Where's my SURFERS at?

[frorider6]

Hell fucking yes I went surfing!!!!

My girl bought me a surfing lesson for my birthday and she went too. Actually, I think the guy kinda screwed us on the deal. We spent about an hour talking about a bunch of stuff on shore (which could have been condensed to about 20 minutes) and then only spent about 20 minutes in the water. Whatever. It was just enough to get us started.

Rented a board the next day and hit the water. The surf was 3-5 feet and choppy. New Symrna has 2 breaks, the outer break and the inner break. It was so fucking rough and the waves were coming in so fast that the outer break was just too much work for me and beat me up pretty bad. So I had to spend time on the inner break. It was about a 3 foot wave that built and broke pretty fast in about 3-5 feet of water.

I was on a 9 foot Softboard. It was so fucking heavy and slow! Goddamnit! But that's all people will rent.

Here's how it went for me on my first full day. The waves that I tried to catch before they broke ended up in a fucking nasty wipeout. The wave would pick up the back of my board and bury the nose. Full on front flip followed by some tumbles on the ocean floor ensued. I was able to catch maybe 2 or 3 waves before they broke but I would outrun the wave and it would crash into the back of my legs as I slowed down. Wipeout. The only waves I was able to ride were the ones I caught just after they broke. Paddle paddle paddle, huge crash behind me, hang on until I would pop out of the soup, and then stand up. Not a very long or exciting ride, but I was standing up and surfing.

I'm pretty damn stubborn about doing something and I refused to give up. I don't know how long I was out there that day, but I ended up with some nasty rashes. My forearms and thighs were the worst. They're still scabbed up like road rash. I just didn't know when to quit. I was smart enough to buy a rash guard though.

The next day I tried was at Jacksonville Beach. Lots of fucking shells, which wasn't fun to walk on. The outer break was about 4-6 feet and fucking nasty choppy. No way could I get out there. So I tried to surf the inner break again. But the waves were so fucked up that I never really caught anything and just ended up pissed off.

And wouldn't you know it, the day I left, the wind died down (forgot to mention the 10-15 mph onshore wind), the surf cleaned up and it was a clean 3 foot wave with a decent interval in between waves. Perfect for me to learn on. but I could only sit and watch out the window since we had a lot to do before we left.

I came damn close to buying a board down there. I found one in a surf shop about 3 hours before we had to leave. It wasn't the typical fiberglass board. It was a 7'9" Natural Surf board and cost $299. If I'd seen it the first day of vacation, I'd have bought it. I'll try to post a link for it so you guys can give me your opinions on it.

 

[havoc]

I'm smiling man, thats cool, you sound like you had a challenge on your hands, it just takes time to learn. You should of just swam out to the outer break just to hear and feel what thats about, adrenaline up.
You snowboard correct? If you can do that, you can surf. peace

 

[frorider6]

havoc - It got pretty crazy sometimes. My sinuses got a good scrubbing. I wish I knew how much salt water I drank.

Here's the board I almost bought

and the link to it... Natural Surf board

 

[Y_lifter]

All the other Pud's on this board get chubby's from posts on Llammas and sheep, you gave me one with the great play by play...

I can't wait.. 3 more weeks and I'm living on the Smyrna Beachfront for 8 days in a Condo.

What shop did you see the 79 board at ?
Red Dog surf shop in Smyrna ain't bad and have OK prices but not a lot of selection.

I usually rent a Long baord from them for a day or 2 when I down there and the fish aren't hittin in the surf.

Smyrna is a tough beach to judge sometimes.
It can change by the hour depending on wind conditions.
Down at the Ponce Inlet jetty is probably the best bet.

 

[frorider6]

All the other Pud's on this board get chubby's from posts on Llammas and sheep, you gave me one with the great play by play...

I can't wait.. 3 more weeks and I'm living on the Smyrna Beachfront for 8 days in a Condo.

What shop did you see the 79 board at ?
Red Dog surf shop in Smyrna ain't bad and have OK prices but not a lot of selection.

I usually rent a Long baord from them for a day or 2 when I down there and the fish aren't hittin in the surf.

Smyrna is a tough beach to judge sometimes.
It can change by the hour depending on wind conditions.
Down at the Ponce Inlet jetty is probably the best bet.

We went up to Ponte Vedra for the last 3 days of our vacation and I saw that board at Waves Surf Shop in Jacksonville Beach. We got our lesson from Nichols Surf Shop on Flagler Ave in New Symrna from the guy that owned it.

I didn't want to go down to the Inlet for a couple of reasons.
1) I suck.
2) I didn't want to get in the way of the guys that could surf.
3) Most of the shark attacks at N.S. happened at the Inlet. Lots of baitfish there and consequently lots of sharks.

But the guy we got a lesson from did explain why sharks attacks. He said it was not from hunting but from surprise. Most attacks heppened when a surfer dropped off his board (or wiped out) right next to a shark. The shark turned a bit because it was startled, much like a dog would do if you jumped on it's head. Made me feel a lot better.

 

[Y_lifter]

Smyrna at it BEST....
***

 

[Torch]

Surfing is great man, glad you got to experience it. I have been surfing for 12 years on and off.

New Symrna is my spot usually. I live about 40 min inland. This past week we have had a good swell but like you said it was mostly wind blown and washed out.

Rash gard is a must, you nips will sting like a SOB if dont wear one. Its a great work out too. I dont care how much you weight train, its a different story out there in the water fighting the currents and shit.

 

[Y_lifter]

I wish people could realize that if they have ever been in the Ocean in water over 3 feet deep, they were likely to have had at least 2-3 sharks swim within 10-20 feel of them every time.

The Guy was absolutely right on the surprise reaction.
Also shiny jewelry is another NO NO in the surf. Looks like scales on a fish sparkling. I always remove everything shiny before I go in.
I as well rarely go to the Inlet because I'm too old for that crowd and get in too much trouble starring at the Hot 17 yr old honey's..

I'm glad you had fun and also that she said YES.

 

[frorider6]

We have both agreed that we want to buy a vacation condo at New Symrna in the next 4 years. We'll tunr it over to a property management company and let them rent it out for most of the year, but we'll always have a great place to vacation as well as a solid investment.

Great picture Y_Lifter.


So, why was I nose diving when I caught a wave before it broke? My guess is that I wasn't getting the board fast enough and the wave was overtaking me too fast.

It seemed that when I was in proper position to paddle, I nosedived. But when I put my weight farther back on the board, I couldn't paddle fast enough and I would miss the wave.

 

[Y_lifter]

Getting the weight Distribution right was the hardest part for me.
It all feel. Each wave is different and you sometimes have to use a bit of balance to shift it up/back all during the ride to keep from nosing or dragging.

As for Condo's... Moontide.
http://www.themoontide.com/

8 floors high, a few miles south of the inlet and No cars driving on the beach in front of it.
1, 2 and 3 bedroom units. Always have a few up for sale
Great pool 3 floors above the beach so less sand in it
Covered, locked parking
Rental agent onsite and good renters like me taking care of your place because it's not cheap and requires a big deposit.