On day two, Max, Sherri and I went back to La Paz with coaches Stanley and Santos, but this time at high tide later in the morning. I was glad to have rested and eaten first and felt more ready to surf. The swell was perhaps a little smaller, but the entry was doable with softer waves at that tide. There we also sea turtles this time, poking their heads out of the 85-degree murky water to look at us.
Rusty and out of practice, I fell on my first couple waves and had to bail on the third because Sherri was in my path. On some, I fell backwards and gave myself wedgies.
My last wave was the best and I rode it all the way to the inside, but sadly the videographer only caught fragments. Still stoked!
The entry and exit were hairy with waves pushing all the way up the rocks. Near shore, the coaches took our boards and helped us out safely although with a few bumps and scrapes on the rocks.
In video analysis later, Stanley pointed out a number of things I'm doing wrong that are baked into muscle memory and need to be unlearned: holding the rails instead of palms flat on the deck to pop up in cobra position, and sometimes my right hand forward of my left. This causes me to land with my right (front) foot partly behind the centerline, which puts my weight off the middle and sends my arms to the left to counterbalance - not the proper surf stance.
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| Sherri and Max flanked by coaches Santos and Stanley |
The Puro Surf program includes training on land as well. I haven't skateboarded in a while, but yesterday the coaches started us off gently on the flats before we moved to the concrete wave to practice turns and pumping. Although I brought wrist guards, I'd hoped for full safety gear, but fortunately I had no falls and it was good fun training. I might check out the local skate parks when I get home, for more land surfing practice.
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