Hot Summer Nights

Meghan left to go back to NY today, and I have one more week here in California.  I can’t believe I’ll have been here for 6 months.  Twice as long as I intended at first!  It’s been super fun here, but I’m definitely excited to go home.

Meghan and I had dinner last night and we were just talking about Montauk and surfing the whole time.  I definitely can’t wait to get back to Long Island for the summer and fall.  It’s a really cool place, and I think that obviously it’s important to me because it’s home.

The thing about surfing on the east end, as opposed to California, is that the surf community is so small.  Everyone knows everyone.  I kind of like that.  I love going to check the surf and seeing people I know.  I love paddling out in Montauk and being with friends.

It’s cool because in Montauk, it’s such a small community that if someone sees you catch a great ride  they’ll compliment you, and even tell their friends, etc.

We might have been looking through rose colored glasses a bit, but the thing about California that I’m not crazy about is that if you just venture out around here in San Diego you’ll likely be surrounded by strangers.  It’s definitely a different vibe.  Now, I’ve come to know familiar faces, especially the Grandview crew, but it’s still kinda different.

Either way, I’m stoked to be going home.  Not sure when I’m going to come back to California though.  Probably October.  Maybe mid-October.  I know I’m not going to want to leave while things are still fun back home.  However, I know I’m coming back to California for sure.  I just don’t think I can live in NY full time.  Well, I will see where life takes me this time!

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I was just thinking about this yesterday - I’m pretty happy that since I’ve been out to California I have NOT turned my back on the surf because I was scared.  I used to do this when I was scared of the waves and didn’t feel like I was able to handle the conditions.  However, since I’ve been in California I’ve surfed some pretty decent sized waves and I’ve been totally fine.  There have been days where I was a little nervous, but never fearful.

When I started surfing I would get all suited up, get down to the water, and then get totally psyched out and not paddle out.  That was totally demoralizing.  I actually did that last fall when we had a fairly decent sized hurricane swell.  I know now that I would now be able to paddle out into those waves confidently.

It’s pretty cool.  I guess it also speaks to the fact that the California Winter season has been very sub-par.  I don’t think the waves ever got above 6-7 feet here this year.

The California surf spots are also a bit easier to surf when it’s big because they don’t DUMP in heavy shorebreak like they do on Long Island.  I’m not saying that I’ll never turn tail again, but I’m stoked on the fact that I’m getting so much more confident in the water.

In two weeks I’ll be heading to Hawaii with Val for a week to hit up the South Shore.  I’m getting excited - last time I went to Hawaii (two months ago) it wasn’t really a surf trip.  I did surf and I did bring my board, but it wasn’t really about surfing.  This time all we’re going to do is surf.  Well, not all, but that will be the primary focus.  Then on July 10 I’ll be back home in NY to soak up some Hamptons sunshine.

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I did not have a very good day today.  I feel like a lot of things are going wrong and leaving to go back to NY is both welcome and coming at a bad time.  Also my affiliate stats were messed up this morning causing me a lot of stress.

In order to try to burn off some of my frustration and anger I decided to go surf a sunset session.  I surfed for about an hour and a half, and the waves were surprisingly very fun.  It was crowded but I got my share of waves.  I also had a technique epiphany about paddling to catch a wave.  I subtly put more weight forward and it totally helped as far as being able to get into the wave correctly.  It was a very subtle feeling and I’m surprised it has eluded me for so long!  I had some bad advice I think, about arching your back, but instead you should put your weight forward.  It helped so much and I was really happy with the way I surfed for once.  I feel like I have hit a skill plateau lately and haven’t been getting any better, but tonight I feel like I’m getting back to where I want to be and I’ll progress.

I can’t wait to get back home.  I am pretty homesick!

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