Candid Shot by DBI dare not forget November as a solid part of the San Francisco surf season. The surf has been so fun for the last week and I have surfed so much that I am wonderfully exhausted. This morning’s session had to be cut short out of sheer muscle fatigue. Good waves kept coming through but my jello arms were giving way to late drops and subsequent thrashings.
When I realized that my get-up-and-go had got-up-and-gone a thought from the Surfer’s Path article on Ocean Beach (issue #55) flowed through my mind. Pete Reich states, “I think it’s tough to get good at Ocean Beach. There’s a lot more paddle time versus ride time, compared to a place like Santa Barbara or San Diego where it’s less intense to get to the surf and ride it. So it’s difficult to learn and progress here, although you do of course learn how to deal with big waves.” That is a pretty accurate description of my last week. Paddle, paddle, paddle and more paddle!
It’s really amazing how much paddling it takes to get waves at OB. Between the treadmill of whitewater, the ever shifting peaks and the relentless sideshore current surfers have to keep their arms moving constantly. The cool thing is that it forces one to be in great physical condition if you want to surf. The tricky side for me is that I have fantasies about being an extremely good surfer which will be difficult to achieve at OB.
Maybe that’s what I love about this place. It’s the ultimate life training ground. Just as in our day to day aspirations if we want something we have to really give it our all to get it. One of my most respected acting teachers Jon Jory achieved amazing success in his still thriving career. Amidst his stories of glory were relentless obstacles. His way of overcoming them was simple: just keep working! By continuing to work he was always learning new things, challenging himself and ultimately triumphing in his medium. OB reinforces this idea through paddling.
At some point it becomes natural to just keep paddling. A 30 minute paddle to reach the line-up followed by an entire session of paddling against the current just to keep from drifting along the beach becomes instinctive in the journey to ride the waves. Even places that are more user friendly will yield rewards to those with a diligent paddle ethic. OB is good for those stubborn students like myself.
3 comments:
HEHEHEH cool blog D -- Hmm at least you made it to the line up after 30 minutes - try a 40 minute paddle -- and right when you think it's ok to stop paddling -- your Wonderfully Exhausted -- you finally make it to the line up -( so you think )- Then suddenly the whole line up paddles towards the horizon -- And your last in line -- Yep -- you guest it -- your Denied Access to waves that day -- I call it the Humbling Walk of Shame (-get barreled or die trying-)
Great blog Duck! I used to surf OB a bit, and Linda Mar a lot. Overhead + was my limit at OB as no matter how cleanly it was breaking, there were always those sneaker sets coming in at double overhead you had to dodge. And as you know, DOH at OB is not DOH at other spots, a different "experience" altogether.
I drove by Linda Mar on Thanksgiving, amazing job the surf club did helping to get the place cleaned up and new bathrooms etc.
Yeah. I used to surf OB a bunch too. Still do when I get back up North. Love the scene there.
Cool site Ducky.
More OB pics!!
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