I've been meaning to do a surfing post for a while just for 
By the way, Hive surfers, I ain't seen any threads on Leo Threads using the #surfing #surfhive tag. Where y'all at? Get on there and let's see some beachy, blue, wavy bliss!
So, let's start with how my new SUP is going. Yes, you're a surfer if you SUP - if you're riding waves and getting out there, I don't care what you're on. I saw a post on Insta the other day of the guy who takes a daily video of a local break about 7 am, and one of the people in the line up was a SUP'er. One comment was 'SUPs should be on their own break' and I was like - wait - what? Literally no one else had paddled for that wave. In my experience people - usually men - get assy when they aren't getting waves and blame it on SUP'ers. But the thing is, if you're not in the take off zone and can't paddle hard enough or select a wave, then it's you dudes, not me.
Case in point. This morning I was surfing a break as the tide was going out, and it was nice - me and four other guys, because everyone else is surfing Torquay for some reason, six to a wave. I was the only SUP'er but we were taking turns on the wave - even if I could go for it, I'd pull back and let someone else take it. We'd nod at each other in acknowledgement, and then chat in the line up between sets. It was a beautiful morning, about three foot, clean, not breaking perfectly but still nice. Two of the guys were on mals, one was on a shortboard.
After an hour it got busier, and there was an older couple where the woman was clearly inexperienced but still could kinda paddle and get on a wave. Twice she paddles into a wave and doesn't look left, and I'm flying up the inside. The second time, I have to shout at her, like really loudly - 'get off my fucking wave!', because when you're in that situation, about to slam into someone who doesn't know what they're doing, you don't have time to be nice. Besides, it had just happened with another woman where I'd called it and said 'I've got this one' because I do, and I have right of way, and she just ignored me and jumped on anyway and I had to flick off so I didn't hit her. It's just dangerous. Really dangerous. So don't talk to me about SUP's needing their own break - I know what I'm doing - if you have a bone to pick, go pick on the people that have no surfing etiquette, putting themselves and others in danger. Oh, and needless to say, after my roar, they didn't come near me, which is usually the case.
Anyway, enough moaning, back to how great my new board is! It's a hipster twinnie, which means two fins and a little nubster, and it's kinda wide in the middle which gives it a good amount of stability as well. 8'3, 32' wide, 123 L.
It's really quite fast in the water, particularly on the bigger waves. It has this amazing ability to be stable and really responsive, where you can change direction super fast, so it's kinda slippery on the face and really stable at the same time. One thing I'm getting better at because of this is going backhand, particularly if I'm going right but you come into a section where it's better to go left with the reform, but also I'm taking off faster and better so I can immediately go left instead of my usual right.
I've also been practicing surfing more from the tail - which means I need bigger waves and different breaks that are a little more sucky and peaky than my usual break. It's been amazing to push myself out of my comfort zone a little!
As its mainly rights around here, I don't often go left nor choose too, so it was great fun in Tasmania surfing lefts, particularly Marrawah, where it kinda breaks over this big kelp bed. It's a beautiful wave and last time I was there it was a bit big, and I'm scared of big waves backhand. But it dropped off to a clean two foot and I could practice my backhand heaps. I've been visualising that a lot. Visualising is such a great technique to improve your surfing. One tip is to look where you are going, which has cracked me up more than once as my eyes move more than my actual body lol. But I can scream along the face after a bottom turn which is far more than I can usually do, and this morning I managed to turn off the top of the wave too - thankyou eyes.
As far as the actual surf goes, we have had a week or two of decent sized waves, though mainly it's not more than 2 foot with the occasional three footer. I've been trying to take off on bigger waves without fear, which is working mostly. I just feel so much more confident on that board!
Speaking of visualisation, I've also been doing a bit better on my 9'1 longboard. I take that out when it's a bit boring on the SUP and not enough power in the waves, or if it's a bit windy, or I just want to mix it up. I've been keeping up my paddle strength by laying down to paddle my SUP about a quarter of the time, tucking my paddle under my belly. Sometimes I even get a wave on my belly just for a laugh. But my pop ups ARE getting better on the longboard again, just from a bit of visualisation, and a bit of practice on my yoga mat. I'm slower than I'd like but hey I'm not getting any younger so if I get up, woo hoo. I can surf along the face no problem and throw in a couple of turns, but it's kinda wierd without a paddle, and to be honest, the waves need to be a bit better to surf well, and if they are, I'll be out on the SMIK SUP because I just get so much fun out of it.
I"m feeling pretty surf fit at the moment, doing breathing exercises (pranyayama) and yoga mat strenthening (a lot of plank pose, chair pose, and core work - you need that to pop up!). I'm not uber fit but I do okay!! Especially for someone my age - I've been doing this a lot of my life off and on so it's a lot of muscle memory. I tend to surf better than I can walk some days. The other day I felt so ill from a three day migraine the world was spinning, but I made it the beach for a session (seriously, micropeelers!) and though I had to lay in the water and recover after each wave, I still made it out there and felt better than I did on land. I think only a surfer would know what I'm talking about.
We are hoping El Nino turns things around a bit as we have had pretty rubbish waves on our coast, though the East coast of Australia has had the best waves they've had in years. I can't even imagine how crowded it's going to get out there when the waves are cranking, but the cold can keep a few out of the water at least, although it's wierdly been cool to be cold lately, just as it is cool to be up at sun up. I could usually rely on both the cold and early mornings to have it to myself, but not anymore - everyone's fighting for their own bit of coast.
Anyway, fully aware most of this means nothing to my Hive friends, but it's seriously one aspect of me that is integral to my identity and to my mental health and just - well, everything. A legit thing to post about - and thread about - just as any other.
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