Surfing Washington is one of the loneliest, scariest, and most satisfying things I have ever done. I am 31 years-old. I have children. I have a wife. Before 2012 I had surfed a total of 3 times: once when I was 16 somewhere outside Port Angeles and twice in Mexico. So when I say that surfing Washington is scary, I don't mean because of sharks or big rips or any other hazard most surfers deal with. I mean it's scary because there are no lifeguards, no one on the beach more offer than not, and even if there were people, they wouldn't be crazy enough to come get me if I needed help. And I knew jack about surfing, plus the first 10 or so times I went here there was no one else out. No lineup, no one to copy. Just waves, lots of cold gray waves.
My surfing career could have started and earnest one big day in early November. I was living at a polar RV park near Cape Flattery and my neighbor generously offered his 9' slick glass longboard to borrow. "Sweet!" I thought. Big waves! Big board! What else could I ask for? I suited up in my five mm and headed out.
Well, seconds after I set the board in the water and started paddling through the whitewater I knew I was in over my head (as were the waves). I managed to smash through enough whitewater to get to a break (I was still very much inside), and I turned that sucker around and made for the first thing rumbling my way. Board lifts, starts accelerating, keeps accelerating, I get a knee up then the back of the board lifts up more and is shooting past my head fast enough to put a serious dent in me. After I gather my wits and pull the board back, I look around. There is no one on the beach. There is no one in the water. There are no houses facing the beach, and this is all five or so miles of Hobuck! That's when I realized that I should start boogey boarding, no matter how lame it seemed. I I was going out solo, I wanted something that my head could put a dent in rather than visa versa.
I kooked myself out that first day, but at least I had the sense to realize it and do something about it.
Tbc
Tbc
