Day 324! Time to go surfing again! Today was a tough one and again I got thrashed around by the waves. But I’m learning each time I go and I believe I’m starting to progress a bit! I also had the slowest work shift of my time at the bar so far… but it was still enjoyable to some degrees!

My alarm went off at 7:30am, now I didn’t have a surf lesson this morning… but that wasn’t going to stop me from trying to surf anyways!

I was a bit tired, but I still rolled out of bed and got ready to head to the beach. It’s pretty freaking cool that I can just wake up and have multiple surfable beaches at my disposal!

I’ve ordered a new bike rack and have plans on selling this one… but for now I’m trying makeshift ways to make this one work. Today I tried tying my leg rope around the board and the bike to help keep it in place better. It slightly worked, but still this rack isn’t built for such a long and heavy board.

I still made it to the beach safe and sound, and without scratching my board.

The water today was quite choppy with around 3 knots of wind coming from the SSE and then switching over to the SSW. I was hoping the low knots would mean smaller waves, but I was still met with a number of “bigger” waves… that I had no intentions on wanting to surf.

There were still the small waves that I used a few of to practice popping up on the board. On these waves, I’m finding success, which is nice to have! I’m definitely starting to get a feel for how to get up on the board quickly, but that’s about it so far.

One of the biggest things I’m struggling with is paddling out to begin with. Maybe it’s improper paddling technique, mistiming my paddling, bad surf days, or a mixture of all of it and more. But getting out to a point where I’m not constantly getting waves cresting right before me or on top of me is proving to be a challenge!

I wasn’t going to let this stop me and boy was I persistent. I’d get through one wave, to be pushed back a bit by the next, but I kept chugging along until I found a wave I could catch and then repeat the process… probably just something I’ll have to get used to and get a better understanding of how to do it more efficiently.

At one point, I was in the position to catch a “bigger wave.” I’m talking maybe 3 feet, but it felt big to me! So… I decided to give it a go. I started paddling and felt the wave start to propel me. Butttt either my positioning on the wave or my surfboard was incorrect and I took my first nosedive into the water below.

I laughed a bit after coming out of the water, it was a pretty epic fail, but I was glad I tried!

After about 30 minutes, I hopped out of the water for a drink of water, and then got back into the ocean for another 15 minutes. By this point, I was the only one on the beach and I wasn’t finding much success. So I called it a morning!

I know I said it already, but it’s really freaking cool that I’m finally getting to tick this box in my life. I’ve wanted to surf for years and years and years now and I’m finally in a place where I can do it pretty much daily if I want to!

Sure the conditions might not be ideal and I’m going to swallow a lot of saltwater in the process. But I’m here for it! And I can’t wait for a lesson to get me on the right track. But until then, the internet and YouTube will be my friend and asset.

I went home, showered, and made myself some breakfast before passing back out for another 30 minutes in bed.

Today, I had work starting at 11am. So for the rest of the morning, I read more of the book I’ve been reading. I’m getting closer and closer to finishing, but I still have a few hundred pages to go.

11am drew near and I threw my work clothes on and headed up the hill. It was another cloudy day but at least it wasn’t raining! I would love to have the sun come back out though. The clear blue sunny skies that I had when I arrived were amazing and made for perfect days.

Work today was painstakingly slow… over the next 4 hours, only a handful of people came in and it was probably the slowest I’ve seen the restaurant. But, I still made the most of it chit chatting with the folks that came in and joking around with my coworkers when I had the chance to.

The best part of the work day was my coworker didn’t like the lunch he ordered and he gave it to me. So I enjoyed a very cilantro heavy ceviche.

3pm finally came around and it was time to head back home. I was exhausted. Probably because I woke up so early and went surfing, but also I didn’t have the same adrenaline rush I’d usually have from a work shift. So I sluggishly walked home and made myself a late lunch.

I took another power nap and then dove back in to devouring my book. It’s getting progressively more and more difficult to put down and I love the feeling! Getting lost in a good book is super fun. I used to think I “hated” reading… but I think the biggest thing was I didn’t like being forced to read in school and not being able to read at my own pace.

8pm rolled around and I finally decided to pry myself from the book and have dinner.

This was the end of my noodles, chicken, and cucumber. It made for a nice, cheap, and tasty dinner over the past few nights.

I then lied back into bed pondering what I wanted to do with the rest of my night. I decided to watch one episode of bleach before heading to bed early… I was exhausted from the day (and probably previous days too).

Tomorrow I have intentions of trying to surf again in the morning. I don’t have work until 4pm so I’ll have to figure out other things to do with my morning as well! I’d have to assume more reading if I had a guess…

– Elie