Big day

Every once in a while, I notice real improvement in my surfing. Trust me when I say this with a lot of humility. I have been thoroughly embarassed several times in the water here in Durban. Its bad enough to lost your balance and crash head first into a wave while a group of young girls giggle at you. But the most awful moments occur when you unintentionally drop in on someone (i.e. cut them off and/or steal their wave) and they make the point of telling you what a dumbass you are. This is even worse when they are 11 and you are 27. Needless to say, I went through this a lot as I was first starting, probably more often than I would like to admit. Its truly humiliating, but one of the unfortunate consequences of learning to surf in your 20's.

But on one early morning in February, I surfed like I had never surfed before. The conditions were calm and glass with 4-6 foot waves rolling through the piers (see the aerial photo taken from the Surf Conditions website on February 6). I found a spot where they were breaking consistently and kept paddling over to it to wait for a good wave to come through. I got several good rights (which means you move to the left if you are standing on the beach watching the surfer) and rode them out until I reached the shoulder. A couple nearly broke on top of me, but I managed to barely escape and turn the corner back behind the wave. As I paddled back, two guys said "Nice wave." For the first time in my short surfing career, people were actually congratulating me instead of threatening me like they usually did.

At one point, I did have a pretty nasty wipeout that dragged me toward the beach for a few meters. As I was paddling back to my spot, I made eye contact with an older surfer who looked to be in his 40's. "You've had a lot of bombs today, you should be embarassed!" he said to me with a strange smile. Oh no, I thought. Just as I thought I was getting better, this guy has to comment on my awful wipeouts and make remind me that I still totally suck.

I was a little defensive at first, and replied with some remark of disregard. Oddly, he seemed to be smiling when he made this insulting comment. I kept surfing, though with a bit more caution and certainly a lot less bravado. The more I thought about it, the more I was confused by what this guy had said to me. Why was he smiling when he insulted me so? In all honesty, I am not too caught up on my South African surfer lingo, and didnt really know what he meant by "bombs." I just assumed he meant my awful wipe outs.

So I refered to my Surfikan Slang Dictionary and loked up the term "Bomb." As it turns out, a bomb is a good or choice wave. This guy was complimenting me, saying I had caught several good waves. I suppose he said I should be embarassed because I wasnt sharing? Dont really know.

In a matter of seconds, my ego was restored and I was pleased. I found it funny that my poor knowledge of surfing slang resulted in such miscommunication. Regardless, I was happy to have made some modest improvement in my surfing and to have had some positive feedback for a change. So beware giggling girls and 11 year old punks, I have finally earned a shred of respect from my fellow North Beach surfers. Though, I think we all know I have a long way to go before I can brag with any sincerity.