Losing Stoke

I wanted to go for a surf tonight... but then I also didn't want to go for a surf. What I wanted was long, clean lines of glassy, peeling waves that go on and on. I wasn't quite committed to going out in dumpy bad surf, getting beaten up, and not catching any good rides. There are days when I do commit to going out in any condition, and then end up having a great time despite my expectation to the contrary... I've been pleasantly surprised in messy surf, big surf, and tiny surf. Tonight, though, I wasn't so committed.

I stopped at the north end of North. It didn't look great, but I ended up talking to a totally stoked American, who convinced me to at least check out the south end of North. His stoke helped. But there wasn't a parking spot at Mid, so I drove to South instead of the south end of North. South didn't look good... but I made a u-turn and drove back to the south end of North, and walked out and looked. It didn't look all that great. I stood there for quite a while, unable to make up my mind.

After watching for a bit and realizing that I wasn't going to be doing anything else if I didn't go out, I decided to go out even if it wasn't going to be great. It looked cold... so I put on my booties for the first time since June. I paddled out... got out surprisingly easily (I must be getting better at this)... and waited and waited and waited. It wasn't all that great for what seemed like forever... I caught a few close outs... and successfully made a huge drop which I for some reason barely felt (maybe I was in the air for a bit, I didn't feel the wave under me)... it wasn't a bad session... but it wasn't a super fun one for the first half... but because I was wearing booties, I was very warm and was able to stay out comfortably... then the surf got better, and I started getting much better rides.

At one point, I caught a peeling wave, and as I popped up, cameras on the beach started flashing at me... and there must have been over ten flashes aimed at me for the first few seconds of my ride. Tofino is, for the moment, filled with tourists.... and I am as watchable as a seal. Somewhere out there are pictures of me surfing that I shall never see.

Winter is coming... and I had better figure out how I'm going to keep the stoke.