friday, the waves were very rough. However, it was much better than nothing. I got quite a workout and several long rides. I’m still working on turning the board so that I don’t ride all the way to shore. But, that’s going to take a lot of practice. I need to turn it and then plop back down to ride back to the outside. ummmm…Who would have ever thought that would be so difficult? But, it is for me. I’m finally turning a bit, but not quick enough. Brian told me to pop up, count to three and then turn. We’ll see. I hope I can do that. I’ll just have to keep practicing until it does.

P.S. The ride was okay on Sunday. I rode well despite the horrendous winds. I was hydrated well, but still felt drained by the time it was done. Although we had a little bit of a tailwind coming home, the wind didn’t seem to be nearly as strong as when we were riding the first half of the ride.