Catching Waves @ The Pointe

I've been offline for a week while hunting waves here in Tofino, B.C., the great Pacific Northwest.  But with the afternoon away from hubby and daughter, I am setting camp, “roughing it” (HA!), at The Pointe Restaurant at The Wickaninnish Inn.  My meal of choice, Nori Wrapped Albacore Tune Tempura with Warm Soba Noodle Salad w/ Chili, Lime & Cilantro Bok Choi, Daikon & Cashews, with Roasted Red Pepper and Asiago bread.  I have the best table in the house, overlooking the busy Saturday beach of the Victoria Day, May long weekend.  Tofinian food is insane.  Not one fast-food chain restaurant pollutes this town and from that, the bar is raised to insanely amazing West Coast fare.  I cannot do it justice, so I’ll leave it at that to take or leave my word.   My lunch is out of this world. 

Back to chasing waves.  Last night, the day before the long weekend began, I set out on my own to catch whatever waves I could on a bit of a windy, onshore evening. The entire ocean was mine, not another soul as the weekday crested in to the holiday.  As I made my way out, I thought about a group of girlfriends that will be heading out for their first time this summer, my own first sessions and the magic of surfing.

If you are surfing in the North, your adventure will begin with suiting up in your wetsuit of choice.  Wetsuits have come a long way even in the ten years since I started surfing and are way more stretchy than before. The more snug (but not restrictive) the fit, the better, which also means there WILL be some struggle. Hopefully your wetsuit is dry - which will make it all the more easy.  Essentially you are wrestling 4-5 milimeters of neoprene rubber from your ankles, up to your neck.  Now, you are a walking 4mm rubber band!  YIHOOO! If you are a female with long hair, and if you'll be wearing a hood, consider wearing a low ponytail that will direct your hair down - depending on your hood style and hair thickness.  I wear my big hunk of ponytail to the side, then when I put my hood on at the last minute, I jam in all my bangs under the hood.

You will probably sit on the beach with your instructor learning a bit of theory (the basics of the ocean, being in a proper position, waiting for the right wave, what it feels like to catch a wave etc.) perhaps practice popping up, and proper stance for when you catch a wave. Then, after you lug your board (most likely a bigger board to start with as more surface area equals more buoyancy) and your arms are already pumping, your time has come - the ocean calls!

"How cold is it?", "Will I freeze my butt off?".  Here in the Pacific Northwest, it is cold.  Water temperature is between 7-11 degrees Celsius (44-52 degrees Fahrenheit), (4 degrees variance from winter to summer) but wetsuit technology will keep you nice and toasty for a good hour and a half to two hours, depending on the thickness.  People cringe on the beach, when they see us in the dead of Winter, but secretly, if people want to stay out of the water because of that… suckers!

As you walk out to the water, your tummy will probably do some flip-flops and quite magically, you will find yourself shedding away all the cares of your current life situations, and the playfulness of the kid you used to be, begins to surface.  As your ankles submerge, the occasional sip of water begins to infiltrate your wetsuit, but quickly warms to your body's temperature, becoming benign.  You walk to hip-deep and happily, your body is cozy - not as bad as you thought!  Then a wave comes to greet your body and your board, splashing upward to your face and as you realize you will be immersed in the water soon, you don't bother wiping it away.  And if it has been a while since you played in the ocean, you are surprised to realize how salty the water is that crosses your lips.  Depending on conditions you may be fighting the current, or perhaps even the size of the waves, even on the ‘inside’ (waves that are breaking closer to shore).

There comes an energy as you mix within the waters, it is a feeling that is hard to explain.  It is excitement, mixed with a little bit of fear of the unknown, a complete focus on managing your new surroundings as you are jostled around in the white water doing your best to keep yourself in one place, or push forward a little deeper.  There is also a part of you that is letting go, surrendering.  All of the things that are not pertinent to this moment continue leaving you.  They will not help your 'survival', so they fall away.  Let it all go.  That is one of the best things about surfing - being completely in the moment and no matter what level you are at, if you are not in the moment, it seems the ocean will come and give you a 'nudge' to bring you back.  lol. 

