Sunday, April 17, 2005

Surfing South Padre

OK, I sound a little fake about talking honestly about politics and serious social stuff. I give up. The real reason why I'm moving to Padre is because of the surf, plain and simple. Every day I want to surf, swim, run, and walk on the beach. Sorry if we're being selfish here.

The Associated Press ran a story today that folks in the 50's age group are hitting the waves again. One gal was quoted as saying something like "every day is a different canvas, with different waves." How true.

I'm just a body surfer, though, and make no claims about surfing with a big surfboard thingy in the least. I won't claim to be a very strong body surfer, either, since I've seen folks from South America do the swan dive on huge monster waves I wouldn't even consider. Awesome.

Nope, I'm just dedicated. I want to be in the "zone." This means long smooth waves but you don't get that every day. Heck, if there's no waves we swim parallel to the beach just because we love the beach. If it's too rough, we get boogie boards (professional sponges) and swim fins. But we don't surf like on a long board or short board and hang ten.

Nope, there are very few times when the surf is actually better for surfing than what we do. A day after a tropical depression or storms comes by, the surfer's waves get huge around the Mansfield Jetties, Brazos Santiagos Pass (the jetties near SPI), or Boca Chica, the wild part to the south of the SPI jetties. You'd have to be out of your mind to body surf there. Seriously, it is very dangerous even for the so-called experts.

Nope, we like to be in the comfort zone and surf in waves two to five feet tall as they break on the second or third sandbar off the beach. That's the juice. It is a matter of timing more than effort; a matter of a powerful wave versus a tall one. I simply can't imagine a better cardio workout for anybody as long as you know how to swim. I respect those big-board surfers, but 80% of the time we're talking being in the body zone, if ya know what I mean.

See you at the beach!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cowabunga Dude!!!!!!!!!!!

Sam said...

Remember the tides at Block Rock? We went out there one day and was swept a little close to the rocks so I surfed a big one ... and went right over a huge rock. Could have croaked easy! Yep I remember two things that day, that rock covered in barnacles and mussels, and a gal with the hairiest bikini line I've ever seen. Those were the days ...

Sam said...

A appreciate the comments ... when we were back there in 2003 I forgot how COLD that water was. Maybe 72 in a warm spot? And we did Black Rock again with some 4-footers but they were short rides and like you say, rocks. My my brother had the right idea. He had trunks, shirt, and booties meant for surfing. He was much warmer and did get seaweed in all those personal places ... the booties looked geeky but hey, no prob with rocks and sand. If you use swim fins for body boarding, those booties are a real foot-saver, too. Body booties? Sheesh. They probably have a regular name like "socks."
-Sam

Anonymous said...

Sam, what happened to your last post? Is there any reason you retracted it? Does it have to do with the election discussions? MLeahy