surf-matic

Back from my mini 3-day break from the beach, I hit the water Sunday at Hookipa, the NW swell picked up intensity as the afternoon wore on, and I had a fun session but not an amazing one– some good turns and big wipeouts without anything that really stood out. Mediocre sessions are good and are perfectly normal. It’s easy to think that all the other Pros are busting one-of-a-kind maneuvers on every wave, but that is simply not true. One of the reasons that art colonies are so successful is that they reveal to the artists that a masterpiece takes many days of toil, creative block, and shitty work. Windsurfing is the same way– getting good days takes a lot of bad days.

Flattery has the same root as flatulence– both being about air rather than substance. But compliments are still nice and necessary. Maui Windsurfing expressed a very nice like for surf-matic, and for that I’m happy. While I’m not sure how surf-matic ranks among the other Maui blogs, I can definitely say that it is in the top 3 of Graham Ezzy blogs (or so I hope!).

On a side note, I made some comments last week about always holding on to the equipment while being worked. Sometimes that is just not possible. Sunday, for instance, I hit a big lip and my head was broadsided by the boom, which smashed into my brow. As much as I wanted to hold on through the chaotic tumble in the white water, I couldn’t. What do you do when you can’t hold on and get separated from your gear? Swim! Swim hard for the gear because every second that you’re separated allows it to drift farther and farther away– and it will drift faster than a body. So, after holding, swimming is most important when getting worked.

Here is a pic of me and a pic from Kevin. Mine is from last weekend and his is a back loop off the lip from Sunday.

Kevin Pritchard throws a big gnarly back loop off-the-lip at Hookipa Point.

Here I am trying something a bit new.