Sooo Rough

This morning the waves were huge. But they weren't foamie huge. They were really good, huge open face waves, and they weren't choppy at all. Getting out to backline was pretty tough. Jessie and I made it the first time but Thaila and Rachel struggled for a while. Eventually Thaila made it and Jessie went back to help Rachel.

There was a lot of people on surf ski's. I think it's a nippers club. One of them bumped into my bored and chipped the nose :( There were 2 competitions going on along the beach. One surfing and one surf skiing.

I found out that there are right waves and left waves. When you turn on your surfboard, you have to turn the way the wave is going or else it wont work. You need to know if you're natural or goofy (left or right foot in front) This will help you to know which waves you can catch.

In the end I only caught one really nice one. Rachel just stayed near shore and caught foamies, and Thaila cut her foot on her fin. It was quite a rough day. I think the worst feeling is getting dragged by your leash after a huge wave. Oh and hip-bone bruises aren't the most fun either.

More Surfing Buddies

Thaila, Rachel and I went down to Durban this morning with two new friends; Lita (middle) and Ciara (right). It was a very good day. Today was perfect for catching open face waves. Dion helped Lita and Ciara, but he gave them stand-up boards to use instead of surfboards. I caught lots of open facies. Rachel and Thaila lent their boards to Ciara and Lita for a bit, when Dion had left. It was a very tiring day. We stayed in the water for about 3 hours.

I saw Colleen, Ariane and Christina there. Colleen is my friend from when I went surfing on my own a while back. Ariane is my dad's friend's daughter, who I introduced to surfing. Christina is my friend that I met when Dion gave me my first or second lesson.

Fit to Be a Surfer

Well after my last visit to Durban I came to the conclusion that I need to work out my arm and shoulder muscles. Every morning (well...most mornings) I've been doing this work out tape that's about 50 minutes long. It's really tough. It works out your legs, stomach and most importantly, you arms.
I occasionally do some yoga too. It is good for your core and it keeps me calm.

Also to surf, you need to have very good balance. So I stand on this now and then to improve my balance.

In a surf shop in Gateway there is this balance board. It is very good for balance as well. It's not for sale, but even if it was, it would probably cost a small fortune...So I decided to make my own. It's very simple. I nailed stoppers onto the underside of the plank so that it wont slip off the pipe, and I have painted it.

 

Day 3 Holiday Surfing

Rachel and I went to Durban early in the morning. The waves were the worst that they've ever been. It was very rough and choppy. We got in the water just to try it out. It was pointless. I caught only foamies and was fighting the waves most of the time so we got out. We decided that we would give Umdloti a try. 

The waves looked okay while we were driving along the beach-front. In the water it was quite rough and had quite a strong side wash. We had to keep pushing through the foamies. Eventually I got out to backline but the waves were massive. The few foamies that I did catch were really fast. What I learnt from this is; I need much stronger arm muscles. 

Board Info

I'm back from Christmas in Joburg and since there's no sea there, I haven't been surfing. I thought I'd give you  some information about our "learner" boards. Mine is 6'6" tall and about 2" thick (surfboards are measured in feet and inches). They are thicker than short boards so they are more buoyant. Being longer and thicker makes it easy to stand on and easy to learn how to surf. Proper long boards are thinner and much longer.

That's mine (white) and Thaila's (yellow)

Steve (Our family friend who is the beach manager/lifeguard) came over today. He asked if he could buy Thaila's board when she's done with it. Apparently it is a 1980's Classic. Nice...and we always made fun of it for being yellow. Sorry Thai.

Day 2 Holiday Surfing

I went out to Durban all by myself, once again (Thaila and Rachel have family over). I got there and joined Dion and his group of beginners. Most of them were still catching foamies but Dion told me to go out to backline. The waves were amazing. At first I couldn't get the hang of it and Dion called me back to shore. He gave me a pep talk and made me catch one foamie. Afterwards I went back out to backline and started catching some nice open faces waves. I caught a  few really good ones but i need to practice the way I get up on my board. I met another girl while at backline. Her name was Colleen. She looked a bit older than me and was also learning with Dion.

Tips from the Dion Jar:

- Always surf where the other surfers are catching waves

- Paddle when you see a "wave lump" and only stand when your board has dropped in front off the wave.

- Wave selection is very important (He said mine is excellent)

- Surf more often

I've been looking for a backpack for a while now. I hate carrying satchels or handbags. I finally found one at a Christmas market. I take it everywhere with me. I put all my surfing stuff in it when i go to Durban. The lady that sold it to me said that a towel wouldn't fit...I proved her wrong :)

                                            

My mom and I went and bought my brother's Christmas present. I had to do all the talking while asking about the features and stuff (because my mom trying was a little embarrassing). After looking at all our options and  bargaining  a bit, we bought this beauty from an attractive sales guy at a surf shop.

Day 1 Holiday Surfing

Today Rachel, Thaila and I went down to Durban as usual.. The waves were really good. There was a strong side and back wash though. We didn't catch much. At backline  I was watching the other surfers that had long boards like us. They also can't duckdive so when a wave comes they would flip themselves onto the underside of their board so that the wave doesn't hit them and drag their board behind them (and rip their leg off). I tried it....and got the whole ocean down my throat. Thaila tried it and it worked (because like a normal person she blew out bubbles underwater).  

Afterwards we went to the I heart market.  Rachel bought a present for her mom. We bought macaroons (A cookie made with egg white, sugar, and ground almonds or coconut) EXPENSIVE...but delicious. It was hot so we left early.

It's been raining for about a month now but it cleared on Sunday. We went surfing. Dion was there and he gave us another lesson. The sea was really rough so we didn't bother going to backline while we cant duckdive. I always seem to get injured and this time I got cut on my wrist and foot plus a couple of bruises :(

 That's Gaby

After 4 or 5 lessons (6 o'clock in the morning) our coach said we don't need him anymore so we go on our own. We have learnt how to stand up on foamies and now we're paddling out to back-line for real waves. We can't duck-dive with our long boards so its hard to get out at high tide.  Durban beaches have no waves in summer so we're looking for a better one to learn at.

We found an instructor that used to be the captain of the KZN surf team. He offered to coach us for FREE.
Jess (right of me) was our photographer  for the day. Follow her blog here. She made my BEAUTIFUL banner :D

He gave Thaila (left) and I boards (Rachel has her own)

We started off catching foamies

After a while he called us out and told us what we were doing wrong.

Thaila's first time surfing

First attempt at surfing.

Rachel (right) and I (left) went out on our own for the first time. We only had my one short board. There were no waves and we didn't really know what we were doing so we gave up and rented bicycles. We rode up and down the promenade. I hate bicycles. We also visited the old amusement park on the Durban beach.