y Ciento
The morning was clear. The water was calm. There was no morning wind. The sun rose into the low marine clouds slowly and ungloriously, casting dim light onto the grey and blue surface of the water. As the light grew, the water became clear. We could see the kelp plants drifting lazily along the sand floor.
Unfortunatly, there we no waves.
Brett and I waited. The sets of waves peaked every five to ten minutes, producing one or two ridable waves and then setteling down to another wait.
I had decided to start experimenting with the fin arrangement on my 7'6" surfboard. I removed the middle fin, leaving only the outer two. This made the board less controlable, and prone to sliding out from under me on hard turns. Actually, I quite enjoyed it in the small surf. I droped down to the bottom of and wave and turned off the bottom, using the side rail of the board for the turn. Then, back up at the top of the face, I turned down in a deliberatly fast motion. The fins lost their hold of the water and the back of the board slid sideways for a few feet before catching again.
I've been surfing every day for one hundred days.
Jumping off of my surfboard after a lazy ride on another wave, I opened my eyes and dove down to the sand floor. Looking around at the kelp plants and watching for fish, I languished for amoment before surfacing. Coming back up to the surface, however, I was greeted by a sharp pain in the face. I had surfaced right under the back of my surfboard. The tail of the board hit my forehead. One of the fins hit my chin, cutting a gash into the left side of my jaw.
I left the water looking like I cut myself shaving. But, having only been a day of small surf, I had no great story to explain the wound.
"I'll have to make something up for the guys at work." I told Brett.
We had a few laughs creating the ridiculously exagerated scenarios that surfers would normally tell about such a battle scar.
Later that evening, the Anaheim Angeles clinched the American league division title against the Oakland Athletics, coming back from a deficit to win the game that eliminated all hopes of Oakland entering the playoffs.
After the game, my father and I get into a discussion of sports sociology.
Sports sociologists distinguish between "sport", where teams compete for a competitive goal from "games" where individuals or teams compete for the sake of competing or playing together. Lastly, activites such as surfing are catagorized as "play". They are athletic activites, but have no competitive value, no goal and no prize other than the participation itself.
More later
-Travis
copyright 2004 Travis R. English
Unfortunatly, there we no waves.
Brett and I waited. The sets of waves peaked every five to ten minutes, producing one or two ridable waves and then setteling down to another wait.
I had decided to start experimenting with the fin arrangement on my 7'6" surfboard. I removed the middle fin, leaving only the outer two. This made the board less controlable, and prone to sliding out from under me on hard turns. Actually, I quite enjoyed it in the small surf. I droped down to the bottom of and wave and turned off the bottom, using the side rail of the board for the turn. Then, back up at the top of the face, I turned down in a deliberatly fast motion. The fins lost their hold of the water and the back of the board slid sideways for a few feet before catching again.
I've been surfing every day for one hundred days.
Jumping off of my surfboard after a lazy ride on another wave, I opened my eyes and dove down to the sand floor. Looking around at the kelp plants and watching for fish, I languished for amoment before surfacing. Coming back up to the surface, however, I was greeted by a sharp pain in the face. I had surfaced right under the back of my surfboard. The tail of the board hit my forehead. One of the fins hit my chin, cutting a gash into the left side of my jaw.
I left the water looking like I cut myself shaving. But, having only been a day of small surf, I had no great story to explain the wound.
"I'll have to make something up for the guys at work." I told Brett.
We had a few laughs creating the ridiculously exagerated scenarios that surfers would normally tell about such a battle scar.
Later that evening, the Anaheim Angeles clinched the American league division title against the Oakland Athletics, coming back from a deficit to win the game that eliminated all hopes of Oakland entering the playoffs.
After the game, my father and I get into a discussion of sports sociology.
Sports sociologists distinguish between "sport", where teams compete for a competitive goal from "games" where individuals or teams compete for the sake of competing or playing together. Lastly, activites such as surfing are catagorized as "play". They are athletic activites, but have no competitive value, no goal and no prize other than the participation itself.
More later
-Travis
copyright 2004 Travis R. English
posted by travinator @ 9:08 PM
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