Indicators, 18 January 2008

Finally a duck-diving lesson! Although I guess I was hoping to magically be good at it by the end of the day. No such luck, although the instructor did give me some useful tips. He said my form is good, but I should make sure to have all my weight over my arms when sinking the nose. And paddle more aggressively into the wave, not just when duck-diving but when trying to catch one too. Also, I need to get the board flattened out under water and then scoop the nose up as the wave passes. He said I should "think like a duck," whatever that means. I don't recall seeing any ducks in the lineup. I suppose they have more sense than to get in front of a breaking wave.

This was my first time at Indicators, and it seems like a nice spot. Maybe it was just the time of day (early Friday afternoon, and yes, I was playing hooky), but the crowd wasn't bad and some of the people were actually friendly, quite unlike Pleasure Point. I'll definitely have to check it out again. I caught a few waves although no good rides. Perhaps I've been longboarding too much lately; the instructor said I was looking good through the pop-up but then stood too upright like a longboarder, rather than keeping low as a shortboarded should. Anyway, I think I'm a shortboarder at heart, so I'm going to ride the Xanadu from now on, except maybe in the middle of summer when it's near flat and I'm desperate. I know other people do it, but it's just too hard for me switching back and forth on different boards, and having to relearn them a little each time.

Sad to say, despite the nice conditions and ample wave-riding opportunities, I think I ingested too much seawater through my sinuses because I got really quesy after an hour or so and felt like throwing up, which forced me out of the water. This has happened to me sometimes before, although fortunately not too often. Sucks! Ah well, some other day...