While sitting on my board, utterly spaced out & tired between sets, two dolphins suddenly arched up out of the water and blew out their blow holes. PHHHHHH! Like 6 feet in front of me. Out of nowhere. Startled the shit out of me, but so worth it because beautiful.My leash got busted, but I decided to paddle all the way far outside, where in a way the stakes are higher without one. Felt naked and nervous without it, because I'm still such a spaz, and there are often situations where I end up relying upon it. My old time surfer friend Sad Bob Schuster told me it's better to surf without one, it makes you a better surfer, and they are a burden anyway. Turns out he was right; I learned a lot yesterday. I actually did become a better surfer in one day. Plus there was nothing to hog tie me or to get tangled in the kelp. So liberating. But you can't be sloppy without a leash, you really have to be heads up and not lose your board. That's the part where becoming a better surfer happens.
The second time I lost my board was a tiny bit harsh. I'd been going for medium & smaller waves so I could get the hang of keeping control of my board when kicking out, etc. at the end of the ride. I started feeling pretty good about things at just around the time when a big & beautiful wave came up, and with no one around me I decided to go for it. It was a right, which is harder for a goofyfoot spaz like me, but I made it and I felt like a tremendous big shot. Right up until halfway down the drop, when at high speed I hit a thick patch of kelp. My fins snagged on it and jerked my board to a bitter halt, catapulting me head first like Greg Louganis but without any of the grace. Sure, I was fine and just dove under, but that big & beautiful wave took my board ALL the way in to the beach. And I was far out there.
After that long & inconvenient swim to shore, at the end of a two hour surf session, I was tired and slightly dizzy. Of course my board had washed up on to the rocky part of the beach. But no dings! What luck. After carefully inspecting the board, I triumphantly and tiredly tucked it under my arm to begin the trudge down the beach, and that's when it slipped and I dropped it, right on to a rock. Significant ding on the rail. Fuck YOU!
Turned out ok though. The wax on my board was old and filthy, and my board pride had been a little in the toilet. I'd been meaning to clean it for quite some time now, anyway. So I made the afternoon all about repairing and rewaxing my beautiful board, and now everyone's a winner.