No this is not where I was surfing
Yeah, I know lame Point Break reference but in this case it’s significant. As a testament to my trying to do new things on my “staycation” I decided that I would do something that I would normally only do if I was a minimum 1000 miles away from home, where no one could see, or make fun of me. But (I know you should never start a sentence with but)… But since I’m stuck at home this summer I decided that surfing lessons were de riguer. Luckily, as California resident I have a plethora of friends who surf and live near the beach, and most were willing to help me humilitate myself. So, I loaded up the car and I went to Redondo… Beach that is, surfing studs, no movie stars.
My biggest worry about the surfing lessons wasn’t falling off, or not being able to stand up, or even looking like an ass (which I totally did) it was the beginners suck attitude. Something I really didn’t have to worry about. The coolest thing about being a girl and learning to surf is that boys are very willing to help you, so are other girls by the way. Especially, if you say sorry a lot.
My friends decided that due to my bum knee, they were going to start me in the water. Caught a break there as I’m a pretty good swimmer and have strong arms (the boys were amazed how fast I picked up paddling), lost the break the first time I tried to duck dive with a long board (not possible on first day). I paddled, they pushed, and I caught a few waves (never managed to stand up). On wave number three I cut off another surfer and after a few apologies, and the standard “it’s my first day” (to which he replied, “I can tell”), he even got into the action of trying to help out. My friends spent the next couple of hours taking turns surfing and teaching and the whole day was amazing.
Even though I ate it a bunch of times, ended up with an unreal amount of sand in my bathing suit, and had the shark scare (it was seaweed), I was really disappointed when it was time to go back in. The boys, and Nancy have agreed to let me take more of their time this coming weekend so I’m off to the beach again on Sat. This time Laureli, is going to take a stab at it, which will be good since watching her float nearby laughing at me didn’t help at all. I’m looking forward to doing it to her.
Note: If you ever wonder why surfers have such amazing bodies, it ’s because it’s nowhere near as easy as it looks. I am hurting in muscles that I didn’t know could hurt, and the next day I could barely move my arms and stomach. Can’t wait to get back out there. Talk about an all over body work out.
Big thanks to Howard and Nancy, and that hottie that gave me some pointers and disappeared into the waves.
If you don’t have the luck of having willing friends like I do don’t fret, as with all things in LA you can pay someone to do it. Here are a list of surfing schools that were recommended to me:
Islands Surf Camp – Santa Monica, CA
Aqua Surf School – Santa Monica, CA (but it looks like they teach at other beaches)
