Yes, I realise, it was Winter when I posted last... my bad...I was studying and on the treadmill of life (you know, using the 'hills' program) and the blog just got away from me. You may or may not be comforted to know that I began many a draft in my head, even if none of them ever saw the light of backlit keyboard. Apologies.
On Friday, I partook of a Surfing Victoria initiative called Play it Safe by the Water Surfing for Girls. It has been taking place all over the Victorian coastline and this is the final week, with Friday being the day for the Inverloch Swell Mamas, which I joined in late October (sounds awfully like a time I was stuck in books madly cramming for exams, doesn't it? Everyone needs a study break...at their nearest beach break...) and have been attending the Friday surf sessions ever since, with the kids in tow.
I took up surfing when I was 16, after enjoying surf beaches for most of my childhood and finally taking the plunge. Surfing was something I did for a couple of weeks over Summer on camping holidays with my family, and soon it dropped off my list in favour of clubbing with friends and, later, horse riding. I still wanted to surf, I just had other things to get done, too.
I took it up again when my sister and I were in our early 20s and more mobile, and at this point Brett, guitarist extraordinaire came into our lives. In a semi-complicated twist of fate, Brett became my surfing buddy and, then, my guitarist. We surfed almost into Winter when a work injury cut short my Winter campaign and it took me just over 9 years to dare to fit into my wetsuit again.
Moving to Sth Gippsland meant we were a lot closer to surf beaches than we had been previously and I have been dropping the hint to Big Fella about my intention to get back into surfing all year. I think he didn't believe me, but when I heard about Swell Mamas, quite by accident, I knew I'd hit on the jackpot. A group of mums helping each other surf by looking after the kids on the beach while mums take turns getting water time - how innovative! It's not just for mums of current small people - there are grandmothers and some women who don't have children and are willing to help out with the kids who come with their mamas. It's a girl-fest, really, and such a supportive network of talented and smart women. I wasted no time and joined us up. The gap in time between surfs wasn't too much of a disadvantage, and before I knew it I was back at the point I'd left when my shoulder gave me an enforced break. Borrowing club boards, and now the board of a very generous friend who offered his relatively unused board to me, I'm getting more and more confidence, and working on my backhand, out of necessity in order to avoid collisions, being that I'm a goofy footer and the waves break the other way...there's one in every crowd, I guess.
I've been attending every Friday since, as mentioned, and on Friday the 9th of December I was a participant in the Surfing Victoria initiative that brought a clinic our way, with world ranked #14, Bec Woods. Due to having the kids with me (I was meant to have divested myself of children-folk, but Plan B worked out well, too) I didn't get as much water time as I would have liked, but ya win some, ya lose some.
Turns out, I won. I won a voucher for 50% off a Global Surf Industries surfboard, in a random draw, so while I save for the other half I can research which board will suit my needs best! As someone who never wins raffles or door prizes, I'm pretty chuffed about this. When the time comes I'll give my new board a write up and show her off. Meanwhile, (while you check out the write up at Surfing Victoria) I'm off to do some window shopping and back to visualising my technique between surfs.
On Friday, I partook of a Surfing Victoria initiative called Play it Safe by the Water Surfing for Girls. It has been taking place all over the Victorian coastline and this is the final week, with Friday being the day for the Inverloch Swell Mamas, which I joined in late October (sounds awfully like a time I was stuck in books madly cramming for exams, doesn't it? Everyone needs a study break...at their nearest beach break...) and have been attending the Friday surf sessions ever since, with the kids in tow.
I took up surfing when I was 16, after enjoying surf beaches for most of my childhood and finally taking the plunge. Surfing was something I did for a couple of weeks over Summer on camping holidays with my family, and soon it dropped off my list in favour of clubbing with friends and, later, horse riding. I still wanted to surf, I just had other things to get done, too.
I took it up again when my sister and I were in our early 20s and more mobile, and at this point Brett, guitarist extraordinaire came into our lives. In a semi-complicated twist of fate, Brett became my surfing buddy and, then, my guitarist. We surfed almost into Winter when a work injury cut short my Winter campaign and it took me just over 9 years to dare to fit into my wetsuit again.
Moving to Sth Gippsland meant we were a lot closer to surf beaches than we had been previously and I have been dropping the hint to Big Fella about my intention to get back into surfing all year. I think he didn't believe me, but when I heard about Swell Mamas, quite by accident, I knew I'd hit on the jackpot. A group of mums helping each other surf by looking after the kids on the beach while mums take turns getting water time - how innovative! It's not just for mums of current small people - there are grandmothers and some women who don't have children and are willing to help out with the kids who come with their mamas. It's a girl-fest, really, and such a supportive network of talented and smart women. I wasted no time and joined us up. The gap in time between surfs wasn't too much of a disadvantage, and before I knew it I was back at the point I'd left when my shoulder gave me an enforced break. Borrowing club boards, and now the board of a very generous friend who offered his relatively unused board to me, I'm getting more and more confidence, and working on my backhand, out of necessity in order to avoid collisions, being that I'm a goofy footer and the waves break the other way...there's one in every crowd, I guess.
I've been attending every Friday since, as mentioned, and on Friday the 9th of December I was a participant in the Surfing Victoria initiative that brought a clinic our way, with world ranked #14, Bec Woods. Due to having the kids with me (I was meant to have divested myself of children-folk, but Plan B worked out well, too) I didn't get as much water time as I would have liked, but ya win some, ya lose some.
Turns out, I won. I won a voucher for 50% off a Global Surf Industries surfboard, in a random draw, so while I save for the other half I can research which board will suit my needs best! As someone who never wins raffles or door prizes, I'm pretty chuffed about this. When the time comes I'll give my new board a write up and show her off. Meanwhile, (while you check out the write up at Surfing Victoria) I'm off to do some window shopping and back to visualising my technique between surfs.
