Lone Surfer

Hello boarders! Today feels like a surfing blog day. I didn't go surfing, so I guess I'll just blog about it. Maybe one day I will blog about why my favorite board is the surfboard, but today I want to talk about being that lonely surfer out in the water. One thing I always find hard to do is go surfing alone. I can skateboard alone just fine, but I can never bring myself to surf without a few friends. If someone tells me they don’t want to skateboard with me, I wouldn’t mind too much. I would still go regardless. If someone tells me they don’t want to surf with me, my day is completely ruined. If you’re not going, I’m not going.


Obviously, nobody wanted to go with me today, so I decided to reflect on why I hate surfing alone. After some thought, I have discovered that the biggest factor is fear. In California, unless you get down to San Diego, you are pretty much stuck with murky green ocean water. If you have even the slightest imagination, the ocean can become a mysterious and frightening setting. Even if it’s just kelp brushing up against my foot or leg, I still flinch every time. With friends, I am too caught up racing for waves that I somehow forget about the creatures in the ocean.

I have only been out surfing alone a handful of times, but I have never found it very fun. Without my friends, I kind of sit in the water waiting for a perfect wave. Some people call this soul surfing. There is nothing between them and mother nature during their surf session and they can just relax. If only the relax part were true. While sitting, there isn't much to do besides think. The longer I wait, the more I imagine about what could be swimming underneath me. With friends, we pressure and push each other to catch as many waves as possible. It's usually easy to stay out for 2+ hours, but by myself, I usually won't even make it to 1 hour. Even if it was a great day, I would feel a bit bummed that nobody was there to enjoy it with me.

Here is a short post I read about surfing alone. I envy these people.