#7: We started off up the beach – Nick’s first time at that spot. Beautiful, but crowded. Waves running shoulder-high between sets, slightly overhead during them. He caught a wave right away, which allowed me to feel relieved; the self-induced pressure to make sure he has a good experience sometimes diminishes the actual fun of the session. Sadly, a set came, cleaning up everyone caught inside, including me, Nick and the woman next to him. When we broke back up to the surface, Nick yelled, “Mom! I have to go in. My nose!”

I am first a mother, not a surfer, because I thought he meant the nose on his face. When we reached shore, however, bellying in on the whitewater, his face was fine, but the nose of his surfboard was destroyed. Apparently, the board of the woman next to him had smashed into his during the tumbling.

We’d brought along a shortboard (the injured board is a 7’5″ funboard with a tapered nose and some rocker), but it’s hell to paddle. Rather than watch Nick exhaust himself trying to get back outside, I suggested we move down the beach where a wide channel would solve that problem, albeit with smaller waves. He agreed. We re-parked, unloaded again and discovered two of our friends were out longboarding. As we reached the line-up (the four of us being “the line-up), one mentioned he was about to paddle in and offered Nick his longboard – much more appropriate for the way the waves were breaking. Nick accepted, then proceded to catch a bunch of waves. Good fun. Now to get our board fixed. Sigh.

#8: This session followed Surfrider’s successful wave energy forum. Since I’d worked the past few months to put it together, both a sense of accomplishment and sense of relief had me feeling lighter Sunday morning – being able to offer our guests a beautiful day of south wind surf iced the cake. Never mind the rain; the cheer emanating from so many stoked surfers lit the waterscape up as much as any sunshine.