In the past, I’ve alluded to the fact that, as surfers go, the word that best describes me is “polite”. I tend to follow the rules, give up waves, smile, hoot for other people and try keep the tone in the water mellow. I was not that person today. I take that back. I showed [...]
A few days ago I was waiting at the water’s edge for a break in the swell, trying to organise my timing so I could get out past the massive wash that was about to hinder me as I paddled out. The swell was solid and the sweep was still really strong and there were [...]
Only a few of us are lucky enough to say that we live within driving distance of a beach. With this luxury comes knowledge from years of experience combing the beaches (during the on- and off-season) to know the unwritten rules while you are at the beach. Check out my top five tips if you’re [...]
All I ever really needed to know [as a surfer], I learned in kindergarten. It’s true! I just was not aware of it until I read a book of that title by Robert Fulghum. Apparently, surf wisdom is not at the top of the ‘pro circuit’ heap after all, it was there in the sand pile [...]
Surfing is easy IF you can only get to the point of sitting out in the line up, and then catching a wave to drop into. Of all the things that lead up to the physical moment of surfing on a wave, paddling is the one that will make the most difference in improving your [...]
Did someone teach you how to surf? If you are like me, my friends, and most surfers, then no one taught you how to surf. You may have paddled out with someone who knew how to surf, and they gave you a few pointers, but for the most part you figured it out on your own. [...]
I have a very hard time making decisions. Most of the major decisions in my life, where I went to junior college, university, who I have dated, where I live, have been made at the last minute without much thought as to why, just with feeling or reaction. Whenever I get stuck inside my head, [...]
Surfing has rewarded me with many incredible memories and a few really great friends. While talking with one of these friends the other day, on a small, inconsistent day I was reminded of how we met and our first conversation in the water….. It was mid-afternoon on an overcast, winters day in Waikiki. I paddled [...]
I am sitting in my office staring at my monitor. In front of me is a blank white page of a Word document that will end up being more than 50 pages. The document is slated to be a comprehensive organization wide plan and procedure due in exactly 35 hours. I sit back in my [...]
Yesterday I went surfing with some friends. We were all on mals, including Bruce, who I had only just met. Bruce surfs a lot, but this was the first time he’d ever ridden a longboard! As we dried off and changed back at our cars, I asked him if he enjoyed it? Yeah! It was [...]
Surfing legend Laird Hamilton says the ocean is one of the greatest teachers. “Simple laws and philosophies can be traced to the purity of the ocean,” says Hamilton, who created tow-in surfing, in which surfers are towed like water skiers into massive waves. This year, the 44-year-old dives into some new waters. His clothing line [...]
I’ve lost my mind again among a pile of papers. I can see bits and pieces of it. Part of it with those pages stacked in my inbox and another part with the stack of papers to my left. Yet, still another, small piece of my mind has escaped to the outside. To a world [...]
I recently wrote about my growing concern about the lack of “need” to surf during the last few months, and it is about time that I revisited that notion. It has indeed been over two months since I have paddled out into the great blue yonder on my trusted surfboard, and the oddly persistent itch [...]
Location check? Australia. Surfing at Bondi Beach during this particular visit was a “hit or miss” situation. Maybe there are waves to ride, and then again maybe the wind decides it will create a mushy mix of the pitchy waves … resembling melting marshmallows oozing down towards the sand. Perhaps the almighty sun will come [...]
