Let’s Go Surfing Now...

Now I always talk about wanting to surf, and when we travel to beaches, and we’ve been to plenty of them, I tend to judge them based on whether or not they have waves. We’ve been to several Caribbean islands, not to mention the Greek Islands and the coast of Spain, but in most of the places, we didn’t see much in the way of surf. I realize a lot of this stems from me not knowing where to look for waves, as well as the fact that waves don’t break all the time. However, you can get a sense of whether or not a place gets waves, and whether or not people surf there.

Anyway, as beautiful as all of these places have been, the absence of waves makes me realize that I could never live there, not that I’m looking to move any time soon. It’s just that being in a place near the ocean for extended periods of time would be much more enjoyable for me if there were waves. Let’s face it, a guy can only do so many walks along the beach before he feels the need to catch some waves.

With this in mind, we finally got to surf some waves, and in a fairly unlikely place - Florida. I’m biased being from California in that I didn’t really think Florida go much in the way of waves. There’s no doubt that the surf is generally bigger in California, but I’ve learned that there are a lot of perks to surfing Florida instead. First off, FLA is closer, and much cheaper to fly to. Since it’s vacation land, you can get great rates. FLA is warmer, not only the weather, but the water. The Pacific Ocean is generally cool, while the Atlantic can be amazingly warm in the summer and fall months. Finally, having surfed in LA for much of my youth, the environment in many of the good surf breaks can be aggressive and less than friendly.

This past trip to FLA, we finally rented a board and got wet. Best of all, I had a chance to introduce the sport to the kids. Since it was November, the locals kept telling me how cold the water was, but it wasn’t that bad, especially for a Vermonter. Our house was minutes from the beach, and I asked the attendant and he said the surfers all came here. You can drive right up on the sand, and the beach was huge. The waves were small and mellow, as I sort of expected, but in my current physical state, they were just right. Perfect for teaching the kids, as well.

There was a surf shop a couple miles from the house called MadDog Surfboards, and I got to meet B&RC, the owners. Really cool people, and I really enjoyed talking with BC about board design. So much so that I have decided that a new board is in my future, but I’ll have to get past the mommy gauntlet of disapproval first. BC is really knowledgeable and helpful. I think he really listened to what I was looking for and could relate to my situation. Plus, his boards were beautiful.

When I called they said the season was pretty much over, but that they might have a board I could rent. I ended up with a 7 foot beast, made in Thailand, no less. Despite my initial reservations, the board was perfect because the size made it buoyant and catching waves was a breeze, even in my depleted physical state. What was really fun was teaching the kids. Since they’re still young and small, I basically held the board and had them practice standing up and then getting a feel for when the wave takes over. They surfed the whitewater, but that’s a great way to start out. Everyone had a blast, and I have to say, A&N sure look good on a surfboard.

The next morning, I woke up early and went to the jetty where all the surfers go. The waves were breaking clean, though not huge. Again, just right for me. I was worried I’d freeze to death, but the water was fine. In fact, I surfed for about 2 hours, and would have gone longer except that the kids showed up wanted to surf, as well. I caught about a dozen waves, and even got a couple of decent rides. It sure felt good to be out on a board again, and now I’m hooked on FLA.

I got out and walked down the beach and the kids surfed some more. This time around they wanted to catch the waves and stand up on their own, and they did a stand up job, no pun intended. It was a blast, and I rented the board for another day in the hopes that we could surf all day on Thanksgiving and the next morning. Unfortunately, the weather turned sour, and it was windy and blown out. Completely un-surf able, which BC warned me about. Oh well, we had to at least try.

BC was cool about not charging for the extra day since we didn’t use the board, anyway. I didn’t expect this, but in the back of my mind I thought it was the cool surfer thing to do. He understood, and we jived.

Now the kids have surfing on the brain, as do I. I’m glad they had a chance to try it, and they can take over my old board, which would be perfect for them to learn on, and if the stars align properly, I’ll get a new one.... one day. I can’t wait.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to RIC for the pics.