Catching that first wave is not something you forget easily. In fact I think that moment will be hard drilled and burned into my mind for the rest of my life. Starting off with the paddle to the backline, your entire body fighting to get past those neck breaking waves only to realize that somehow you actually made it that far out without getting smashed to pieces-that’s the first thrilling feeling of accomplishment in this series of events. The second best feeling is when you’re being pushed by that wave, knowing the power of nature is literally surrounding you and you’re somehow managing to obtain some crazy balance with it and use it in some amazing way to your advantage without being maimed by it. That very first, best and most thrilling feeling is when you catch that wave. I mean really catch it, riding it all the way along right to the foam. Yesterday was my first time, and damn me I’ve never thrown my hands so far into the air or smiled so hard. The entire world could have melted away right then and I would have been content.
In that moment, all I could do was think about going back out, no matter how tired or beaten up I was, I was going to do it all over again, and carry on I did, until I got one more of those perfect waves ( after wiping out in over ten attempts) that makes you smile a smile brighter than the sun on a cloudless day.
Its amazing how it all works out, like five months back I smiled that wide smile when I was pushed onto my first foamy and stood for longer than three seconds, and just yesterday I smiled that ecstatic smile when I was pushed onto my first large unbroken wave and rode it right along to the point it reached foam. Surfing is a journey, and even if I’m just starting out, it gives me some kind of indescribable love for life, as if its proving to me there is something really worth living for.
The Water Walking Vagabond 