Article

By Sally Smith-Weymouth

When I told my friend Gayle back in April that it was finally time for me to go for a paddle, she was ecstatic. I on the other hand, after five years out of the ocean, was feeling a bit trepidatious about squeezing into my old wetsuit and paddling out on a borrowed 11-foot SoftTop. But the stoke of my friend was enough to keep me stoked too! So, we made a date for early the next day. I was ready to venture into the arms of Mother Ocean once again.

The morning came early as I hopped out of bed with butterflies in my stomach. Looking at my wetsuit with disdain, I decided to save myself from public embarrassment by putting it on at home. Amazingly, the suit fit the same and wasn’t as much of a challenge to get on as I had remembered it to be—thank goodness! I slathered sunscreen onto my face, hands and feet, grabbed my towel and a change of clothes, and loaded the behemoth board onto my ’98 Camry. Pulling out of the driveway and heading down to Capitola to meet up with Gayle, that feeling of excitement of getting into the ocean that had been missing for so long came over me—a little nervous and a little like a kid that finally gets to go outside and play after being stuck indoors during a winter storm.

When I arrived, Gayle was standing in the parking spot next to hers, saving the spot for me, her white-blonde hair silhouetting her head like a halo. Yup, there she is: my guardian angel!

She was already suited up and since I was too, we wasted no time unloading our boards and walking down to the surf. Wading out, I hucked that 11 footer onto the water with a slap and hopped on top, paddling prone. To my amazement, I felt really strong and the board glided along easily with each stroke. We paddled out through the line-up, waving to everyone as we passed—familiar faces whose names I could not remember—and headed east towards New Brighton.

After we were a ways away from the shore, I dunked myself into the ocean. Oh, the glory of feeling weightless in the cold, refreshing saltwater! Peering down, the kelp looked luscious and golden through the crystal clear water, sunlight reflecting on the surface, like sparkling jewels strewn across the sea. I was home again!

As we paddled on, Gayle was patient as I kept having to stop and rest. Along the way, we chatted about all sorts of things surf-related when suddenly a shiny, black head popped through the water’s surface a few yards away. “Oh, that’s just Bill, Elizabeth’s dad reincarnated,” Gayle said (Elizabeth is our mutual friend). Being with my friend in the ocean, getting caught up on all that had happened, learning of new friends that had arrived on the scene, gave me great joy.

When I grew tired and was ready to go in, the tiniest of waves came straight for me. A few strokes and I caught it and actually got barreled! Well, I was riding prone but was still barreled and I’m claiming it! Right onto the shore! A couple of young dads were standing on the esplanade watching us. They told me I looked great and to keep up the good work! This compliment from these two young men on my first day back in the water stoked me even more. My heart swelled with love and faith in human kindness from their kind words!

My next adventure to the line-up would be alone. Paddling out to Pleasure Point on a very small day, friendly smiles from unfamiliar faces greeted me - all young men and little boys. It struck me that all of these young men were sporting the thick, full-bodied 1970s-style mustaches. Who were these guys? Local groms turned into dads during my absence from the surf scene? Ah, yes, fashion trends of one’s youth are bound to be repeated during one’s lifetime.

Soon, my friend Ashley paddled out with a young student on the nose of her big rescue board. She greeted me with her big beautiful smile and introduced me to the young boy as her friend who is a really good surfer. That really made my day, coming from a pro surfer and shaper. Again I was filled with love from her kindness. We chatted and took turns catching waves. I crashed and burned on every one but enjoyed every pummeling minute of it. No one was critical and everyone hooted for me when I caught a wave. Even the littlest of groms had big smiles for this old surfer girl!

My last paddle out I saw my friend Hal, whom I met when I first learned to surf. Hal paddled over to say hi and let me know how good it was to see me out there. I told him it was great to see him too—especially since I didn’t know anyone else. He laughed and said neither did he! We paddled for waves that were rolling through and after a bit I gave up and paddled over to Second Peak. Out there, I watched as an older but fit prototypical blonde surfer dude rode his SUPwith style and flair, blonde hair flying, wearing nothing but board shorts. He maneuvered his board with ease, outstretching his arm with paddle in hand, carving and cutting back, clearly enjoying himself. Meanwhile, another surfer paddled by me grumbling about that f*#king pr*#k taking all the waves! I sympathized with the grumbling guy as Mr. Adonis paddled his SUP to the shore.

Laughing to myself, I thought back to the days when we would talk about how crowded the line-up had become and how many newbies there were; all the old grumpy carps complaining daily about the kooks dropping in and taking all the waves. Thinking of those early days, the future from then is now, and after a five-year hiatus from the surf scene, I have found that some things have changed and so much has remained the same.

Homepage photo of Pleasure Point by Jim Jackson Rahn