"The hardest thing I do every day is get out of the water."
- @creatr -
Surfers spend a lot of time waiting for waves.
Have you ever wondered what we're thinking about while bobbing around out there?
I'll give you a clue...
Waiting for the last wave.
Photo courtesy of Julie Macey and http://unsplash.com
The hardest thing I do every day is get out of the water.
After that, everything else is like coasting downhill.
One thing that makes it extra hard to get out of the water, though, is waiting for just the right wave to leave on.
Here's how it goes:
I've had a pretty good session. It's almost time to leave for work - I've got maybe another five or ten minutes, and start looking for the last wave. Not just any wave will do.
The last wave of the day has to be a good one.
It had better be a clean shoulder or a nice drop, something to take me all the way in to shore with a big smile on my face.
So I wait. I let one wave go by, maybe two. Waves that I would have grabbed gratefully earlier in the session, or on almost any other day - just not "last wave" material.
Inevitably, one of two things will happen. The most common scenario?
Scenario one:
I look at my watch.
Is that a set coming through?
Photo courtesy of Tim Marshall and http://unsplash.com
Ten minutes left.
Is that a set coming through? A couple other guys start paddling out and instinctively I follow suit.
No; false alarm.
Seven minutes.
The horizon darkens a bit. I turn around and start to go for it, just in case. It bellies out and I just can't take off.
Four minutes.
"Lord, one more good one? Please?"
Two minutes, and desperation starts to set in.
Okay, looks like a wave... Nope! Just another ripple.
One minute.
Hey, there's one!
Well, it's not so great. I go for it anyway.
Riding halfway to shore, I then catch some whitewater the rest of the way.
Hey, it beats going straight to work!
But let's talk about the ideal scenario.
Sure enough, something's coming in.
Photo courtesy of Andy Omvik and http://unsplash.com
Scenario two:
At the five minute mark, I've just about resigned myself to grabbing anything that promises to take me most of the way in.
Then, someone way down the lineup calls out.
Guys thirty yards south of me start paddling like mad for the horizon. Sure enough, something's coming in.
I head outward, hoping for the best.
I head outward, hoping for the best.
Photo courtesy of Tim Marshall and http://unsplash.com
Fifty yards south,
I see a longboarder take off on a big one.
Guys closer to me aren't quite as lucky. They barely make it over the top as the longboard cruises by, and then they have to duck under the next big peak.
I, however, am positioned just right for a beautiful A‑frame that pops up.
A beautiful A‑frame pops up.
Photo courtesy of Tim Marshall and http://unsplash.com
I stroke once or twice,
but the wave itself lifts me high. As I accelerate down the face, I know that this is the last wave. It powers me exuberantly toward shore. I get out of the water with a huge smile on my face.
I know that this is the last wave.
Photo courtesy of Tim Marshall and http://unsplash.com
There's a lesson here somewhere.
I wish I could respond the same way to events in my life.
If only I would hold out for the best possible time or circumstance.
If only I would always choose not to settle for that "mess of pottage!"
FIN
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