Surfing

Men's Fitness, July, 1998 by David Wharton

I have a short ritual, a few moments of soulful thanks I offer each time I paddle out to surf my home spot. It goes like this:

Take a deep breath. Sometimes the air stinks of fish from a bait barge moored just off the pier. Sometimes the odor is milder, of salt and seaweed, a scent carried by westerly winds that blow down the point.

Look back at the hills. Ignore the houses built there; concentrate on the expanses of green and brown and how different the land looks from 100 yards out to sea.

Cup some water. Gauge its temperature and imagine the feel of my skin softening.

The subtleties make all the difference. They distinguish surfing from a thousand other things I could be doing at that moment. And they compensate for all its frustrations and disappointments. Surfing is a tough sport to get a grip on. It can take weeks, if not months, of flopping around in the rollers before you learn to paddle into a wave, stand up and grab your first ride. It can take years to acquire the timing and physical prowess to become a truly skilled surfer.

Even then, you must crawl out of bed at dawn to check the coast, often to find anemic, ankle-high waves. You must find the nerve to tell your wife that you can't make brunch with her family because a killer swell has just rolled in. You must develop the patience to spend hours in the water, shivering in a clammy wetsuit, waiting between sets, battling the crowd, all for a shot at the kind of ride that can deliver a few seconds of thrills.

But don't get me wrong - those few seconds will make your day. Imagine riding a snowboard on a mountain that's constantly shifting, bucking and shaking, doing everything it can to throw you off. Nothing can match the adrenaline rush of looking back over your shoulder at that angry mountain bearing down on you. Then it's time to jump to your feet and make the drop - there's no thrill like it, a water-lubed pure speed sensation.

Those few seconds may not be better than sex, but they're damn close. And they are reason enough to chase swells up and down the coast for the rest of your life. But surfing has even more to offer, a god that lives in the details. For this, I give daily thanks.

Starting

1. Rent a board and wetsuit from a surf shop, then ask the local lifeguards to suggest a beach for beginners. The waves should be uncrowded and the bottom sandy, which will spare you the agony of what surfers call the "rock dance" as you wade out. Watch from land to be sure the waves are gentle and no larger than knee- to waist-high.

2. Once in the water, practice paddling. By shifting closer to the board's nose, or moving farther back, you can find the position that allows the board to glide easiest.

3. The best. place to begin surfing is "inside," about chest-deep, where the waves have already crested. Start paddling toward the beach when the wave breaks and the whitewater is about 10 yards away. As soon as the board is swept up, spring to your feet. Your stance should be shoulder-width and your knees should be bent. As the shore draws near, try shifting your weight toward the tail, "stalling" the board.