The Glamour of Surfing

The beach, the waves, the wax, the boards—it’s all glorious and sexy—but last year, the glamour of surfing really hit me on one particularly big day in York.

No one was surfing just north of the restaurant and I couldn’t figure out why. The waves looked fabulous and long, and areas north of there were starting to get crowded with fellow surfers, so I paddled south from where I was and popped up on a bomb of a right.

I rode it far in and my error of judgement became apparent quickly: as the wave ended, I was stuck in a swampy seaweed salad. The seaweed had taken over the beach that summer—the marine plants stank in the sun, leaving the tourists with nauseous delirium.

And here it was, clumped on my leash, in my hair, and clawing at me from all around, squishy like some life-sized tactile Halloween exhibit.

Somehow—and not gracefully—I was able to paddle back out, after unclumping the seaweed from around my neck and leash, feeling faint and somewhat claustrophobic. When I got beyond the break, I went about unclumping the last of the tangled mess of seaweed that had tied bowknots on the leash.

The next waves I rode, I ducked off early, managing to avoid the sloppy mess. When I finally rode one in, upon landing on the beach, I saw amidst the debris, a baby seal, dead, and some sort of fatty tissue from her body nearby.

It was a pickling moment, and I still grimace even now, remembering I’d just been swimming in the foul mess.

When I hopped in my car, I took one look at my hair and for the first time ever felt that Sinead O’Connor had been on to something. Every lock of hair was throttled by the red seaweed

How the hell am I going to get this out, I wondered.

The answer was: Patiently, with a wide tooth comb and lots of deep conditioner. Three hours later, I began to recognize myself in the mirror. I feared for the state of the pipes.

My car has never fully recovered from shuttling me home that day. There is still an eau de mer that won’t be quelled with the strongest essential oil blend, coffee grounds and baking soda. And occasionally, when I swing my hair too fast, I catch a whiff of ancient crustaceans, kelp and the ghost lives of baby seals and I am reminded once more of the glamour of surfing.

Facial expression: Concern, general malaise and a confidence that I’d be bowing out of any plans that afternoon, in order to work with this hair. (C) Sara Dyer

Facial expression: Concern, general malaise and a confidence that I’d be bowing out of any plans that afternoon, in order to work with this hair. (C) Sara Dyer

Sweet Leftovers and seaweedpalooza

LS. Got out a couple hours after HT. North side parking was practically full so I parked just north of the BH and met Gary who said he’d seen me around. He’d been out Saturday—crazy people! Saturday was way too heavy for me.

I ventured further south, toward R————--s and quickly understood why no one was down there (SEAWEED) but I refused to leave. There were sweet waves rolling through that I nearly had to myself, save one SUP-er named Mark from KBPT and a shortboarder who seemed to be doing not much of anything at all. These waves were so generous — I was throwing some turns and riding them all the way in, and then getting stuck in the seaweed-created impact zone. Like, this was an epic seaweed situation. I was out for maybe three hours when I got so tangled up in seaweed I just had to leave. I saw a dead baby seal on the beach and realized it’s ear was stuck in the seaweed in my leash. It was time to rinse off.

I caused a major hulabaloo at the shower trying to get the seaweed out of my hair. A French Canadian girl said “That was me yesterday.” I looked at her hair and said, “I guess there’s hope for me.” She said, “Mm. I don’t know. Mine wasn’t that bad.” She said there was a lot of shampoo and conditioner in my future.

I went home and spent approx. two hours doing the following: combing the seaweed out of my hair and attempting to ensure that the seaweed did not clog up the shower by placing a paper towel over the drain and letting the water seep through. Let me tell you. These commercials about the strength of paper towels, I now believe. It would hardly let the water permeate!

I took a walk down the SS and the waves were friendly and nice. Everyone was happy. The sun had come out around 10am, right at the end of a sweet wave I got, and stayed out nearly all day. I walked up to LS and the waves looked fairly clean so I went out again, because I knew I would hate myself if I didn’t take advantage of the holiday, sun and sweet little friendly waves.

This vision/FOMO/proactive avoidance of self hatred for not going encouraged me to go out for the double sesh. (C) Sara Dyer

This vision/FOMO/proactive avoidance of self hatred for not going encouraged me to go out for the double sesh. (C) Sara Dyer

An onshore breeze had kicked in by the time I drove back but I still got some fun stuff and also got my ass handed to me a couple times. I thought we’d be dealing with ankle biters but they were still 2-3+ here and there. A shortboarder was near me and he’d been out in the AM too.

Everyone is stoked and smiling and happy because of all the waves rolling through.

I love Sept/Oct in New England. It’s the best.

The carnage that was seaweedpalooza:

Feeling concerned that this may never come out. (C) Sara Dyer

Feeling concerned that this may never come out. (C) Sara Dyer

You are sort of getting the picture now. (C) Sara Dyer

You are sort of getting the picture now. (C) Sara Dyer


On Another Note Bad Habits that I really need to stop:
My board dismount
What I do when big waves are rolling through
My shimmy