Surfing Zicatela

The day of my first surfing lesson I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. My lifelong dream of learning to surf was finally going to come true. I arrived at the surf shop at 9:00 AM full of puppydog excitement, only to be crushed by the sight of the instructor, Dave, shaking his head and saying, "Sorry, Dude, I can't take you out today."

It turned out the big sets had started rolling in just that morning, and although the pros were stoked, and eagerly waxing up their boards, it was no place for a beginner. So I had to resign myself to the role of observer for the next few days, and that was okay. I've always enjoyed watching good surfers do their stuff. And as the days passed, and I watched these young athletic kids getting beat up by those huge waves, and have several tons of water crash down on top of them, I started to think maybe it was all for the better. What was I thinking, anyway? I'm too old and brittle to take that kind of punishment. Maybe next lifetime, I'll start a little younger. In the meantime... I'll just have to be satisfied with watching. Life could be a lot worse.

And I became good friends with the instructor, Dave. He was a fellow Canadian, from Toronto, but he had grown up in Barbados and been surfing all his life. On my second to last day here, when I stopped at his shop to say Hi, he had a big grin on his face, and he said, "I don't know why, Dude, but for some reason the big sets are holding off today. If you're still into it, we could go out right now." Well, he didn't have to tell me twice. In about half a second all my geezer caution was thrown to the wind, and I was on the beach with a nine and a half foot beginner surf board under my arm.

The first 20 minutes of the lesson was on dry land, going over safety issues and learning the basic theory of it all. Then he lays down on his stomach on the sand, and says as soon as you feel the wave grab you, get up on your feet like this - and in about a billionth of a second he had leaped to his feet, into a perfect surfing crouch, feet shoulder width apart, parallel to each other and sideways to the board. Then he said, "You try it."

So I lay down on my stomach, got my hands in the pushing position, he counted to three and said, "Now!" and I leaped to my feet about as quickly and smoothly as a... well let's just say there was nothing quick or smooth about it. And of course I immediately fell over. I suddenly began to feel very much like a geezer again. But good old Dave was very patient and encouraging, and after about a dozen tries, I was starting to definitely become ever so slightly less clumsy and goofy about the whole thing, and it was time to get into the water.

On the first lesson, you don't try to catch a real wave, so you don't have to worry about the wave crashing down on you. You wait for the wave to break, and you try to catch the bubbling foamy secondary wave in the shallower water closer to shore. Standing in about chest deep water, Dave would have me crawl up onto the board, get me all lined up, and tell me when to start paddelling. I would feel the wave pick up the back of the board, Dave would shout, "Now!" and I would try and struggle to my feet, but before I could even get one foot underneath me, I would just slide off the board into the water. I never felt so awkward and old in my life. But I was nothing if not determined, and Dave was extremely helpful and encouraging, so I kept trying.

After about a dozen of these pathetic efforts, it finally happened. I actually somehow got my feet underneath me - still bent over and hanging onto the sides of the board with my hands - and the wave kept going, and the board kept going, so I let go with one hand, and then the other, and slowly but surely I struggled up into the crouch, and I was standing. I was SURFING! It only lasted about two seconds, but let me tell you, those were two of the most satisfying and exciting seconds of my life.

We kept at it for about an hour, and I managed to make it to my feet three or four more times, until my arms became so weak there was just no way I could push myself up anymore. That was the biggest surprise of the whole thing to me. I had no idea how much upper body strength it takes to try and instantly push yourself up from a prone position, especially on a wiggly wobbly surf board. I thought I was in pretty good shape, but I was definitely humbled. After the session, I could barely lift my arm high enough to shake Dave's hand.

But I had done it. I had surfed! I had actually really surfed! After thinking about it and dreaming about it for so many years, I had finally done it. I may never do it again - although I hope I do - but just doing it once was unspeakably thrilling. And as we were walking back to the shop, Dave says, "Not only did you surf, Dude, you surfed Zicatela, the Mexican Pipeline. Every place has its pipeline. In Hawaii it's the north shore of Oahu..." and then he rattled off the names of a few more places, "and in Mexico, this is it right here, Zicatela, and you surfed it, Dude!"

He also said that I knew enough now to rent (or buy) a board and find a mellow place, and go and practice by myself, and slowly but surely get better, and then try to turn sideways to the wave, and then move out of the white water into the real waves. Now wouldn't that be something! It makes a guy feel like getting down and doing some pushups right now, and get those arm muscles buffed up a bit. And oh yes, the big monster sets were back the very next day. So for some reason it seems the gods had smiled upon me, and given me my one day. Now isn't that something? Sort of makes one very humble, and very grateful.

---

HOME PAGE - Weekly map of the night sky, and current astronomical events.	OUR PLACE - Weekly article on things terrestrial.
SOLAR SYSTEM - All Things Held Captive By The Sun	KEEP MEXICAN SKIES FREE - Ways you can help...
CONSTELLATIONS - Everything Else In The Universe	MUSIC - "The food of love..." Original songs, and more...
PLANET WATCH - Weekly update of the planets in our sky.	GUITAR TUTORIAL - Learn the basics of playing the guitar.
E. T. WATCH - The scientific search for extraterrestrial life.	HIGHWAY 61 - An original novel about polar bears, suicide bombers, and God.
CLOSE ENCOUNTER WATCH - Comets and asteroids heading our way.	PHOTO GALLERY - A collection of original observatory photos.
SHUTTLE WATCH - The exploits of NASA's Space Shuttle.	HUMOUR GALLERY - A collection of humour from the web.
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - The latest news from the first Human home in space.	THE FRANK GALBRAITH LEGACY - The legacy of a Cariboo musician.
FREE ASTRONOMY SOFTWARE - The best things in life really are free.	THE MEXICAN SKIES OBSERVATORY - Santa Elena, Oaxaca, Mexico.
ASTROLOGY - Astronomy's Evil Twin?	MEXICAN SKIES ARCHIVES - Selected articles from previous years.

	Enter your search terms Submit search form
	Web www.mexicanskies.com