Owned

Well, the surfer girl update isn't all good this time around. Joce and I rented boards and wetsuits at York Beach, and we got totally owned.

The surf report was for 2.3 foot waves, but by the time we got out, they were more like four feet. That in itself might not have been a problem, but it was a very stormy sea. There were frequent diagonal waves coming out of nowhere, and also a very strong current parallel to the beach that whisked us north at an alarming rate of speed.

The result was that it was almost impossible to keep our board noses pointed in, and we kept tipping over as soon as we attempted to pop up. The waves hit us viciously when we returned to the break, throwing our boards against our bodies (I can't wait to catalog the various wicked bruises and soreness tomorrow, and our toes look heinous -- is this a problem for all surfers?). Every now and then there would be a particularly high wave and I felt like "The Perfect Storm" as my board went almost vertical as I climbed the swell.

Ironically, the water was the warmest it's been so far, and for the first time I didn't lose all feeling in my feet. We were exhausted within an hour though, and while I refused to give up, we never really got any good waves. That's okay, though. We're learning all the time, and just being in the water, bouncing over the swells and pushing salt-soaked curls out of my face and screaming in exhilaration was plenty good enough for me. I have to store up lots of ocean love to get me through months in the New Mexico desert.

Thank you, Jocie, for my blue crush. Life will never be the same...