What is a wave?  A wave is a pulse of collected energy that starts somewhere out in the ocean.  As it moves closer to shore, via wind, current, swell directions etc., it either collects or diminishes momentum.  It is not the water that moves, as much as it is the energy within it.  It travels along, picking up the water and moving through it, closer and closer to shallower water.  As it comes upon sandbars, reefs, other more shallow land, the water that IS moving with it, begins to overtake itself and that swell or bump of water, begins to have a ‘face’ (rideable angle of water), then falls over itself, creating the wave.  It rides itself out to shore, then pulls back out to sea.

It is your goal, to be in the right place, to catch the momentum of that wave and join that wave as it is breaking (or when you first start, after it has broken).   When you "catch" a wave, you will feel yourself planing, traveling along with the wave's energy without paddling – being taken along for the ride.  Maybe for your first tries, it is good to get used to that feeling, or if you are comfortable, you could pop up to your split stance.  You are now surfing!  You are riding pure energy. 

There is the other side to surfing...  For years, as a frustrated holiday surfer, the aim was all about catching waves, awesome rides, more maneuverable, shorter boards etc.... but you know what?  Falling off your board and just getting tossed can be pretty fun too.  It's kind of like being put in the washing machine.  But if you are starting out, no worries, because you will probably be hip/chest high only.  The only thing you have to concern yourself with is just landing shallow (fall to your bum/back - no diving head first).  Yes, you will have a flush of cold water on your face, but just relax and go with it.  Remember when you were a kid in the pool?  Well, you are again, but this time, you are dancing with the water.  When else can you be absolutely taken within a force of nature as it moves your body?  Let go and just enjoy.  Be playful.  The more you relax, the more calm you are, the less daunting it is and less energy you will expel and when you are in water, it is quite important to remember.  If you are tense, your body utilizes more oxygen.  So if you are holding your breath, you will deplete yourself faster if you are panicked.  If you are in shallower water, dude, just stand up.

That all said, the first time you catch a wave and stand and ride it out... pretty damn cool.  You are riding water, a pulse of energy that has come a very long way just for you...  Every wave I've caught since has been pretty damn cool.  In my next life, I will live on the ocean.   

For me, there is something very spiritual about surfing.  If you have read some of the previous blogs, you will see a common theme of 'energy' being spoken about.  In my books, that is all that life is translated in to, whether we are alive, or only alive in spirit, whatever grows, dies, or moves is all within an enormous circle of energy.  The ocean is my church - everything that is in this world, everything that I have loved, is there in the energy of the ocean.  If ever I could talk to Life and be heard, it is out there. 

The waves just keep on coming, it is sometimes like watching a bonfire - it is just hypnotic.  Why?  Because it is natural energy – noBODY starts it, it just keeps going, just like Life.  The ocean is relentless, powerful, beautiful, calming, everything.  So to be within it is like being held in the palm of Life's hands.  When you surf bigger waves, or more daunting conditions, you feel about as significant as an amoeba, just another plankton in the vast ocean on this earth.  There is something very grounding about that.  If that doesn't keep you in the moment...  you need to give your head a shake.  Essentially, that is what meditation is for me - being in the present moment, just living with all five senses in the place/time you are in and letting all else go.  Amazing things come from the soul when you let everything go and find that quiet center.

(Ooh, whale sitings off our coast just now - can't get more West Coast than this, all we need is someone with a chainsaw and an axe cutting down a tree...)

So that is about that.  I have some obnoxious woman yelling behind me about the whales.  My moment is gone... 

So if ever you have a chance to get out and surf, maybe this will give you a taste of the experience.  I am, however, now going to experience my Pumpkin Chocolate Mousse...  :)

May you find something beautiful within your days to ground you and open your spirit, and if you have the chance to catch a wave, I’ll be cheering you on!

Oh yeah, and the final stage of surfing - getting your wetsuit off... if you have been paddling your ass of in the surf, your arms will be jelly like, completely worked... have fun getting your wetsuit off.  At times, there is nothing more frustrating and ridiculous than that act alone... Don't forget to laugh!