you'll always remember the first time....

[iomarti]

Hi all,

I still haven't caught an unbroken wave yet but I know the time is nigh!

I'm really looking forward to it, everyone keeps saying how wicked it is, you never forget it. I was hoping you could all share some of your 'first time' (surf!) experiences with me....

Marti x

[Laguna]

The first time I ever surfed was in my first ever surfing lesson that I had on the gower. I was using this big 9ft swell softboard which was really easy to use. First wave I caught I was asked to bodyboard it in, and it felt amazing - such a rush. I was actually amazed by how fast I went on it!
After that I was shown and practiced popping up on the beach, and then went out to try it in water, and popped up my first time, it was a really good moment, I stayed out in the water all day doing it, catching whitewater waves and never wanted to leave.
After that I have been hooked to surfing and just want to go out as much as I can.
Im sure you will master popping up, people learn at different paces. For me I found popping up natural and things like getting past the big whitewater much harder. Before my lesson though I was really keen on getting into surfing so I thouroughly read these 2 'begin surfing' books which explained everything and helped me even more as well as my surf lesson.

I wont forget my first time surfing though in my lesson because it felt so good, exactly how I hoped it would be. Before that I had always wanted to surf but havent been able to because of money and not been able to drive to the beach - so I was really looking forward to getting into it!

[kcskimkid]

oh man. my first time surfing was on waikiki beach in hawaii. i had lessons from the waikiki beach boys and a big 11 ft softy board. group lesson too. we all practiced on the beach doin popups and spreading our arms then we all paddled out to the rope attacehd to a bouey out in the water and one by one our instructor would tell us to paddle out and then we would lay on our board and wait for him to yell paddle paddle paddle. then we would paddle hard and catch our wave. first try i got up and went like 10 feet. then i fell off onto the coral. but yeah, ill never forget my first time surfing.

[dreamer]

my first ever green wave was at north narrabeen - it was a 3/4ft day (way higher than i really had the skill to surf), but i made the paddle out after 20 minutes or so (soon found out, that the locals rock jump :S) - i was waiting out there for a while, just watching the locals, who were carving it that day -- this one wave rolls in, probably in the mid 3ft range (def not one of the bigger of the day), i paddle -- guy on my right, it was a left hander, he paddles and stops, then i hear him say, GOGOGO (which was weird for a narra local to say to a foreinger), i jumped up, hit the rail on the sweet spot, boards not going straight left on the wave, cruising for like 10meters or so, then changed my footing accidently, board spears down the face to the pit, pulls back left and I go straight over the green out of the back of the wave.. Couldn't have riden it better if i knew what i was doing.. After that i got stung by about 10 blue bottles & decided it would be better for all concerned if i left -- left looking like a pro, not a kook which i definately was at the time.

[drowningbitbybit]

Actually, I cant remember the first time I rode an unbroken wave

I can remember the first time I went over the falls, the first time I got held under, the first time I got battered on the sea bed, the first time I got washed onto the rocks, the first time I got caught in a rip, the first time I smacked my head on my own board, and the first time I got dropped in on and rode over someone's board (...okay, that was two weeks ago...) but I cant remember my first green face

I remember lots of top waves since though....

[iomarti]

I'm gonna be hoping for a ride like dreamers!

Hopefully i'll get out tommorrow. Couldn't be more excited. I'm such a saddo.

[drowningbitbybit]

Couldn't be more excited. I'm such a saddo.

Surfer, not saddo... surfer...

[hawaiiSUCKSexceptsurf]

most of these posts were about the first time surfing. i can remember that, but i cant remember my first unbroken wave. i know i had 3 today which were maybe 6 feet tall at the face. haha suckas.

[baja fresk]

i was like 12 i think surfing daytona beach on a foamie...the funny thing is, i got up just fine and had a perfect ride straight to the beach without turning, and then when i got on the beach, i was walking away with my board and i twisted my leg wrong in a hole and broke my foot, had to spend the rest of the summer in a leg cast. totally sucked

[iomarti]

well, still no joy with unbroken waves but that's not my fault thats the fleshin' conditions down here. But I went in anyway (yeah, I always surf when it's rubbish - if I've got the time and freedom to surf, there's nothing else i'd rather do) and had lots of fun in whitewater, got a chance to get a feel for turning the board and how it responds.

And it's not looking like it's getting any better for ages.. so I'll get lots of practice in I guess.

And to try and reinstate myself as a saddo......I had my first dream about surfing last week.... for someone who can only catch whitewater, that it pretty sad. Although I surfed tons better in the dream

[FormosanSurfer]

I remember my first cut back, my first head high wave, and the first wave that really scared the xxxxx out of me (and broke my leash). But I don't remember the first unbroken wave.

[GowerCharger]

i remeber mine, i was about 9 or 10, at some beach id never benn to before, and it has a hollow right hander on a luminous 80s fish. i remember looking at it barrelling and thinking "ooo" for about half a second (which seemed like half an hour) and then it shut down.
It was just under waist high and considering my age at the time the wave was probably a foot at most, but i was chuffed for the rest of the day.

[drowningbitbybit]

considering my age at the time the wave was probably a foot at most

"Headhigh" meaning something completely different then

[iomarti]

Well, I finally got it! Yesterday I surfed my first unbroken wave. Then I went and caught my second unbroken wave! What's that word......STOKED!

And it felt a little strange, and yes, slightly unmemorable, except that I went a lot faster and had to think about balance a lot more, but I was very happy. Sadly a thick fog descended and we all had to go in. Also on my second unbroken wave as I wiped out the board came back and whacked me on the side of the head which made my confidence drop, which was a shame.

Still, I did it! Looking forward to trying again in clean surf!
Marti x

[Driftingalong]

Congratulations!


(so much better in clean surf)

[GowerCharger]

getting wacked in the head by your board is one of the perils of surfing, dont worry, eventually your skull will toughen up.

[iomarti]

I hope so. I've got a small head like a child, I've always wanted it to be bigger. After a year of surfing I may be able to buy adult size hats

[DayWalker*]

It's funny that we remember the klutzy moments so well and the good ones are all in a blur