Of life and limb 03/29/2010
Although I returned to the sea, I was definitely not in top form. For this reason, I was going out with one of my smaller boards because I thought it would be easier to deal with less board in the water. In a way, I was almost glad b/c I had missed the blue bullet. Luckily, that first day back was an ideal one for the bullet, which is shown below:  This board lends itself to steeper days where waves are breaking closer to shore, as opposed to mushier, slow-developing waves that break out in the distance. I had to try to stop feeling sorry for myself out there. As added motivation I looked up the one-armed surfer-girl who lost one of her arms to the jaws of a shark. I figures that if she could tear it up with only one arm, I'd have no excuses for not so doing with my 1 1/2 arms. As a result, I ceased my mental griping, tried to use the broken left elbow only for paddling, and use the right arm almost exclusively for taking off. Needless to say, this was easier thought than done as well as the amazing Bethany Hamilton:  Add Comment SUPERMAN RETURNS 03/05/2010
After three (3) months out of the water, a broken elbow, a pair of broken teeth, innumerable visits to various medical offices, playing a gig on bass guitar for a new band, several flights to and from San Francisco for work, several flights to and from Mexico for a wedding, and the most excellent 30th birthday party I could have ever imagined - I returned home to the ocean courtesy of my 5'9" Kaysen heavy-glassed, painted blue fish. The return was painful on the elbow, but the waves that were breaking chest to shoulder high with solid and open peaks were persuasive enough to get me out of bed and back to Scripps beach. Competing against the hordes of surfers who were not returning from a fractured elbow was challenging, but I managed to paddle out and score two solid lefts. These two (2) first flights after being grounded on dry land for so long were simply glorious under the glowing blue sun and out on top of the deep purple of the sea. I wanted more but did not want to press my luck. Trying to take it slow I’m feeling good knowing that I can now come back for more. |
RSS Feed
