Back to the Land of the Living ... maybe not quite yet

As Andy and I stood in the parking lot by the pier I smiled. He was wondering if he should wear his full suit or his spring. At home, earlier, I had wondered if I should wear my boots. Well, come on, I have a good excuse. This time last week, I was in the hospital with an IV hooked up to my arm. Probably not the smartest thing, to be paddling out in 63 degree water in a seven foot sixteen second swell. But, hey ho, there I go, into the grey murky sea, overjoyed to be back in the ocean.

It was bigger than it had been all week, according to John who pulled up as we were walking out. Cleaner, too. He was going home to get Griffin. All I could think about was how weak I was going to be after not having surfed for two weeks, and, oh yeah, the whole pneumonia thing. So we jumped in, and there went Andy. He got right outside. Meanwhile, I am coming to the realization of just how much I have lost. I feel good paddling, but I am not making much progress. When I finally get outside, it feels great to just sit up on the board and rest. There were some good-sized waves, for sure, still pretty clean, but you could feel the wind about to start.

First wave I caught taught me something valuable. NEVER PADDLE OUT IN SIZABLE SURF WITHOUT A TAIL PAD! I had only just unwrapped the new Randy French model two nights before, the one just like Andy's. I thought I would be okay with a good coat of wax. WRONG. I caught a good-sized one, and as soon as I got to my feet, my back foot slid just enough to force me into a little adjustment that just felt wrong. I recovered enough to get a decent ride, but that left me with even less confidence, as I felt my ears begin to ache and a slight soreness in my throat. What was I doing??? Any sane person would have passed on paddling out at all in this condition. I made my way back out, despite a series of really good pummelings, not giving up.

There was one decent left, but my foot slid again, and then the wind suddenly picked up. Not just gradually either, it began to blow the grey murk into brown slop. Okay, I decided, that's enough for my first gimp session. I think I need a little more recovery time...