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Published: September 11th 2006
Picked up my rental car around 10 AM and headed down Highway 1 to Santa Cruz. This was the first stretch of Highway 1 that I have driven on and it had plenty of great views of the coastline. Along the way I could see plenty of surfers out.
For most of the drive down, the weather was drizzly and overcast. However, thing cleared up significantly by the time I got to Santa Cruz. It was mostly blue skies and about 75 degrees. Interestingly, I could see Montery off in the distance blanketed in fog.
I arrived in Santa Cruz around 1 PM and my surf lesson was scheduled to begin around 4 PM. So, I rented a bicycle and rode just behind the boardwalk, out on the wharf, and on some bicycle paths in Santa Cruz. I also stopped for lunch at a restaurant near the wharf that overlooks the beach/ocean.
After that I returned the bike and went to the surf school (http://www.santacruzsurfschool.com/).
To start out, Dylan (the owner of the school) got us set up with a wetsuit. We then wen over the basics of surfing and then walked a few blocks to the
ocean. Also in the group was a Boy Scout troop. One of the moms was great and took photos (I'm going to send her copies of the ones with the Boy Scouts in them).
For the first wave, I practiced arching (and not standing up) and cruised along fo about 20 yards. It was great.
On the second try I stood up and did okay. Almost all of the waves I surfed on were small waves... Cowell's Beach is supposedly on of the best beaches in California for learning how to surf because the waves are long and gentle. I probably surfed about 50 yards on some of the waves.
It is a humbling and different experience. I liked paddling out to catch a wave... looking to my right and left level parallel with the ocean... look at the water, the other surfers, and trying to read the waves.
Early on I had a problem where, when catching a wave, I was only looking to my back left at the oncoming wave. What happened was that I would angle left and wouldn't catch the wave well; my board should be perpendicular to the wave. After one
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
Busy, busy. Like a carnival but with better rides.of the instuctors pointed it out, I spent a lot of time looking to the left and right and got a lot better.
Surfing is not only challengin, it is also very good exercise - paddling, standing/balancing on the surfboard, leg kicking (turning the surfboard while sitting on it to catch a wave), carrying the board itself, and swimming. It wore me out. Afterwards, my right hip felt weak and I had trouble standing on it.
Overall, it was a great experience and I hope to get some more practice soon. 😊
After we finished surfing we carried the surfboards back to the school, changed out, and I drove back to San Francisco for some well needed rest.
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Augusta
non-member comment
Surfing
Hang ten, dude! That looks awesome! Wish I could have been there to surf, too. You actually look like you're doing pretty well in the picture....at least you're still ON the board and not faceplanting in the water which is where I would be. Awesome pictures again! I like the one with the sea lions underneath the boardwalk. Cool....