Morning!
The waves were perfect today. Not too big and not too small. I dropped down and turned on all the waves that I caught. There was quite a lot of people there, so we had to keep moving to a new spot and being really careful not to surf over someone's head. 

I saw a guy on the promenade with his surfboard attached to his bicycle with that rack that I want to build.
Oh, and check out my polyvore account please and thanks. 

The Boys

I woke up so early this morning that it was still dark. My dad drove Lita, Ciara, Rachel I down to our usual surf spot. After being in the water for only a few minutes, Slade (Rachel's boyfriend) paddles up to us and we went with him to the pier to surf with Jessie and some of our other guy friends too. Rachel was scared that if she fell then the guys would laugh at her, so she didn't paddle for many waves. I caught quite a few really nice waves. The most amazing thing ever was when I caught a double up. I dropped down onto the wave and then I realized I was on top of another wave so I dropped down again. 

Later on, we went to where the water was waist-deep to teach Lita and Ciara. We'd tell them when to paddle and how and when to stand. I guess we were a little too close to shore because when we were loading the boards into the bakkie I saw that one of my fins snapped off. A new one costs R700. Any donations? 

This is Jason (left) and Slade (right)

This is a surfboard bike rack that I'm going to build with my dad (once he fixes my bike). With this I will be able to ride my bike to close beaches once I'm a confident surfer. Check out how to build it here.

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.

Tea Partaay

A while ago I went to my old friend Mine's (pronounced min-ay's) birthday tea. I met 2 insane surfers. They had just got back from a competition at Jaybay. They're probably really good to be surfing Jaybay. It was cool to meet them.