Shredin'

Ladies and gentlemen, the time has finally come... I finally have a surfboard! Yes, after living 5 minutes from the Pacific Ocean it has taken me almost 2 months to finally get a board down here. A very deserved shoutout to my Dad for coming down and giving me one of his boards, love you dude. 

I've always surfed because back home in Los Gatos, I'm only a short half an hour drive from Santa Cruz (huge surf town). So I've always surfed but have never taken it too seriously. My Dad however, being from rainy England is obsessed with the scenic California Coast and catching waves on his days off from work. From this, my Dad has always been very enthusiastic to take me out to surf but I never been too interested since he's in his 50's and somehow manages to kick my butt time after time when we're out in the water. Whatever though, give me a year in Santa Barbara and I'll be cutting circles around him in my sleep. So I asked him to bring a board down and he did (homie) and now I've finally got something to do on weekends (besides homework) ;)

Left me and Evan right

Usually, when I'm back home and go out in Santa Cruz, I use a longboard, because thats what I had and didn't think much of it. Longboards are fun to use, easy to learn on, and aren't too much work. Now this is the interesting part: being the cocky athlete I am, I told my Dad to bring a shortboard because I wanted try something new and though it'd be fun. Easier said than done. Shortboards are a whole new game compared to longboards. So the board itself is a custom made board from an artist named Troy Freeman made for my dad and the board itself is a 6'9" which isn't too short, but in terms of what I'm use to: it's tiny. 

My first time out: I ate it to say the least. I’ve never duck dived (to dive under an oncoming wave) before, so to be honest I got flattened by some barreling waves more than I would have liked, but that's all part of the game and makes you learn real quick. I managed to get 2 or 3 rides which didn’t last too long but I’ll take it for my first time on a short board. The primary difference between a shortboard and longboard is a shortboard is harder (in almost every aspect). I wasn’t expecting such a challenge but it’s nothing I can’t handle and improve on. So after getting trampled by a few waves I decided I wouldn't take any more beatings. That night when I returned home I watched a youtube tutorial on how to duck dive, went in the apartment pool with my board, and practiced till I could do 5 duck dives in a row. 15 minutes later: I am now the best duck diver in the game. Catch me at your local beach shredding the swell... of course is easier said than done. I plan on going out 2-3 times a week and hopefully I can get pretty good over time and kick my Dads butt when I return home over break. 

The other thing about surfing is I so wish I had a picture of the sunset when I was out there. Truly incredible. There’s nothing like looking up at pink clouds while catching the days last sets with the sun on you; absolutely perfect. So a little surprise for this weekends blog, but I’m going home and will be sure to grab my GoPro so I have a water proof camera out there to take pictures to share with you guys and maybe some wipeout videos too if the impossible occurs ;) 

Like I said the goal moving forward is to get in the water 2 or 3 times a week to consistently improve and get better. Something I really believe in is the more you do something the better you get so thats something I’ll be trying to emulate in coming weeks, stay tuned…