For starters it was 3-5ft+ nz size and with faces reported around 2.8m so it was quite large. I took a leap and requested the day off work to make the most of it, hoping the size wasn't going to be too big for me or too gruelling trying to get out back.
I've had a few issues with late drops recently but decided to take out the same 6'3 and see how it went.
BOOM, right on the first wave I nailed the drop and it was a solid 4.5ft (1.5 overhead size). I was just screaming down the line and everything just felt so smooth and right, it almost felt like the board was hydro-foiling rather than just being on the surface. I made a couple of turns and had so much speed to approach the top of the wave and go back down without having to really twist ot turn sharply. It was magical, a truely magical feeling. I could've called the day right there and gone home happy that the 2hrs of driving to get there and back was worth it.
The next wave I got was almost vertical by the time i got to a pop up moment, and looking straight down a 2.2m drop was a bit daunting when I got to my feet but suprisingly I just dug in and boosted down the wave! I couldn't believe it, I was 100% expecting to catch the nose or go over the falls. Half a year ago, just seeing that vertical drop would've been enough to scare the sh*t out of me, pull out of the wave and retreat back to shore.
I continued on to make about 10 waves in total and absolutely nailed all of them- probably one of the first days ever where I haven't messed up a single wave. Every single wave that I dropped down I nailed. This was the feeling that I had been missing recently!
One guy even said that he got me doing a late drop on his gopro and how awesome it looked, I was stoked!
I was probably one of the youngest guys out there today and it felt quite cool thinking that after only a year I was able to go out surfing with the good older guys in big conditions and have their respect as a legitimate surfer, not a kook bailing on all the waves.
I've attached a couple of pics below of my break today, deinfately some bigger sets came through but some pretty solid waves.
Thanks for all your support and comments over the past year on this forum, it's helped me learn heaps. Days like today just make all the other days of messy conditions, bails and frustration worth it!
